Author to tell of Nazi-fighting father at YSU

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

Best-selling author and television journalist Rita Crosby will speak at 7 p.m. Tuesday at McKay Auditorium, Beeghly Hall, at Youngstown State University about her new book, “Quiet Hero: Secrets from My Father’s Past.” The book pieces together the life of her father, who was a resistance fighter in Nazi-occupied Poland and later a German prisoner of war.

Crosby is a correspondent for the CBS newsmagazine “Inside Edition.” She uncovered pieces of her father’s life while going through mementos after her mother’s death. She knew he had left Poland after World War II and had many scars, but he would not answer questions about them.

“As a journalist, I’ve spoken with and investigated some of the most notable and notorious people on the planet, but I realized I had never focused my investigative skills on my own past,” said Crosby.

At age 13, her father — Ryszard Kossobudzki — saw his hometown of Warsaw destroyed by bombs. At 15, he joined the resistance. After being severely injured in battle, he was captured and sent to a POW camp near Dresden. He freed himself in a daring escape and was rescued by American forces.

Proceeds from Cosby’s book go toward the USO and Poland’s Warsaw Uprising and History of Polish Jews museums. Her book tour is being sponsored by the Ohio Chapter of the Kosciuszko Foundation and the Friends of Poland, a group at Kent State.