Most of the survivors of the Kresy deportations ended up in the 5 KDP,
my Dad was a Saper (army engineers, as I understand it, built and blew
up bridges sort of thing). My Mum was in the Womens Transport Corps.

5KDP = 5 Kresowa Dywizja Piechoty = 5th Kresowa Infantry Division

For those who haven't yet read about "Poland's Contribution To The
Allied Victory In The Second World War" go to:


Best wishes for a Happy New Year to all our list members and their
families,

Elizabeth Olsson
(Sweden)

Oops
Url should read



for the Singapore website.

Sorry

John

I accept that this is not directly linked to most our researchers, but
it may help some members.

In today's Times, there is an advert by the Singapore Government stating
that they are going to build over the Bidadari Christian Cemetery in
Singapore.

They have given the website for further
information.

John Nieurzya

Hi all,
A bit of a delayed seasonal greeting I know but I've been out in the
Tasmanian bush far from the maddening crowd and eating too much food.
I wish all of you a peacful, happy and prosperous 2002 and leave you
with a long ago promised photo of my grandmother et al in the camp in
Kazakhstan.....
actually, no I'm not - can't seem to add photos to the group page so
will send it via attachment to Steve Roy. Any reason why not Stefan?
All the best
grace

Hi Gary!
Welcome! I'm hopeful you'll find the info you're searching for regarding your
parents. My parents both died, too before I was old enough (8 and 22 yrs.) to
be seriously interested in inquiring about my ancestry. Back then they had
other things on their minds because they needed to work long and hard to eek
out a living, understand and learn a new language, raising a family under
different conditions, helping and supporting family members still living in
Poland or struggling to come here; these were only some of the problems
confronting our parents and grandparents and presented very little time to
reminisce. My father did write his mother's maiden name for me in a Bible
that belonged to my maternal uncle which I have. That, with a couple letters
my father had written, and his Declaration of Intent were about all I had to
go about finding my family in Poland in later years but I found them! Through
them, I found out that I have a cousin living in Canada with his two sons! We
are all very close and nothing has been as rewarding or brought me
fulfillment as knowing my family. I'm still searching for missing pieces and
family members ---if you keep working on it, I believe you'll get the
information you're looking for, too! Godspeed!
Sincerely, Betty Lloyd - CT

Welcome to the Kresy-Siberia group, Gary - another Canadian? ?And thanks for the referral Elizabeth Olsson.

Gary, if you scan through the group's website message archives, you will find some sources for more information. ?To find more information on your father, try the British Army records that include Anders Army; also if you can provide a bit more information on his family (names, birthdates, towns...) you can get some info from the old Soviet archives through Alexander Guryanov.

While this group does not deal with the German forced labour camps, many of the members also have family with those experiences (my one aunt who was not sent to Siberia because she was in Warsaw with family, participated in the Uprising and was then sent for forced labour in Germany along with the entire surviving population of Warsaw!)

Please also visit www.AForgotenOdyssey.com and explore the links, including www.StalinsEthnicCleansing.com - the book where Elizabeth's mother's story is included.

Kind regards,
--
Stefan Wisniowski
Moderator, Kresy-Siberia

Dear group members:
It's Christmas Day in Australia - sunny, 36? Celsius (high 80's ?F).

We had the Polish "Wigilia" (Christmas Eve) last night under the stars...
- "choinka ze zlobkiem" (Christmas tree with nativity creche)
- Christmas carols
- straw on the table
- a spare table setting for absent family and friends
- sharing the "oplatek" (communion host) accompanied by best wishes
- cold "barszcz" (beet soup, blended with yogurt)
- (no "sledz", I was never that big on herring!)
- "bigos" (cooked cabbage) with mushrooms
- 3 kinds of "pierogi" with sour cream, onions and mushrooms
- rye bread
- "makownik" (poppy seed cake)
- "sernik" (Polish cheese cake - that good and solid kind!)
- Christmas mass under open skies

Even on the opposite side of the world, with a family that is 1/2 Polish,
1/4 French, 1/4 Irish... all Canadian born and about to become Australian
citizens... the tradition lives on.

"Wesolych Swiat Bozego Narodzenia"
and all the best for a happy 2002.

Stefan Wisniowski
Sydney

Dear friends

I have just had an early Christmas present, I have made contact with
more of my family I did not know existed until a week ago, they now live
in Sydney, Australia, and I live in the UK, The connection goes back to
1919 when
they emigrated.

I am at the moment watching Polonia Satellite, and tears are in my eyes
from the beautiful carols being sang all morning, what a start to
Christmas.

I wish that you all have a Joyous Christmas and peaceful New Year.

John Nieurzyla

To everyone

Have a very Happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year

Paul

Thank you for warmly welcoming me to the group! I wish each one of you,
however you celebrate this season, a very Merry Christmas/Happy Hanuka with
your family and friends! I'd like to share this little Christmas story with
you that reassures us hope springs eternal! It tells us once again NEVER give
up!
Sincerely, Betty Lloyd - CT

Subject: The Tablecloth
A true Story:

The brand new pastor, newly assigned to his first ministry,
to reopen a church in suburban Brooklyn, arrived in early October excited
about his opportunities. When he saw the church, it was very run down
and needed much work. He set a goal to have everything done in time to have
his first service on Christmas Eve. He worked hard repairing pews,
plastering walls, painting, etc. and on Dec 18 were ahead of schedule and
just about finished.


On Dec 19th a terrible tempest - a driving rainstorm - hit the area and lasted
for two days. On the 21st, the pastor went over to the church. His heart sank
when he saw that the roof had leaked, causing a large area of plaster about
20 feet by 8 feet to fall off the front wall of the sanctuary just behind the
pulpit, beginning about head high. The pastor cleaned up the mess on the
floor,
and not knowing what else to do but postpone the Christmas Eve service,
headed home.


On the way he noticed that a local business was having a flea market type s
ale
for charity so he stopped in. One of the items was a beautiful, handmade,
ivory colored, crocheted tablecloth with exquisite work, fine colors and a
Cross embroidered right in the center. It was just the right size to cover up
the hole
in the front wall. He bought it and headed back to the church. By this time
it had started to snow. An older woman running from the opposite direction
was trying
to catch the bus. She missed it. The pastor invited her to wait in the warm
church for the next bus 45 minutes later. She sat in a pew and paid no
attention
to the pastor while he got a ladder, hangers, etc., to put up the tablecloth
as a wall tapestry. The pastor could hardly believe how beautiful it looked
and it covered up the entire problem area.


Then he noticed the woman walking down the center aisle. Her face was like
a sheet. "Pastor," she asked, "where did you get that tablecloth?"

The pastor explained. The woman asked him to check the lower right corner
to see if the initials, EBG were crocheted into it there. They were.

These were the initials of the woman, and she had made this tablecloth
35 years before, in Austria. The woman could hardly believe it as the pastor
told how he had just gotten the Tablecloth.


The woman explained that before the war she and her husband were well-to-do
people in Austria. When the Nazis came, she was forced to leave. Her husband
was going to follow her the next week. She was captured, sent to prison and
never saw her husband or her home again.


The pastor wanted to give her the tablecloth, but she made the pastor keep
it for the church. The pastor insisted on driving her home, that was the
least
that he could do. She lived on the other side of Staten Island and was only
in Brooklyn for the day for a housecleaning job.


What a wonderful service they had on Christmas Eve. The church was almost
full! The music and the spirit were great. At the end of the service, the
pastor greeted everyone at the door and many said that they
would return. One older man, whom the pastor recognized from the
neighborhood, continued to sit in one of the pews and stare, and the pastor
wondered why he wasn't leaving. The man asked him where he got the
tablecloth on the front wall because it was identical to one that his wife
had made years ago when they lived in Austria before the war and how could
there be two tablecloths so much alike? He told the pastor how the Nazis
came, how he forced his wife to flee for her safety, and he was supposed to
follow her, but he was arrested and put in a prison. He never saw his wife
or
his home again all these 35 years.

The pastor asked him if he would allow him to take him for a little ride.
They drove to Staten Island and to the same house where the pastor had taken
the woman three days earlier. He helped the man climb the three flights of
stairs to the woman's apartment, knocked on the door and he saw the greatest
Christmas reunion he could ever imagine.


True Story - submitted by Pastor Rob Reid, New York, NY


Who says God does not work in mysterious ways.

Merry Christmas to All
Wanda

I am unable to respond to your email at this time. I return from leave
on the 7th January 2002.
BJ

Kresy-Siberia 12/21/01 17:44 >>>

Dear List Members.

All good wishes for a very, very Happy Christmas and a
peaceful, healthy, happy and prosperous New Year.

I only recently joined the Kresy-Siberia group. To my
joy I have met many people on-line and, most
importantly, have been able to reconnect with my roots
and learn many, many new things. Not only how to go
about finding information, but also seeing that there
are so many wonderful, kind, helpful people in the world.

To all of you a big THANK YOU.
Happy Holidays!
Elizabeth

开云体育

Please welcome John Brown to the group. We look forward to hearing more
about his family's experiences of Siberia as we all expand our knowledge
about what happened to our families.
--
Stefan Wisniowski Moderator,
Kresy-Siberia

Please welcome Richard to the group ?Though he has no immediate links to this topic, he has interest and also a theory that an ancestor may have been deported to Siberia by the Russians in earlier years. ?Richard, we welcome you to stay a while and to get to know this topic - even if you do not find anything directly related to you, you may make some other connections and help somebody else researching this tragic event. ?I invite you to visit the following websites to quickly come up to speed. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Kresy-Siberia and http://www.AForgottenOdyssey.com ?????????????
--
Stefan Wisniowski, Moderator