I know it sounds strange…however this is absolutely true…
My father would be so grateful and over happy. He tried to find any sign about his father even by The Red Cross. Nobody could help him at all.
So how this has happened???
Well…you will know when you read it
When I was a little girl, it means I was over 4 years old, my dear father unexpectedly died. From many of my mother's stories I knew that my father's family relationship was not so good (even to this day, unfortunately). My father was my grandmother's only child. When he was 4, his father (of course my grandfather) was arrested by the NKVD police.
Perhaps some of you are more or less interested in history, in fact the NKVD police arrested people from the Polish intelligence service and not only (scientists, teachers at all levels of science, police, army, politicians, etc.) in order to exterminate them completely. The last shadow about my grandfather was placed near Ostashkov - he sent his first and last letter to his grandmother. Unfortunately, I do not have this letter and I would never have it. There was silence until a few weeks ago ...
From the information I got from my mother, I knew my grandfather was in military service until he got married to my grandmother. At that time, the relationship with a woman with a lower social status was treated as a misunderstanding in the family and, therefore, identified with degradation in the service of the state. In connection with the above, my grandfather was transferred from the Polish Army to the police. When in 1939 the NKVD cleared the Polish intelligence, unfortunately my grandfather fell victim to them. He was arrested, even though he was hidden. They found him thanks to a very "friendly" grandmother of a neighbor - a Jewess who betrayed my grandfather's hiding place. Grandma received only one and last letter from Ostashkov, and soon everything was lost ...
Grandma lost all hope of finding my grandfather (and maybe she has not even looked for him!), so she married a Jew from the same village. My little daddy, he was terribly afraid of his mother's new husband and escaped from his family home to her brother - his uncle. The uncle looked after my dad until he was an adult. Daddy always tried to find a trace of his father ... unsuccessfully
A few weeks ago on facebook I talked with my friend who was happy that he found his two grandfathers thanks to the Katyn List. Hmmm.... I was so interested in it and did not hesitate to ask more questions how he could do it - he started to talk more details and then gave me the website www.ogrodywspomnien.pl
I have begun looking in short time, and what astonishment and joy it was, when suddenly it turned out that among those thousands of names my grandfather appeared!!!!!! OMG! - I thought, my dad would probably jump for joy like a child LOL
While getting into short description of CV I noticed one important thing.... my surname somewhere has been changed somehow ... I do not know whose fault it was, but today I am not able to correct it ... which is a big shame, because I'm proud with this surname :). Grandfather was murdered in 1940 in Mednoye both with others Polish. He could live only 35 years!!!
Although I was sure that I would definitely recognize my ancestor, I decided to show my discovery to my mother at the earliest opportunity. What a surprise, I cannot describe it here. She immediately recognized my grandfather, and in addition showed me for the first time in my life the only photo of my grandfather. I looked at this photo, and it brought me a tear in my eyes that my father unfortunately could not live to see this happy moment
I know that finding a loved one (regardless of the fact that I did not know him personally) is such an important issue to convey the truth, history and knowledge of the tragic nature of the family for the next generations. I am convinced that my children will be proud to remember my great-grandfather.
The history of my country from the period of World War II, as you know or not it is so cruel and all the time we Polish are learning something new. Unfortunately, during the years of communism it was not allowed to know the history of Pilecki, The Cursed Soldiers or other Polish heroes. Everything was hidden. Thanks to unlimited access to the Internet, we have the opportunity to cover stories again to know the truth. That's how I felt when I've found my grandfather. I know that the memory of him will not go away and my children will be able to tell my grandchildren about him in the future.
I would like to thank you to all the people who have added their efforts, and could find data that even the Red Cross was not able to provide or help in finding.
"Seek, and ye shall find." as Holy Bible says ....
I am very happy and that's why I decided to share this happiness with you.
Thank you for your interest in my blog, thank everyone who follow me and read my posts. It is very nice and kind from your all my dears.
And here's the proof, for what I described above:
Source:
https://www.ogrodywspomnien.pl/index/showd/17476
http://www.doomedsoldiers.com/
https://www.warhistoryonline.com/world-war-ii/story-of-the-man-who-volunteered-for-auschwitz.html
http://www.wajszczuk.pl/english/drzewo/tekst/katyn.htm