"Not Only Katyn" by Ireneusz Sewastianowicz and Stanisław Kulikowski

Part 5: WE REGRET TO INFORM YOU

Not everyone remained silent. Shortly after the Roundup, some families attempted to inquire about the fate of the vanished. Already, in the summer of 1945, Regina Wasilewska went to the PUBP [Pol. Abr. Powiatowy Urząd Bezpieczeństwa Publicznego - County Office for Public Security, Polish secret police] in Suwałki to look for her brother.

“If you come here again you will never return home [alive]”- warned the UB man.

“I was on active duty in the [Polish People’s Army] at the time”- recalls Józef Wasilewski. “I was discharged in autumn. [My] family decided that it’s my turn to enquire about the fate of my brother at the UB. They won’t harm a soldier, they thought. I went to Suwałki. I had to explain the situation about five times, before I finally managed to meet with a [UB] officer. My experience turned out to be worse than with [the Nazi] Gestapo. The UB officials informed me that my brother-Piotr was taken by the “kontr-rozvedka” [Russian counterintelligence] patrol unit of the 50th Russian Army.”

In 1956, letters to the Polish Red Cross were sent as well. The replies that came back were nearly identical: “We regret to inform you that the Russian Red Cross advised us, that unfortunately, all searches, utilizing all available means, conducted within the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics [Rus. Сою́з Сове́тских Социалисти́ческих Респу́блик, tr. Soyuz Sovietskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik - USSR], yielded no positive results.”; or “We would like to inform you that at this time, the Bureau of Informatics & Research, PCK [pol. abr. Polski Czerwony Krzyż - Polish Red Cross], is not in possession of any information about this missing person.”

A woman who lost two of her sons contacted [the First Secretary of the Communist Polish Workers' Party, Władysław] Gomułka directly: “I’m a 70 year-old, and have no means of support. Before I die, I’d like to see them, or at least to learn the truth about their fate.” The woman never received any reply.

Local municipal assemblies in Augustów, Sejny and Suwałki, sent inquiry letters as well. A list containing names of five hundred individuals was sent to [the Polish capital] Warsaw. The reply never came back. The Embassy of the PRL [pol. abr. Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa – Polish People’s Republic] in Moscow, where many sought help, showed some good will. Unfortunately, the embassy representatives stated that their searches yielded no results.

The families of the missing sought advice from fortune-tellers as well.

“There used to be one such fortune-teller in Suwałki, at Jatkowa Street. She was even consulted by the Gestapo during the occupation”- says Wiktoria Laskowska. “When she foretold someone’s death, lo and behold, he didn’t live very long after that. I went to see her to inquire about my husband. She was evasive, and I didn’t get a straight answer. She probably didn’t want to worry me.”

Another woman, whose husband had also been taken away, used to foretell the future from a mirror. Allegedly, she always saw the same scene: it was a group of people in the snow who were busy with sawing and chopping logs.

“My husband will return for sure”- she tried to console herself, even a few days before her death.

In the 1960’s, the PCK dropped their earlier civility. Persistent people were dismissed with a simple answer: “we have no grounds to resume the search.”

The majority of the people were resigned to accept this situation. Only after the events in August [1980], the representatives of the Suwałki “Solidarność” [eng. Solidarity] promised to look into the Roundup and the fate of those who had vanished. They didn’t have enough time, though. [1]

Footnotes:

[1] Editor's Note: On December 13, 1981, the Communist regime lead by General Wojciech Jaruzelski, imposed Martial Law in Poland, and thus, effectively halted any investigation into the Roundup and its aftermath.

In this photo from 1946 taken near Hrubieszów, we can see officers of the General Staff of the 5th Infantry Division of the Communist Polish People's Army following their chase after Democratic Underground units. Among them, standing first from left, is the future Communist leader of Poland, General Wojciech Jaruzelski, who already then, honed his skills in shooting at his countrymen. Standing first from the right is Lt. Pietrykowski, next to him is Lt. Kotwicki. In his diary, Jaruzelski described this pacification operation in Hrubieszów as "fighting bandits of the armed underground and Ukrainian nationalists" in order to "defend the Polishness of Hrubieszow Land". A darling of neo-communists in Poland, Wojciech Jaruzelski is presently enjoying his retirement. More about the Attack on Hrubieszów Here ...

Continue to Part 6: The Commotion Near Giby