Cieszyn, 12 June 1989
Editorial Office of the “Zorza”
weekly
Warsaw
Concerns: List of persons reported missing
I hereby turn to you with a kind request for supplementing the information concerning the list of Polish soldiers reported missing in the USSR, incarcerated at Kozelsk, under item 1381 as regards my father, Rudolf Halama.
With reference to the questionnaire form published by engineer Jędrzej Tucholski, I hereby submit more precise data concerning my father:
a) Rudolf Halama, son of Paweł and Anna née Gociek, born on 27 June 1900 in Sibica,
resident in Cieszyn [at] Różana Street 3.
| b) | Secondary education, director of the Bank Cieszyński Spółdzielczy Bank Katolicki Spółdzielnia z odpowiedzialnością nieograniczoną and of the Municipal Savings Bank in Trzyniec (Zaolzie, [from] October 1938 [to] August 1939), counselor of the Communal Department of the city of Cieszyn, responsible editor of the “Gwiazdka Cieszyńska” periodical. |
| c) | An Officer Cadet of the Infantry (Reserve), called up towards the end of August 1939. |
| d) | After 17 September 1939 he was captured by the Russians and interned at the camp in Kozelsk. |
| e) | The sole letter from father which we received was sent from the camp in Kozelsk and carries the date 21 November 1939. Our correspondence addressed to father did not receive a single response. I do know, however, that my father was still alive and in the camp in Kozelsk as late as on 26 April 1940. I was informed of this fact (but only a few months before his own death) by a friend of my father’s, Lieutenant Tadeusz Bocek, who was incarcerated together with my father at Kozelsk but was luckily released on 26 April 1940. After the War he returned to Cieszyn as a demobilized soldier of the II Corps. Acquiescing to my persistent and repeated requests, Tadeusz Bocek submitted a written statement concerning my father, which however – in fear of the consequences – he did not sign. The text of the statement is as follows: “Since leaving Zamość we journeyed together the whole time. We were captured together and lived together, on one plank bed, at the camp in Kozelsk. I bid him farewell on 26 April 1940, when I was sent to a transport. At the time he had a beard, which he had let grow and took good care of. When we were saying our goodbyes, he said: »If you should return to Cieszyn before me, dear sir, please tell my wife that I will not go back there until there are Germans in Cieszyn«. He also stated that he would return to Cieszyn wearing his beard, and only shave it off after taking a photograph with his family. I have no information regarding his subsequent fate”. |
| f) | Tadeusz Jan Halama, Cieszyn. |
I would like to add that Rudolf Halama’ wife, Teresa, born on 12 May 1901, is still alive.
Attached please find photocopies of the following:
| 1. | Father’s letter from Kozelsk, dated 21 November 1939, |
| 2. | Tadeusz Bocek’s statement, |
| 3. | an article entitled “Najmłodszy legionista”, published in the regional gazette “Głos Ziemi Cieszyńskiej”, no. 14 of 7–13 April 1989, which provides readers with more information regarding Rudolf Halama, |
| 4. | a letter from the Main Board of the Polish Red Cross in Warsaw, dated 17 May 1958, |
| 5. | a letter from the Committee of the International Red Cross in Geneva, dated 7 March 1958, |
| 6. | father’s photograph, taken in 1939. |
By way of ending I would like to express my sincerest gratitude – in advance – to the Esteemed Editorial Office for the effort which it shall no doubt devote to satisfying my request. At the same time, I would like to pass on my highest appreciation to the Esteemed Editorial Office for undertaking such a noble and at once enormous and difficult task.
Sending my warmest regards,
I remain yours respectfully and sincerely.
Since leaving Zamość we journeyed together the whole time. We were captured together and lived together, on one plank bed, at the camp in Kozelsk. I bid him farewell on 26 April 1940, when I was sent to a transport. At the time he had a beard, which he had let grow and took good care of. When we were saying our goodbyes, he said: “If you should return to Cieszyn before me, dear sir, please tell my wife that I will not go back there until there are Germans in Cieszyn”. He also stated that he would return to Cieszyn wearing his beard, and only shave it off after taking a photograph with his family. I have no information regarding his subsequent fate.
31 November 1939
Dearest Tereska!
I am in Russia and as of now I’m alright. I await news from you impatiently. Have you already returned to Cieszyn, and are you alright? Has nothing untoward happened to any of you? Are the children in good health? Are you living in our old flat? In what state did you find it? Who has already returned to Cieszyn? Do you have any news about Alojzy, Paweł and Agnieszka?
Please write me back immediately. Write in detail about everyone. You are allowed to write to me only once a month, so please just reply to my letters. Tell Tadek to write down the address legibly in Russian – exactly as I have given it.
And may Tadek now assume my role at home. May Broneczka, about whom I think so often, be a good daughter, while may Hanyś and Władzio daily lift their small hands heavenwards for their father.
I send you my love and kisses. Send my regards to everyone – to all my friends and acquaintances, whom I cannot enumerate for lack of space. I ask those who wish me well to recite a litany to the Holy Mother.
I commend you to the care of God, who remembers us all.
Your Daddy – and your Rudolf, Dear Tereska
Russia USSR – Russland – CCCP
Halama Rudolf Pawłowicz
Kozelsk
Mail box [no.] 12
Галама Рудольф Павлович
Город Козельск
Смоленская область
Ящик почтовый 12.