13 Aug 2021
Absolutely fantastic trip. A very sad & shameful chapter in history. Jerzy (George in English) brought this all alive with his incredible knowledge of history & not just the history of Madjanek but his in depth & accurate detail of world & European history itself. Particularly of this period however. A truly lovely & unique man & character & also a man with his own fascinating history. An amazing life well lived. I said to Jerzy as we parted, that it is not often that in this day & age one has the feeling & chance to say that it was not only a pleasure to have been guided by Jerzy & to have shared his company for the day, but for me it was an honour & a privilege to have met him. Speaks English really well, (which is hardly surprising given the countries he has lived in & languages that he can speak). I booked a private trip & I'm so glad I did. It was worth every penny frankly. Jerzy explained things, honestly, openly & with clarity & knowledge. He also had great patience with me & my mangling of attempts to speak Polish! He was also very patient & understanding with my mangling & mixing up of persons from recent Polish history. For example I muddled an old Soviet Foreign Minister (Gromyko) with a past Polish Chairman of the Polish Communist Party (Gomulka). I would say to him have I got that name right & he would gently say & in a non patronising way so as to not make you feel self conscious of your mistakes (of which there were many by me!), no, that's not quite right & then tell you what was. He also ended our day by giving me very helpful tips about what to see during the rest of my time in Warsaw. Super guide, super nice modest guy & a super day. A true Gentleman in the old fashioned sense of the word. Jerzy should write a book about his extraordinary life which in turn would make a great film I've no doubt. In his inimitable way he brushed off such a suggestion by saying his memory wasn't as good as it was so might struggle to write it. A credit to his company & his country. I'd go so far as to say a national Polish treasure although I've no doubt it would horrify him to hear me say that! Would highly recommend this trip, highly recommend Jerzy as your guide & highly recommend the tour company.. Fantastic day. Now come on Jerzy, what about that book?!