Szybkowski
29 Mar 2015
Australia / What were the circumstances that led your Polish ancestors to Australia? [4]
I've recently noticed that there is a very large Polish community here in Australia, much larger than I had previously thought. I would be interested to find out the cisrcumstances under which so many Poles have ended up in Australia throughout recent history. I assume the majority would have derived from refugees in the immediate post-war period, such as the case of my maternal great-grandparents. My G/Grandfather was a rifleman in the 37th Infantry regiment based at Kutno, participating in the 'Battle of Bzura' he was taken prisoner on 18 Sep '39 and incarcerated in Germany. My G/Grandmother lived in the province of Polesie, part of the Eastern territory that was incorporated into the Belarussian and Ukrainian Soviet republics as of September '39. She became an 'Ostarbeiter' in '43 and was sent to Germany. Both met at a farm in Handewitt run by a Danish-German officer by the name of M Clausen, as 'Compelled workers', though they say they were treated very well. They married under German law in Flensburg as soon as the war ended, so that my G/Grandmother would not be repatriated back to the USSR, as she was part of the Ukrainian minority. They applied for political asylum in the British sector of Germany, where my G/Grandfather served as a Watchman in the CMLO until they and their two surviving children were cleared for emigration to Australia in 1950. My G/Grandmother remained here for the rest of her life and never saw or heard from her family again after the events of 1943, though my G/Grandfather discovered the location of his surviving siblings and mother, returning to Poland for the first time in the mid 70s. Sadly his mother passed away just a few days prior to his arrival. A few years ago I was able to contact descendants of my G/Grandfathers' brother and have kept in regular contact, they even came to visit not too long ago. If anybody has a similar story within their family, I would love to hear it.
I've recently noticed that there is a very large Polish community here in Australia, much larger than I had previously thought. I would be interested to find out the cisrcumstances under which so many Poles have ended up in Australia throughout recent history. I assume the majority would have derived from refugees in the immediate post-war period, such as the case of my maternal great-grandparents. My G/Grandfather was a rifleman in the 37th Infantry regiment based at Kutno, participating in the 'Battle of Bzura' he was taken prisoner on 18 Sep '39 and incarcerated in Germany. My G/Grandmother lived in the province of Polesie, part of the Eastern territory that was incorporated into the Belarussian and Ukrainian Soviet republics as of September '39. She became an 'Ostarbeiter' in '43 and was sent to Germany. Both met at a farm in Handewitt run by a Danish-German officer by the name of M Clausen, as 'Compelled workers', though they say they were treated very well. They married under German law in Flensburg as soon as the war ended, so that my G/Grandmother would not be repatriated back to the USSR, as she was part of the Ukrainian minority. They applied for political asylum in the British sector of Germany, where my G/Grandfather served as a Watchman in the CMLO until they and their two surviving children were cleared for emigration to Australia in 1950. My G/Grandmother remained here for the rest of her life and never saw or heard from her family again after the events of 1943, though my G/Grandfather discovered the location of his surviving siblings and mother, returning to Poland for the first time in the mid 70s. Sadly his mother passed away just a few days prior to his arrival. A few years ago I was able to contact descendants of my G/Grandfathers' brother and have kept in regular contact, they even came to visit not too long ago. If anybody has a similar story within their family, I would love to hear it.
