Zygfryd BANKOWSKI
Zygfryd was born on 14 January 1925 in Kamienna Gora, Równe district, Wołyń province, Poland, the son of Augustyn Bankowski and Janina (nee Zarczynska) Bankowska.
When Zygfryd, his parents, and his sister Teresa were deported to Siberia on 10 February 1940, the 14-year-old Zygfryd escaped from the goods wagon at the Równe station when they were being transferred to the Russian wide-gauge rail wagons. However, he could not find shelter with any of his cousins and was recaptured by the Soviet soldiers and reloaded on the train. T
They were deported to the Rieczka settlement, in the Czerewkowski region of Archangel oblast. They worked in the forest for 12 hours a day and received 7 ounces of bread plus 2 servings of soup every day. He got scabies and other diseases, with no medicine available and his entire body was covered with wounds. They also had lice crawling all over their bodies, day and night.
The Bankowski family were liberated by the ‘amnesty’ that was negotiated between the Polish-government-in-exile and the Soviets. They journeyed to the southern USSR to find the Polish army that was being formed there. Zygfryd’s father joined the Polish 2nd Corps, and Zygfryd joined the Corps’ cadet school. They evacuated to the Middle East and Zygfryd eventually made his way to the UK and served as a radio operator in the Polish Air Force in the UK. He was only 20 years old when the war was over. He received the Polish Air Force Medal, the British Defense Medal, and the War Medal.
In 1962, he married Catherine (nee Fox) Bankowski. Together they raised three daughters: Helena, Krystyna and Janina.
Zygfryd earned his bachelor’s degree in physics from The British Institute of Science and Technology in 1948, then worked several years in Canada and the United States before earning his master’s in mechanical engineering from Villanova University in 1976. As a Professional Engineer he consulted on the development of the Our Lady of Czestochowa shrine in 1992. In 2007, he was recognized by the Association of Polish American Engineers for his work.
Zygfryd Bankowski passed away on 14 October 2016 in Norristown, Pa., at the age of 91 years. He was buried at Our Lady of Czestochowa cemetery in Doylestown, Pennsylvania.
Copyright: Bankowski family