Mieczyslaw (Marek) Madejski Mieczyslaw was the eldest of three
sons born to well-to-do Roman Catholic parents in Poland's
capital of Warsaw. His father was a real estate developer and
his mother was a housewife. Mieczyslaw, or Mieteck as he was
nicknamed, began attending public elementary school in 1930 when
he was 7 years old. 1933-39: My father urged me to study either
German or Russian because he thought it was likely that there
would be a German or Soviet invasion. Germany invaded Poland on
September 1, 1939. During the siege of Warsaw that month I
delivered supplies and messages to the front, using a
requisitioned private car. Three months later, I joined the
resistance group, Union for Armed Struggle [which became the
Armia Krajowa in February 1942]. 1940-44: In 1942 my resistance
group began sabotage operations against the Germans. My
specialty was stealing German cars and blowing up supply and
troop trains. On August 1, 1944, our units attacked the Germans
in Warsaw in open combat [Warsaw Polish Upris