Polo Ross Brings Great Grandfather's WWII Memoir to Life

High school senior and author, Polo Altynski Ross, joins us to discuss his first book, a translation of his great grandfather’s memoir titled, The Polish Prince. Before his great grandfather, Zbigniew Janczewski, passed away in 2018, he learned that Ross had a great interest in his memoir. Because of this, he gave Ross his story to take care of so that his legacy could be carried on. Janczewski also gave Ross the liberty to change his story accordingly. With the help of his mother, Patrycza, he diligently translated all of the chapters, every word, every part of his great grandfather’s story, staying true to all his phrases and opinions and keeping its accuracy, from Polish to English.

The Polish Prince, set in eastern Poland, begins in 1939 when Janczewski is just 13 years old. It follows his life as he navigates the difficulties of surviving through WWII, from being captured and sent to work camps to his eventual escape. In spite of what he went through, Janczewski remained neutral. Ross remarked, “That’s, I guess, what makes the book special…he doesn’t pick on one side. So in the beginning of the war, he sees the Germans massacre even his friends. He sees that, first hand, and later in the war, he’s deported to Germany when the war is coming to an end, and he ends up having a German girlfriend who he cares for…” In addition, Janczewski also helped others during a time where he had access to food and many didn’t. He would sneak food to people at the risk of getting shot. From that experience, he learned, “I now see what bread could be for a man.”

What will Ross do with his great-grandfather’s story going forward? “…My end goal with this is it’s worth doing a documentary or movie about this…a documentary where you visit all of the places that he went… and then also an actual movie because I do believe it’s movie-worthy…That’s really the end goal, to make it into an actual movie and to just keep the story alive.”