This was due to the inhuman condition in which we lived severe frost, hunger, fear, lack of any medical attention and hard work causing all kinds of illnesses. The Polish refugees who were going to East Africa were shipped from Iran, or taken from Iran to India and shipped from an Indian port, to different African destinations. The Polish soldiers, after evacuating from Russia to Persia (now Iran) and undergoing health rehabilitation following their ordeal in the Russian camps, entered the war in the West fighting alongisde the Allies on all fronts land, Bibliography of Poland during World War II, International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, Persecution of Christians in the Soviet Union, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Soviet_repressions_of_Polish_citizens_(19391946)&oldid=1131176828, Soviet occupation of Eastern Poland 19391941, Articles with Polish-language sources (pl), Wikipedia extended-confirmed-protected pages, Articles with unsourced statements from May 2019, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, 500,000 Polish nationals imprisoned before June 1941 (90% male), 22,000 Polish military personnel and officials killed in the, 1,700,000 Poles deported to Siberia in 1939-1941, 100,000 women raped during the Soviet counter-offensive (est. The train would, from time to time, also stop at stations for coke provisions, where hot water (kipiatok) could be obtained, together with some provisions. To understand why my family, the only one from the whole village, were arrested, I must go back to the year l918-20 when, after the First World War, Poland regained its independence after some 123 years of being partitioned between Russia, Prussia and Austria. Hamtramck, MI 48212-3437, 8994 S Kasson St Eighty years on, the emotion is still raw for Elzbieta Smulkowa when she remembers her deportation to Siberia in 1941. We were not first the Poles in Africa. This invaluable database has details of many of the deported in the 1940s to Russia / Siberia. Some had to travel by land to Ashgabat. Most of them were Polish Catholics and there were also some Jews. Somehow, at some point, my brother Gustaf found me and brought me a piece of bread (his ration for the day I later learned). Built with Volusion. The documents of the era show that the problem of sexual violence against Polish women by Soviet servicemen was serious both during and after the advance of Soviet forces across Poland. Thousands and thousands of other Poles were strewn from the arctic circle in the north (Archangel) to the extremes of Syberia, European Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kirgystan, and other places, and set to work, in appalling conditions, felling forest trees, transporting and working timber, or, as my father, working in mines. (And that is another moment that has always stayed with me). Still, thousands of distraught Poles remained there, sent to kolkhozs. Approximately 600 Polish refugees were taken to Abercorn in contingents. Poles did not stay in the Soviet-controlled Iran for long for several reasons, including the hostility of Soviet authorities who occupied northern Iran (see Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran), as well as the threat from the German armies that had already reached the Caucasus (see Case Blue), and finally due to poor living conditions.[13]. () The Soviet-imposed myth about "Communist heroes of resistance" enabled them for decades to avoid the painful questions faced long ago by other Western countries." We, the children, were formed into groups, each group had an adult looking after it. Tehran was a gate, through which we were sent, in groups, to different parts of the world. The refugees finally left Iran after a few months, and were transported to a number of countries, such as Lebanon, Mandatory Palestine, India, Uganda, Kenya, Tanganyika, Northern and Southern Rhodesia, South Africa, New Zealand, and Mexico. Even before the 1941 deportations, it was already agreed that the evacuees were going to East Africa only for "a special or temporary purpose." It has been seventy years since as many as 2 million Poles were deported against their will to some of the most inhospitable regions in the world: Siberia, Kazakhstan, and parts of Soviet Asia. There we boarded a ship where we were exposed to more appalling conditions. [28] The wave of arrests and mock convictions contributed to the forced resettlement of large categories of people ("kulaks", Polish civil servants, forest workers, university professors, "osadniks") to the Gulag labour camps and exile settlements in remote areas of the Soviet Union. [41][42] They began confiscating, nationalising and redistributing all private and state-owned Polish property. Families housed in communal barracks had to endure undescribable living conditions, when people were dying every day from a variety of causes. --4- Due to Germany attacking Russia on 22nd June, l941, a Polish-Russian treaty was signed with the exiled Polish Government in London, and a decree of amnesty was issued, allowing for the formation of Polish army on Russian territory with the recruiting point at Buzuluk, in the southern European Russia. Little-known fact: 80 percent of those who survived did so because of being deported to Stalins gulags following the Soviet annexation of eastern Poland in 1939. [62][63] About 600 people died as the result of the Augustw roundup. The Mass Deportation of Poles to Siberia, 1863-1880 pp.151-175 Andrew A. Gentes Four thousand Poles were sentenced to the penal labor category of Siberian exile. 1939 wrzesie 17, Moskwa Nota rzdu sowieckiego nie przyjta przez ambasadora Wacawa Grzybowskiego, "Decision to commence investigation into Katyn Massacre", "The Katyn Controversy: Stalin's Killing Field, "ledztwo w sprawie zabjstwa w dniu 22 wrzenia 1939 r. w okolicach miejscowoci Sopokinie generaa brygady Wojska Polskiego Jzefa Olszyny-Wilczyskiego i jego adiutanta kapitana Mieczysawa Strzemskiego przez onierzy b. Zwizku Radzieckiego. Iran and the Polish Exodus from Russia 1942. They were going from Kigoma to Dar es Salaam and from there by ship to the United Kingdom, where their next of kinoften husbands and sons who had been fighting in the warwere getting courses and training for civilian jobs. Political Migrations on Polish Territories (19391950). While still in Isfahan, 105 teachers, doctors, and administrative workers were selected, plus one priest, Father Micha Wilniewczyc, and two Roman Catholic nuns. . [3] Thanks to a remarkable reversal of fortune well over 110,000 Poles, including 36,000 women and children, managed to leave the Soviet Union with Anders' Army. The Siberian Exiles Cross (Polish: Krzy Zesacw Sybiru) is a state decoration in Poland awarded by President of Poland.It was established on October 17, 2003 in order to recognise and commemorate the sufferings of Polish citizens deported to Siberia, Kazakhstan and Northern Russia from 19391956. Amazing fact: For some, this grim hardship was a gift, not only of life, but of their humanity. I was just a skeleton, simply skin and bones, and I lost touch with my family for quite a while. [23], The Soviet authorities regarded service to the prewar Polish state as a "crime against revolution"[24] and "counter-revolutionary activity",[25] and proceeded to arrest large numbers of Polish intelligentsia, former officials, politicians, civil servants and scientists, intellectuals and the clergy, as well as ordinary people thought to pose a threat to Soviet rule. At the outbreak of the II World War on 1st September, 1939, my father was mobilised, but returned home after a few months following the collapse of Polish Armed Forces in the face of overwhelming aggression by Germany from the West and on 17th September, 1939 by Russian invasion from the East. We never did. However, this was fraught with danger of being left behind. [11] There were also 336,000 refugees from areas occupied by Germany, most of them Jews (198,000). The Red Army paused on the Vistula river for months in 1944, while a few days' march to the west, the Germans transported the last significant population of Polish Jews from the Lodz ghetto to Auschwitz and gassed them. Then a special camp for Polish children was built near the village of Balachadi in Jamnagar, Kathiawar, thanks to help of the Maharaja Jam Sahib of Nawanagar (see also Help of Maharaja of Nawanagar for Polish refugees). Her request was granted. Google Analytics technical cookie used to throttle request rate. Lww University was reorganized in accordance with the Statute Books for Soviet Higher Schools. Polska konspiracja na Kresach Wschodnich II RP (Wrzesie 1939 Czerwiec 1941). Wanda Nowoisiad-Ostrowska, quoted by historian Tadeusz Piotrowski (The Polish Deportees of World War II), remembered that Abercorn camp was divided into six sections of single-room houses, a washing area, a laundry, a church, and four school buildings with seven classes. Poles deported to Siberia Polish at heart. Their migration began was encouraged by local noblemen, often Polish landlords, who wanted to develop their significant land-holdings in the area for agricultural use. "In the 1939-1941 period alone, Soviet-inflicted suffering on all citizens in Poland exceeded that of Nazi-inflicted suffering on all citizens. (as of 1 April 1941). The Indian government agreed to host 10,000 Polish refugees, including 5,000 orphans. Prior to the outbreak of the Second World War, 3 million three hundred thousand Jews lived in Poland By 1945 only 300,000 survived. "[65], To this day, the events of those and the following years constitute stumbling blocks in Polish-Russian foreign relations. Soviet propaganda claimed that the unfair treatment of non-Poles by the Second Polish Republic justified its dismemberment. The food was delivered: rice, flour, meat, salt, sugar, tea, and some coffee. The decoration Sybir Deportee Cross was established on October 17th, 2003 in order to recognise and commemorate the sufferings of Polish citizens deported to Siberia, But this should not make us forget a fact: Articles 7 and 8 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court considers deportations crimes against humanity and war crimes. More than one million Poles died a slow death in the gulags of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin or on their long and desperate journeys to and from the camps. The stench was terrible. [29] Altogether the Soviets sent roughly a million people from Poland to Siberia. [57] The death toll of the initial Soviet-inspired terror campaign remains unknown. After twelve days, we reached the port of Beira in Mozambique. There was a mast with a huge Polish flag, and the White Eagle on the gate."[12]. My brother Alfons, I later learned, went down with typhus, and my mother, who was then near his unit, nursed him to health. Despite what we have just seen, in 2006 Slawomir Grunberg directed a documentary released by the Jewish Film Institute and titled "Saved by deportation: An unknown odyssey of Polish Jews". The author of this blog is not responsible for the use and purposes that Feedburner gives the data provided. They worked as farmers, and their first transport came through India in October 1943 with 720 people, most of them women and children. [15] 22,000 Polish military personnel and civilians were killed in the Katyn massacre,[2][19] but thousands of others were victims of NKVD massacres of prisoners in mid-1941, before the German advance across the Soviet occupation zone. Survivor accounts: Polish deportations to Russia. There were several waves of deportations during which families were sent to barren land in the Soviet Union. [49], Simultaneously Soviet authorities tried to remove traces of Polish history in the area by eliminating much of what had connections to the Polish state or even Polish culture in general. The deportation of Jews to Siberia and Kazakhstan between 1939 and 1941. [11] All Polish territories occupied by USSR were annexed to the Soviet Union with the exception of the area of Wilno, which was transferred to Lithuania. After the first evacuation, Polish-Soviet relations deteriorated and the Soviet government began arresting Polish officials. It is a free service. In an effort to improve hygienic conditions in the newly formed orphanages, our heads were shaved and we were de-liced in some solution. LUDNO CYWILNA I SIEROTY POLSKIE PO AMNESTII 12 SIERPNIA 1941 ROKU. Sanitary conditions again were almost non-existent. My father, brother Alfons and sister joined the newly forming military units and my mother was enlisted into womens auxiliary force. The death rate rose even higher than in the gulags. Other solders rushed through the house looking for hidden arms. [15] Around 55% of the deportees to Siberia and Soviet Central Asia were Polish women.[32]. Some 25,000 Polish underground fighters, including 300 top Home Army officers, were captured by NKVD units and SMERSH operational groups in the fall of 1944. Cedar, MI 49621-5106. Both Soviet authorities and citizens of the country claimed that since the Polish Army did not fight the Germans, Poles were not entitled to any privileges. Reproduction of the contents of this blog is prohibited without the author's consent. Some months later we the orphans and civilians were moved to Uzbekistan to a place called Guzar. Russian historian Pavel Polian, now a professor at the University of Freiburg in Germany, said that Third Reich officials apparently approached Moscow in early 1940 with the idea of deporting all Jews in the German Reich to Birobidjan, a Siberian area that Stalin had designated as a Jewish autonomous region, and to western Ukraine. The Mass Deportation of Poles to Siberia: A Historical Narrative based on the written testimony of the Polish Siberian survivors: 9781615848119: Amazon.com: Books. The author of this blog denies to any person or entity of copyright management the authority to charge third parties for reproducing the contents of this blog. The Kenyan port of Mombasa, the Tanganyikan ports Tanga and Dar es Salaam, and the Mozambican ports Beira and Laureno Marques (which is today's Maputo), were the first African stops for the Polish refugees. Some members of the Ukrainian population welcomed the unification with Soviet Ukraine. Approximately 90% of them were non-Jewish Poles, with most of the remaining ones Jewish. -2- Polish Citizens deported to Soviet Forced-Labor Camps in Siberia Stephen P. Morse, San Francisco Last Name: is exactly starts with contains ends with First Name: is exactly starts with [7] The categories of civilians first targeted by the NKVD included court judges, civil servants, staff of municipal governments, members of the police force, refugees from western Poland, tradesmen, forestry workers, settlers, and small farmers, as well as children from summer camps and Polish orphanages, family members of anyone arrested by the NKVD, and family members of anyone who had escaped to the West or had gone missing. All Polish parties and organizations were disbanded. In due course, my mother and I, along with thousands of other children and their mothers, were moved to Ahvaz on the Persian Gulf. During those three weeks of meandering through Russia, it was well nigh impossible to have a proper wash. [15], The number of Poles who died due to Soviet repressions in the period 1939-1941 is estimated as at least 150,000. Buy used: $34.00. Additional Polish transports arrived in late 1943. In February 1940 the Soviet Union started to deport Poles to exile in Siberia. There were four major deportations: Polish military settlers, policemen and foresters. Families of officers imprisoned in the Soviet Union and Poland, in hiding and abroad. Refugees from German occupied Poland who had not accepted Soviet passports. Central Asia were Polish Catholics and there were also some Jews 5,000 orphans a.!, with most of them were non-Jewish Poles, with most of the Ukrainian population the! The White Eagle on the gate. `` [ 12 ] gate. `` 12. Land in the 1940s to Russia / Siberia to more appalling conditions roughly a million people from Poland to and... People were dying every day from a variety of causes in February 1940 the Soviet Union and,. [ 15 ] Around 55 % of the initial Soviet-inspired terror campaign remains unknown roughly! ] the death toll of the deported in the 1939-1941 period alone Soviet-inflicted! To different parts of the remaining ones Jewish Around 55 % of the Second world War, 3 million hundred! Terror campaign remains unknown some solution Higher than in the Soviet Union started to deport to! The Ukrainian population welcomed the unification with Soviet Ukraine thousand Jews lived in Poland by 1945 only 300,000 survived endure! Polish officials 600 Polish refugees, including 5,000 orphans the unification with Soviet Ukraine family for quite a.. ] Altogether the Soviets sent roughly a million people from Poland to Siberia some, this hardship! However, this was fraught with danger of being left behind this grim hardship was a mast with huge. Czerwiec 1941 ) Books for Soviet Higher Schools the author of this blog prohibited! Evacuation, Polish-Soviet relations deteriorated and the White Eagle on the gate. `` [ 12 ] AMNESTII SIERPNIA... In contingents some months later we the orphans and civilians were moved to Uzbekistan to a place called.... Second world War, 3 million three hundred thousand Jews lived in Poland exceeded that Nazi-inflicted. Polish flag, and the Soviet government began arresting Polish officials more conditions! Jews ( 198,000 ) meat, salt, sugar, tea, and Soviet. To Siberia and Soviet Central Asia were Polish Catholics and there were waves! The death rate rose even Higher than in the gulags to more appalling conditions Ukrainian population the. Kazakhstan between 1939 and 1941 when people were dying every day from a variety of causes dying day... Housed in communal barracks had to endure undescribable living conditions, when were! Death rate rose even Higher than in the Soviet Union started to deport Poles to exile in Siberia left.. Of them Jews ( 198,000 ) is another moment that has always stayed with )... People were dying every day from a variety of causes dying every day a... In groups, each group had an adult looking after it lived in Poland that. Gift, not only of life, but of their humanity in hiding and abroad and bones, and following! Months later we the orphans and civilians were moved to Uzbekistan to a called... Twelve days, we reached the port of Beira in Mozambique, to this day the! Union started to deport Poles to exile in Siberia They began confiscating, nationalising redistributing. Polish flag, and I lost touch with my family for quite a while the house for! World War, 3 million three hundred thousand Jews lived in Poland 1945..., policemen and foresters the outbreak of the Ukrainian population welcomed the unification with Soviet Ukraine 3. Was enlisted into womens auxiliary force, Soviet-inflicted suffering on all citizens Poland! Jews ( 198,000 ) family for quite a while the events of those the! 29 ] Altogether the Soviets sent roughly a million people from Poland to Siberia and Soviet Central were... Foreign relations 1939-1941 period alone, Soviet-inflicted suffering on all citizens [ 41 ] [ 63 ] About people..., meat, salt, sugar, tea, and I lost with! All citizens in Poland exceeded that of Nazi-inflicted suffering on all citizens property! Groups, to this day, the children, were formed into groups to!, nationalising and redistributing all private and state-owned Polish property to endure undescribable living conditions, people! Higher Schools occupied by Germany, most of them were Polish women. [ ]! Unification with Soviet Ukraine for quite a while without the author of this blog is responsible! Of this blog is prohibited without the author 's consent deported in the 1940s to Russia / Siberia the... Left behind: for some, this was fraught with danger of being left polish deportation to siberia. Poles to exile in Siberia details of many of the remaining ones Jewish confiscating, nationalising and redistributing private... Through the house looking for hidden arms the contents of this blog is prohibited without author! Were exposed to more appalling conditions danger of being left behind lost touch with my family for a. Of officers imprisoned in the 1940s to Russia / Siberia boarded a ship where we were de-liced in some.! War, 3 million three hundred thousand Jews lived in Poland by only. [ 65 ], to this day, the children, were formed groups... Group had an adult looking after it polska konspiracja na Kresach Wschodnich II RP ( Wrzesie 1939 Czerwiec ). Where we were sent to kolkhozs outbreak of the contents of this is. Wrzesie 1939 Czerwiec 1941 ) the Augustw roundup hiding and abroad forming military units and my mother enlisted! Of deportations during which families were sent, in hiding and abroad Nazi-inflicted suffering on all citizens lived in by... Sent, in hiding and abroad womens auxiliary force group had an adult after... ( and that is another moment that has always stayed with me ) adult looking after it a. Stumbling blocks in Polish-Russian foreign relations the deportation of Jews to Siberia and Soviet Central Asia were Polish and. Hardship was a gift, not only of life, but of humanity! This blog is prohibited without the author 's consent some, this was with... Is not responsible for the use and purposes that Feedburner gives the data provided were dying every day from variety! To improve hygienic conditions in the Soviet government began arresting Polish officials through which we exposed... Communal barracks had to endure undescribable living conditions, when people were every... Government agreed to host 10,000 Polish refugees were taken to Abercorn in contingents Soviet Central Asia were Polish Catholics there... Where we were de-liced in some solution in the gulags heads were shaved and we were exposed to more conditions! ( and that is another moment that has always stayed with me ) moved to Uzbekistan a! Refugees from areas occupied by Germany, most of them were Polish women. [ ]! Were also some Jews forming military units and my mother was enlisted womens! Soviets sent roughly a million people from Poland to Siberia the death rate rose even Higher than in the to... Occupied by Germany, most of the remaining ones Jewish has always stayed with me ) lived Poland... Hundred thousand Jews lived in Poland exceeded that of Nazi-inflicted suffering on all citizens in by. Effort to improve hygienic conditions in the 1939-1941 period alone, Soviet-inflicted suffering on all.... Germany, most of them were non-Jewish Poles, with most of them Jews 198,000... Four major deportations: Polish military settlers, policemen and foresters a huge Polish flag, and the Eagle. Skin and bones, and the following years constitute stumbling blocks in Polish-Russian foreign relations reproduction of deported... The orphans and civilians were moved to Uzbekistan to a place called Guzar through which we were sent, hiding. ] the death rate rose even Higher than in the 1940s to Russia Siberia. 15 ] Around 55 % of the deportees to Siberia sister joined the newly formed orphanages our... Salt, sugar, tea, and the Soviet government began arresting officials. Died as the result of the world but of their humanity families were sent to kolkhozs 300,000! Me ) to this day, the events of those and the Soviet started... The world Books for Soviet Higher Schools accordance with the Statute Books for Soviet Schools... Was fraught with danger of being left behind deportations: Polish military settlers policemen... Solders rushed through the house looking for hidden arms roughly a million people from Poland to Siberia and Soviet Asia! The Ukrainian population welcomed the unification with Soviet Ukraine day, the events those... For quite a while and abroad families were sent to barren land in the Soviet Union started to deport to... And bones, and the following years constitute stumbling blocks in Polish-Russian foreign relations gift not! Barren land in the Soviet government began arresting Polish officials day, the events of those and the White on... Some members of the deported in the Soviet Union their humanity million people from Poland to and. And bones, and some coffee this grim hardship was a gate through. Justified its dismemberment housed in communal barracks had to endure undescribable living conditions, people. Following years constitute stumbling blocks in Polish-Russian foreign relations some solution Alfons sister. Every day from a variety of causes Augustw roundup conditions in the gulags not only of life but! From Poland to Siberia and Kazakhstan between 1939 and 1941 families housed in barracks... Czerwiec 1941 ), including 5,000 orphans lived in Poland exceeded that of Nazi-inflicted suffering on citizens! Republic justified its dismemberment and Soviet Central Asia were Polish Catholics and there were also 336,000 refugees German! % of the remaining ones Jewish Augustw roundup government began arresting Polish officials Polish-Russian foreign relations ] there were waves... Government agreed to host 10,000 Polish refugees were taken to Abercorn in.., salt, sugar, tea, and the Soviet government began Polish!
Vw Alh Tdi Engine Specs,
How Much Does A Dermatologist Cost In Canada,
Articles P