Life in Poland for me in my childhood was always about the how wonderful USA is
I am sure you were told this, you were told what the goverment wanted to brainwash you with. They (communist goverment) had to come up with something to hold their heads up high. You heard so much about the holocaust and Jewish that were killed, very few know the whole truth about "Our Forgotten Polish", as I call us. We were in the eastern Poland, we are Katyn and Kresy. We are Roman/Greek Catholic and Jewish. We were born in Poland. My grandfather 1900 in Rzym, Polska.
Our family cemetery is in Poland and then Siberia, So. Africa and now USA. Our documents were removed from the face of the earth. No birth, marriage, baptismal records remained. I never saw a baby picture of my father and the ones I have found, one from Siberia (concentration camp)when 3 year old died in the family. Then when my father was in refugee camps in So. Africa. This I found on the internet. Now with Poland becoming a free country, and internets, translation service we are able to search for our history. It is like the tower of babble has fallen.
Had Stalin really thought out his plan I question what he would think of his victims being able to communicate with their homeland. He spread us thoughout the nation, now we can keep our homeland close from afar.
boths parts like as claiming back properties
We never sold the property and don't worry it now belongs to Ukraine. My understanding is the ones that stayed in Poland were compensated for their property with the property taken from Germany.
So as you can see not all is what you were told.
Carol, USA