On December 25, 1991, the Soviet hammer-and-sickle flag was lowered for the last time over the Kremlin. The collapse left First National Bank of Lublin worried that newly unemployed KGB agents might pose kidnapping-for-ransom threats to bank executives. They commissioned an executive protection program with retired Polish police officers — and I was the trainer they hired.
I arrived in Warsaw on a first-class flight and was driven by limousine through the Polish countryside, where ox-drawn carts still slowed traffic. Lublin, the ninth-largest Polish city, served as the training location.
The Training Experience
My four-star hotel had one elevator operated by an attendant, small rooms with thin mattresses, single-pane windows, and intermittent hot water during a frigid January stay. Training ran eight hours a day with 25 retired and active police officers, including former Police Chief Gombala.
Cultural Connections
Gombala invited me to a multi-course dinner with his family — a lawyer daughter, a doctor daughter, and a Catholic priest. The meal featured five courses accompanied by shots of Polish vodka.
The hands-on portion took place at a military range, where we ran realistic protection scenarios and burned through more than 500 rounds of ammunition.
Majdanek Concentration Camp
Gombala guided me through Majdanek, where over 100,000 Polish Catholics perished for protecting persecuted groups. The preserved clothing and shoes left a profound sensory impression — the smell of the people who wore those clothes and shoes proved emotionally overwhelming.
The experience deepened my appreciation for the Polish people and for Holocaust victims. The training concluded with a gathering where I received police ribbons and a Poland history book — and friendships that lasted for years.