Wroblewska-Chalko Wladyslawa

Wladyslawa WROBLEWSKA-CHALKO

Wladyslawa Wroblewska was born 30 September 1915 in Kołomya (under the Austrian partition of Poland). Her father was Jozef Wroblewski, and her mother was Ewa Stefania (nee Krzysztofowicz).

Wladyslawa was a graduate of the Ursulan Sisters’ School in Kolomya as well as a 2-year course in Physical Education in Lwow. She was an Instructor of the Womens’ Auxiliary of the Polish Army.

The Germans invaded Poland from the west on 1 September 1939, and the Russians invaded from the east on 17 September 1939. They divided Poland between them. In the Russian-controlled area, the plan to ethnically-cleanse the area soon took effect with the first of four mass deportations to Siberia that were carried out in 1940 and 1941.Wladyslawa was deported to the OMSK region of Siberia by the Russians.

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. Released by the ‘amnesty’ in 1941, Wladyslawa joined the Polish Army that was being formed in the USSR.

She served as a nurse with the Polish 2nd Corps, 5th Kresowa Infantry Division. She was assigned to hospitals in Persia, Iraq, Palestine, and Egypt, and was head nurse at the field hospital at Monte Cassino, Italy.

After World War II, she spent some years in the UK, where she married Zbigniew Chałko (a Home Army veteran and participant in the Warsaw Uprising). Their son, Krzysztof Maria Jerzy, was born on 21 August 1948. The family emigrated to the United States in 1951 and settled in Chicago.

Wladyslawa was a long-time employee of the Polish National Union, as well as a social activist: A member and former president of the Legion of Young Polish Women in America, a member of the Association of the former members of the 5th Kresowa Infantry Division of the Polish 2nd Corps.

Wladyslawa passed away on 28 August 2016 in Chicago, Illinois at the age of 101, and is buried at the Powązkowski Cemetery in Warsaw, Poland.

She was decorated with the following medals:

Polish medals: Gold Cross of Merit, Silver Cross of Merit with Swords;

British medals: War Medal 1935-1945, Italy Star.

Source: Translated from the Polish text authored by daughter-in-law Barbara Chalko.