Slav was also a great guide to me and my 11-year old daughter through Lwow,
Brody and Wojnilow in early 2006.

Stefan Wisniowski
Sydney Australia

...I would strong;y recommend that you contact Slav at
http://www.lvivecotour.com/index.php?/welcome/
...
Michael Kulik
Walsall England

Thank you for this information, Jagna.  As the other
members have stated, it would be wonderful if you
could include this information on the Kresy-Siberia
site.  I have also looked in PRO records for the PAI
force, but nothing comes up.  Do you remember the name
of any of the officers mentioned in the report?  It
might be easier to look up information on those
people.  (Two years ago I had to produce a death
certificate for someone I was research, but I did get
the full records of that person, so it is possible.)

Thank you.  Linda

--- jagna8@... wrote:

> I think the British units were called the PAI Force,
> which is Persian
> and Iraqi Force, posted there to protect oil fields.
> I have somewhere a
> several page TOP SECRET report by one of its
> officers to the Foreign
> Office, describing the arrival of the Polish
> skeletons. The 'top
> secret' aspect of the whole Siberian story started
> as early as that...
> Jagna Wright
>


__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com

Thank you again for your help Antoni.  As I just
mentioned in my reply to Jagna, any information about
the first arrivals would be greatly appreciated at
this site, as it would add to everyone's knowledge.

I menitoned that your friend whose unit was involved
with the camp at Pahlevi recently died.  Do you
remember any other people in the British Army who were
involved at that time?  Do any other names come to
mind?

Thank you again.  Linda

--- ANTONI KAZIMIERSKI <askazimierski@...>
wrote:

> Jagna, Linda and others,
> It is just a pity this question did not come up few
> months ago. It was then that I lost a friend who
> died and would have answered this question.
> He was a major in the British Army and his unit was
> part of the force concerned with installing all
> sorts of things in1941/42 ; namely tented
> areas,fumigation points and washing/latrine
> facilities,admin blocks,telephonic communications,
> water storage and mobile ( field)kitchen
> facilities.Because these camps were for the civilian
> use as well, clothing stores and medical facilities
> also had to be provided.Naturally the provison of
> food was both local and in some instances from South
> Africa and Rhodesias.People do not realise that
> drinking water was stored in canvas tanks above
> ground (egzample at Habbanyja) and water had to be
> brought in from wells.The only time we saw Persians
> when they were on guard duty at the airfield in
> Teheran.Naturally as soon as the Polish contigents
> started to arrive the whole lot was handed over to
> our control.I arrived early in 1942 (end of March).
> The logistics of it all were unbelievable!
> My friend's unit was part of the Royal Corps of
> Signals - a section known as the Royal Mechanical
> and Electrical Engineers and they were stationed in
> Persia,Irak,Syria,Palestine and Egypt.Part of the
> 8th Army.
> Some of the transport was by detachments of the
> British Indian Army-mainly Sikh drivers.
> As far as I know some of the bases were already in
> British control post the First World War, but I am
> not sure how far back in 1930th this was. I know
> that the Habbanyja base was established by the
> British for their Air Force, early in 1935 or6.This
> also applies to the Palestinian sites.
> Britain had its connections in that area for many
> years, because of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company.
> Regarding the Red Cross-well as I know they were
> there but not in any organising capacity; their main
> concern was to re-unite people who were so
> dislocated and lost.Many doctors were British or
> Indian and soon Polish medics helped as well.
> antoni530


__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com

Slav is my HERO - over and above what I would expect him to do [going to
hotels with camera and tape measure to make sure that I can get my w/chair
around] I went last year with him, and I'm off again very soon to see
family. Without him, I would never have met all *19* of my family
Linder

----- Original Message -----

From: Elizabeth Olsson

To: Kresy-Siberia@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Sunday, June 04, 2006 5:16 PM

Subject: RE: [Kresy-Siberia] Rail Journey

Here’s the list of name places my Mum wrote about in her diary. She started it when she was deported, 14 yrs old.

 

Danuta’s route: Poland to London

DANUTA  GRADOSIELSKA ( nee MĄCZKA).

21 October 1939 Evicted from: Osada Krechowiecka, District Równe,  Province Wołyń, Poland.

Lived in Tuczyn on the river Horyń, 6 km. from our Osada.

10th February 1940 Deported by train via

Lubomirka station

Równe

Zdołbunów, change to Soviet cattle wagons which run on wider tracks.

Iwanko station

cross the Polish border

Szepetówka.

Orzenin

Korosten

Owrucz

river Prypeć

Dniepr Bridge

Homel

Briansk

Orzel

River Don. start to veer north

Karaczew

Aleksandrowka

Rybne.

Holworsk

Woskriesensk.

Likino

Oriechowo

Pokrowa

Pietruszki

Untow.

Wlademir

Gorki.

frozen River Vołga

Kirow

Sobotkow

27 Feb KOTŁAS, on a frozen River Dwina. We leave the wagons, sleep in a school

By sledges, cross to the far bank of the frozen Dwina. 25 km to

Priwodino and sleep that night in an Orthodox church now turned into a club.

travel on the narrow gauge railway then sledges deep in the forest.

1. posiołek Kotowalsk about 200 people, in one set of barracks.

moved to another posiołek (small settlement) about 4 km from Kotowalsk. by sledge

2. Stacja Molodych (The Station of Youth)

3.  15 April 1940 travel by train to camp Monastyrek, close to Priwodina on the River Dwina (saw-mill)

 

the Soviet and German war began 22.6.41. Amnesty

27 Dec 41 receive release papers.

sledges to Kotłas

By train: Kirow

Zuyowka

Molotow

Kama

Szalja

Kuzma

Hropik

Swierdowsk - near the Ural Mountains

Elektrostancja

Czelyabińsk

Kartal

Aktibińsk

River Syr-Daria

Turkistan

Arys

Tashkent

Dżalal-abad near Chinese border

Jordan valley

Gorzewo

Bagish

Andizhan

Kagan

Turkestan

22 Feb  G u z a r - the Polish army

25 Feb Joined Women’s Auxiliary Service (at age 16!)

Aschabad

28  March first military transport to Krasnovodsk near the Caspian Sea

by ship to  Pahlevi, Persia  30 March

come under British Command in the Middle East.

Kazwin

Camp No.1 in Teheran

18 May ill with typhoid fever (3 months in hospital)

 

working in Transport Office.

Iraq (where two transport companies were formed)

Palestine (Army Transport course, driving of heavy vehicles)

drove to Egypt to collect vehicles at Te-Elkabir and drive them to Palestine.

served in No.316 Transport Company PWSK (234 total strength)

 

Ship (Batory) to Taranto, Italy 4 May 1944

Served in the Italy Campaign delivering supplies (+petrol, ammunition) to the second line of the front and on the way back taking war prisoners to the camps.

San Giorgio. (Army Grammar School)

By ship to Liverpool, UK 18 Aug 1946

PKPR camp in Foxley  near Hereford Hermitage Camp, Newbury.

Forest Gate, London

 

 

pozdrowienia

Elzunia Olsson

Sweden

Gallery Administrator

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Kresy-Siberia@yahoogroups.com [mailto:Kresy-Siberia@yahoogroups.com]On Behalf Of Dave Lichtenstein
Sent: Sunday, June 04, 2006 6:37 AM
To: Kresy-Siberia@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [Kresy-Siberia] Rail Journey

 

Elzunia

 

I concur with Lynda's sentiments - what an amazing map.  Just regarding the little parts of my mother's journey which I am aware of as shown on your map.  After escaping from the Nazi invasion in the West my mother and grandmother were captured by the Soviets on crossing the River Bug.  In addition to death and destruction, these totalitarian regimes tended to separate families as my mother and grandmother were imprisoned separately - I know little of the latter's journey.   My mother was jailed in Minsk (not shown on the map) and my grandmother in Kiev (shown on the map).   My mother was subsequently moved to Odessa (not shown on the map) to Kharkov (shown on the map) and subsequently to Novosibirsk (which I cannot identify on the map either).  Then we have all the "Stan" States which my mother mentioned including locations such as Karaganda, Tashkent and Buzuluk.

 

Dave Lichtenstein

Sydney, Australia

Lynda Kraar <guitargirl4scrabble@...> wrote:

Elzunia --

 

Your map is AMAZING. Thanks for sharing that link!

 

Lynda

Hi Dave

If you have a look at my Mum’s route map you’ll get an idea of how your Mum’s journey could have been.

http://www.kresy-siberia.org/gallery/Elzunia-Olsson/DG_s_route_map

 

I suppose Antoni that there weren’t that many different train routes to choose from? Does this follow the Trans-Siberian rail line?

 

pozdrowienia

Elzunia Olsson

 Send instant messages to your online friends http://au.messenger.yahoo.com

TO ALL;

There will be a radio interview regarding the Autograph Book Project
between Idalia Blaszczyk (Host of the radio Station in Chicago wnvt
am 1030  and also possibly on wrkl am 910 New York at about 6 PM on
6/5/06) and Mr. Wesley Adamczyk (my partner in this project) and
myself. There will also be articles in the Australian newspaper and
the White Eagle newspaper in New York in the coming days. Please
keep an eye out for them and please send me copies.

I flew to Chicago a few days ago to meet with Mr. Adamczyk about our
progress regarding the autograph book project and our planned
conference.  Mr. Adamczyk selected a group of prominent Polish
people who were not deported to Russia to give us an evaluation of
our project and at the same time reduce the number of pages from
1200 to 150 so that we can take the next step and at the same time
to be able to manage the material easier. These individuals were
selected from a wide variety of Poles to give us an unbiased review
of the material and help define the direction and the scope of the
project. We wanted to make sure that we could do justice to the
project and to gain different views other then from the past Polish
deportees to Russian gulags or slave/death camps.

The conference was held in three four hour sessions over Saturday
and Sunday to accommodate all the people invited.. We were given
much advice and support. We hit a "Home Run" and confirmed that we
were on the right track and that it is an unprecedented project in
scope and effort. When completed, the project will shed a new light
on our proud nation, its proud and loving people and our culture and
our history during the time leading up to, including and years after
the WW2 era.

We also held a three hour secession with a person from the Chicago
Art Institute on design, display and many other topics to help guide
us in the right direction. Many other highly skilled professionals
will be sought out before the project is completed.

It is impossible to describe the pride felt by those who were in
attendance, their interest and shock to see such a fantastic array
of material presented all in one place from 17 countries and in 9
different languages on the walls, tables and computer screen. A
spreadsheet was developed with complete information and those in
attendance were shown and asked to rate as many items that we could
get through during each secession. It was hard work but all were
filled with awe regarding the project and material presented..

The artistic work, the love of country, neighbor, God, longing to
return to their country, Poetry of the Polish children is beyond
belief. Almost no despair but hope runs throughout the project. It
is a great testament to our people, our pride, our education in our
schools and families, our love of God, our country that produced
through the eyes and ears of our youth, after suffering such
horrors, such loving beauty material that we displayed with pride
and humility over this weekend.

There is still another six to 12 months of hard daily work left to
complete this project the way we envision that it must be presented.

I hope that all of you have a chance to hear the interview on radio.
It should give you just a tiny glimpse of what you should expect
when the project is completed.

I will continue to keep you up to date on our progress and advise
when new developments take place.

There is still time and we still ask for any additional autograph
books to be scanned and/or sent to us if possible. Even on the last
day of the project we will continue to seek and review additional
material. In the last six months we received great material for
sources that we never expected would be worth examining. Some books
we received were only one by two inches. We look at all material and
in most cases we review each page from 5 to 20 times before we
consider it as a possible project item.

I have a few additional questions to ask and hope that I receive
detail replies especially from those who inscribed these books.
Please also ask your parents if you do not know for sure about the
questions below.. These questions came up during our secessions and
rather then to make a guess we would rather have written results
sent to us by regular or e-mail for documentation.


The questions are as follow:
Why did the children keep autograph books?
Was this a custom in Poland developed by our school system?
Why were most autograph books inscribed by females rather then
males?
How could children write such great inscriptions?
How did the children learn to construct such beautiful works of art
and poetry especially since their education was interrupted for so
many years?

I will be back in California tonight.

Thank you,

Julek

Thanks everyone! ...for your information and memories...

My grandfather (who is now dead) also went from Poland (Lwow) to Siberia, then
with Anders through old Persia..there is a statue of him here, in the desert!
If anyone knows anything about this please come forward!

A sculptor was commissioned to do a monument and he chose my grandfather as his
model - he had an amazing physique as he had been working as a patissier since
he was 9 years old...the strongest, most gentle man I have met.
Unfortunately all news ofthis statue was lost...
But my grandfather also came up thru Italy, fought in Cassino, all up the front
lines, where he met+married my italian grandmother.
He ended up in a soldier of war camp in Wales! Finally in London where my mother
was born...and he baked a cake for Princess Alexandra!
So much is being lost, now that these courageous men and women are dying....you
might not believe me, but most of my friends in Italy are ignorant of the
Russians role in the war...the mass deportations of Poles, etc.etc.etc. I know
very little but out of respect I have read Anders' book 'Army in Exile', plus
books on WW2, the gulags...so far away from anyone's consciousness now, that
these things happened. Of course, we all have plenty to worry about anyway!
Back to work....





---------- Initial Header -----------

From      : Kresy-Siberia@yahoogroups.com
To          : Kresy-Siberia@yahoogroups.com
Cc          :
Date      : Sun, 4 Jun 2006 20:37:12 +0100
Subject : Re: [Kresy-Siberia] Rail Journey







> What a fantastic journey!!!!
>
> I wish I had more details of my father's "journey" that brought him to the UK
via Palestine, Italy (Monte Casino) and eventually to the same camp (Foxley)
that your mother  ended up at. Sadly my father is now dead and I still strive to
find out more of his past and maybe of long lost relatives.
>
> Peter Grabowski
>   ----- Original Message -----
>   From: Elizabeth Olsson
>   To: Kresy-Siberia@yahoogroups.com
>   Sent: Sunday, June 04, 2006 5:16 PM
>   Subject: RE: [Kresy-Siberia] Rail Journey
>
>
>   Here's the list of name places my Mum wrote about in her diary. She started
it when she was deported, 14 yrs old.
>
>
>
>   Danuta's route: Poland to London
>   DANUTA  GRADOSIELSKA ( nee MACZKA).
>
>   21 October 1939 Evicted from: Osada Krechowiecka, District Równe,  Province
Wolyn, Poland.
>
>   Lived in Tuczyn on the river Horyn, 6 km. from our Osada.
>
>   10th February 1940 Deported by train via
>
>   Lubomirka station
>
>   Równe
>
>   Zdolbunów, change to Soviet cattle wagons which run on wider tracks.
>
>   Iwanko station
>
>   cross the Polish border
>
>   Szepetówka.
>
>   Orzenin
>
>   Korosten
>
>   Owrucz
>
>   river Prypec
>
>   Dniepr Bridge
>
>   Homel
>
>   Briansk
>
>   Orzel
>
>   River Don. start to veer north
>
>   Karaczew
>
>   Aleksandrowka
>
>   Rybne.
>
>   Holworsk
>
>   Woskriesensk.
>
>   Likino
>
>   Oriechowo
>
>   Pokrowa
>
>   Pietruszki
>
>   Untow.
>
>   Wlademir
>
>   Gorki.
>
>   frozen River Volga
>
>   Kirow
>
>   Sobotkow
>
>   27 Feb KOTLAS, on a frozen River Dwina. We leave the wagons, sleep in a
school
>
>   By sledges, cross to the far bank of the frozen Dwina. 25 km to
>
>   Priwodino and sleep that night in an Orthodox church now turned into a club.
>
>   travel on the narrow gauge railway then sledges deep in the forest.
>
>   1. posiolek Kotowalsk about 200 people, in one set of barracks.
>
>   moved to another posiolek (small settlement) about 4 km from Kotowalsk. by
sledge
>
>   2. Stacja Molodych (The Station of Youth)
>
>   3.  15 April 1940 travel by train to camp Monastyrek, close to Priwodina on
the River Dwina (saw-mill)
>
>
>
>   the Soviet and German war began 22.6.41. Amnesty
>
>   27 Dec 41 receive release papers.
>
>   sledges to Kotlas
>
>   By train: Kirow
>
>   Zuyowka
>
>   Molotow
>
>   Kama
>
>   Szalja
>
>   Kuzma
>
>   Hropik
>
>   Swierdowsk - near the Ural Mountains
>
>   Elektrostancja
>
>   Czelyabinsk
>
>   Kartal
>
>   Aktibinsk
>
>   River Syr-Daria
>
>   Turkistan
>
>   Arys
>
>   Tashkent
>
>   Dzalal-abad near Chinese border
>
>   Jordan valley
>
>   Gorzewo
>
>   Bagish
>
>   Andizhan
>
>   Kagan
>
>   Turkestan
>
>   22 Feb  G u z a r - the Polish army
>   25 Feb Joined Women's Auxiliary Service (at age 16!)
>
>   Aschabad
>
>   28  March first military transport to Krasnovodsk near the Caspian Sea
>
>   by ship to  Pahlevi, Persia  30 March
>
>   come under British Command in the Middle East.
>
>   Kazwin
>
>   Camp No.1 in Teheran
>
>   18 May ill with typhoid fever (3 months in hospital)
>
>
>
>   working in Transport Office.
>
>   Iraq (where two transport companies were formed)
>
>   Palestine (Army Transport course, driving of heavy vehicles)
>
>   drove to Egypt to collect vehicles at Te-Elkabir and drive them to
Palestine.
>
>   served in No.316 Transport Company PWSK (234 total strength)
>
>
>
>   Ship (Batory) to Taranto, Italy 4 May 1944
>
>   Served in the Italy Campaign delivering supplies (+petrol, ammunition) to
the second line of the front and on the way back taking war prisoners to the
camps.
>
>   San Giorgio. (Army Grammar School)
>
>   By ship to Liverpool, UK 18 Aug 1946
>
>   PKPR camp in Foxley  near Hereford Hermitage Camp, Newbury.
>
>   Forest Gate, London
>
>
>
>
>
>   pozdrowienia
>
>   Elzunia Olsson
>
>   Sweden
>
>   Gallery Administrator
>
>
>
>   -----Original Message-----
>   From: Kresy-Siberia@yahoogroups.com [mailto:Kresy-Siberia@yahoogroups.com]On
Behalf Of Dave Lichtenstein
>   Sent: Sunday, June 04, 2006 6:37 AM
>   To: Kresy-Siberia@yahoogroups.com
>   Subject: RE: [Kresy-Siberia] Rail Journey
>
>
>
>   Elzunia
>
>
>
>   I concur with Lynda's sentiments - what an amazing map.  Just regarding the
little parts of my mother's journey which I am aware of as shown on your map. 
After escaping from the Nazi invasion in the West my mother and grandmother were
captured by the Soviets on crossing the River Bug.  In addition to death and
destruction, these totalitarian regimes tended to separate families as my mother
and grandmother were imprisoned separately - I know little of the latter's
journey.   My mother was jailed in Minsk (not shown on the map) and my
grandmother in Kiev (shown on the map).   My mother was subsequently moved to
Odessa (not shown on the map) to Kharkov (shown on the map) and subsequently to
Novosibirsk (which I cannot identify on the map either).  Then we have all the
"Stan" States which my mother mentioned including locations such as Karaganda,
Tashkent and Buzuluk.
>
>
>
>   Dave Lichtenstein
>
>   Sydney, Australia
>
>
>
>   Lynda Kraar <guitargirl4scrabble@...> wrote:
>
>   Elzunia --
>
>
>
>   Your map is AMAZING. Thanks for sharing that link!
>
>
>
>   Lynda
>
>   Hi Dave
>
>   If you have a look at my Mum's route map you'll get an idea of how your
Mum's journey could have been.
>
>   http://www.kresy-siberia.org/gallery/Elzunia-Olsson/DG_s_route_map
>
>
>
>   I suppose Antoni that there weren't that many different train routes to
choose from? Does this follow the Trans-Siberian rail line?
>
>
>
>   pozdrowienia
>
>   Elzunia Olsson
>
>    Send instant messages to your online friends http://au.messenger.yahoo.com
>
>   ****************************************************************************
>   KRESY-SIBERIA GROUP = RESEARCH REMEMBRANCE RECOGNITION
>   "Dedicated to researching, remembering and recognising the Polish citizens
>   deported, enslaved and killed by the Soviet Union during World War Two."
>   ****************************************************************************
>   Discussion site : http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Kresy-Siberia/
>   Virtual Memorial Wall : http://www.aforgottenodyssey.com/memorial/
>   Gallery (photos, documents) : http://www.kresy-siberia.org/gallery/
>   Booklist : http://www.aforgottenodyssey.com/books.html
>   Film and info : http://www.AForgottenOdyssey.com
>   ****************************************************************************
>   To SUBSCRIBE to the discussion group, send an e-mail
>   saying who you are and describing your interest in the group to:
>   Kresy-Siberia-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
>
>   To UNSUBSCRIBE from this group, send an email to:
>   Kresy-Siberia-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
>
>   ****************************************************************************
>
>
>
>
>
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>         Hotel poland  Call poland  Poland calling card
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>   YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS
>
>     a..  Visit your group "Kresy-Siberia" on the web.
>
>     b..  To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
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>
>     c..  Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>

Sometime ago I wrote to you regarding "moj zyciorys" (a short
account of deportation, etc, written when I was 13 in a Polish
boarding school in England), plus excerpts of some very patriotic
poems written by friends and professors in my pamietnik. We were
encouraged to keep a diary and autograph books in our school in
Africa where we learned our beautiful handwriting in spite of
shortage of qualified teachers. One example: "Kochaj Ojczyzne ten
kraj caly, ktorego godlem is orzel bialy".
Do let me know if you are interested, and if so where can I send
copies for your perusal.
Aniela


--- In Kresy-Siberia@yahoogroups.com, "julek2205" <julian_plowy@...>
wrote:
>
>
> TO ALL;
>
> There will be a radio interview regarding the Autograph Book
Project
> between Idalia Blaszczyk (Host of the radio Station in Chicago
wnvt
> am 1030  and also possibly on wrkl am 910 New York at about 6 PM
on
> 6/5/06) and Mr. Wesley Adamczyk (my partner in this project) and
> myself. There will also be articles in the Australian newspaper
and
> the White Eagle newspaper in New York in the coming days. Please
> keep an eye out for them and please send me copies.
>
> I flew to Chicago a few days ago to meet with Mr. Adamczyk about
our
> progress regarding the autograph book project and our planned
> conference.  Mr. Adamczyk selected a group of prominent Polish
> people who were not deported to Russia to give us an evaluation of
> our project and at the same time reduce the number of pages from
> 1200 to 150 so that we can take the next step and at the same time
> to be able to manage the material easier. These individuals were
> selected from a wide variety of Poles to give us an unbiased
review
> of the material and help define the direction and the scope of the
> project. We wanted to make sure that we could do justice to the
> project and to gain different views other then from the past
Polish
> deportees to Russian gulags or slave/death camps.
>
> The conference was held in three four hour sessions over Saturday
> and Sunday to accommodate all the people invited.. We were given
> much advice and support. We hit a "Home Run" and confirmed that we
> were on the right track and that it is an unprecedented project in
> scope and effort. When completed, the project will shed a new
light
> on our proud nation, its proud and loving people and our culture
and
> our history during the time leading up to, including and years
after
> the WW2 era.
>
> We also held a three hour secession with a person from the Chicago
> Art Institute on design, display and many other topics to help
guide
> us in the right direction. Many other highly skilled professionals
> will be sought out before the project is completed.
>
> It is impossible to describe the pride felt by those who were in
> attendance, their interest and shock to see such a fantastic array
> of material presented all in one place from 17 countries and in 9
> different languages on the walls, tables and computer screen. A
> spreadsheet was developed with complete information and those in
> attendance were shown and asked to rate as many items that we
could
> get through during each secession. It was hard work but all were
> filled with awe regarding the project and material presented..
>
> The artistic work, the love of country, neighbor, God, longing to
> return to their country, Poetry of the Polish children is beyond
> belief. Almost no despair but hope runs throughout the project. It
> is a great testament to our people, our pride, our education in
our
> schools and families, our love of God, our country that produced
> through the eyes and ears of our youth, after suffering such
> horrors, such loving beauty material that we displayed with pride
> and humility over this weekend.
>
> There is still another six to 12 months of hard daily work left to
> complete this project the way we envision that it must be
presented.
>
> I hope that all of you have a chance to hear the interview on
radio.
> It should give you just a tiny glimpse of what you should expect
> when the project is completed.
>
> I will continue to keep you up to date on our progress and advise
> when new developments take place.
>
> There is still time and we still ask for any additional autograph
> books to be scanned and/or sent to us if possible. Even on the
last
> day of the project we will continue to seek and review additional
> material. In the last six months we received great material for
> sources that we never expected would be worth examining. Some
books
> we received were only one by two inches. We look at all material
and
> in most cases we review each page from 5 to 20 times before we
> consider it as a possible project item.
>
> I have a few additional questions to ask and hope that I receive
> detail replies especially from those who inscribed these books.
> Please also ask your parents if you do not know for sure about the
> questions below.. These questions came up during our secessions
and
> rather then to make a guess we would rather have written results
> sent to us by regular or e-mail for documentation.
>
>
> The questions are as follow:
> Why did the children keep autograph books?
> Was this a custom in Poland developed by our school system?
> Why were most autograph books inscribed by females rather then
> males?
> How could children write such great inscriptions?
> How did the children learn to construct such beautiful works of
art
> and poetry especially since their education was interrupted for so
> many years?
>
> I will be back in California tonight.
>
> Thank you,
>
> Julek
>

For those interested in life in Kazahstan (and Siberia) I came
across a detailed description in a paper entitled Warunki
miszkaniowe Polakow deportowanych do ZSRR. Unfortunately it is in
Polish and 40 pages long.
Aniela




--- In Kresy-Siberia@yahoogroups.com, "Stefan Wisniowski
\(Phoenix\)" <swisniowski@...> wrote:
>
> Basia
>
> In a more direct response to your question about geography, in his
well-researched book "Revolution from Abroad", Jan Gross reports on
the make-up and destinations of the 4 waves of mass deportations
from Soviet-occupied Poland:
>   (1) 10 February 1940: mostly rural populace sent to Archangel
(Northern Russia) - civil servants, government officials, judges,
police, forest workers, settlers, Polish/Ukrainian/Belorussian small
farmers.
>
>   (2) April 1940: mostly urban women and children sent to
Kazakhstan - families of political prisoners, tradesmen (mostly
Jewish), farm laborers from confiscated estates, more
Polish/Ukrainian/Belorussian small farmers.
>
>   (3) June 1940: Mostly Jewish - refugees from German-occupied
Poland, small merchants, doctors, engineers, lawyers, journalists,
artists, professors, teachers.
>
>   (4) June 1941: Mostly from the northern
(Bialystok/Wilno/Nowogrodek/Polesie) provinces - people from the
above groups, with random arrests plus children from summer camps
and orphanages.
> When was your family deported?
>
> Stefan Wisniowski
> Sydney Australia
>
>   ----- Original Message -----
>   From: Basia Garnier
>   To: Kresy-Siberia@yahoogroups.com
>   Sent: Wednesday, May 31, 2006 12:40 AM
>   Subject: [Kresy-Siberia] Deportees who were taken to Kazahstan,
not to Siberia
>
>
>   Dear Group,
>   I am more interested in the Deportees taken directly to
Kazahstan, not to Siberia.  Are any of you descendents of this
group? Also, why were some taken to Siberia and others to
Kazahstan?  Many questions I would like answered.  Basia
>

To all

Wonder if there is any literature or personal accounts about
the "military settlers" starting new lives on their allocated parcels
of land in Kresy. Were houses provided or did they have to build and
start from scratch. I read somewhere that for a while they lived in
houses dug out in earth (ziemlanki?) and life was very harsh at the
beginning, especially for families with lots of children.
Aniela - N.Z.

Julek
I take off my hat to you for in admiration your monumental project that you are
working on. This is a real break through! Through projects like this, maybe one
day  world will wake up and find out that Poland has been part of Europe for
centuries (some people said recently that Poland "is becoming part of Europe")
and recognize Her contributions to civilization. Great job!
Romuald
---- julek2205 <julian_plowy@...> wrote:
>
> TO ALL;
>
> There will be a radio interview regarding the Autograph Book Project
> between Idalia Blaszczyk (Host of the radio Station in Chicago wnvt
> am 1030  and also possibly on wrkl am 910 New York at about 6 PM on
> 6/5/06) and Mr. Wesley Adamczyk (my partner in this project) and
> myself. There will also be articles in the Australian newspaper and
> the White Eagle newspaper in New York in the coming days. Please
> keep an eye out for them and please send me copies.
>
> I flew to Chicago a few days ago to meet with Mr. Adamczyk about our
> progress regarding the autograph book project and our planned
> conference.  Mr. Adamczyk selected a group of prominent Polish
> people who were not deported to Russia to give us an evaluation of
> our project and at the same time reduce the number of pages from
> 1200 to 150 so that we can take the next step and at the same time
> to be able to manage the material easier. These individuals were
> selected from a wide variety of Poles to give us an unbiased review
> of the material and help define the direction and the scope of the
> project. We wanted to make sure that we could do justice to the
> project and to gain different views other then from the past Polish
> deportees to Russian gulags or slave/death camps.
>
> The conference was held in three four hour sessions over Saturday
> and Sunday to accommodate all the people invited.. We were given
> much advice and support. We hit a "Home Run" and confirmed that we
> were on the right track and that it is an unprecedented project in
> scope and effort. When completed, the project will shed a new light
> on our proud nation, its proud and loving people and our culture and
> our history during the time leading up to, including and years after
> the WW2 era.
>
> We also held a three hour secession with a person from the Chicago
> Art Institute on design, display and many other topics to help guide
> us in the right direction. Many other highly skilled professionals
> will be sought out before the project is completed.
>
> It is impossible to describe the pride felt by those who were in
> attendance, their interest and shock to see such a fantastic array
> of material presented all in one place from 17 countries and in 9
> different languages on the walls, tables and computer screen. A
> spreadsheet was developed with complete information and those in
> attendance were shown and asked to rate as many items that we could
> get through during each secession. It was hard work but all were
> filled with awe regarding the project and material presented..
>
> The artistic work, the love of country, neighbor, God, longing to
> return to their country, Poetry of the Polish children is beyond
> belief. Almost no despair but hope runs throughout the project. It
> is a great testament to our people, our pride, our education in our
> schools and families, our love of God, our country that produced
> through the eyes and ears of our youth, after suffering such
> horrors, such loving beauty material that we displayed with pride
> and humility over this weekend.
>
> There is still another six to 12 months of hard daily work left to
> complete this project the way we envision that it must be presented.
>
> I hope that all of you have a chance to hear the interview on radio.
> It should give you just a tiny glimpse of what you should expect
> when the project is completed.
>
> I will continue to keep you up to date on our progress and advise
> when new developments take place.
>
> There is still time and we still ask for any additional autograph
> books to be scanned and/or sent to us if possible. Even on the last
> day of the project we will continue to seek and review additional
> material. In the last six months we received great material for
> sources that we never expected would be worth examining. Some books
> we received were only one by two inches. We look at all material and
> in most cases we review each page from 5 to 20 times before we
> consider it as a possible project item.
>
> I have a few additional questions to ask and hope that I receive
> detail replies especially from those who inscribed these books.
> Please also ask your parents if you do not know for sure about the
> questions below.. These questions came up during our secessions and
> rather then to make a guess we would rather have written results
> sent to us by regular or e-mail for documentation.
>
>
> The questions are as follow:
> Why did the children keep autograph books?
> Was this a custom in Poland developed by our school system?
> Why were most autograph books inscribed by females rather then
> males?
> How could children write such great inscriptions?
> How did the children learn to construct such beautiful works of art
> and poetry especially since their education was interrupted for so
> many years?
>
> I will be back in California tonight.
>
> Thank you,
>
> Julek
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ****************************************************************************
>  KRESY-SIBERIA GROUP = RESEARCH REMEMBRANCE RECOGNITION
>  "Dedicated to researching, remembering and recognising the Polish citizens
>  deported, enslaved and killed by the Soviet Union during World War Two."
> ****************************************************************************
>  Discussion site :Ā http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Kresy-Siberia/
>  Virtual Memorial Wall : http://www.aforgottenodyssey.com/memorial/
>  Gallery (photos, documents) : http://www.kresy-siberia.org/gallery/
>  Booklist : http://www.aforgottenodyssey.com/books.html
>  Film and infoĀ :Ā http://www.AForgottenOdyssey.com
> ****************************************************************************
>  To SUBSCRIBE to the discussion group, send an e-mail
>  saying who you are and describing your interest in the group to:
>  Kresy-Siberia-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
>
>  To UNSUBSCRIBE from this group, send an email to:
>  Kresy-Siberia-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
>
> ****************************************************************************
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>

"The Last Witness" a film about a survivor of arrests of Polish officers by the
Soviets, will
air on TV Polonia today and tomorrow. For your local airtimes, check:

http://program.tvp.pl/5,240,000000.html

Here is a media release about the film.

From:
http://www.smu.ca/newsreleases/2006/NewsReleases-SaintMarysUniversity_000.html

Media Release

For Immediate Release

February 14, 2006

Documentary film on Saint Mary's Professor Premiers in Poland

Warsaw - The Last Witness, a documentary made for Polish television about the
life of
former Saint Mary's professor Dr. Stanislaw Swianiewicz premiered at the New
Praga
Theatre on the 14th of February.

The film tells a remarkable story of survival against all odds, and a lifelong
struggle for
justice by a Halifax Economics professor. Co-directed by Halifax filmmaker Eric
Bednarski
and Pawel Woldan, of Warsaw, The Last Witness will air on Poland's TVP1 in the
Spring of
2006.

Dr. Swianiewicz, was one of the 20,000 Polish officers rounded up by the NKVD
(Soviet
Secret Police) after the invasion of Poland by the U.S.S.R in September of 1939.
These
Poles were primarily reservists from Poland's professional classes and
intellectual elite. In
April of 1940 at Katyn, near Smolensk, and at other sites throughout the
U.S.S.R., the
Poles, all officers or political prisoners, were killed by their Soviet captors
in mass
executions. At Katyn alone some 4,000 Poles were shot and hastily buried in mass
graves.
Dr. Swianiewicz was the only officer to not have been killed. At the last
moment, just three
kilometers from where his fellow officers were already being shot, he was
whisked away by
the NKVD to be interrogated in Moscow. His extensive knowledge of Nazi Germany's
economy had come to the attention of the Soviets. It saved his life.

After a stay in Moscow's infamous Lubyanka prison, Dr. Swianiewicz was sentenced
to
eight years in a Gulag forced labour camp. As a result of a Soviet amnesty for
Polish
prisoners, he was eventually freed from the Gulag, subsequently making his way
to join
the Polish Army under British command in the Middle East.

The truth about Katyn and the other mass executions could not be told for many
years. At
Nuremberg, despite overwhelming evidence incriminating the U.S.S.R., the crime
was
attributed to Nazi Germany, so as not to offend Stalin. It was not until April
13, 1990 that
President Mikhail Gorbachev finally admitted Soviet responsibility for the
deaths of the
20,000 Poles. Only since the end of the Cold War have full details of the
massacres and of
the half-century of cover-up begun to emerge.

At Saint Mary's Dr. Swianiewicz taught Economics beginning in 1963. In 1973, he
was
made Professor Emeritus. He also received an honorary degree of Doctor of Laws
there in
1982. A highly respected academic, he published many books on Economics and the
U.S.S.R. In 1997, Dr. Swianiewicz died of natural causes, having survived a
suspected KGB
assassination attempt in London in 1976, the same year his compelling Katyn
memoir had
been published in Polish by the Institut littéraire in Paris, to critical
acclaim. Residents of
South-end Halifax fondly remember him as the kindly Polish professor who would
go for
daily swims at the city's Waegwoltic Club. Few people, however, were aware of
his life-
long struggle to make the truth about Katyn known to the world

For more information contact:



Eric Bednarski
Co-Director: The Last Witness
ericb@...
(902)422-7022

Saint Mary's University is known for its community outreach projects, both in
Canada and
around the world. Saint Mary's, founded in 1802, is home to one of Canada's
leading
business schools, a Science Faculty widely known for its cutting-edge research,
a
comprehensive and innovative Arts Faculty and a vibrant Faculty of Graduate
Studies and
Research.

-30-

For More Information:

Paul Fitzgerald
Public Affairs Officer
Saint Mary's University, Public Affairs
(902) 420.5514
E-mail: paul.fitzgerald@...
www.smu.ca


Andy Golebiowski
Buffalo, NY
USA

"Ci, Co Powrocili" (Those Who Returned), a reportage about two people who
survived the
Soviet labor camps, will air on TV Polonia tomorrow (June 6) and Wednesday (June
7).

I don't know if it is subtitled. Some TV Polonia programs are.
Here is a description in Polish. For local times, check:

http://program.tvp.pl/7,18.html

---------------------------------
"Ci, Co Powrocili"

czas trwania: 21 minut
/dozwolone od lat 12/ /stereo/

zdjecia: Jerzy Bo?czyk
producent: REALIZACJA FILMÓW JERZY BONCZYK


"Dwie kobiety, które zosta?y w dzieci?stwie zes?ane wraz z rodzinami na Sybir i
to tylko za
to, ?e by?y polskiego pochodzenia. Jedna z nich - Barbara Piotrowska, straci?a
braciszka,
druga cudem unikn??a ?mierci. W programie czasy syberyjskiego koszmaru wspomina
tak?e malarz, artysta, Stefan Centomirski. Jako zes?aniec - cudem ocalony -
swoje prace
ofiarowa? "tamtym czasom". Przez wszystkie lata namalowa? setki obrazów
po?wi?conych
ofiarom sowieckich ?agrów. Wszyscy zastanawiaj? si?, jak to si? sta?o, ?e pomimo
tak
ci??kich warunków, jakie wówczas panowa?y w Rosji sowieckiej, uda?o im sie
prze?y? i
dzi? dziel? si? wspomnieniami. Pani Barbara Piotrowska ma a? dziesi?cioro
wnucz?t, a
Stefan Centomirski stworzy? setki obrazów."


Andy Golebiowski
Buffalo, NY
USA

I just watched the film "The Last Witness" and noticed that it does have English
subtitles.

The film is confusing in spots, but very well made. A must see for folks in this
group.
Perhaps the film is available for purchase. The co-director's contact
information is near
the bottom of the press release below.

Andy Golebiowski
Buffalo, NY
USA


--- In Kresy-Siberia@yahoogroups.com, "Andy Golebiowski" <andywbuffalo@...>
wrote:
>
> "The Last Witness" a film about a survivor of arrests of Polish officers by
the Soviets, will
> air on TV Polonia today and tomorrow. For your local airtimes, check:
>
> http://program.tvp.pl/5,240,000000.html
>
> Here is a media release about the film.
>
> From:
> http://www.smu.ca/newsreleases/2006/NewsReleases-SaintMarysUniversity_000.html
>
> Media Release
>
> For Immediate Release
>
> February 14, 2006
>
> Documentary film on Saint Mary's Professor Premiers in Poland
>
> Warsaw - The Last Witness, a documentary made for Polish television about the
life of
> former Saint Mary's professor Dr. Stanislaw Swianiewicz premiered at the New
Praga
> Theatre on the 14th of February.
>
> The film tells a remarkable story of survival against all odds, and a lifelong
struggle for
> justice by a Halifax Economics professor. Co-directed by Halifax filmmaker
Eric
Bednarski
> and Pawel Woldan, of Warsaw, The Last Witness will air on Poland's TVP1 in the
Spring of
> 2006.
>
> Dr. Swianiewicz, was one of the 20,000 Polish officers rounded up by the NKVD
(Soviet
> Secret Police) after the invasion of Poland by the U.S.S.R in September of
1939. These
> Poles were primarily reservists from Poland's professional classes and
intellectual elite.
In
> April of 1940 at Katyn, near Smolensk, and at other sites throughout the
U.S.S.R., the
> Poles, all officers or political prisoners, were killed by their Soviet
captors in mass
> executions. At Katyn alone some 4,000 Poles were shot and hastily buried in
mass
graves.
> Dr. Swianiewicz was the only officer to not have been killed. At the last
moment, just
three
> kilometers from where his fellow officers were already being shot, he was
whisked away
by
> the NKVD to be interrogated in Moscow. His extensive knowledge of Nazi
Germany's
> economy had come to the attention of the Soviets. It saved his life.
>
> After a stay in Moscow's infamous Lubyanka prison, Dr. Swianiewicz was
sentenced to
> eight years in a Gulag forced labour camp. As a result of a Soviet amnesty for
Polish
> prisoners, he was eventually freed from the Gulag, subsequently making his way
to join
> the Polish Army under British command in the Middle East.
>
> The truth about Katyn and the other mass executions could not be told for many
years.
At
> Nuremberg, despite overwhelming evidence incriminating the U.S.S.R., the crime
was
> attributed to Nazi Germany, so as not to offend Stalin. It was not until April
13, 1990
that
> President Mikhail Gorbachev finally admitted Soviet responsibility for the
deaths of the
> 20,000 Poles. Only since the end of the Cold War have full details of the
massacres and
of
> the half-century of cover-up begun to emerge.
>
> At Saint Mary's Dr. Swianiewicz taught Economics beginning in 1963. In 1973,
he was
> made Professor Emeritus. He also received an honorary degree of Doctor of Laws
there
in
> 1982. A highly respected academic, he published many books on Economics and
the
> U.S.S.R. In 1997, Dr. Swianiewicz died of natural causes, having survived a
suspected
KGB
> assassination attempt in London in 1976, the same year his compelling Katyn
memoir
had
> been published in Polish by the Institut littéraire in Paris, to critical
acclaim. Residents of
> South-end Halifax fondly remember him as the kindly Polish professor who would
go for
> daily swims at the city's Waegwoltic Club. Few people, however, were aware of
his life-
> long struggle to make the truth about Katyn known to the world
>
> For more information contact:
>
>
>
> Eric Bednarski
> Co-Director: The Last Witness
>  ericb@...
> (902)422-7022
>
> Saint Mary's University is known for its community outreach projects, both in
Canada
and
> around the world. Saint Mary's, founded in 1802, is home to one of Canada's
leading
> business schools, a Science Faculty widely known for its cutting-edge
research, a
> comprehensive and innovative Arts Faculty and a vibrant Faculty of Graduate
Studies and
> Research.
>
> -30-
>
> For More Information:
>
> Paul Fitzgerald
> Public Affairs Officer
> Saint Mary's University, Public Affairs
> (902) 420.5514
> E-mail: paul.fitzgerald@...
> www.smu.ca
>
>
> Andy Golebiowski
> Buffalo, NY
> USA
>

Here is the webpage address for Eric Bednarski, a co-directory of "The Last
Witness". He also
made a film called "Postcard from Auschwitz", about Mietek Bednarski, a member
of the
Polish resistance.

http://szadek.com/#

Andy Golebiowski
Buffalo, NY
USA

Wit,
Is the document too large to cut and paste into a message ? Or could you give us
a
internet link to the Zjazd information ?
As you know, those who receive messages in digest form in online mail or view it
from the
group's page, cannot see the attachments.

Thanks,
Andy Golebiowski
Buffalo, NY
USA

--- In Kresy-Siberia@yahoogroups.com, Wit Bogma <witbogma@...> wrote:
>
>
>
> Note: forwarded message attached.
>
> ---------------------------------
> Ring'em or ping'em. Make  PC-to-phone calls as low as 1¢/min with Yahoo!
Messenger
with Voice.
>

I thought I would put my request to the entire group
in case anyone out there had an early experience of
Pahlevi as Antoni did.

I have been trying for some time to help an elderly
Polish man with his research into Pahlevi records.  I
have written to the Sikorski Museum in the past,
looked through the records here online, checked at the
PRO, etc.,but still have not come across any reference
to him or his comrades.

He did not come to Pahlevi from Russia.  He came with
a group of about 100 displaced people from India.
Because Antoni mentioned the British being at Pahlevi,
and he also mentioned the Sikh drivers, this is the
first time the possibility has arisen that the
presence of British Indian army personnel or the Royal
Corps of Signals personnel were in Pahlevi and had
come from India.  It's possible they came by ship but,
as in the case of my friend, by road.  (I have done
the trip twice myself in the past 30 years, and it
doesn't take all that much time to drive from India to
the Caspian, north of Mashad - and I'm not a Sikh
lorry driver with his foot held down!)

So, when Antoni mentioned the British/Indian
connection in his e-mail, I was hoping that he or
someone might remember this group of people who were
taken from India on British military trucks with
wooden benches running down each side, possibly
holding 20-30 people per truck. They convoyed from the
first week of April 1942 until arriving at the Caspian
Sea about mid-April.  (Antoni arrived at Pahlevi the
end of March.)  However, they did not go to
Khrasnoyarsk or any other large port on the Caspian;
instead, they arrived at a small finger of land where
fishing boats were brought up to shore and as many of
these people as the boats could hold went on board.
They travelled all one night and arrived outside of
Pahlevi the next day.  The group were kept separate
for a few days during which they were deloused and
given clean uniforms by the British.  Later, he and
his group were taken to a camp outside of Tehran which
had been a German knife factory before the war.

Soooo, if anyone remembers or knows someone who was at
Pahlevi in April 1942 either as a refugee or with the
British/Indian army, please let me know.  Although my
friend had blocked much of his experience out over the
years (he was quite ill during the convoying to the
Caspian), he would now like to find out whatever
happened to some of the others on that memorable
journey.

Thanks everyone.   Linda

--- ANTONI KAZIMIERSKI <askazimierski@...>
wrote:

> Jagna, Linda and others,
> It is just a pity this question did not come up few
> months ago. It was then that I lost a friend who
> died and would have answered this question.
> He was a major in the British Army and his unit was
> part of the force concerned with installing all
> sorts of things in1941/42 ; namely tented
> areas,fumigation points and washing/latrine
> facilities,admin blocks,telephonic communications,
> water storage and mobile ( field)kitchen
> facilities.Because these camps were for the civilian
> use as well, clothing stores and medical facilities
> also had to be provided.Naturally the provison of
> food was both local and in some instances from South
> Africa and Rhodesias.People do not realise that
> drinking water was stored in canvas tanks above
> ground (egzample at Habbanyja) and water had to be
> brought in from wells.The only time we saw Persians
> when they were on guard duty at the airfield in
> Teheran.Naturally as soon as the Polish contigents
> started to arrive the whole lot was handed over to
> our control.I arrived early in 1942 (end of March).
> The logistics of it all were unbelievable!
> My friend's unit was part of the Royal Corps of
> Signals - a section known as the Royal Mechanical
> and Electrical Engineers and they were stationed in
> Persia,Irak,Syria,Palestine and Egypt.Part of the
> 8th Army.
> Some of the transport was by detachments of the
> British Indian Army-mainly Sikh drivers.
> As far as I know some of the bases were already in
> British control post the First World War, but I am
> not sure how far back in 1930th this was. I know
> that the Habbanyja base was established by the
> British for their Air Force, early in 1935 or6.This
> also applies to the Palestinian sites.
> Britain had its connections in that area for many
> years, because of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company.
> Regarding the Red Cross-well as I know they were
> there but not in any organising capacity; their main
> concern was to re-unite people who were so
> dislocated and lost.Many doctors were British or
> Indian and soon Polish medics helped as well.
> antoni530


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