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 four mass deportations to Siberia that were carried out in 1940 and 1941.

 

Zbigniew (b 1939) was a six months old baby in April 1940 when he, along with his mother Stefania (b 1906), and his two sisters, Irena (b 1932) and Jozefa (b 1931), were forcibly removed from their home by the Russians and taken to a kolkoz (collective farm) in northern Kazakhstan, where they faced starvation, sickness, and the most horrible suffering. As was the case with all the deportations in April 1940, Zbigniew’s father had been arrested by the Russians prior to the family being deported.

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The horrors of the deportation journey were as follows: The family were forcibly taken from their home at gunpoint, by Russian soldiers. They had been given less than an hour to pack what they could, without knowing where they were being taken. Stefania took only what she and the girls could carry , which was not very much as she had Zbigniew in her arms and the girls were so young.

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They were taken to the railway station and loaded into cattle cars with 50-60 other people. This included infants, toddlers, children, teens, adults, and seniors. Most of the adults and seniors were women. The cattle car had two shelves at either end, where people could sit or sleep – the rest had to make do with the floor. There was a cast iron stove, but they soon ran our of wood to fuel it. There was also a hole in the floor that served as a toilet.

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They travelled like this for weeks, and were given some water, stale bread, and watery soup, only a few times. When someone died, their bodies were cast out next to the tracks and left there. Many infants and elders did not survive this journey, so it is a miracle that Zbigniew and his sisters survived this journey.

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When they reached the collective farm in northern Kazakhstan, they were told that this is where they would eventually die, but in the meantime, they had to work in order to earn their daily ration of bread or grain.

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Aside from the extreme cold in winter, and extreme heat in summer, they 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. The women and children who later followed the men south encountered the same difficulties.

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General Anders was in charge of the army, and he tried hard to get the Russians to provide the food and equipment they had promised. When this became more and more impossible, he negotiated the right to evacuate the army to Persia, where the British would provide what was needed.

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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. 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 basic 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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Zbigniew was over 2 years old when his family reached Persia. After recuperating in Persia, they journeyed to to India, where they resided in the Polish refugee camp called “Valivade”. They lived there for several years before relocating to another Polish refugee camp in Koja, Uganda.  After the war, the family settled in the U.K.

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It is not known if Zbigniew's father was one of those released by the amnesty and whether he joined the Polish 2nd Corps.

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