Page 10 - The Clare Connection_Summer 2019 Flipbook

RESIDENT PROFILE
Andy Poznanski
C lare resident Andy Poznanski has often been one step ahead.
Andy enjoys doodling, with
hands as the inspiration.
Andy Poznanski: One Step Ahead
He and his family were one step ahead of significant danger on several
occasions during World War II. He was a step ahead in certain aspects of
pediatric radiology, including the development of approaches to reduce
patient radiation exposure and the identification of genetic malformations.
Now, after a dramatic and challenging childhood and extensive career, Andy
resides at The Clare with his wife, Gail Margolis, enjoying personalized service,
excellent food at his fingertips and the company of wonderfully diverse and
thoughtful residents.
“I’m not really in a hurry anymore to go anywhere,” he says. But throughout his
life, that wasn’t always the case.
Evading World War II
As an 8-year-old in Poland when Germany attacked in September 1939, Andy
joined his sister and parents in trying to escape to the east.
They left Warsaw with a horse and wagon days after the invasion, only to
return when they heard Russia had also invaded Poland. His father believed
it would be easier to get out of Poland from the German side. During this
time, the family was caught between both warring parties and was subject to
bombing and strafing on the roads.
“I recall how frightened we were fleeing first to the east, hiding in the forest,
encountering German troops, and after returning to Warsaw, having our house
searched by the Gestapo,” Andy says.
An uncle, who was the Consul General of Poland living in London with
connections to various embassies, then arranged for a visa and false
documents to enable the family to leave occupied Poland in February 1940.
Andy was told that his family had one hour prior to boarding a train to Italy,
and eventually to France. His father, a civil engineer, obtained a job working
on a dam construction in Algeria, then a Department of France. However, no
sooner had they arrived in Algiers that France fell to the Germans and the
job ended. Fortunately, the funds advanced for their travel to the new job
were enough to provide them with basic support despite severe rationing in
the country.
Initially in Algeria, the German military presence was light, and life calmed
down for Andy and his family. Andy attended school and learned French.
“I remember Algiers as being a lovely place to live,” Andy says.
Again one step ahead, just as the German presence began to increase
dramatically, his father secured a job in Canada, a country seeking engineers
for the war effort. In July 1942, they traveled across the Atlantic Ocean on a
Portuguese ship that had been leased by an American Jewish organization to
help refugees flee Europe. The ship unloaded its passengers in Baltimore, where
they took a train to their new home in Canada – first Ottawa, then Montreal.