Remembering the past – protecting the present
Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum Archives
4 min read
Security guard Marcus Burdyszek has an extraordinary – and tragic – family history. He tells Noa Hoffman how honoured he was to represent his grandfather at Parliament’s Holocaust Memorial Day
As a security guard, Marcus Burdyszek is less well-known around Parliament than the many high-profile politicians he shares a workspace with. But those who have met the 58-year-old will tell you he is every bit as enthusiastic about his job as the MPs, peers and staff he works to keep safe.
At 6ft 7in (204cm), Burdyszek may appear intimidating at first sight, but the security guard has gained a reputation as one of Westminster’s cheeriest inhabitants. Indeed, it was because of his friendly demeanour that Burdyszek was invited to attend Parliament’s Holocaust Memorial Day service last month. With a close family connection to the Second World War, participating in the event was an experience Burdyszek cherished.
“It was lovely to be invited because, in inverted commas, I’m just a lowly security officer of Parliament,” Burdyszek says.
“I felt a little bit awkward at first, but I felt emotional too, because I knew what was coming.”
Burdyszek joined Parliament’s security team four years ago after spending more than three decades as a primary school teacher. When his daughter Anna left for university, the history and politics enthusiast decided the time was right for a career change, and searched on the House of Commons website for posts in London’s most iconic building. On arrival, Burdyszek began befriending a wide range of staff across Parliament between shifts. And, as a book lover, he was delighted to be given access to the parliamentary libraries.
“When I was doing my training, I was a bit cheeky in a nice way and I went and knocked on the head librarian’s door in the Lords.
“After a bit of friendly negotiation, I got special permission to read in the Lords’ Library Corridor.”
Burdyszek shared with his new friends the story of his grandfather, Marcin, who was taken to Auschwitz as a political prisoner in late 1941.
Tall like his grandson, Marcin was involved in the Polish resistance against the Nazis. He was eventually caught “because he stuck out like a sore thumb” thanks to his height, but the captee’s stature and strength meant he was put to work in Auschwitz rather than being sent immediately to the gas chambers. For more than a year Marcin laboured under inhumane conditions – documents uncovered later show that due to his “useful” stature, the Nazis occasionally offered him “benefits” such as aspirin.
But in April 1943, Marcin died while still a prisoner. His children, who survived him, escaped to England. Burdyszek’s father Gabriel, aged 17, travelled through Romania before boarding a ship to Harwich, Essex. In his newfound home he went on to join the Polish squadron of the British bomber command.
More than 18,000 men and women served in the squadron, which now has a memorial in Ruislip, west London.
When the war ended, Gabriel went back to Poland for a year before escaping eastern Europe for a second time to return to England. In the UK he worked in the steel industry, then trained as a nurse in Tunbridge Wells, where he met his wife, and landed a job in the Home Office.
Gabriel would often recount his wartime experiences as Burdyszek grew up.
“Most men who have been through a war are one of two extremes: they either talk about it a lot or they don’t talk about it at all.
“My dad talked about it a lot, so obviously it had a big impact on me growing up.”
Burdyszek says he does not feel haunted by the horrors his family endured in the past, but is proud of their strength and courage.
And he is not the only member of the family whose life has been touched by history and conflict. Burdyszek met his 6ft 4in (195cm) wife, Anita, at the Tall Persons of Great Britain club in 1997. She was also a refugee, having escaped Sarajevo by helicopter in 1995, the final year of the Bosnian War.
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