Kresy-Siberia Foundation
Research List
Kresy-Siberia Virtual Museum
Contact:
www.kresy-siberia.org
Details:
Online Museum “dedicated to Polands’ citizens fighting for freedom and survival
against Soviet and German invaders in eastern Poland and in forced exile during
World War II.
Kresy-Siberia Group
Contact:
www.kresy-siberia.org
Details:
Online public discussion group attached to the Kresy-Sibera Virtual Museum, run
through Yahoo groups with many members around the world willing and able to
assist with research.
Members gain access to other helpful databases.
Karta Foundation
Contact:
Details:
Strony o Wołyniu
Contact:
Details:
Fundacja Osrodka KARTA
02-536 Warszawa, ul. Narbutta 29
Poland
Phone: (48-22) 848-07-12
Fax: (48-22) 646-65-11
Email: dlibra@karta.org.pl
Website: www.karta.org.pl
Index of the Repressed: http://www.indeksrepresjonowanych.pl/indeks
The Karta Foundation is based in Poland and comes under the umbrella of the
Institute of National Remembrance involved in the documentation of recent history
of Polish, Central and Eastern European. They have an extensive database called
“Indeks Represjonowanych” (Index of the Repressed) which consists of Index cards
relating to files on those deported to Siberia. The index is by no means complete,
there are many names of deportees that do not appear in the Index.
If you find a reference to a family member you can email Karta and they will advise
of the archive where the file may be found and give you an address to contact. You
can email them in English.
Karta work closely with Memorial
http://wolyn.ovh.org/spis/a.html
http://wolyn.ovh.org/
Website in Polish with a vast amount of information on individual Osada in Kresy
Region including lists of families (not always complete) in each Osada.
Gurjanov lists of deportation trains
Contact:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pvgu0Y9cmg5QQThL_5wAfbA
Details:
A list of deporation trains that refer only to civilians, not to military/police or
political prisoners.
Memorial
Contact:
Details:
http://www.lists.memo.ru/index.htm
Memorial is an organisation which arose in the years of perestroika. Its main task
was the awakening and preservation of the societal memory of the severe political
persecution in the recent past of the Soviet Union.
Memorial is a community of dozens of organizations in different regions of Russia,
Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Latvia, and Georgia.
Memorial is a group of specialized research, human rights, and education centres in
Moscow, St. Petersburg, and several other cities.
Memorial is a museum, a repository of documents, and a number of specialized
libraries.
They have a huge database of people who have been repressed and enslaved by the
Russian Government over the years including those who were deported from Poland
during WWII (these lists are not complete and are updated all the time as records
are released).
The database needs to be searched in Russian Cyrillic – so you will need to translate
Polish names into their Russian Cyrillic equivalent. This can be done using online
conversion charts. There could be a variation on names as they are were recorded
from Polish into Russian phonetically. Names were recorded in patrynomic format
i.e. Stanisław Rzepka son of Jan becomes Stanisław Janovich Rzepka.
Information can be translated using google translate.
Once you find an entry for a relative you need to write to Memorial in Moscow to
check and get full details.
Generally speaking this is the same information you can see on the Karta site. The
difference is that Memorial list is more extensive: it tells you where the people came
from, the location and names of camps as well as dates of deportation and pardon.
Hoover Institute Archives
Contact:
Stanford University
Stanford, California 94305-6010
USA
Phone: (650) 723-3563
Fax: (650) 725-3445
Email: archives@hoover.stanford.edu
Website: http://szukajwarchiwach.pl/800/1/0/-/#tabJednostki
Contact: Pani Irena Czernichowska
czernichowska@hoover.stanford.edu
Details:
The Hoover Institute holds the Władysław Anders archives and Polish Wartime
Archives. The collection includes 18,000 original personal accounts and
questionnaires of former prisoners and deportees. These documents were filled out
right after deportation, whilst the details were still fresh in people’s minds.
Hoover also holds essays written by some of the children of their experiences.
When requesting documents from the Hoover Institute, provide as much
information as you can. Even if they have nothing that was written by your relative,
they still may have valuable information that was written by somebody else, all eyewitness accounts are cross-referenced.
The Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum
Contact:
20 Princes Gate
London SW7 1PT
England
Phone: (44) 20 7589 9249
Details:
Opening times:
Secretariat Monday-Friday 10.00-16.00
Archives Tuesday-Friday 9.30-16.00
Museum Monday-Friday 14.00-16.00 and first Saturday of the month 10.00-16.00
Website: http://www.sikorskimuseum.co.uk/
The Institute Archives cover approximately 1.5 kilometres of shelving, including 250
metres of the Polish Underground Movement (1939-1945) Study Trust collections.
The majority of the documentation held in the Archives pertain to the period of the
Second World War 1939-1945 and Poland's role in it. The archives also hold the
papers of the Polish Goverment in Exile, residing in London between 1945 and 1990,
as well as fragmentary documentation for the inter war period 1918-1939.
The Institute will only accept written enquiries, this takes time but they will reply
eventually. Write to Andrzej Suchcitz.
You can visit and search yourself: there may be 30 files to search, some contain 400
pages. It is a lengthy process but you may find pre-war Military Service and civilian
details. It is well worth the effort. The only details you need to provide the Sikorski
Institute are: a name, date of birth and unit. A small donation will pay dividends and
you will be provided with an excellent service.
Some archives are held on line and can be viewed/downloaded via their website.
MOD (Ministry of Defence) in the UK
Polish Records.
Contact:
Royal Navy and Army:
Polish Correspondence Section
Room 28B
RAF Northolt
West end Road
Ruislip
Middlesex
HA4 6NG
Details:
The Ministry of Defence in the UK holds all the Polish records of former soldiers
from the Polish 2nd Corps (Anders Army).
You will need to apply for records in writing and provide proof of relationship. It can
take some time for a reply.
Polish Resettlement Camps in the UK
Contact:
http://www.polishresettlementcampsintheuk.co.uk/camps2.htm
Details:
Most of the Soldiers in the Polish army were posted to resettlement camps in the
UK/Wales and Scotland after the war. Soldiers would join the PRC (Polish
Resettlement Corps) after their units were disbanded.
This website has information on the various resettlement camps and ship lists etc.
Polish Medals and Militaria
Contact:
http://home.golden.net/~medals/polish.html
Details:
A vast array of information on Polish Medals.
Stankiewicz Site
Contact:
Details:
Google Translate
Contact:
Details:
Type It
Contact:
Details:
Mapy Wig
Contact:
Details:
http://www.stankiewicz.e.pl/index.php?kat=288sub=361
Index from 1919-1920 – list of fallen soldiers from Pilsudski legions and others. In
Polish only.
www.translate.google.co.nz
Online translation tool for many different languages – does not provide a perfect
translation but will provide general context.
www.typeit.org
Online tool for typing with Polish accents or in Russian Cyrillic
www.mapywig.org
Online website with high resolution maps of Poland over the years. Especially good
for maps during the 1918-1939 period with detailed maps of Eastern Borderlands.
Polish Association Wellington
Contact:
257 Riddiford street
Newtown
Wellington
http://www.polishcommunity.org.nz/
Details:
The Polish Community in Wellington, social and culturally active within the
community, it’s aim is to share Polish culture with the wider community and to pass
on Polish culture to future generations.
The Polish Association of New Zealand was originally set up by the Polish children
who arrived in New Zealand in 1944.
Polish Embassy Wellington
Contact:
http://wellington.msz.gov.pl/en/
Details:
Here you can find information about the Embassy, their projects, current situation in
Poland, information about Polish-New Zealand relations and consular matters.
Polish Association Auckland
Contact:
1 McDonald Street, Morningside
Auckland, New Zealand
Tel: + 64 9849 2836
Email: info@poloniaauckland.co.nz
Website: http://www.poloniaauckland.co.nz
Details:
Polish Association based in Auckland.
Thank you to Antoni Kazimierski – Kresy-Siberia member in the UK for providing most of the information and
tips in this research list.