The Polish Deportees of World War II: Recollections of Removal to the Soviet Union and Dispersal Throughout the World

by Tadeusz Piotrowski

Among the great tragedies that befell Poland during World War II was the forced deportation of its citizens by the Soviet Union during the first Soviet occupation of that country between 1939 and 1941. This is the story of that brutal Soviet ethnic cleansing campaign told in the words of some of the survivors. It is an unforgettable human drama of excruciating martyrdom in the Gulag. For example, one witness “A young woman who had given birth on the train threw herself and her newborn under the wheels of an approaching train.” Survivors also tell the story of events after the “amnesty.” “Our suffering is simply indescribable. We have spent weeks now sleeping in lice-infested dirty rags in train stations,” wrote the Milewski family. Details are also given on the non-European countries that extended a helping hand to the exiles in their hour of need.

256 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 1, 2004

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[Mujda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Today's voicemails are taken from the book, the Polish Deportees of WWII, edited by Tadeusz Piotrowski. This book is a collection of diaries and memoirs of Polish deportees from 1939 to 1945.

Listen to the episode here!
https://anchor.fm/voicemailsfromhistory

World War Two witnessed one of the largest population movements in modern history, with approximately 40-60 million Europeans becoming refugees or displaced peoples. Out of this tragedy, 1.7 million Poles were exiled by the Soviet Union until 1941 when they were granted 'amnesty'. This led to a Polish exodus and subsequently thousands of Poles found themselves making new temporary homes in Iran, India, Kenya, Uganda, Egypt, and Palestine.

I discuss the series of events that led them to these new places of refuge and some of the key patterns found in their memories. Their stories show how the natives of these countries welcomed and took care of them, amidst the turmoil of the 1940s. Note: I do spend the first 5 minutes discussing some of my thoughts around migration discourse and how history-making should be approached in line with current political debate.