Wladyslaw Stronski

Władysław Stroński was born on 15th May 1918 in Raszków. He was the son of Teophil (a farmer) and Weronika (nee Buszewicz). He attended primary school in Raszków, and from 1929 he was admitted to the second class of the Gymnasium in Ostrów Wielkopolski, graduating in 1937. After graduation, he completed a one-year course in Szczypiorne, and then undertook studies at the Faculty of Chemistry of the University of Poznań.

In August 1939, he was mobilized to the army and as a corporal took part in the September Campaign. He fought in the Battle of Bzura as the commander of a platoon. He took part in the defense of Warsaw, where he was seriously injured. He escaped from the hospital and walked to his native Rashkov.

In May 1940, he was arrested by the Gestapo and, through the Transit Camp in Skalmierzyce, he was sent to the concentration camp in Dachau, where he received the camp number 8195. With the help of a cousin living in Munich, he managed to be freed from the camp in September 1941.

He was then under the constant supervision of the police. Liberated in 1945 by the American army, he made his way to Italy, and joined the Polish 2nd Corps. From there he was sent to the United Kingdom. In 1946, he was promoted to second lieutenant.

While in England, he completed his education and graduated from the chemical department in Manchester. He was subsequently employed at Shell Rafinery. In 1951 he married Maria Załuska.

In 1958, he emigrated to Canada with his wife and son. He worked at Shell’s refinery and was then employed at the Pulp and Papers Research Institute in Pointe Claire. He was active in the Polish Veterans’ Association “ Marshal Piłsudsk”, and in the Association of Former Political Prisoners in Montreal (in which he served as president and treasurer), and in the Representation of the Ministry of Treasury of the Polish Government-in-Exile.

He was awarded the Medal of the Polish Army, the Silver Cross of Merit, the Oświęcim Cross, the Polish 1939 Defence Medal, and the Medal of the Maximilian Kolbe Association “For Your Suffering – Our Love”.

At the end of his life he was seriously ill. Władysław Stroński died on October 23, 2004, at the age of 86. He was buried in the Military Cemetery in Pointe Claire, Quebec.

Source: https://wlkp24.info/wspomnienie/wladyslaw-stronski/

(Translated from the original Polish)