Red Devils! Jews at the Battle of Arnhem, Sept. 1944

[cichociemny]

My greatgrandfather was working in Lvov in 1939 when the war began, he was a engineer and he went into Occupied Poland under Germans but his eldest son did not make it in time and for some reason was arrested by the NKVD and deported to Siberia. Now my greatgrandfather was taken into the Luftwaffe and was in a Flak bat, in 1944 he surrendered to the Brits and was allowed to join 2nd Corps and he fought with them at Bolonia. The son who was in Siberia was given a choice continue the holiday or fight for mother Russia... He was a infantryman and ended the war near Budapest... My other side of the family was stricte Polish forces(1920,1939,Home Army) and I can trace my roots to my greatgreatgreatgrandfather who fought in the January uprising 1863!!! Got a bit sidetracked there....

[Datrus]

I am sure they were better off at Arnhem, compared to the 2nd, whom was mostly made up of Polish nationals released from the Gulags by the infamous NKVD

I don't want to hijack you thread though. So i will leave it at that.

Regards, Lars

[StefanM]

My greatgrandfather was working in Lvov in 1939 when the war began, he was a engineer and he went into Occupied Poland under Germans but his eldest son did not make it in time and for some reason was arrested by the NKVD and deported to Siberia. Now my greatgrandfather was taken into the Luftwaffe and was in a Flak bat, in 1944 he surrendered to the Brits and was allowed to join 2nd Corps and he fought with them at Bolonia. The son who was in Siberia was given a choice continue the holiday or fight for mother Russia... He was a infantryman and ended the war near Budapest... My other side of the family was stricte Polish forces(1920,1939,Home Army) and I can trace my roots to my greatgreatgreatgrandfather who fought in the January uprising 1863!!! Got a bit sidetracked there....

A microcosm of Polish history in just one family story.... thank you for sharing

[Gary J]

Surprisingly, the majority of the Polish parachute Brigade from mid 1943 through 1944 was comprised of "volunteers" from the 2nd Corp, ... within these recruits were a high number of men who had been released from Soviet deportation camps to form a "Polish Army" under Soviet control after Barbarosa.
My father's whole family was included in this "adventure" - Logging in Archangel.

Gary J.

I am sure they were better off at Arnhem, compared to the 2nd, whom was mostly made up of Polish nationals released from the Gulags by the infamous NKVD

I don't want to hijack you thread though. So i will leave it at that.

Regards, Lars

[StefanM]

Logging in Archangel.
Gary J.

One of those fellow Polish 'Loggers' of Arkhangelsk Oblast told me that the logs he was felling were actually destined for export to Great Britain by the Soviets but I could never verify his story was accurate or not?

[Gary J]

Most deportee's actually didn't fear the severe winter cold, ... so much as the spring thaw.
The rivers became torrents with the thaw and many perished moving the logs to (and into) the swelling rivers.

[StefanM]

Most deportee's actually didn't fear the severe winter cold, ... so much as the spring thaw.
The rivers became torrents with the thaw and many perished moving the logs to (and into) the swelling rivers.

In our book The Ice Road: An Epic Journey from the Stalinist Labor Camps to Freedom by Stefan Waydenfeld, the author recounts that when he was working on the "Ice Road" in the Siberian winter he would douse his clothes and mittens with water which turned immediately them into a "suit of armour" made of thick ice which ironically kept out the worst of the Kvasha winter cold whilst he struggled at keeping the logging ice road open!

[andrzejku98]

Hi Everyone,

I thought that you might like to see the attached image that I came across a few days ago, it shows 3 Polish Paratroopers before the Battle of Arnhem, the person to the right of picture is interesting because he is shown wearing the Carpathian Brigade Badge.



Best wishes

Andrzejku

[dastier]

... Logging in Archangel.

Gary J.

One of my father's best friends briefly told me of his imprisonment in Siberia after capture by the Soviets. I remember him saying in the winter they stacked the bodies of their deceased compatriots like cordwood.

Unfortunately he passed away shortly after my father and I never had an opportunity to learn more.

[StefanM]

David Salik | The Times 30 November 2012 obituaries



David Salik (1914—2012)

Polish Jewish paratrooper who was decorated for his initiative during the disastrous Allied attack on the Dutch towns of Arnhem, Oosterbeek, Wolfheze, Driel and the surrounding countryside from 17–26 September 1944.

David Salik was one of the last surviving veterans of the 1st Polish Independent Parachute Brigade which was dropped at Arnhem in September 1944. A sergant in 3rd Parachute Batalion, David Salik had survived imprisonment in a Soviet labour camp , in 1942 he served with Polish forces in Iran, Iraq and Palestine and was later awarded the Polish Field Para badge, the Medal Wojska Polskiego—Military Medal and Bronze Krzyż Zasługi—Cross of Merit with Swords and 4 British campaign medals. At the war’s end David Salik was to be one of a small number of Jews from his home town of Sanok, Poland to have survived the Holocaust.



Photos © Salik family website