Joseph Stanley Wardzala, Connecticut, USA. Joseph was from Œmigno, Poland, taken out to Germany for forced labor in 1941. He taught in DP camp schools in Germany from 1945-50 at which time he came to the USA.
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"Coming to Canada was like coming to heaven…in England there was rationing and there was hardly any food you could buy. I was lucky as my landlady’s son was a butcher and her daughter had a grocery store… but still, the English cooking…”
Tadeusz M¹czka, Ontario, Canada. Born 1927 in Tarnów, Poland, deported to Russia in 1939, lived in the Middle East from 1942-46, worked in England from 1946-53, emigrated to Canada in 1953.
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"I was afraid to write to my mother (from Austria to Poland) because of the possibility of repercussions... I found out that the communists were against families who had someone who did not return. I eventually wrote a letter and sent it with a fellow who was returning to Poland. He gave my letter with my address to my mother and she started writing. My family did not know what had happened to me from '44 to '47."
Jósef Poœlinski, b. 1927 in Czchów, Poland, deported to Austrian concentration camp in 1944. Lived in Austrian DP camp from 1945-49 at which time he emigrated to the USA. Jósef lives in New York State, USA.
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“We had to fight for everything we got, (immediately after liberation), we were on our own. There was an interest in the children and education. Although they had suffered themselves they (former camp inmates) organized the schools.. the Soviet Government was trying to break-up this education in Germany and disagreements broke out amongst teachers whether or not to go back to Poland.”
Victor Bik, FL, USA. He was taken in 1942 for forced labor, and then, due to his Underground connections, to concentration camps in Germany in 1944. After liberation he stayed in Germany to study and then emigrated to the USA in 1950.
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"We did not return home (after the War) but decided to study (in Germany) and then moved into the unknown... we knew the Bolsheviks well... that they were ruling Poland was enough for us... it eliminated any possibility of a return to Poland. Where we went was more a result of accident as opposed to planning. It just had to outside Europe as anywhere in Europe was too close to the Communists.
There was a period of time at the beginning (after liberation) when the English wanted everyone to return to their homelands… but when Churchill announced (1946) the existence of the Iron Curtain, he finally realized who he was dealing with, from that time they stopped pressurizing us to go back. They understood that we were right that we didn’t want to return.”
Zbigniew M Haszlakiewicz, b. Stolin, Poland, POW in Germany 1943-45, attended a German University 1945-50, 1951 emigrated to the USA. His one sister was also taken to a concentration camp to Germany but returned to Poland after the War as she had young children who were living there.
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“There was written propaganda… trying to persuade us to return (to Poland)… even Churchill told us that it was our responsibility to return… the news from Poland was very… we struggled with our consciences as to whether or not to return… but the news from Poland was very, very unfavorable… we heard that our friends had been arrested, especially those from the Home Army, and deported to Russia, and (living) conditions created by Communists were hard…”
Lech Ha³ko, Ontario, Canada. Lech was from Warszawa, deported to Germany as a POW in 1944. He was with the II Corpus in Italy 1945-46, demobilized and studied in England 1946-53, emigrated to Canada in 1953.
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Karlsbroke-Forstner, Germany, 1945-46. First Holy Communion picture of Irene, Chester and Bo¿enna Urbanowicz.
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“My brother was a doctor, taken into the medical corps in £ódŸ (after the War), and they (the authorities) decided that his year would stay in the medical corps for good on active duty… he didn’t want to because he hated the Communist Government. He wrote to me: “Could you write to me now at this address” and gave his military address. I thought he must be crazy, that they would arrest him immediately if they saw a letter from England… I didn’t bother… maybe he was forced to write that.
When I met him in ’63, (first return to Poland after the War), he said: “Why didn’t you write to me? If a showed a letter like this to them (the authorities), they would have expelled me straight away.” This was exactly what he had wanted!"
Stanley J. Sagan, Ontario, Canada. Born 1926 in Warszawa, Poland, various German concentration camps 1944-45, Italy 1945-46, England 1946-56, emigrated to Canada 1956.
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"Sometime in 1947-48 we found out that our mother survived the concentration camps and was searching for us in Poland. I began writing very emotional letters asking many questions. I was also sending pictures of us to show her how we had grown since the last time she saw us in 1944. I would ask her so many questions that were always unanswered. She wrote back telling me not to ask so many questions... Only after we were reunited in 1957 in America did I learn why she could not answer. It was very dangerous for her to complain about life in Poland. She was hoping to eventually join us in the USA.
Bo¿enna Urbanowicz Gilbride, New York, USA. Born 1934 in Leonowka, Poland. Deported in 1943 to a German labor camp, her mother was taken to concentration camps, Ravenbrick and Gros-Rosen; 1945 Karlsruhe-Forstner DP Camp in Germany; 1947 emigrated to the USA; 1957 reunited with her mother in the USA.
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“There was chaos in the Polish Corps after the War… it was difficult to drop all the hopes and dreams... reality set in that Poland was to be a puppet state of Russia…. There was despair, simply despair….100,000 people under arms, hardened combat soldiers… some people didn’t know what to do with themselves… the upper ranks were telling us to stay in the ranks as there would be war with Russia and that we’d be marching in the Victory Parade in Warszawa… some people committed suicide.”
Romuald Lipinski of Virginia, USA. Deported from BrzeϾ in 1941, he went to join the II Polish Corps in 1942, traveled and served in the Middle East, 1943-46 was stationed in Italy, 1946-51 he was in England and finally emigrated to the USA in 1951.
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Polish Gimnazjum in Teheran, Iran, 1942. Submitted by Mr. Romuald Lipinski of Virginia, USA. Mr. Lipinski was born in BrzeϾ, Poland, deported to Russia in 1941, went to school in Iran and then joined the Polish Army. He was in Italy from 1943-46, 1946-51 in England and then emigrated to the USA in 1951.
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