Sala Świadectw

Dioniza (Gradzik) Choros - Scouting setup at Pahiatua

Dioniza describes the different scouting groups that were set up at Pahiatua camp.

Dioniza (Gradzik) Choros - A saying that helped through hard times

Dioniza reads a saying that she was given at her graduation, and explains how it helped her whenever she faced a challenge.

Dioniza (Gradzik) Choros - Life in the camp then Yalta

Dioniya describes what life was like at the Pahiatua camp, as well as the reaction when they learned about Yalta and that they would not be returning to Poland.

Dioniza (Gradzik) Choros - Ship from Bombay to NZ

Dioniza describes the sea voyage on the ship, General Randall.

Dioniza (Gradzik) Choros - Mother dies and sisters are separated

Dioniza describes when her mother died in the Teheran hospital, and then how she felt when she and her sisters all ended up in different locations.

Dioniza (Gradzik) Choros - Amnesty and finding the Polish Army

Dioniza describes how they learned that they were free to leave, and how they organized the trip south,.

Dioniza (Gradzik) Choros - Conditions at the camp

Dioniza describes the work that the adults and the children did at the camp.

Dioniza (Gradzik) Choros - Ukranians search for weapons and murder father

Dioniza describes the brutality with which the Ukrainians terrorized them as they searched for weapons. They took her father away, and they heard a series of shots, but thought that

Dioniza (Gradzik) Choros - Start of War

Dioniza describes what she recalls of the beginning of WWII in her village.

Dioniza (Gradzik) Choros - Attending Ukranian Church

Dioniza describes how the school children attended services at the Ukrainian church, until the Catholic church was built and a priest arrived in the village.

Dioniza (Gradzik) Choros - Scouts commemorate Warsaw Uprising with special camp fire

Already on the ship to New Zealand, Mrs Kozera the Chief Scout made plans to commemorate the Warsaw Uprising at a special campfire held in Pahiatua soon after the children’s

Bernarda (Karbowa) Andrejczuk - Meets husband and then they move to the UK

Bernarda describes how she met her husband at the hospital, where he was sent after being injured at Monte Cassino, and they married. She spent some time in Palestine where

Bernarda (Karbowa) Andrejczuk - People dying on the southbound train

Bernarda describes how people would die and their bodies were left on the side of the tracks, with no proper burial. Her parents would not have survived the trip south,

Bernarda (Karbowa) Andrejczuk - How were the Russians in Siberia

Bernarda describes how the Russian people who preceded them to the camp, and were still stuck there, were in the same situation as they were – sometimes their conditions were

Ewa (Borkowska) Mikusiński - Meets husband and learns of Uncle's death

Ewa describes how she met her husband in France, and how she learned of her uncle’s death from released POWs who were in the same camp with him.

Ewa (Borkowska) Mikusiński - Life in Teheran

Ewa describes how she and her parents lived in Teheran, including the apartment that her father rented for them.

Ewa (Borkowska) Mikusiński - Volunteered for the Army

Ewa describes how she joined the Women’s Auxiliary Service of the Army and worked in Administration, counting costs.

Ewa (Borkowska) Mikusiński - Almost missed getting fathers news

Ewa describes how they were already at the station, waiting to board a train south, when someone from the farm came to find them and bring a letter from her

Irena (Chojnacka) Kuś - Describes life in Masindi

Irena describes how they cooked their meals, what the huts were like, and other details about life in Masindi.

Irena (Chojnacka) Kuś - Guzer Junaczki Finds Fella then Persia

Irena joins the Cadets in Guzar and is assured food, clothing, and a place to sleep. She also locates her Aunt Felicia who joined the Women’s Auxiliary Army service. The

Irena (Chojnacka) Kuś - Irena remembers names of all the settlers

Irene names all the neighbours that lived on the Military Settlement of Radziwiłłów.

Antoni Stelmach - Leaving the USSR

Antoni describes how his mother decided they should find the Polish Army, so they headed south and eventually evacuated to Persia.

Antoni Stelmach - Siberian Husky

Antoni talks about the dog that was his companion while at the camp – a stray Siberian Husky that may have been left behind by those who had preceded them

Antoni Stelmach - What mother took to Siberia - Searching for Father

Antoni tells how his mother took the family photos and her fox fur to Siberia – she had the fur all through the journey, and still had it when they