Leon and I have two big valises full of goods from this job, including a tuxedo. So the day of departure comes – two Polaks going to the United States. There at the train station were our two girlfriends, crying like babies. They cry so much we cry too, but we go anyway. Suzanne Tamineaux, and Leon’s girl friend, I forget her name. They were crying and crying. It was very touching situation. But we went to the train, to go to Le Havre, from Brussels to Paris. We are going to America!
We sp
ent a month in Paris. We stayed in a small place near the railway station, in a little hotel. We got it as cheap as possible; we didn’t have much. The entire trip was paid for by the refugee society. Imagine, we have a month in Paris and someone else paid for us to be there.
In Paris they have something called a bidet. We never seen one before. Are you kidding? in Poland? The Dutch don’t have such things, but in Paris the French have a bidet.
So now we start going around Paris, the Champs-Élysées, the Arc de Triomphe, the Eiffel Tower, we get to see everything. The month went by very fast. Then Leon and I found ourselves on the train to Le Havre, and there was waiting for us, the SS America. – Henry Zguda
Photo above is of Henry’s friend Leon Kraska on left, and Henry Zguda on right. The faint print on the sign reads ‘Namur’ which I’ve identified as a city in southern Belgium. Of course, since both Leon and Henry were swimmers and swimming coaches, I also offer the photo to the right. Henry is third from left with his back to the camera. Leon is the fourth from left facing the camera.
How many biographies does one get to do, when there are as many pictures of someone in a bathing suit as in clothes?
