"They, (the Polish officials), told my mother to return to Poland and then they would bring her child to her. She said "no, first bring me my child and then I'll return to Poland." But when the Captain brought me to her he whispered in her ear not to return. She was lucky that she came across such a good person."
Halina Bartold Poślinska, NY, USA. She was 10 years old when she was kidnapped by the Germans on the way home from summer camp. She was taken to Germany to be 'Germanized.' She was one of the very few children in the 'Germanization Program' who were reunited with their families after the War. It is estimated that only about 15-20% of the children taken to Germany were returned to their birth families. She emigrated to the USA in 1951.
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Polish settlement in Koja, Uganda. This settlement housed 3,000 people, mostly women and children. From the collection of Aniela Bechta-Crook, New Zealand. Aniela was born in 1936, deported to Siberia, travelled with her family to Persia from where they were sent to Uganda. She joined her uncles in England in 1949, lived there for two years after which the family moved to Argentina. In the mid-50s they moved to the USA; Aniela moved to New Zealand with her husband in 1968.
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“Bardzo tęskniłam zawsze za Polską; nigdy nie wyszłam z tego ‘limbo’ że tak powię, ‘emigrantów”, właściwie nie można powiedzieć ‘emigrantów’, bo wyjazd do Rosji to nie była emigracja... krótki okres w kraju (na wakacje) był połączony z emocją, wielką.”
Maria Pawulska Rasiej, New Jersey, USA. B. 1927 Lwów, Poland, deported to Russia 1940; 1942-47 lived in Iran and Africa; 1947-51 in England; 1952 emigrated to the USA.
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“I was taking part of my student grant and buying them (the family in Poland) Nescafe and sending it to Poland which helped them a lot because they could get good money for it. I kept helping them, all the time… It was difficult (for me financially) but I had good training in prison in the Soviet Union for a number of years. For me the sheer fact that I could eat something and I had a place to sleep was good enough.”
Aleksander Topolski, Quebec, Canada. B. 1933, imprisoned in Soviet Union 1939-41, joined Anders’s Army, came to Britain in 1945 and studied at the Polish University College, London, and Manchester University. Emigrated to Canada in 1957.
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“Co teraz robić? Co się dzieje? Myśmy się raptem znaleźli zupełnie w sytuacji o której nawet nikomu do głowy nie przyszło że coś takiego może nastąpić.... Były wypadki samobójstw... wpadli w taką depreseję, takie wrażenia katastrofy....
Były naciski bardzo silne z strony Anglii (do powrotu do Polski)... Z naszej strony nie było nacisków aby wracać..... Jak to można powiedzieć chłopcu który ma 18 czy 19 lat żeby nie wracał do Polski? On chciał wrócić do domu. ‘My mówimy wam, uważajcie że jak wrócicie do Polski jest rzeczą prawdopodobną że znajdziecie się pod prześladowaniem Sovietów.’ I tak żeczywiście się stało...
Był anti-Polski nastrój w Anglii, np. ogłoszenia że jest pokój do wynajęcia: ‘Polish people need not apply.’ Ogłoszenia pracy: ‘Polish people need not apply.’ To była rzecz bardzo powszechna.”
Wojsław Milan-Kamski. Born in Lwów, Poland. In 1939 he crossed into Romania and then went to Iraq, Iran and Palestine; 1942 joined the Polish Army, served in Italy; 1945-51 studied and worked in England; 1951 emigrated to the USA. His father, Gen. Bryg. Maksymilian Milan-Kamski, lived in England 1945-52, in Canada from 1952 to 1958, at which time he returned to Poland and settled near Warszawa.
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"They, (my parents), never considered going back to Poland because of the hunger, abuse and threat of violence that they suffered in Russia. My father was convinced that there would be war in Europe, and the NKVD were in reality the government in Poland. Today nobody is aware of the extent of (Russian) repression at that time in Poland under Soviet occupation."
Walter Orłowski, NJ, USA. Born 1937 in Huta Pienacka, Poland; 1940 deported to Russia; 1941-47 lived in Uzbekistan, Turkistan, Iran & Lebanon; 1947 came to England; 1951 emigrated to the USA.
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Balachadi Polish settlement in India, where Franciszek Herzog lived in the orphanage from 1942-47. Deported to Russia from Lubaczów in 1940 at the age of 9, he lived in England from 1947-68 at which time he moved to the USA with his wife, Kamila Mikucka Herzog. She had also been deported to Siberia and spent two years living in Iran and then Lebanon. She came to England in 1947.
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Polish scouts, Balachadi Polish Orphanage in India, where Franciszek Herzog lived from 1942-47.
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The dining room in Balachadi Polish Orphanage in India, where Franciszek Herzog lived from 1942-47.
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Balachadi, India, the Polish Orphanage School. The building was a guest house of the Maharajah Jam Saheb who gave it to the Poles to be used as a school. When the post-War Communist Government in Poland insisted that the orphans be repatriated to Poland, the Maharajah 'adopted' all the children so they could stay in India.
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