“Zorza” Weekly Editorial Office
00-551 Warsaw
Mokotowska Street 43
“Missing persons list”
Regarding the call for completing the Katyń list, I kindly inform and request to clarify the circumstances of my father Ludwik Michalski ([who went] missing), son of Jan, born 1895 in Wołyń. Below, you’ll find my father’s personal data until the time he went missing.
My father Ludwik Michalski, son to Jan, born in 1895 in Wołyń (Dubno – Raczyn estate), in the years 1914-1915 studied at Kharkhiv University, where he was incorporated into the Tsar’s army. Then he fought in the legions of Gen. Haller’s army in the rank of lieutenant. He moved to reserve in 1923, in the rank of captain. He worked as a clerk in the [Polish] Tobacco Monopoly in Białystok until 1932, in Poznań (1933-1935), and lately in Grodno (1935-1939). He belonged to the Association of Reserve Officers and [for] some time he was the commandant of “Riflemen” [“ Strzelcy”] in Grodno. In August 1939, he was conscripted to the army in the rank of captain (Field Mail no. 48, unit-regiment 300 A) and took part in the defensive war of 1939. After the capitulation, and Grodno being taken over by the Soviet army in October 1939, he returned home to Grodno, where we lived in Łososiańska Street 54 with my mother Leokadia née Grochocka and my older brother Zenon, and he applied for work for the [Polish] Tobacco Monopoly.
He worked until 13 December 1939. On that day, he was arrested by the NKVD and put in prison in Grodno. My mother initially sent parcels to prison, whose pick-up was confirmed with my father’s signature, and then the NKVD informed he had “gone in an unknown direction.” I haven’t had any news about my father since then – where he was deported and where he died.
I need to mention that my father’s brother, Edmund Michalski, born 1902, was an officer and died in Katyń. He was supposedly on the list. I suspect my father died there too, or in some other circumstances. I should also mention that on 13 April 1940, at 10 years old, I was deported to Kazakhstan with my mother and 15-year-old brother Zenon, where I stayed until 1946.
I kindly ask to commemorate the history of the name of my father Ludwik Michalski, son to Jan, and if there are any facts on his fate – to inform me at the following address: Michalski Zbigniew, [...]
Zbigniew Michalski