Marian was 17 when WW II started. Thanks to his ingenuity and many good-willed people plus a bit of luck, he was able to survive difficult times. In the book he remembers his school friends and family members. ...Those who escaped the Nazis by moving eastward were better off, but were facing other dangers. This was the fate of Marian...
Stalinist paranoia (of prevalent endangerment) caused deportations of polish inhabitants ... to Siberia.
Marian is describing USSR’s Siberia reality and his own experiences with acute observational skills.
Returning back to Poland is a dominating theme, after all.
...he became (by happenstance) Red Army soldier, and was assigned to I Army of Polish Armed Forces afterwards.
He reports on the absurdity of military live, with the same acute observational skills as above.
...was discharged in 1945 to start university studies. He was 23 years old by then, and I was born 8 years later, after he met my mother Wanda.

Ryszard Feldman