Witold Worobiej was born on 1 January 1913 in Kulowce, Poland. Before the war, Witold was a farmer and lived with his family in the eastern borderlands of Poland.

 

In September 1939, Poland was attacked from both sides: from the west by Germany and from the east by Russia.

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Witold was mobilized in the cavalry, fighting against the Russians. Along with thousands of others, he became a prisoner of war of the Russians. They had to walk through large areas on the way to Siberia. He had to do a lot of physical work at the POW camp, in very harsh and primitive conditions.

 

In 1941 Russia itself was attacked by the Germans. The Russians needed help from the allies, who demanded the release of the Polish prisoners of war. Witold was released by the ‘amnesty’ and made his way south to join the Polish army being formed there. He then joined the 1st Polish Armoured Division of General Maczek. Witold trained as a tank driver and served in the 1st Anti-Tank Artillery Regiment.

 

In 1944, he arrived in Normandy shortly after D-Day. There he fought against the Germans for a second time. He fought in France, Belgium and the Netherlands, and was demobilized in Germany, after serving with the occupation forces there.

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After the war, he could not return to Poland, because the place where he lived become part of the USSR after the war. If he had gone back, he would have been considered a traitor by the Russians, because he had fought on the Allied side.

 

For years he tried to locate his family but was unsuccessful. He was only able to find the grave of his only brother, who died in 1939. Witold visited Poland for the first time in the mid-1970’s.

 

After the war, Witold settled in Oldenzaal where he lived and worked. He married Corrie Schrauwen from Brabant. The family returned to Breda in 1955 where he worked at the HKI, which was later called Enka.

 

His biggest hobby was his vegetable garden, where he grew vegetables for his family and flowers for his wife. His children remember him as a sweet, calm, caring man. He often said "If you're happy, I'm happy too”.

 

Witold died in Breda on 2 November 1982.

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Source: Polish First Armoured Division Facebook post

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