Jerzy ROMANOWSKI

Jerzy Romanowski was born on a rural farm in Eastern Poland in June 1924. As the eldest in a devoted Roman Catholic family, he was sent to the seminary. However, he left the seminary and pursued vocational training as a mechanic. When Germany invaded Poland from the west and the Russians from the east, he and his family were deported to a work camp in Siberia.

When they reached the work camp, they were told that this is where they would eventually die, but in the meantime, they had to work to earn their daily ration of bread. Children as young as 13 were set to work in the forests – cutting branches from the trees that had been cut down.

Aside from the extreme cold in winter, and extreme heat in summer, they had to contend with hordes of mosquitoes and black flies, as well as infestations of bed bugs in the barracks. There were no medical facilities in these camps, and diseases ran rampant, leading to a high death toll.

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. Jerzy was among those who made this harrowing journey.

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.

There were 2 mass evacuations: in March/April 1942, and in September 1942. Then Stalin changed his mind and closed the borders. 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. When there were storms, the situation got even worse – with most of the passengers suffering sea sickness.

Jerzy’s war experience took him through Iran, Iraq, Palestine, and Egypt, and finally to Italy where he fought with the Polish 2nd Corps to liberate Monte Cassino. He was wounded twice during the war and on one occasion was saved by Canadian tank drivers.

Poland came under Soviet control at the end of the war, so Jerzy had to find a new home. The choices offered were Canada, South Africa, and Australia. Recalling the Canadian soldiers that saved him during the war, he chose Canada. Jerzy signed up for a two-year work contract and arrived in Manitoba on 11 November 1946.

Once the contract was completed, he began his long working career in Winnipeg as a mechanic, then a door-to-door salesman, a highly successful car salesman, and finally, an entrepreneur running his own vehicle repair shop “Roman Service & Sales” for 21 years.

He met and married Zofia Bartnicki in June 1951, and they settled down to raise their five children. Jerzy was involved in the Knights of Columbus, the Canadian Legion, the Sokol Club, the YMCA, and other community organizations.

Jerzy passed away in Winnipeg on 22 January 2020, at the age of 95 years.