Edward Szandrowski was born on 17 August 1921 to Wladyslaw and Anna (nee Tyrchniewicz) in Juriampol, Poland. The Germans invaded Poland from the west on 1 September 1939, and the Russians invaded from the east on 17 September 1939. They divided Poland between them. In the Russian-controlled area, the plan to ethnically-cleanse the area soon took effect with the first of four mass deportations to Siberia that were carried out in 1940 and 1941.

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Edward was mobilized into the Polish army and fought in the September Campaign. He was captured by the Russians and sent to a POW camp in Siberia.

 

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.

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The news of this ‘amnesty’ did not reach every camp, but where it did become known, the men and boys 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. Edward was among those who reached the Polish army in the south.

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General Anders was in charge of the army, and he tried hard to get the Russians to provide the food and equipment they had promised. When this became more and more impossible, he negotiated the right to evacuate the army to Persia, where the British would provide what was needed.

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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. Then Stalin changed his mind and closed the borders. Those who had not been evacuated were now stuck in the USSR.

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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 basic necessities, like water and latrines. The soldiers and civilians filled these ships to capacity for the 1-2 day trip. When there were storms, the situation got even worse – with most of the passengers suffering sea sickness.

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Edward joined the Polish 2nd Corps and served in the Middle East and in the Italian Campaign (including the Battle of Monte Cassino).

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After his unit was disbanded in 1948 in England, he was sponsored to Canada by his uncle, Jozef Tyrchniewicz, where he worked on the farm. In 1951 Edward bought his own farm in Prairie Grove. He married Julia Kaszuba in 1959, and they had a wonderful life together until Julia died in 1990. He gave up active farming at the age of 75 and rented his farm to neighbours, Stan and Susan Paterson.

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Edward Szandrowski passed away in Winnipeg on 13 July 2018 at the age of 96 years. He was buried at the Green Acres cemetery.

 

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Copyright: Szandrowski family.

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