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The Betrayed War Hero
The Gripping True Story of a Combat Veteran
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A daughter uncovers the hidden life of a decorated World War II hero—and the devastating legacy of war trauma and political betrayal that shaped generations
When Nadia Rupniak buried her father, she believed she knew the man who had ruled her childhood with harsh discipline and an explosive temper. Only after his death did she discover that he had been a highly decorated Polish officer and World War II hero who had lived for decades in secrecy, exile, and unresolved trauma.
The Betrayed War Hero reconstructs the extraordinary life of a soldier who witnessed the brutal deaths of comrades in battle, lost family members to Soviet deportation, and saw his homeland sacrificed in the political aftermath of the war. Determined to liberate Poland, he fought alongside Allied forces across Europe, only to find that the victory he had risked everything for would not restore his country or his family. Unable to return home and fearful for relatives living under communist rule, he concealed his military achievements and the scale of his suffering for more than sixty years.
Blending memoir, biography, and psychological analysis, Rupniak traces the lasting impact of war trauma and moral injury on veterans and their families. Drawing on archival research, family documents, and her own experience as a scientist specializing in psychiatric and neurological disorders, she offers an intimate, uniquely informed insight into silence, resilience, and intergenerational trauma. The book also brings overdue attention to the vital yet often overlooked role of Polish servicemen in defeating Nazi Germany and the geopolitical betrayals that followed.
Compelling and timely, The Betrayed War Hero is both an intimate family story and a broader meditation on memory, exile, and the hidden costs of war. It will resonate with readers of narrative history, memoir, and works exploring the psychological aftermath of conflict.
"This work by Dr Nadia Rupniak is an important addition to the canon of Polish military and social history. It is also a study of the mental health of survivors of extreme trauma. It is a hidden history. Hidden for many reasons: none good."—Evan McGilvray
This provocative and absorbing book tells two compelling stories. First, it recounts how Poland was betrayed by its British allies during World War II and its aftermath. Second, how that betrayal destroyed a Polish war hero and his family. As told by his daughter, it is a riveting example of what tragic consequences may affect individuals and their families when war-related PTSD is neither acknowledged nor treated.—Matthew J. Friedman MD, PhD, Emeritus Professor and Vice Chair for Research, Department of Psychiatry, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth; Former (and First) Executive Director, National Center for PTSD, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs; Former Director and Founder, National PTSD Brain Bank, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
Nadia Rupniak holds a BA in Physiology and Psychology from the University of Oxford and a PhD from the Institute of Psychiatry, London. A scientist known for developing new treatments for psychiatric and neurological disorders, she is the author of more than 140 peer-reviewed publications. Her work has appeared in Science and has been featured in The Wall Street Journal.
G. Kurt Piehler (Foreword By)
G. Kurt Piehler is the author of A Religious History of the American GI in World War II (2021) and several reference works related to war and society. He is a member of the editorial board of the Service Newspapers of World War II digital publication (Adam Mathews) and on the advisory board of the NEH-funded American Soldier Project at Virginia Tech University (americansoldierww2.org).
