Klisz Family

Marcin Klisz (born 1891) and Anna (nee Malec, born 1892) were farmers living in Krolin in the southeastern part of Poland, now Ukraine. Marcin had been married to his first wife who had died not long after giving birth to their daughter Rozalia in 1922. He then married Anna Malec and together they had Aniela (b.1925), Franciska (b.1928) and Jozef (b.1935). Just before Jozef was born they purchased their own farm and moved from Krolin to a small village, Twierdza, near Lwow.

On 10 February 1940 they were taken from their home by six Russians and two Ukrainians at gunpoint. Marcin was ill and in bed; he was told to get dressed or he would be shot. The whole family were taken to the nearest railway station where they saw hundreds of people awaiting the same fate … being deported.

They were put into a wagon and travelled for about two weeks. Each wagon had approximately 50 people. Conditions were awful – it was winter. In the middle of the wagon was a stove; they were given a few buckets of coal, some water, and a few loaves of bread. Marcin Klisz did not survive the journey; he died of T.B. His body was taken away and the family do not know what happened to the body.

The rest of the family arrived in Molotow, Siberia and were taken to a place called Kluczanka. Here the family (apart from the youngest, Jozef) had to work in the forest. Conditions were appalling – sub-zero temperatures, little food and heavy work.

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 found themselves in Teheran, then Isfahan, where schools were set up for the children.

In February 1948 they arrived at Liverpool. From there the family was sent to the Marsworth Polish hostel. Jozef, now 13 years old, was sent to Lilford Hall School, a boarding school.

Franciszka, aged 20, went to work in a factory which made lipstick cases. She recalls life in Marsworth as being very happy, after her traumatic journey from Poland. She met Kazimierz Tomkowski (born in Wilno 1921) at a dance in Marsworth. He lived in Podington Camp in Bedfordshire, another Polish resettlement camp. They married in May 1954, and Franciszka moved to Podington. Grazyna was born in1955, followed by Krzysztof in1959. In 1959 Kazimierz and Franciszka bought a house in Dunstable. Irena was born in 1966.

Franciszka moved to a care home at Laxton Hall on 10 February 2019, exactly 79 years to the day when they had to leave Poland.