Heniek

HENIEK: A POLISH BOY'S COMING OF AGE IN INDIA DURING WORLD WAR II is the true story of world renowned high-voltage transformer designer, the late Henry Bonshek (Heniek). Born in the eastern Kresy region of Poland, Heniek recounts his challenging ordeal as a youngster in the 1940s. After Hitler invades Poland, Stalin seizes Poland's eastern territory in 1939. Like other innocent children from the region, Heniek is deported to Siberia and ordered to work as hard labour in a penal camp. Facing a life of hell, starvation and disease, over a million Poles are sent to such camps. Half perish in the first winter. In an astonishing tale of survival, Heniek tells of his daring escape under the so-called amnesty and his journey to Uzbekistan and then on to India, where he is sent from the Polish Orphanage in Jamnagar to an English school in the restful regions of Mt Abu. But as the end of the war approaches, Heniek has to make a choice. Will he return home? With Poland's future increasingly under Stalin's influence, the prospects are grim. What happens next is totally unexpected. Featuring over 100 photographs and illustrations HENIEK is at once a heart wrenching yet inspiring journey of endurance and renewal in an era dominated by totalitarian forces. Never before told, it is a must read true account of one young man's experience during the most devastating period in world history.