> Longin’s young life was difficult and dangerous. He was born in a small village in Poland, orphaned at the age of 8, and thereafter raised by relatives. Longin showed academic promise in grade school, and was selected by his teacher to participate in a highly competitive Polish national scholarship program that supported the education of gifted children from rural villages, enabling Longin to attend middle school in a larger town, followed by high school in the city of Vilnius. In 1939, when WWII closed the schools, 15-year-old Longin fled toward the west – away from the Soviets but into the clutches of the Nazis – and spent more than 5 years in forced labor in Germany, before being liberated by the U.S. Army.
1 Comment
From an [obituary of his father](https://www.knightfuneralhomes.com/obituary/2457074):
> Longin’s young life was difficult and dangerous. He was born in a small village in Poland, orphaned at the age of 8, and thereafter raised by relatives. Longin showed academic promise in grade school, and was selected by his teacher to participate in a highly competitive Polish national scholarship program that supported the education of gifted children from rural villages, enabling Longin to attend middle school in a larger town, followed by high school in the city of Vilnius. In 1939, when WWII closed the schools, 15-year-old Longin fled toward the west – away from the Soviets but into the clutches of the Nazis – and spent more than 5 years in forced labor in Germany, before being liberated by the U.S. Army.