Franciszek was born the youngest of five children in Wilno Troki, Wilno province in Poland on 26 January 1916.

​

 He was mobilized in 1939 and served in the telecommunications division of the Polish army in Wilno, where he took an active part in defending Lwow.

​

Captured by the Russians, he was 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.

​

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. Franciszek was among those who reached the Polish army in the southern USSR.

​

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.

​

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.

​

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.

​

Franciszek served in the Polish 2nd Corps in the Middle East and in the Italian Campaign, including the Battle of Monte Cassini.

​

In 1946, he came to Canada on a two-year work permit and worked on a farm before moving to Winnipeg where he married Bronislawa Wasney. They were married for 55 years.

​

He was a longtime employee of the Canadian Pacific Railway until his retirement in 1972.

​

Franciszek Szupo passed away in Winnipeg on 7 February 2009, at the age of 93 years. He was buried at the Holy Ghost Cemetery.

​

​

​

Copyright: Szupo family