Hi Stephen
Thanks for the additional information on your family.
Have you already accessed the UK Ministry of Defense records for your father
out of Hayes? I warrant that his file would contain some of the documentary
evidence you are looking for.
In addition, some of the people I listed in my last e-mail may be related,
especially those in the former Galicia (e.g., Tarnopol and Stanislawow
provinces). It is therefore worth contacting the Hoover Institution and
asking them to check for these files.
Details on these and other sources are at our webpage at
Regards,
Stefan Wisniowski
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From: "stephenwierzbicki" <stephenwierzbicki@...>
Date: Tue, 07 Oct 2003 13:31:55 -0000
To: Stefan Wisniowski <swisniowski@...>
Subject: Re: Welcome Stephen Wierzbicki
Hi Stefan,
Thank you for accepting and welcoming me to the group.
My father was Marian Wierzbicki, he was born in Sambor, near Lvov,
the son of Jan Wierzbicki and Karolina nee Kosziolko. I am piecing
together an outline of my father's family at the moment and am
embarrassed to say that I know very little about them. However, my
mother, who is in her mid seventies, is helping where she can.
My father had many brothers and sisters including a brother called
Franciszek but I don't know if he died during the war (there were
quite a few brothers and sisters many of which died in infancy). I
also had a cousin called Irena. I can not say whether they were the
people mentioned below.
My father's father and mother, Jan and Karolina, met in Vienna
before the 1st WW. They had lived in Galicia which was part of the
Austro-Hungarian part of Poland. I believe the family ended up in
Vienna as refugees during the war. Although the wider familiy was
spread around Europe, Middle East and Egypt.
My father was arrested by the Russians in 1942? for some form of
clandestine work involving partisan type work. As such he was
classed as a criminal and sent to Siberia? This is hear say evidence
as I have not found any documentation to support this other than
stories from him and my mother. He became part of the group who
moved across Russia to Persia and then trained in the Free Polish
Army and fought through North Africa and Italy. At some point he was
awarded the Vituti Militari. He also held a Cassino cross since he
was part of the battle there. I am in the process of trying to find
the citation and his military record. He never disclosed what he was
awarded the VM for. Strangely enough he died in 1973 on the same day
in September that he was issued the award back in 1948.
that just about exhausts my current knowledge of my father and his
family. I was quite young when he died and only now started to
enquire about what he got up to during the war. far too late to get
all the information I fear but at least it is a start.
Thank you again for you help and I will tell more of the story as it
unfurls.
Regards
Stephen Wierzbicki
UK
