A LETTER TO MY COUSIN

By Jen (Jenny Matysse)

Dear Jozef:

I have seen your picture many times. It is kept with my important family papers. I knew you were family to me, but related in what way? Recently, I found out.

You are/were my cousin. A professional man, an engineer and a highly educated individual, you were called to help your country, Poland, during one of its greatest crises…the German invasion of 1939. As a brave officer, you left your family; wife, children, mother and those who loved you.

How young and handsome you were, the day that the Russians captured you and your comrades, also intellectuals: doctors, lawyers, teachers, etc.; also officers in the Polish Army. You were held in prison until Stalin wrote one word on a piece of paper: LIQUIDATE!

While you were on your way to the forest, Uncle Ludwig, also an officer, was on his way to a concentration camp in Germany. Our female cousins, later, were captured during the Warsaw Uprising and became slave laborers.

However, you were lost to your family - and how they searched for you! No more letters came. No more information. Hearts were broken. It wasn’t until the sickening discovery of the evils at Katyn that you were discovered. You, along with thousands of Polish officers were executed and thrown in that pit. You all are now memorialized around the world.

Dearest Jozef, you will never, ever be forgotten as you live in the hearts of your family and those who love you. You are always in my thoughts. I know you are among the angels in Heaven.

Sincerely,

Your cousin, Jen