Siomkajło Family
The Siomkajło family were forcibly deported from their home in the village of Sielec, near Jezupol, in Stanisławow province and sent to the gold mining town of Dzetygara in the northernmost tip of Kazakhstan.
The parents were Jan Siomkajło (no photo exists) and Michalina (Karaś) Siomkajło. Their son Józef and his wife Michalina (Kudłowska) Siomkajło were also deported with them, as well as daughters: Amalia, Aniela, Joanna, Julia and Stanisława. Only the last four survived the ordeal.
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0. Not pictured: Jan Siomkajło - died 13 January 1942 in Uzbekistan
1. Michalina (Karas) Siomkajło - died 26 March 1941 in Dźetigara, Kazakhstan
2. Józef Siomkajło - died 20 April 1942 in Teheran, Persia (Iran)
3. Michalina (Kudłowska) Siomakjło - died in a psychiatric hospital in Africa
4. Amalia Siomkajło - died 15 February 1942 in Uzbekistan
5. Aniela Siomkajło - evacuated to Persia, then East Africa, then became Sister Klemensa of the Holy Family of Nazareth congregation
6. Joanna Siomakjło - evacuated to Persia, then East Africa, then joined the Polish Air Force in the UK
7. Julia Siomkajło - evacuated to Persia, then East Africa, then joined the Polish Air Force in the UK
8. Stanisława Siomkajło - evacuated to Persia, then East Africa, then became Sister Alice of the Holy Family of Nazareth congregation
Two other siblings were not part of the deportation: son Tadeusz Siomkajło and daughter Eugenia Siomkajło. They had escaped Poland before the deportations in order to avoid being conscripted into the Russian Army. They made their way on foot to Hungary where they were separately interned.
Tadeusz escaped from the internment camp and made his way to France, where he joined the Polish forces. He was later evacuated to the UK and trained in Scotland with the 1st Polish Armoured Division (1PAD). He served with the 1PAD in the northern European Campaign (1944-45) and was part of the Occupying Forces in Germany (45-47). He eventually settled in England.
Eugenia remained in Hungary after the war and secretly joined the Servitar Sisters congregation as Sister Filipa. She secretly taught religion to children and assisted the parish priest with a number of duties. She paid a Hungarian man for the use of his name, so that her true identity would remain secret.
Jan Siomkajło's siblings Antoni and Emilia remained somewhere in the USSR after the war, and all
contact with them was lost.
At the outbreak of the war, Antoni was living in ‘Osada Halinowka’ in Luck district, Wolyn province, POLAND. This area is now located in BELARUS.
Another sibling, Michał (not pictured), served in the September Campaign in Poland and died in action.
After evacuating from the USSR with Ander's Army, spending some months in Persia, then spending a year at the Polish settlement in Kidugala, Tanzania, Julia and Joanna joined the Women's Auxiliary Air Force of the Polish Air Force in the UK, and travelled on the ship "New Amsterdam" from East Africa to England in March 1944.
After the war, Julia met Michał Szypowski, her brother Tadeusz's best friend, in England. They married in 1948 and emigrated to Canada with their 4 month old son Tadeusz in 1949.
After the war, Joanna joined the Little Sisters of the Immaculate Conception congregation and became Sister Dolores. She went back to Africa and spent 10 years there as a missionary before settling in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, USA.
Michał and Julia: Wedding in 1948 and 50th Anniversary in 1998.
Joanna becomes Sister Dolores (1954), and in Cherry Hill, New Jersey in 2004.
After evacuating from the USSR with Ander's Army, spending some months in Persia, Aniela and Stasia spent 3 years at the Polish settlement in Kidugala, Tanzania.
Aniela and Stanisława become Sister Klemensa and Sister Alice, in Nairobi,1948.
