On July 6, 1944, the Soviet army drove the German occupying forces from the small town of Szczebrzeszyn in eastern Poland. Sadly, it soon became clear that this "liberation" was simply the beginning of a new occupation. As the Polish people struggled against the Soviets, Dr. Zygmunt Klukowski, superintendent of the county hospital in Szczebrzeszyn, was in the thick of the action, meeting with partisan fighters and helping to plot and record their activities.

All the while, he kept a meticulous secret diary of life under the Soviet occupation, which for him included two prison terms for "crimes against the people." Many of his friends died, and his own son Tadeusz was executed for antigovernment activities. Dr.

Klukowski's diary - located in 1991 after an extensive search and translated by his son George and grandson Andrew - is a vivid recounting of the Polish resistance, marked by tragedy, triumph, and the strong will of the people in the face of brutal occupation.