Eulogy Jan Milik written by his son Stefan

Jan Eugene Milik was born in Seroczyn, Poland on Thursday 27

th
March
192! The "ourth child o" #$e, little is known o" his early years and
e%&eriences but he would recall how 'uch he lo$ed his 'other and how
&roud he was o" his "ather ( a 'e'ber o" &arlia'ent in the Polish
Parlia'ent, the Se)'!
*o'ing "ro' an agricultural en$iron'ent le"t a $ery dee& i'&ression on
hi' 'ani"esting itsel" in his great lo$e o" gardening and growing his own
"ruit and $eg! +ee kee&ing was also so'ething he beca'e $ery interested
in and , a' sure we would all agree that the honey he &roduced was
absolutely gorgeous!
1
st
Se&te'ber 19-9 is a date that all &atriotic Poles recall with great
sadness! .ro' the west, the 1/// year 0eich began the carnage that
would engul" the world and result in 12 'illion deaths! Two days later his
brother Ste"an "ell de"ending Poland and in 19- his "ather, beaten hal" to
death by the 2er'ans, also &assed away! 3s a &atriotic &ole and as a
young 'an o" 14, in 19-9, he "ound hi'sel" gun s'uggling and running
errands "or the underground 'o$e'ent! This took courage! 0e'e'ber, i"
you were caught it wasn5t only your li"e that was at risk, but, your whole
"a'ily!
3s the war continued and reached 19, Jan had by this ti'e )oined the
3r'ia 6ra)owa ( the Polish 7o'e 3r'y! 8n the 1
st
3ugust 19 he along
with 'any thousands o" Poles, "ought to "ree 9arsaw "ro' their 2er'an
o$erlords! 7e so'eti'es would recall so'e o" the scenes that he
witnessed, the "ear he e%&erienced and his dee& res&ect "or the courage
o" ordinary &eo&le caught in e%traordinary circu'stances! , o"ten think
that his socialist belie"s were borne out o" these ti'es and he held the'
to the $ery end! 7e always "elt 'ore co'"ortable with ordinary &eo&le
than those with the tra&&ings o" wealth or &retentions to class!
+ut all wars co'e to an end and the &ieces o" a shattered Euro&e need to
be built again by those who had &re$iously held guns! Jan ended his war in
a 2er'an work ca'& at , xxxxx. :iberated by the 3'ericans in 3&ril
194, he "ollowed the Polish 3r'y to ,taly where he enrolled at the
Technical *ollege at Turin to co'&lete so'e o" his broken education! +y
197, the 7o'e 3r'y was disbanded but &olitical e$ents in Eastern
Euro&e 'ade it di;cult "or hi' to return to Poland so he took the shi& to
England like so 'any others to build a new li"e!
8n the shi& to England he was gi$en 1 shilling by an English sailor who
wished hi' the best o" luck, <,t5s a good li"e =ere 'ate> he was told, and
indeed it was! :earning enough English in 9 'onths to &ass the then "airly
rigorous entrance e%a's to the ?ni$ersity o" :ondon5s Polish *ollege he
started his degree in *he'ical Engineering, graduating in 1942! ,t was a
career he lo$ed and it so suited his &ractical and design inclinations!
+y this ti'e he had 'et and 'arried his #rst wi"e @ella and had his #rst
son Marek Ste"an! Two years later in 194- 3nn Auita was born and in 1947
his third Ste"an Jan! +uilding a ho'e #rst in Southa'&ton and then
Sidcu&, tragedy struck his li"e when @ella died in 1911! 3"ter struggling as
a one &arent "a'ily, he 'arried 3nna in 191B ( a 'arriage that lasted 4
years and together thay had a daughter, JacCueline Dolanta!
There were other "a'ily tragedies in the inter$ening yearsE Marek died in
a car crash in 1991 and 3nn o" cancer in 2//-! These hit hi' $ery hard!
3nn5s death ca'e at the sa'e ti'e as his 3lzhei'er5s began to take its
re'orseless gri& on his &syche! There were also so'e highlightsE
re&resenting his work at +uckingha' Palace when they won the
Fueen5s award "or ,ndustry "or inno$ati$e design o" a north sea oil
&lat"or'G he wasn5t i'&ressed by the 0oyalsHI
being honoured by Poland, twice, "or his eJorts in the war
7e de$elo&ed a dee& "aith as the years went on and was so &roud he li$ed
to see a Polish &o&e ( so'eone his brother knew while he was studying in
the Ponti#cal +iblical ,nstitute in 0o'e! 7e was, in 'any ways, a dee&ly
co'&le% &erson with an inner strength and a #r' will! 8nce a course o"
action was decided the road would be "ollowed re'orselessly! 3 strength
or weakness ( or 'aybe both!

:i"e gradually di'inished "or hi' o$er the &ast 1/ years ( both 'entally
and &hysically! :ike all suJerers, he slowly receded into the background o"
li"e and "a'ily be"ore his #nal breath on the 1
st
8ctober!
,t is i'&ossible to su' u& a li"e ( so 'any contradictions and you could
al'ost hear hi' say along with an author who once saidE K, a'
astonished, disa&&ointed, &leased with 'ysel"! , a' distressed, de&ressed,
ra&turous! , a' all these things at once and cannot add u& the su'!K 8ne
greater than all o" us will be his #nal )udge!
9hat we re'e'ber o" Jan5s li"e is so deter'ined by our interactions with
hi', so in one sense there are 'any Jan Miliks! So'e are co'&li'entary,
so'e are not! +ut as we look at his co;n, we can be sure o" one thing,
that they are all now only 'e'ories to be dealt with by each one o" us in
our own way in our own ti'e!