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Mieczysław
Andrzej is Danuta’s husband and Magda Zawadzka’s father. During the war, Andrzej belonged to the Polish execution squad and was responsible for recruiting Peter to the squad. With the picture in her mind of Andrzej as a young, debonair war hero, Magda is surprised by Andrzej’s thinness when she makes her first visit to Poland. Having witnessed how the war changed Poland, Andrzej disdains the Soviet Union’s peace offering to Poland—the Palace of Culture and Science they built in Warsaw after the war. Similarly, when the Israel-Palestine conflict erupts, Andrzej is outraged by the Palestinian cause: having witnessed the brutality of the Holocaust, he adamantly supports the Jews’ right to a homeland.
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Andrzej Character Timeline in Reckoning
The timeline below shows where the character Andrzej appears in Reckoning. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 4: My Father’s People
...founded a private army to weaken German forces however he could. In 1943, Peter’s brother-in-law, Andrzej, recruited him to a Polish execution squad. Peter’s unit, Unit 993/W, answered to the Polish...
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Chapter 20: Thresholds
...stay. The phone rings and rings; Magda is reflecting that God ignores Poland’s prayers when Andrzej picks up. Afraid her time will run out, Magda explains in German that she is...
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Chapter 21: Warsaw
An hour later, Andrzej picks Magda up in his car. Anticipating the hero who had joined the resistance during...
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Andrzej and Danuta’s tiny flat is filled with objects from Andrzej’s naval post in Shanghai. Danuta...
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...her from her cousin; after the war, four decades of a communist regime oppressed Poland; Andrzej, as a former member of the Underground Army was under heavy scrutiny. Often, Magda overhears...
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...someone one has never met. To make up for what Magda has missed, Danuta and Andrzej shower her with affection and introduce her to old friends.
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...cry. Danuta gives Magda copies of the photos, which Magda tucks into her money belt. Andrzej returns and turns on the TV; footage of Israel invading Lebanon plays. Outraged, Andrzej asks...
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Chapter 25: Shadow in the Amber
...Magda while a man—who happens to be her ex-husband—photographs her. When Magda rejoins her family, Andrzej shows her the graves of Girl Scouts—the first to be killed by the Nazis.
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Chapter 31: The Little Jewish Boy
...a Jew was death; when a childhood friend of Peter’s sought shelter at the Szubanskis’, Andrzej rebuked him for endangering the family.
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Chapter 40: Women’s Conspiracy
Andrzej is now dead, and Danuta—now in her 90s—is losing her memory, so Magda knows that...
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Chapter 42: Epilogue
...recliners. Magda wishes that Peter were there. She also wishes that Meg, Luke, Jadwiga, Mieczysław, Andrzej and Danuta were there: she wants to tell them how well Peter readied her for...
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