S T A L I N ' S  E T H N I C  C L E A N S I N G



STALIN’S ETHNIC CLEANSING in Eastern Poland
Tales of the Deported 1940-1946        

ISBN 1 872286 88 7

Veritas Foundation Publication Centre
London 2008

This book can bought online here


 



Stalin’s Ethnic Cleansing is an anthology of the experiences of Polish citizens from Poland’s Eastern Borderlands, Kresy, who were known as ‘osadnicy’. They lived on ‘osady’ (settlements), plots of land which had been awarded to the demobilised Polish military officials and their families as a reward for their services during the 1918-1920 war. Following the Soviet Union’s invasion of Poland on 17 September 1939 they were crammed into goods wagons and deported as disposable labour into the depths of the USSR by Stalin’s NKWD (KGB).

There were four such deportations:
9-10 February 1940;
12-13 April 1940;
8-29 June 1940;
13-22 June 1941.

Some testimonies come also from those driven into exile after 1941 right up until 1948.

The breadth and depth of the testimonies range from descriptions of life in pre-war Kresy, the varied inter-ethnic relations before and during the war, to the deportations themselves, the journey to the camps and kolkhozes and the struggle to survive in the Soviet Union, the subsequent “amnesty” granted by Stalin following Germany’s invasion of the Soviet Union freeing the Poles from their camps and kolkhozes, and their subsequent journeys to freedom.

Not all the Poles from this region were deported and some testimonies describe the lives of those who stayed behind.

The book first appeared in Polish in 1996 under the title “Z KRESÓW WSCHODNICH R.P. NA WYGNANIE”,  published by the Ognisko Rodzin Osadników Kresowych (Association of the Families of the Borderland Settlers).


We would like to thank Pan Ryszard Grzybowski, former Chairman of OROK, for giving us permission to use this amazing material for our website.

This book, translated into English by Eric Whittle and Bronia Kacperek, provides witness to the suffering and courage of the Poles from the Kresy, as well as to the history of Soviet aggression and Stalin’s contempt for suffering humanity. The following are some of the individual testimonies from the book.



OROK - a short history





















Index 

(Click links on left.  Transcriptions of the remaining recollections are in progress and being uploaded when available)

Introductory Contributions



001"On the Death of a General"
Feliks Konarski
Poem

In commemoration of General

Anders’ legacy.

002From the editorial committee


The Editors explain why the book

was published.

003Foreword to the English edition
Eric Whittle

The translator explains his approach

to the task. 

004Foreword
Fr. Zdzisław Peszkowski
A foreword written in Jasna Góra during a Borderlanders pilgrimage in 1996.
005Fortunes of the military settlers during 1939-1945
Janina Stobniak-Smogorzewska
The historian provides an overview of events in Kresy and beyond following the outbreak of war.

Art.NoOsadaProvinceAuthorMaiden NameSummary
007Bałaskowszczyzna  Nowogródek  Aleksander  Nowicki


008Bałaskowszczyzna
Nowogródek
Maria Dryguniewicz


009Budowla
BiałystokMaria Szuba-Tomaszewska


010Klucz
NowogródekWanda Wysocka 


011Lachów 
WołyńJulia Prochorowicz 


012Lewszowo
BiałystokJózefa Jędrzejczyk 


013 
Puzieniewicze
NowogródekPelagia Stańczak-Czarnecka


014Radziwiłłów
WołyńJanina Chojnacka 


015Reymontów (alt Rejmontów)
WołyńAnna Bielińska


016Wąsowicze
WołyńZofia Gawrońska


017Woławel
PolesieRozalia Grobel


018Zosin
NowogródekFranciszek Muszyński


019Arsonowicze

Wołyń

Genowefa KwiecińskaStaniszewska
020Bajonówka
Wołyń
Genowefa LackaGawel-Nosek
021Batorówka
Wołyń
Wanda SzwenderGodawa
022Batorówka
Wołyń
Jadwiga KapszewiczBarut
023

Batorówka


Wołyń
Kazimierz BarutOn leaving the train to try and buy some sandwiches, he became separated from his mother for 7 years
024Belweder WołynKazimierz Wira
His father died in Kagan near Bukhara and he joined the Cadets
025Bolesławice
Wołyń
Henryka KłopeckaLeonowicz
027 Bortnica
WołyńIzabela Mączko 
Czerkawska 

028BortnicaWołyń
Danuta ByrtusSzubert
038

Janówka

Wołyń

Tadeusz Walczak


044Karczowka
WołyńJózef Pajdowski 


048Krechowiecka
Wołyń
Danuta  Gradosielska
Mączka

054Listopadówka
WołyńAleksander Ptak 


055Maczkowce
WołyńZofia Repa
Stepek 

060Ostrowska near Beresteczko and Pleszów
WołyńMaria Cymborska
Tais

063Piłsudczyzna
Wołyń
Wanda Bitner 
Krzysztofiak

067Radziwiłłow
Wołyń
Jerzy Kucięba


074Rejtanów
Wołyń
Dorota  Jasińska
Jarosz 

079Rokitnianka
WołyńBronisław Turzyński


080Rokitna
WołyńMaria Poźniak
Turzyńska 

090Szyły
WołyńJerzy Żegota–Januszajtis

096Wąsowicze
Wołyń
Regina Krozowska
Gawronska 

097WitosowoWołyń
Zofia Waleria Rydz

100Wola WilsonaWołyń
Każimierz Bełda

103 Chylin

Polesie

Telesfor Sobierajski


104Karłowicze
PolesieMaria Juralewicz
Sztela 

105Karłowicze
Polesie

Halina Gluba 

Szulińska

108Terebieżów
PolesieHalina Powroźnik   
Wadlewska 

112Wysokie
Polesie
Marian Marzojty (Morzajew)


113AdampolNowogródek
Zofia SzymanGórska
114Bałaskowszczyzna
Nowogródek
Olimpia (Ola) BartonNowicka
116Jodańce
NowogródekHenryk Madany


117Kuchczyce
NowogródekHelena Derwich
Ćwirko

123 Łohwinowicze
NowogródekB.M.Trybuchowski 


126Niechniewicze
NowogródekWitold Szabunio


130Puzieniewicze
Nowogródek
Stanisław Świercz


131Puzieniewicze
NowogródekAlina Frost
Świercz

132BudowlaBiałystok
Władysław Krupa

134Jatwiesk
BiałystokSabina Sienko
Salamonczyk   

137Rogoźnica Mała
​BiałystokStanisława Simpson
Krajewska 

142Zarębkowo
Wilno
Maria Czajka
Leduchowicz

143SerniczkiWołyńMaria MachetaPrzysiecka

145They Trudged” 
Feliks Konarski
PoemThe tribulations of men seeking to enlist










From Stalin’s Ethnic Cleansing