Gallery – Soviet Forced Labour
Henry Sieniuc Ankieta (Questionaire about Soviets)
A Questionnaire (original handwritten document is on file at Hoover WWII Institute, USA)
(written by Henryk Sieniuc sometime after leaving the Soviet prison detention camp after joining Anders Army, English Army 8th Division)
Regarding a so-called plebiscite organized by soviet occupation authorities.
Sieniuc Henryk, Iza village, Wilejka county
English Translation:
"I didn't participate in the elections, because I was too young. One could vote from the age of eighteen. But I saw how voting took place.
Everyone was handed a piece of paper. Since my father crossed out the entire page, after several days he was sent deep into Russia.
I was told that on those pieces of paper there were numbers, and they could easily verify who votes for what and what one writes on the paper. Everyone knew that the voting was a fraud, because no one had a free voice. One voted as one was ordered to. Who was against it, got arrested and persecuted. "
Signed Henryk Sieniuc
Hoover Institute, University of Santiago, U
Henryk Sieniuc- his handwritten WWII timeline
Henryk Sieniuc WWII Timeline
(per his handwritten notes)
• Henryk Sieniuc’s father Bronislaw Sieniuc (a local policeman) was arrested by Soviets in 1939 for refusing to fill out a questionnaire
and sent to Siberia.
See Henryk Sieniuc Ankieta Document (Questionaire on file at Hoover WWII Institute, Univ Santiago, USA)
• Henry Sieniuc : “Sent to Russia” the day of Feb 1, 1940 ie. forced labour in Siberia
• His brothers and sisters were also all departed to Russia – different locations in Siberia
• The army was in the Russian territory and the city
• Henryk Sieniuc - “I was drafted into the army (Anders Army) Feb 28, 1942”
• Henry Sieniuc - - “ Arrived in the Middle East (Persia) April 5, 1942”
Persia 2 Weeks
Iraq 10 months
Palestine 6 months
Syria 4 months
Egypt 3 months
Italy 35 months
• Last day in Italy October 12, 1946
• Left for Canada by boat, November 2, 1946
• Arrived in Halifax, Canada Nov 12, 1946
Personal records
In Memory of Henryk Sieniuc, Monte Cassino Cross # 12666
In Memory of Henryk Sieniuc, Monte Cassino Cross # 12666
Rob Sieniuc at the Monte Cassino Memorial, Warsaw May 26, 2025
Handwritten Diary
Image of some pages of the handwritten diary of Zygmunt Palka.
Adrian Palka
During WWII
Russia
Deportation map for Pacewicz
This map of Northern Kazakhstan shows where Julia, Jadwiga and Wladyslaw Pacewicz were deported to - Kazakhstan, Kiellrowski region, village Krasnodolsk. On the map there is a railway line going south from Petropavlovsk "Kiellrowska". In this region there is still a Polish Catholic Parish and many Polish descendants still living there. Map in the Sybirak Museum, Białystok
Anna Pacewicz
After WWII
Poland
Białystok
Michal Szypowski as German POW
Michal Szypowski as German POW - Photo taken at Stalag XI B (Follingbostel, Germany), circa 1941-42.
Krystyna Szypowska
During WWII
Germany
Fallingbostel
September 1939 Campaign
Franciszek and Helena Kojder (back left)
Wladyslaw Beznowski (back right), Genia Beznowska (front right), with friends. Czary, Siberia 1941.
Apolonia Kojder
During WWII
Russia
North Battleford, Saskatchewa
Workers at the work camp in Russia
Jozef is in the bottom row, first on the right, holding an axe.
Daniela Toth
During WWII
Russia
Jozef at work, cutting wood
Jozef at work, cutting wood
Daniela Toth
During WWII
Russia
Jan Wójcik’s death certificate, issued in Tehran
Death, from dysentery, occurred in Krasnoborsk hospital, USSR on 1941-06-05, 2 months before the 'Amnesty'. (Jan Wójcik did forestry work in Piermogorskaja Zapan' - camp 108 in Archangielsk. His son, Pietruś, died on the same day, aged 8, in the camp.) The death certificate was issued on 1942-09-14, to his widow Józefa Wójcik, in Teheran Civilian Camp No. 3.
Stanisława Wherrett
During WWII
Persia
Teheran
Jan Raczkowski – details from IPN database
Details on his arrest and his imprisonment in the USSR
Henry Robaszewski
During WWII
Ksawery Harajda in Siberia
Ksawery Harajda in Siberia
Izabela Madajska-Kociuba
During WWII
Jerzy Prociuk
Jerzy Prociuk was deported to Kazakhstan with his mother Katarzyna and brother Tomasz 13 April 1940, and repatriated to Poland in 1945.
Halina Prociuk
During WWII
Poland
Russian document
One of the Russian documents from the collection of Katarzyna Prociuk, exiled to Kazakhstan 1940-1945.
Halina Prociuk
During WWII
Kazakhstan
Red Cross document
Red Cross letter from Aleksander Prociuk, a POW in Germany, looking for his wife Katarzyna who had been deported to Kazakhstan.
Halina Prociuk
During WWII
Germany
Letter from exile (3)
Letter from Tomasz Prociuk, exiled with his mother Katarzyna and brother Jurek in Kazakhstan from 1940-45, to his father Aleksander Prociuk, who was in a German POW camp after the September 1939 campaign.
Halina Prociuk
During WWII
Kazakhstan
Letter from exile (2)
Letter from Tomasz Prociuk, exiled with his mother Katarzyna and brother Jurek in Kazakhstan from 1940-45, to his father Aleksander Prociuk, who was in a German POW camp after the September 1939 campaign.
Halina Prociuk
During WWII
Kazakhstan
Letter from exile (1)
Letter from Tomasz Prociuk, exiled with his mother Katarzyna and brother Jurek in Kazakhstan from 1940-45, to his father Aleksander Prociuk, who was in a German POW camp after the September 1939 campaign
Halina Prociuk
During WWII
Kazakhstan
Group of women in Poldniewcia
Group of women in Poldniewcia
Barbara Charuba
During WWII
Poland
Poldniewica, Szaryński Rajon, Gorkowskoja Oblast
Polish Youth in Poldniewica
Polish Youth in Poldniewica
Barbara Charuba
During WWII
Poland
Poldniewica, Szaryński Rajon, Gorkowskoja Oblast
Polish Youth in Poldniewica, ages 16-20
Polish Youth in Poldniewica, ages 16-20
Barbara Charuba
During WWII
Poland
Poldniewica, Szaryński Rajon, Gorkowskoja Oblast
Post card received by Morawski Family
Post card received by Morawski Family
Barbara Charuba
During WWII
Poland
Poldniewica, Szaryński Rajon, Gorkowskoja Oblast
A song about the Polish exiles in Poldniewica
A song about the Polish exiles in Poldniewica
Barbara Charuba
During WWII
Poland
Poldniewica, Szaryński Rajon, Gorkowskoja Oblast
“”"Amnesty”" document of K. Morawski and his daughter Barbara”
“”"Amnesty”" document of K. Morawski and his daughter Barbara”
Barbara Charuba
During WWII
Poland
Poldniewica, Szaryński Rajon, Gorkowskoja Oblast
Director’s certificate, Polish orphange in Wabkend
Director’s certificate, Polish orphange in Wabkend
Barbara Charuba
During WWII
Uzbekistan
Buhara
Poludniewica 1940 – Watrasiewic Family
Location of the labour camp: Poludniewica, Szarynski Rajon, Gorkowskaja Oblast (1940).
Bohdan Watrasiewic
During WWII
Russia
Gorkowskaja Oblast
Maria Łubina
Maria Łubina
Stanisław Gendera
During WWII
Eugeniusz Łubina in Siberia
Eugeniusz Łubina in Siberia
Stanisław Gendera
During WWII
Rail construction in Siberia
Rail construction in Siberia
Zbyszek (Bob) Styrna
During WWII
Russia
Zosia Krukowska
Children in a Siberian Labour Camp The back of the photograph says... Na wygnaniu w tajgach W Archangelskiej oblasci. Zaozeirze 23.V.1941 roku. The autographs of the girls are: Teresa Jaworska, Olenka Rewajanka, Z. Rewanjanka, Halina Sobocka, Danuta Sobocka, Halina Makowska, Blan..a (..could be another n or rz) and my mother Magdalena Krukowska. My mother is the middle girl standing in the back row with the very thick braids. This photo was taken a couple of days before her 16th birthday. Does anyone recognize any of these names or faces?
Zosia Krukowska
During WWII
Russia
Archangelsk