Under False Pretences

This book tells the story of the Krzeminski family in Poland, the effect the Nazi and Soviet regimes had on them, and their subsequent life in Australia.

Before 1945 the family name was Skrzypczak. They had already spent five years successfully deceiving the Nazi Gestapo. Now, with three small children, they faced the wrath of the secret police of the KGB. This was the most thorough and effective security and intelligence service in the world, and the most ruthless. It had already murdered many millions of people and was in the process of murdering countless more.

It was a matter of life or death, so using whatever means it took, including perjury, forgery and bribery, the Skrzypczaks changed their identity in the spring of 1945 and their name became Krzeminski. The family, in effect, became new people.