The pilot who survived a family massacre to reach the stars
In short: Before he was the 89th human in space, Mirosław Hermaszewski was an 18-month-old survivor of a brutal ethnic cleansing. His journey from a war-torn village in Ukraine to the Salyut 6 space station is a remarkable saga of resilience, aviation mastery, and cosmic discovery.
Mirosław Hermaszewski’s early life was marked by profound tragedy. Born in 1941 in Lipniki, he was just 18 months old when the Volhynian slaughter occurred. During the night of 26–27 March 1943, the Ukrainian Insigent Army attacked his village, murdering 19 members of his family, including his father. Hermaszewski survived, and his mother escaped with the help of Ukrainian women from a neighboring village who provided her shelter.
His path to the stars began with a passion for aviation. After being relocated to Wołów following the war, he taught himself model aircraft construction and eventually completed gliding and pilot training. By 1976, he was selected from 500 military pilots for the Interkosmos programme. The selection process was grueling: candidates were narrowed from 120 to five, and at one point, psychological testing required completing 998 tests in a single day.
In June 1978, Hermaszewski launched aboard the Soviet Soyuz 30 spacecraft alongside Pyotr Klimuk. During their eight-day mission aboard the Salyut 6 station, they orbited the Earth 126 times and conducted eleven international experiments. His flight triggered a massive propaganda campaign in the Eastern Bloc, resulting in the production of 220,000 books about his mission in 1978 alone.
Beyond his technical achievements, Hermaszewski’s legacy is one of reconciliation. Despite the trauma of his childhood, he publicly rejected nationalist grudges, advocating for a unified human identity. He remained a significant figure in Polish aviation and space exploration until his death in December 2022, leaving behind a legacy that continues to inspire new generations of Polish astronauts.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Mirosław Hermaszewski
- Also: Wikidata — Mirosław Hermaszewski · CC0
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