Polish Military Service records / Index of victims of Repression

[A Grandson]

Hi all!

I was researching my family tree and came across some very good links that helped me find Polish Military Records and lists of Polish Military and civilians that were victims of Repression by the Soviets and the Germans.

For the Soviets try INDEKS REPRESJONOWANYCH and select "Searching in the database" you can enter all or part of the name,
For the Germans, try straty and select "Search in Database"

Both of these are very useful as often they provide the place name of the arrest (usually where they lived) and often the names of the parents (Imie Ojca - Fathers name, Imie matki, mothers name). Find those with the same surname with the same parents and you're away.
Both databases show what happened to your relatives in terms of where they were interned.
Many ended up in camps in Africa and you can use the passanger manifests on here to find their onward trips (usually about 1948)
Using these methods, not only did I discover many "lost" relatives, but also the names of my great-grandparents which had been forgotten my my own aged parents.

For Polish Military Records:

The British Ministry of Defense is the official custodian of all Polish military records from 1939-1946. They have almost all records of all Polish soldiers who have served under the British Command. Only relatives and the soldiers can obtain a copy of these records in the English language. Replies are usually within 30 days. Be sure to include your relationship with the soldier, or a soldiers document and give as much information as you can to help them search their files.

The MOD still gives free British medals to relatives and soldiers. Poland has stopped doing this in 2000 and as a result they are very rare and hard to find.

Write to:

Ministry of Defense
APC Disclosures 5 Polish
Building 28 B, RAF Northolt
West End Road
Ruislip, Middlesex, England., HA4 6NG

Pre-WWII rcords. 1918-1939 if not destroyed, can be obtained from the Polish Military Records Center in Rembertow-Warsaw, Poland. AK, Home Army, 1939-1946 records and those of the Polish Peoples Republic 1943-1946 are very difficult to locate and maybe in Rembertow. The address is:

Centralne Archiwum Wojska
Blok 126
Warsaw-Rembertow, Poland 00-910

Data on personnel that served in the Polish Army from 1918-1939 and data of the personnel of the Polish Communist Army can be obtained from :

Aachiwum Instytucji Ministerstwa Obrony Narodowej
05-160 Modlin
Polska

Finally, the following address is a collection of vital records from the areas that were previously part of Poland before WWII which became a part of USSR following the Soviet invasion of 17th September 1939 and were formalized as permanent part of the Soviet Union after the was:

Archiwum Akt Zabuzanskich
Urzad Stanu Cywilnego
ul. Jezuicka 1/3
Warszawa Srodmiescie
00-281 Warszawa
Polska

The time frame between the initial enquiry and receupt of info can take up to 4 months.

Costs may vary.

Good luck with searches.

This info might be helpful for tracing relatives, finding out about unknown family members fates, compiling data on rank, decorations, awards, units etc .

[Kingy]

Thanks for posting that information which I have just come across. As a result I have found out some previously unknown information about my Polish father-in-law's WW2 Regiment and imprisonment. As soon as I get some translations done I wil be sending away for his military service records to the places you suggested.
Do you know if there were any unit war diaries kept or unit histories written which might shed some light on his service and capture?
Thanks again
Kingy

Hi all!

I was researching my family tree and came across some very good links that helped me find Polish Military Records and lists of Polish Military and civilians that were victims of Repression by the Soviets and the Germans.

For the Soviets try INDEKS REPRESJONOWANYCH and select "Searching in the database" you can enter all or part of the name,
For the Germans, try straty and select "Search in Database"

Both of these are very useful as often they provide the place name of the arrest (usually where they lived) and often the names of the parents (Imie Ojca - Fathers name, Imie matki, mothers name). Find those with the same surname with the same parents and you're away.
Both databases show what happened to your relatives in terms of where they were interned.
Many ended up in camps in Africa and you can use the passanger manifests on here to find their onward trips (usually about 1948)
Using these methods, not only did I discover many "lost" relatives, but also the names of my great-grandparents which had been forgotten my my own aged parents.

For Polish Military Records:

The British Ministry of Defense is the official custodian of all Polish military records from 1939-1946. They have almost all records of all Polish soldiers who have served under the British Command. Only relatives and the soldiers can obtain a copy of these records in the English language. Replies are usually within 30 days. Be sure to include your relationship with the soldier, or a soldiers document and give as much information as you can to help them search their files.

The MOD still gives free British medals to relatives and soldiers. Poland has stopped doing this in 2000 and as a result they are very rare and hard to find.

Write to:

Ministry of Defense
APC Disclosures 5 Polish
Building 28 B, RAF Northolt
West End Road
Ruislip, Middlesex, England., HA4 6NG

Pre-WWII rcords. 1918-1939 if not destroyed, can be obtained from the Polish Military Records Center in Rembertow-Warsaw, Poland. AK, Home Army, 1939-1946 records and those of the Polish Peoples Republic 1943-1946 are very difficult to locate and maybe in Rembertow. The address is:

Centralne Archiwum Wojska
Blok 126
Warsaw-Rembertow, Poland 00-910

Data on personnel that served in the Polish Army from 1918-1939 and data of the personnel of the Polish Communist Army can be obtained from :

Aachiwum Instytucji Ministerstwa Obrony Narodowej
05-160 Modlin
Polska

Finally, the following address is a collection of vital records from the areas that were previously part of Poland before WWII which became a part of USSR following the Soviet invasion of 17th September 1939 and were formalized as permanent part of the Soviet Union after the was:

Archiwum Akt Zabuzanskich
Urzad Stanu Cywilnego
ul. Jezuicka 1/3
Warszawa Srodmiescie
00-281 Warszawa
Polska

The time frame between the initial enquiry and receupt of info can take up to 4 months.

Costs may vary.

Good luck with searches.

This info might be helpful for tracing relatives, finding out about unknown family members fates, compiling data on rank, decorations, awards, units etc .

[StefanM]

Studium Polski Podziemnej (SPP) or its English name:
The Polish Underground Movement (1939-1945) Study Trust (PUMST)

SPP-PUMST keeps historical documents which relate to the activities of the Polish Underground State and Home Army units during WW2

SPP-PUMST
11 Leopold Road
London W5 3PB
United Kingdom
Tel./Fax: +44 (0)20 8992 6057
info@spp-pumst.org

For Polish National Armed Forces unit histories, war diaries:

Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum
20 Princes Gate
London SW7 1PT
020 7589 9249

PISM Home

The Hoover Institute also has Anders archives which includes some 10,000+ personal accounts by Poles deported to Sibera. These were taken down by the documentation department of Anders forces just after the 'amnesty' release and often taken in secret so as not to alert the Soviets to any negative reports about conditions in labour camps and 'free' settlements across USSR that Poles were deprted to. The Hoover Inst. has translated a huge number of these into English. Well worth contacting if your father-in-law was a former prisoner in USSR.


Contact: Maciej Siekierski, Curator, east europe collection

Hoover Institution
434 Galvez Mall
Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305-6010
650-723-1754

Good luck with your research

[A Grandson]

Hi Kingy

Sorry, but that is all that I have.

4thskorpion has added some uselful information that I'm sure will help.

I will check those resources out too.

[Kingy]

Thank you all for that information. I will follow them up.

[Cenowski]

Unfortunatly i have only just stumbled across this thread as i dont look in the PSZZ section often..... Can anyone who has contacted CAW in Warsaw tell me whether they did it all by email or official letter only, and also was there any costs involved in obtaining information from there?

[dastier]

And can the CAW be contacted in English or must one use Polish in correspondence?

[andrzejku98]

Hi Dastier,

When i was doing research on General Bryg Chrusciel, I first wrote to the Polish Ambassador in London, who in turn wrote back to me giving me the Archives address details.

I then wrote to the Army Archives in Warsaw in English stating that the Ambassador in London had given me their contact details and could they help me with my research for the Generals Family.

I had to wait a couple of months but eventually received a large package containing over 40 pages of photocopied information his Service Record and Virtuti Militari recommendation. I then made a copy of all the information I had received and passed it on to the Generals Son.

Go for it and I am sure you will be amazed.

Best wishes

Andrzejku

[insearch00]

Hi to everyone,

I am looking for information on my grandfather who served in the Polish Army during World War II and was wondering if anyone could point me in the right direction as to whom I should contact for info.

He was born in 1925 (Either in Slonim or Bialystok)

He was drafted into the army when he was very young (in between 1941 and 1943)
He was injured in Italy and was taken by the red cross to the UK.

Once in the UK he married and had 3 children and stayed there until he died.
He never talked about his military service, didn't have any kind of papers and left nothing.

There are so many addresses listed above, which archives department do I need to contact?

Best regards and thanks in advance for the person that will take the time to help me out.

[NotVeryRich]

Probably not gonna get a response on an old thread but does anyone know where I can find records of a soldier who was imprisoned in a German prisoner of war camp? I have several of his letters dated 1940 but doubt I can request information from English archives as you have to be next of kin or a relative.