Bronislawa Siebert

Bronislawa’s family came from Niesmiany in Poland near the border with Germany. Her parents had a farm and also worked in the area forests.

In 1940 the family was deported to the Urals by the Russians and they were forced to work in the mines. In June 1941, Germany turned on its ally, Russia. Stalin then quickly changed tactics and allied himself with the west so that the allies could help him defeat the Germans. This led to the signing of the Sikorski-Majewski agreement that called for the freeing of Poles imprisoned in POW camps and labour camps in the USSR, and the formation of a Polish Army in the southern USSR.

The news of this ‘amnesty’ did not reach every camp, but where it did become known, the families soon made plans to make their way south to join the army. For most, this meant walking thousands of kilometers and only occasionally getting on a train for part of the journey. Many did not make it, and those who did were emaciated skeletons by the time they got there.

General Anders oversaw the army, and he tried hard to get the Russians to provide the food and equipment they had promised. When this became increasingly impossible, he negotiated the right to evacuate the army to Persia, where the British would provide what was needed. Anders insisted on taking as many of the civilians that had reached the army as possible. There were 2 mass evacuations: in March/April 1942, and in September 1942.

The evacuation took place by ship over the Caspian Sea to Pahlavi in Persia (now Iran). The ships that were used were oil tankers and coal ships, and other ships that were not equipped to handle passengers. They were filthy and lacked even the necessities, like water and latrines. The soldiers and civilians filled these ships to capacity for the 1-2-day trip.

The family then journeyed to India and Africa and spent the rest of the war years at the Kilugala Polish settlement in Tanganyika.

When they arrived in England in 1948, they were allocated to the Marworth Polish Hostel. Bronislawa was 18 years old when she arrived. Her family lived in a Nissen hut on Site 8. They had a small garden where they grew beetroots and flowers.

Bronislawa attended the Polish School at Marsworth and someone came to the school to teach young adults English but he wasn't very good so she went to college in Luton to learn English so she could find work.

She became a seamstress and worked at a hat factory; later she sewed suits, jackets and coats in Luton. She would travel by bus to get to work.

Bronislawa met her husband Klemens Siebert (an ex-soldier who lived in Letchworth) while selling tickets at a dance at Marsworth. They were married in 1954 in Aylesbury and the reception was held in their barracks at the Hostel. She remembers they had sardine sandwiches for the meal.

In 1956, they moved to Luton and lived with her parents until they saved enough to buy their own home. They then moved to Dunstable.

Bronislawa’s husband died a while ago and, due to ill health, Bronislawa had to go into a nursing home.