Historical Novel: Betrayal at Yalta Conference Left Army Without Nation 7/16/2002 - SLINGERLANDS, NY -- July 16, 2002 -- Thousands of Poles entered Great Britain immediately after WWII. On arrival, they were told by the British government never to discuss their experiences during the war with the British citizens; letters they wrote were censored. Meanwhile across the ocean, a bill endorsed by General Lee -- Commanding General of American Forces in the Mediterranean is introduced in the U.S. Congress. The bill would give special emigration rights to men General Lee referred to as "these gallant soldiers who can't return to Poland." But the bill is quickly killed by Secretary of State Dean Acheson. Several years prior, the USS Hermitage arrived at a California port with over 700 Polish refugees on board; the arrival was kept secret. The refugees were not allowed to stay on American soil but quickly sent across the Mexican border.
Who were these Poles? Suppressed during the Cold War by both the West and East, The Brief Sun is the incredible true story of General Anders' Army. Poles deported to Siberia after the Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939 were expected to perform slave labor until they died. But that changed when the nazis invaded Russia; the Poles were released to form an army to fight the nazis led by General Anders.
Men left Siberian labor camps half-starved and trained with wooden guns on their shoulders and rags on their feet to win back their homeland. They traversed Asia, Russia, the Middle East, and Africa developing into what future British Prime Minister Macmillan called "one of the greatest fighting units in World War II" winning battle after battle against Germany's finest soldiers and opening up the road to Rome for the Allies. An undefeated army in exile, they were betrayed when within reach of their homeland. After Yalta, they became an army without a nation.
Robert Ambros has written dozens of scientific publications as an associate professor of pathology, obstetrics and gynecology at the Albany Medical College in New York. Both sides of the author's family were deported from Eastern Poland, sent to Siberia, and went on to serve in Anders' Army. He resides in Slingerlands, New York.
For more information on this historical novel, please visit www.thebriefsun.com.
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