开云体育

Hi all

Good to think I am a member again. My family connection is through both my Mum and Dad. Mum came from Lachowice near Baranowicze (Belarus today). My mum was deported with both her father, Michał and mother Antonina to Połudnowice in Archangelst. Amnesty saw them go south to Uzbechstan where Michał joined the Polish army. Antonina and Mum (Genia) ended up working in a kolholz near Buchara. Antonina gave up my mother (12 years old) to a children's home and allowed her to move to Iran with other orphans. Antonina died waiting for a transport to Poland in Uzbechstan. Genia although very ill eventually found her health in Teheran and Isfahan and eventually came to New Zealand in November 1944 and was one of the Pahiatua children refugees. Her father followed her to NZ a couple of years later. Genia was always gifted in sewing and made a career for herself as a dressmaker.

My father, Adolf (known as Grzesio during war time) escaped the Nationalists in the Ukraine (Słanisławow) by crossing over to Hungary early in the war with a retreating Polish army unit. He was only 17/18 years old and belonged to the Home Army. He was interned in a camp in Hungary for some weeks/months? The Polish army eventually escaped from the camp and he made his way via the Bulkans to Athens arriving two weeks before the Germans captured Athens. He was part of the 3rd Caparthian Rifle Division of Ander's 2nd army. His unit moved to the Africa arena where he trained in Iraq. In Egypt, he was a messenger moving around on a motorcycle and one day through severe fatigue was involved in an accident and broke his leg badly below the knee. There followed a nine month period in hospital in Alexandra and eventually his leg was saved. He was to be shipped off to Africa but instead found his unit was in Italy and was given a jeep to deliver to them and found himself at Monte Casino as a driver for one of the commanders. After the war he completed his high school in Bologne before moving to Britain where he was demobilised in 1947. Because his unit had been involved in Tobruk, he was given free passage to Tasmania and arrived in September 1947. Here he worked on the dams and was given Australian citizenship on arrival.

Mum and Dad got to know each other as penpals. Dad eventually moved to New Zealand and married Mum. I have three brothers and one sister. We all live in Wellington. Mum Eugenia Smolnicka is alive and living in Petone, Wellington. I grew up in the Polish community of Wellington.