Michał Susło was born in the village of Góry Suhe in 1902. He was called up to service when WW2 broke out and served in the Polish Army. He was then captured by the Russians and sent to a POW camp in Siberia.

 

When he reached the POW camp in Siberia, he was told that this is where he would eventually die, but in the meantime, he had to work to earn the daily ration of bread. Aside from the extreme cold in winter, and extreme heat in summer, he 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, and diseases ran rampant, leading to a high death toll.

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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. Michał was among those who made this perilous journey south.

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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.

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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 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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Michał served in the Polish 2nd Corps in the Middle East and then sailed to Italy to join the Italian Campaign. He served in the 4th Light Artillery Regiment as a gunner. Near Monte Cassino, he saved a man's life by digging him up after a bomb exploded and soil covered him up. As a thank you, he received a beautiful, curved pocket watch from this person. The watch still works today and chimes beautifully after being wound.

 

Michał returned to Poland after the war. He died in 1987 at the age of 85 years, and was buried in the cemetery in Przedbórz, Łódz province, Poland.

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Source: Family Facebook post in Polish​​​