The granddaughter of General August Emil Fieldorf a.k.a. “Nil” has donated personal memorabilia including documents, photographs, and letters of the deputy commander of the Home Army to the Home Army Museum in Kraków.
The donated items comprise letters that General Emil Fieldorf exchanged with his wife over many years, documents of various organisations and institutions issued in his name, photographs of his trip to Paris in the company of his wife Janina, as well as notebooks of memories written down by Mrs Janina and cassettes of recordings in which she talked about her husband.
These personal artefacts are a donation from General Fieldorf’s granddaughter, Zofia Zarkadas, who has lived in Canada for many years. Due to Mrs Zofia’s advanced age, the memorabilia were donated by her son Dimos Zarkadas and his son, Silvan, who travelled from Canada for the ceremony.
In addition to documents and letters, a coffee grinder manufactured in the Netherlands, which General “Nil” used to prepare his favourite drink, and which later served other family members, was donated to the AK Museum. All the memorabilia were packed into one suitcase, which was under the special care of the general’s grandson.
“I kept the suitcase in my lap throughout the plane journey, and to this day I have never parted with it. I was very anxious that the memorabilia should arrive at the Home Army Museum complete and undamaged. I am very happy that I could fulfil my family duty. There is a war going on beyond Poland’s eastern border, and it is also very restless in other parts of the world. I want these souvenirs of my great-grandfather to shout that what happened during and after World War II cannot be repeated”, said Zarkadas.
August Emil Fieldorf was a Polish military commander, brigadier general of the Polish Armed Forces, participant in the battles of World War I, the Polish-Bolshevik war, and the 1939 September campaign. He was an organiser and commander of Kedyw (Directorate of Diversion Main Headquarters of the Home Army) and deputy commander of the Home Army Headquarters.
Arkadiusz Słomczyński