Hi Rich
What was the fate of your grandfather? Did he remain in the USSR?
Barney Dombrowski
--- In Kresy-Siberia@..., "Richard Widerynski"
<richpna@e...> wrote:
Dear Barney,
My family ended up in Kazakstan after their release from their
Arkangelsk. They got there via train a trip they funded by selling
some of their remaining belongings that had survived the camp they
had been in. In an effort to find the Polish army, which was the key
to many a families survival, my grandfather rented a camel and went
out in search of its location. Obviously he was unsuccessful he was
in territory three times the size of Texas. The Poles who had been
taken prisoner by the Soviets wanted nothing more than to leave that
barbaric country. There was no question. Even many prewar
communists from Poland who had escaped to Russia in the wake of the
German invasion quickly realized that they had been duped by Soviet
propaganda and they wanted out as well. It was a miserable place to
be and an awful situation to be in if you were Polish.
Rich Widerynski
----- Original Message -----
From:
To: Kresy-Siberia@...
Sent: 9/24/2003 12:15:11 PM
Subject: [Kresy-Siberia] Re: Those that got left behind
Barney -
I think the reasons why they were left behind are all you wrote and
more. Sometimes they literally "missed the boat." It took them so
long to reach Southern Russia that the last boat had left, and these
poor people were out of luck. Eventually relations between the USSR
and the Polish Government in Exile became strained, and some of the
remaining Poles were prevented from leaving the USSR. The USSR
abruptly stopped the amnesty.
On the other hand, many wanted to return to Poland and did so
voluntarily. Others decided to stay in the USSR for whatever
reason. There were also orphans who may be living in the former USSR
to this day who do not know they are Polish.
As time wore on, many were pressured into staying or returning to
Poland. There are many different scenarios.
Eve Jankowicz
USA
Can anybody in the group offer some insight for the reasons why
some were left behind. Were they refused permission to leave by
local officials? or did they voluntarily stay in the USSR? Maybe
they were never told of the transfer option?
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