Slavomir Rawicz was born in the city of Pinsk (today a city in White
Russia) in 1915, to a Polish father and a Russian Mother.
In Pinsk, The Rawicz family lived a relatively well-to-do life. They
not only owned a successful estate business, but a beautiful house within
Slavomir grew into a young man, and he entered the Wawelberea and
Rotwanda Technical School in Warsaw. There, he studied for a certificate
In 1937, Slavomir was called up for military service in the Polish
Army. He served a long twelve months in the infantry training school in
the city of Brest Lotvsk (also a city in modern-day White Russia). Soon,
after the completion of his infantry training, he volunteered for
additional training within the cavalry reconnaissance division of the
Polish Army, where, in 1937, he graduated with the highest possible cadet
rankâ€"that of a Cavalry Brigade Officer.
Immediately after his promotion, Slavomir returned to Warsaw, re-
entered Wawelberea and Rotwanda, and graduated in 1938. Soon after, in
1939, and right before the beginning of the war, Slavomir married his first
After the German Wermacht (German Armed Forces) invaded Poland on
September 1, 1939, he was called up to duty, and was sent west with his
cavalry brigade to the front lines. However, despite tremendous effort,
after one month of fighting, Poland surrendered to the German forces.
After the surrender, Rawicz decided to return to familiar surroundings
in eastern Poland, and he returned to his house in Pinsk. Unfortunately,
this move was a pivotal misstep, leading to the circumstances described in
Seventeen days after the Germans began World War II, the city of
Pinsk, as well as the entire area eastern Poland, were occupied by the
On November 19th, 1939, soon after his return to his family home, and
during his mother's "welcome home" party, Slav...