All those years since 1926 George had been working in the pulp and paper mill, sending money home to Poland to improve the lot of his family. Now Bronek too began work at the mill, in the "blow pits," joining the International Brotherhood of Pulp, Sulphite and Paper Mill Workers, local 233.

 

After almost 5 years at the mill, in the spring of 1953, the entire family moved to Toronto where Bronek become heavily involved in the Polish community.

 

For many Polish exiles, World War Two had not yet ended as long as their homeland was occupied by the Soviets. In fact, although demobilized by the British government in England, the soldiers of the Polish Forces in the West were not demobilized by the Polish Government-in-Exile. Many Polish soldiers, within their veterans' organizations, maintained a combat readiness well into the 1950s.

 

This is not as unreasonable as it may sound. Following the post-war Soviet takeover of much of Eastern Europe and the dropping of the Iron Curtain, Soviet intentions became painfully clear to the Western leaders, who had never believed the Poles, and the Cold War began. There was for many years an impending sense that a third world war was looming just around the corner.

 

Standing from the left: A. Bluj, J. Kwaczek, J. Moscicki, C. Kobylanski, M. Poprawa, R. Rodycz, M. Lottamoza

 

Sitting from the left: B. Kowalski, S. Rzepka, K. Pygiel, Minister O. Jastrzembski, T. Rosol, F. Drabczyk, S. Rajca, B. Sokolowski

 

Here, these men have just been decorated for their service to Poland by Minister Oktawian Jastrzembski of Montreal. Despite the fact that England no longer recognized the exiled Polish government, they allowed it to exist. The Government-in-Exile finally blended with the de facto Polish government after communist rule dissolved in 1989.