“On December 25, 1991, the Soviet hammer and sickle flag lowered for the last time over the Kremlin, thereafter replaced by the Russian tricolor. Earlier in the day, Mikhail Gorbachev resigned his post as president of the Soviet Union, leaving Boris Yeltsin as president of the newly independent Russian state”.
I was commissioned by the First National Bank of Lublin to come to their city and assist retired Lublin Police Officers with executive protection training. They felt with the fall of the Soviet Union and the release of hundreds of unemployed skilled KGB agents that kidnapping for ransom would be an inevitable and realistic threat. I used the declassified information and training material that I received from NYPD and the Secret Service as the basis for my training program. I then had the training translated into Polish for teaching purposes.
First-class Airfare was provided and after a pleasant 9-hour trip I arrived in Warsaw. I loved the amenities of first class, hot hand /face towels, salmon appetizers, eye coverings, and a four-course meal. The airport had a strong Russian Influence and there were fighter jets and military aircraft co-mingled with commercial airline planes.
I was met by a limousine and transported through back roads to the town of Lublin. On the way, there were numerous OX-drawn turnips and cabbage carts slowing traffic to a crawl. We arrived in Lublin
About Lublin Poland
“Lublin is the ninth largest city in Poland and the second largest city of Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the center of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 349,103. Lublin Old Town is one of the most precious Polish complexes of historic buildings. The Crown Tribunal and the 14th-century Kraków Gate leading from the Old Town to the city center are commonly considered symbols of the city. I was told to beware of “Ruskey “- North wind from Russia and to bundle up. I was there in mid-January. GOOD ADVICE!!!
I stayed at a Four-Star Hotel I will tell you more about that later. Elizabeth met me at the front desk when I arrived she was my interpreter and worked for the Bank. She helped me with front desk coordination and went home. The lobby was no frills, clean and functional they had one TV that had a fixed station which was America MTV. This was in the day that MTV was edgy and wild with tatted, multicolored-haired freaky performers with multiple piercings. I was asked by the hotel clerk is this was what Americans look like. went to the elevator called a “Lift” in Poland and to my surprise it had no doors only one gate and was operated by an attendant. My room was small with one bed. The bed sat on a thick wood board and the mattress was about 4” thick. There was one window that was single pain by the bed and I could see the cold air come into my room in waves. There were plenty of plush blankets. Anyone who knows me I can sleep anywhere on anything and so I did that night and for the next 10 days. By the way, the hot water was out for 3 of my 14-day stay and the temperature never went above degrees during my time in Lublin. Executive protection training was presented through my interpreter Elizabeth at First Bank of Lublin’s Executive offices from 8a to 6p with a one and half hour Lunch, usually at a local pub or provided by the bank. There were 25 security officers all retired or former Polish Police Officers, including Gombala who was the Retired Chief of Police in Lublin. The Polish people's sense of Hospitality
Gombala invited me to his apartment for dinner. I was greeted by his wife of 35 years (a Nurse Practitioner at the local hospital), one 25-year-old daughter a lawyer who was married with one child, and a second 28-year-old married daughter who was a medical Doctor. They all lived together in a 6-room apartment unit in a large tenement building very similar in design to New York City Multi-building Multi-unit apartment houses in design. When we sat to eat a multi-course dinner I noticed the family all spoke in British vernacular and used verbiage consistent with the Brits’ verbiage i.e.: Lift -Elevator etc. They were a friendly, intelligent, handsome family with a strong Catholic faith. Also sitting with us for dinner was a Catholic Priest. There were five courses each course was met with a shot of Polish Vodka (really a shot in a half). Gombala told me he appreciated I was a family man. He drove me to my hotel and I slept like a vodka baby.
Executive protection training would be at the Military range. We did over 500 rounds of ammunition using various firearms to support real-life scenarios.
Majdanek Concentration Camp
After the training I was directed by my new friend retired Police Chief Gombala to come with him we wanted to show Majdanek Concentration Camp and explained this Holocaust atrocity. He continue and said over 100,000 Polish Catholics were put to death here for helping the Jews, gays, Blacks, Gypsy s, and others that were prisoners of the SS. The Polish people attempted to hide these German human targets in their homes at their own peril.
They were preserved in cage bins and plexiglass displays. I was told that the clothes were redistributed to new prisoners when their predecessors were killed. The most powerful sense for me was not visual, but the smell of the people that wore the clothes and shoes. The fact that I could smell it was unsettling and took me over emotionally. This trip, the location, the people, and the visit to the concentration allowed me a greater sense of international community and respect for the Polish People and the victims.
After the training was completed they had a gathering where they thanked me for my time. I was given Police related. Ribbons, and a book about Poland. I made new friends, and we stayed connected for years. As in any skill set that an instructor has, I realized a learned as much as I shared “All things are possible because anything can be learned”.