well apart from the first oneZibi, Szamatolski, Dabrowski.... all goalkeepers for some reason.
I liked Szamatolski, the mad monk as the Dundee United fans called him. Solid keeper.Zibi, Szamatolski, Dabrowski.... all goalkeepers for some reason.
I liked Szamatolski, the mad monk as the Dundee United fans called him. Solid keeper.
Yeah I think he'd been playing through injury. I'm sure Rob Jones was taking his goal kicks at one point. Would like to have seen him stay longer.I did too. He reminded me of Jim Leighton, great shot stopper but every kick went for a throw in.
I’ve researched the war years and never came across that name. It’s possible he played under an assumed name.There was a Polish internationalist who played during the war years around 1943 presumably as he was stationed in Edinburgh.
I once heard the story from an old school teacher who was stationed here and stayed on afterwards.
A bit of research indicates the players name was Jan Wasiewich and he was a midfielder, highly decorated, won around 10 Polish caps and died in Buenos Aries, Argentina.
So there you go. Interesting man.
Jan Wasiewicz - Wikipedia
en.m.wikipedia.org
He would have been stationed in or around Edinburgh when he played for us. My mates dad would have been his commanding officer. Would he have played with Matt Busby I wonder.
That would be a pretty good story if so.
The reason I remember the conversation with the teacher is that the guy was a bit mental (obviously war related) and would just rant and rave about the evils of Communism with the Russians almost off the scale which was of course very understandable in your were Polish post 1945.
O-level Modern Studies just became a ranting mess when this teacher took the class but then around 1974 he suddenly decided the class were going to do a project on the 1974 World Cup in Germany as it was very topical and you had the West Germany v East Germany cold war 'fixed' match in the group stages.
Scotland ??????? had just qualified for the first time in 16 years and Poland ?? had a quite brilliant team who had knocked out England ??????? and were eventually to beat Brazil to finish 3rd.
Suddenly the class was energized and we began to look at this teacher in a very different light and he no longer looked at us as a bunch of wee radges.?
I would imagine the jist of the story is true and that a quality Polish player (hopefully this one) may well have guested for Hibs in a few bounce games or possibly the odd organized fixture as that was so common in these war years.
The reason I remember the conversation with the teacher is that the guy was a bit mental (obviously war related) and would just rant and rave about the evils of Communism with the Russians almost off the scale which was of course very understandable if your were Polish post 1945.
I can relate to it, my Uncle was Ukranian, and fought for the Axis, he despised the Russians.
thread hijack
To be fair if his parent club was behind enemy lines getting consent might be an issue! ?There is no record of him being registered to any team in Scotland during the war as a signed player or with consent as a guest from his parent club.
As was my grandad... after escaping the russians (who were carting him off to fight for the motherland), he was captured by jerry (who carted him off to the Fatherland ) where he was used for slave labour till the yanks finally got off their fat arse and liberated him... where he joined the thousands of ukrainians in the north of italy (who couldnt go home as Papa Joe had a bullet ready for everyone of them).. The vast majority of them managed to get to Canada or south america, but he couldnae get on them boats, and ended up in a POW camp.... in Dalkeith
(by the way, there is very big potential that your Unc was a radge during the war M... have you researched Ukrainians who fought with Uncle Adolph?...ooft)
Your grandads story is very much like my great uncles, although he went from Northern Italy to Tranent! The quietest, hard working, religious man you could ever meet. He was no Nazi but hated the Russians as he came from near Lviv in Catholic Western Ukrania.
(by the way, there is very big potential that your Unc was a radge during the war M... have you researched Ukrainians who fought with Uncle Adolph?...ooft)
You had to (mr) muscle that inWell Sam's story put the sheen back on this thread.
Aye, no the best... i only researched by accident.... my relative was a farmer all his life ands was a slave in germany, family still got his stamped id card from them... but my family had a pic of him in a uniform.. so i researched the ensignia, no unlike our lion rampant... which led me doen the rabbit hole of ukrainians who fought with the nazis. Didnae like it and then had tae dig deeper as to why there was a photo of this uniform.Ive read a lot on it. As a Kresy Polak its not comfortable reading.
I can relate to it, my Uncle was Ukranian, and fought for the Axis, he despised the Russians.
The Axis was anti Allied forces, pro Nazi collaborators . The Nazi Ukranian and Croatian collaborators got their due deserts. In many cases they were worse than the Nazis if you can possibly imagine that. Bastards.
BIG G
Tae be fair a lot of ordinary east Europeans ( Ukranians ,Romanians etc.) had a stark choice, madman Hitler or madman Stalin. Who would you have chosen. It's also true that some of them became worse than their masters which a lot of them had to do to keep their families alive. Some of of course were just horrible human beings and Naziism or Communism didnt matter to them as long long as they could practice their trade.The Axis was anti Allied forces, pro Nazi collaborators . The Nazi Ukranian and Croatian collaborators got their due deserts. In many cases they were worse than the Nazis if you can possibly imagine that. Bastards.
BIG G
Not forgetting of course that Hitler and Stalin were Allies for 1/3 of the War.I agree. Of course many more were terrified young men with no political agendas.
Only one country choose neither. Can't blame some Ukrainans for siding with Hilter, after what Stalin did in the 30's.Tae be fair a lot of ordinary east Europeans ( Ukranians ,Romanians etc.) had a stark choice, madman Hitler or madman Stalin. Who would you have chosen. It's also true that some of them became worse than their masters which a lot of them had to do to keep their families alive. Some of of course were just horrible human beings and Naziism or Communism didnt matter to them as long long as they could practice their trade.
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