Kielce, 26 June 1989
Mr. Zdzisław Masłowski
Editor-in-Chief of the “Zorza” weekly
in Warsaw
I would like to kindly ask you for the inclusion on the list of Polish officers interned at the camp in Ostashkov of the name of my late father, major auditor in active service of the Polish Army, edited in the following way: “major auditor in active service (14 December 1896), Juliusz Zbigniew Bross, Department of Justice of the Ministry of Military Affairs – Warsaw, graduate in law”.
I would also like to add that my father was arrested by the NKVD on 22 October 1939 in Stanisławów and was initially incarcerated in the local prison.
The first message from Ostashkov was a telegram sent on 20 January 1940 to the address of my late grandmother, Modesta Grotkowska, residing at Matejki Street 51a in Stanisławów.
Next, we received two postcards from my father – sent on 27 December 1939 and 9 January 1940, respectively – and a mysterious letter sent on 14 April 1940 by an unknown man, in which my father mentioned the possible plan of handing over Polish internees to the German authorities – this due to their former place of service – and warned us several times never to mention this letter, but instead send registered postcards to Ostashkov, beginning with the words: “We are all right…” These were the last messages from Ostashkov.
I tried to purchase, by a cash on delivery parcel, a commemorative medal with Our Lady of Kozelsk, as I wanted to place it by a metal plaque for the memory of my father which is fixed to the tombstone of my mother. For reasons unknown, my letters both to the editors of “Teleexpress” in Warsaw and the Szczecin Branch of the Polish Archeological and Numismatic Society (whose address I received from the Mint of Poland in Warsaw) remained unanswered.
Should you deem it necessary, I can provide a copy of the telegram, two postcards, and the letter mentioned above. With these words, I conclude my letter and, sending you my kindest regards, hope that you will heed my request.
Janusz Bross
[…] Kielce