To the Editorial Office
of the “Wojskowy Przegląd Historyczny”
We hereby send a copy of the letter sent to the Editorial Office of the “Zorza” weekly and ask that use be made of all the data concerning Wincenty Szymiczek, reported missing.
Łaziska, 22 April 1989
Editorial Office of the “Zorza” weekly
00-551 Warsaw
Mokotowska Street 43
“List of persons reported missing”
Concerning: The Katyn appeal of the author of the book “Cichociemni”.
[In response to] the appeal published in “Dziennik Ludowy” on 17 March 1989, on page 5, we hereby provide data concerning a person who in all probability perished in Katyn or Ostashkov.
| 1. | Namely, we are referring to our father, Wincenty Szymiczek, born on 30 March 1900 in Wanne [in] Westphalia, son of Jan and Marianna née Kopiec, who returned to Łaziska in Silesia in 1902. |
| 2. | Data concerning education and employment: Wincenty Szymiczek, elementary education. Supplementary education for policemen while in service. Between 1923 and 1938, he was a Senior Sergeant of the State Police in Bielsk, and thereafter, from October [1938], that is after Poland took over Zaolzie, until the outbreak of the War he worked at the District Police Headquarters in Frysztat (Zaolzie), also in the rank of Senior Sergeant. |
| 3. | Data concerning military service: not applicable. |
| 4. | Data from the State Police: Senior Sergeant of the Police [in] Frysztat (Zaolzie), identification no. visible on the photograph attached to the present letter – 2904. |
| 5. | When the War broke out, he was mobilized and, with rifle in hand, bid farewell to his family; as a matter of fact, his loved ones were evacuated almost simultaneously and ended up in Kamionka Strumiłowa, beyond Lwów. Two daughters, Elżbieta and Krystyna, died in this township of exhaustion and were buried there. According to testimony provided by two rookie policemen, Józef Nikiel and Wilhelm Stackusz [?], who knew Wincenty Szymiczek personally, for they came from the same township and were taken prisoner along with him by the Soviets in September 1939 near Tarnopol, the family were informed of the town’s capture. Since the novice policemen had slightly different uniforms, they managed to flee and return home to Łaziska, suffering many hardships along the way. After the ordeal of the evacuation, which lasted four months, his wife and three remaining daughters returned to their relatives in Łaziska, where they live to the present day. |
| 6. | In January 1940, we received a postcard sent by father from Ostashkov. It was addressed thus: “Poland, Upper Silesia, district of Rybnik, Łaziska, Maria Szymiczek” (that is to his wife, and our mother). Date of postage of the postcard: 24 December 1939, Ostashkov. The contents: “I am in Ostashkov, but I’m alright. May the Lord be with you, please intercede with Him for me. (Signature)”. The postcard had two stamps – one from a post office in Ostashkov and one from Hamburg. In his second letter, which we received in February 1940, [father] inquired whether we had all returned safely from the evacuation, and also sent us all – but particularly his youngest daughter, Krysia (deceased by that time) – thousands of kisses. Father’s address: once again Ostashkov, and once again two stamps – from Ostashkov and Hamburg. We received no more letters, he simply disappeared without a trace. Mother suffered particular persecution during the German occupation, and so she hid father’s letter and postcard from Ostashkov somewhere; in all probability, the turmoil of war resulted in their destruction. Our mother died in 1984. |
| 7. | We have attached a photograph of father in his State Police uniform. |
I would also like to add that our father had come to Łaziska from Westphalia together with his parents when he was three years old. He took part in all three Silesian Uprisings, and was wounded in the Battle of the Annaberg. He was particularly active during the plebiscite and was accepted to the State Police in reward for his services.
We, the three surviving daughters of Wincenty Szymiczek, hope that the agency of the Editorial Office of “Zorza” will help us to obtain at least some information about our father’s subsequent fate, and also ask to be notified if his surname figures on the list of victims of any of the Soviet camps (if it does, then in all probability on the list for Ostashkov, from where he sent us his postcard and letter).