The 1st Independent Polish Parachute Brigade
(1 Samodzielna Brygada Spadochronowa)
Useful Research Links
In the course of putting this website together I have come across many useful website where you can read more on the topics this website covers. These links are below.
Google Books
- From An Oak Tree - Covers evacuation of USSR, Pahlevi etc
- Polish Orphans Of Tengeru - Covers Krasnovodsk to Tengeru
Instituitions
- Karta - 3000+ photos of Poles being deported, in USSR, Middle East & UK
- Imperial War Museum - Photos of 1st Independent Polish Parachute Brigade & more
- Fife Council Polish Collection - Exhibits, Uniforms etc
- Narodowe Archiwum Cyfrowe - Archive of photos of Polish deportees, evacuees, 1st Independent Polish Parachute Brigade and more
- Polish Heritage Society - Historical maps, culture, history and more
- Polish Institute And Sikorski Museum - Many research documents worth looking at.
- Hebrew Archives -This site in Hebrew has some interesting data on activities in the area by the polish army in 1942 (in palestine)
Life Stories
- My Journey To Become A Polish Paratrooper - A Szmid
- From Warsaw To Liverpool - Jan Krawczuk
- From Poland To Britain - By Anqvicar
- A Stolen Childhood From Poland - A Szmid
- Krystyna's Escape Part 1 - Dobraczynska
- Account Of Corporal Antoni Szulakowski - Halina Szulakowska
- Life Story of Antoni Paszkiewicz - Published By Nick Metcalfe
- Franek Rymaszewski - I cannot recommend this site enough, it is a MUST VISIT, so full of detail
- Stanislaw Jankowski - Largo House, Malpi Gaj and more
- The Polish History of New Zealand - Many survivor accounts of Polish immigrants to New Zealand
- Zeszyty Kombatanckie - Contains many military life stories (USSR, Persia, Largo House, Auchtertool etc)
- Kresy Siberia - Over 1700 survivor video testimonies...an amazing resource!
- Kresy Siberia Wall Of Tribute - Survivors descendants record their families who suffered
- Kresy Siberia Repository - Over 13,000 photos from survivors, another amazing resource!
- Corporal Antoni Szulakowski of 1st Independent Polish Parachute Brigade (Halina Szulakowska) - Good general account of Siberia To Scotland.
- From Siberia To Arnhem Via Scotland (By Franek Zimnowlocki) - A lifestory from a survivor
Franek Rymaszewski
This website is so special and so unique it deserves a section all of it's own. Of all the accounts of the Poles deportation, evacuation and onward life, Frankek Rymaszewski's account is mind blowing. He kept a diary during these times and from that built a website that became famous worldwide.
Having since passed on, his website appears to be unmaintained, the way to access it is via "Google Wayback", an archive Google created by snapshotting websites every so often. The snapshot below is from July 2018, the last snapshot on record.
Franeks website can be accessed here: http://web.archive.org/web/20180721141943/http://homepages.ihug.com.au/~frym/15emails.html
Books
The following are books that I consider very necessary to read in order to understand more detail behind what this website covers.
- Trail Of Hope - Norman Davies
- A Homeland Denied - Irena Kossakowski
- When God Looked the Other Way - Wesley Adamczyk
- Midnight Train to Siberia - Teresa Radomska
- Polish Resettlement Camps - Zosia Biegus
- Two Years In a Gulag - Frank Pleszak
Other Websites
- Kresy Family - Covers the invasion, deportations, evacuation and much more.
- Vintage News - Covers Polish Refugees In Iran
- Sikorski Polish Club - Contains quality sketches of Polish Repression
- Poland In Exile
- Polish Resettlement Camps In The UK
- Locations Of The Polish Army in The UK
- 2 Korpus Polski - Amazing rare photos in the gallery!
- 2 Corps Resources - Site with many useful links and resources
- Elie & Earlsferry History Society - 2 good videos on the Polish Para's
- Agata Hills Translation - Polish-English translation, some experience in military documents
- Steve Morse - Lots of useful info and databases
- The Chronicles Of Terror - (Main)
- The Chronicles Of Terror (Testimonies)
- The Arolsen Archives - Millions of WW2 records of "lost" Russian and Ukraine families. In English and free! A must-visit website.
- Forum Odkrywca - Website focusing on 1st Independent Polish Parachute Brigade, some excellent photos on it.
- Marsworth Polish Hostel- A detailed look at this hostel and the Poles experiences there
Ancestry Research
- Institute Of National Research - Get a copy of your relatives arrest documents from here
- Genealogica Polonica - The ancestry team I use to help me in Poland. Ask for Radoslaw, he is amazing!
- Zwiazek Sybirakow - Your relatives may have left their testimonies (life story) of time in Siberia. This agency holds many testimonies
Facebook Groups
These are some fantastic groups on Facebook of which I am a member of all of them. There is a real wealth of info to be gotten on these groups.
- Kresy-Siberia - 1800+ members, very active group
- Kresy Siberia Polish Descendants - 350+ members, a good resource
- Kresy Family - Another good group well worth joining
- Polish Forces In North East Fife - 180+ members
- Descendants of the 1st Independent Polish Parachute Brigade - 140+ members
- 1st Independent Polish Parachute Brigade - 110+ members
- 2 Korpus Polski - 2 Polish Corps - 320+ members
- ww2 - 2 Korpus Polski - 1830+ members
Worthy Facebook Pages
- Shallow Graves - The extraordinary tale of Michael Krupas' survival and escape from Stalin's concentration camps in Siberia.
Thesis & Studies
- The Polish Community In Scotland - 471 page document looking at how Polish people adapted to living in the UK after WW2.
Krasnovodsk - Pahlevi Accounts
This section is more for the researchers amongst you who are interested in tracing the boats that brought your relatives out of the USSR. Google books is a very rich source of data and well worth searching under boat names.
- Caspian Ship Data - The Shipping World
- The Kaganovich - Poland’s Daughter: How I Met Basia, Hitchhiked to Italy, and Learned About ...
- The Kaganovich - When God Looked The Other Way
Artwork
A number of artistic depictions of my grandfathers life were undertaken on this website, the artist is Sofia Pereira and I highly recomend working with her. Should you wish similar artwork depictions for your relatives story please visit her website: Sofia Pereira artwork.