Gniezno, 20 March 1989
The Editorial Office of the Catholic Family
Weekly
“Zorza”
00-551 Warsaw
Concerns: “The Katyń List”
Following my letter from 6 February 1989 concerning my father Kazimierz Perż, murdered in Katyń and identified, with reference to the information published in issue 12 of “Zorza”, I submit the following:
| 1. | Kazimierz Perż, son of Franciszek and Julianna, born on 23 December 1899 in Jaskółki near Ostrów Wielkopolski. |
| 2. | The last place of residence: Gniezno, Kilińskiego Street 9, flat 5. |
| 3. | Married, higher education – Department of Law of University in Poznań; a lawyer and attorney, whose latest post was at a private legal practice in Gniezno. |
| 4. | Officer of the reserve, holding the rank of second lieutenant or lieutenant, enlisted during the clandestine mobilization several days before the outbreak of the war. On 27 August 1939, together with his military unit he departed from Poznań-Garbary by train, in the direction of eastern Poland. I do not know the details. |
| 5. | He was captured undoubtedly after 17 September 1939. I do not know the details. |
| 6. | My father, Kazimierz Perż, was detained in the camp in Kozelsk. We received several letters from him, but only two of them have been preserved and are in my possession. They were written and sent on the following days: |
–Kozelsk, 20 November 1939.
–Kozelsk, 30 January 1940.
I gather from father’s letters that he received one letter from Poznań, from his mother.
7. The present application and data is submitted by: […].
I submit the following attachments:
| 1. | photocopy of the letter from the Relief Society for Poles, dated 16 December 1946, from London, |
| 2. | photocopy of the certificate issued by the Relief Society for Poles, dated 16 December 1946, from London, |
| 3. | photocopy of the verdict of the Municipal Court in Gniezno, dated 10 January 1946, |
| 4. | photocopy of my father’s death certificate from 28 March 1946, |
| 5. | photocopy of the certificate of the Medal “for participation in the 1939 Defensive War”, granted posthumously, |
| 6. | photocopy of father’s photograph, taken probably in 1938, during his military training as a reservist (the original photograph is stored at the Editorial Office of the “Kurier Polski” in Warsaw, at the Department of Communication with the Readers, by the editor Ms. Borowska), |
| 7. | photocopies of father’s letters from Kozelsk – those which have been preserved (photocopies are in poor quality; I do not submit the originals because they constitute a precious memento, but I can demonstrate them if need be), |
| 8. | I have already submitted the photocopy of the “Goniec Krakowski” from 26 June 1943 in my letter from 6 February 1989 – father is listed under no. 2598. |
Of course, if the Katyń list will be published in a book form, I would be very grateful if you could allow me to purchase it, or send it to me – I will pay on delivery.
Yours sincerely,
Kozelsk, Smoleńsk Governorate, 20 November 1939
My beloved and dearest Janeczka, my beloved, one and only Andrzejek, beloved Parents!
I am in Russia. I feel fine. I am constantly very worried [?] I did not get [illegible] from Janka, so I do not know what is happening with you all – most importantly, whether you safely survived the war. My concern is growing all the more because of bad dreams about you. Every day I say the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary for my dear Parents, and the Litany of the Sacred Heart and the Litany of St. Therese for you, dear Janeczka, and for [illegible] Andrzejek. I will write to you once a month, please respond if you can, and write about everyone and everything in detail. All I want in life is to see you all.
Dear Janeczka, you are probably not in [illegible], because I do not think you would [illegible] there alone. I sent a letter to Poznań, to my dear Parents’ apartment, because I thought this was the quickest way for you to receive my letter and for them to get news about me. Is my dear [illegible] Andrzejek healthy, does he go to school? You probably miss me and worry because I had not contacted you. Are my dear Parents in good health? Is dear Mother walking already, has the leg healed well? [Illegible] dear Father [illegible]. Janeczka, my dearest, how is your health? Beloved Janeczka and dear Mother, please reply to me right away, write to me in detail letter about everyone and everything, in a single letter. Dear Andrzejek, write a few words in Mom and Grandma’s letter. Pray for me.
Dear Janeczka, [illegible] apartment? Did Grabowski pay for the rye? 89.5 quintals of rye, 10 quintals of potatoes, 20 pounds of honey, and 50 złotys in cash, Zamiara: 13.5 quintals of rye, Kujawski: 30 quintals of rye and Sos[illegible]ski: 14 quintals of rye. They are to pay it all off by 1 October 1939, and then the same amount again by 1 April 1940.
Are Parents getting their pension? What do you, my Janeczka [?] and the rest of you do? I will finish for now, I am sending hugs for my dearest Janeczka, [illegible] for my dearest and beloved Andrzejek, kisses from the bottom of my heart for my dear Parents, and kind regards for all of my loved ones [?].
Your Kazio [?]
Andrzejek’s Dad
The address:
Казимир Перж (Kazimierz Perż)
г. Козелск, Смоленская область [town of Kozelsk, Smolenskaya Oblast]
Kozelsk, 30 January 1940
My beloved, dearest Janeczka!
I wrote to you twice already – a letter and then a post card. Even though my letter had reached you on 7 December 1939, I have not received any news from you, dear Janeczka. Mother wrote to me that you and Andrzejek are well and that you live in Swarzędz, but the lack of letters from you still worries me very much. Dear Janeczka, send me a few post cards within several days and describe everything I had asked for in the first letter. Even if one post card gets lost, another will reach me. I received a letter from my dear Mother on 9 January 1940. I might still get your letter after all, but I highly doubt it.
Dear Janeczka, it’s hard to describe how much I miss you. I pray [illegible] that nothing bad happens to you and that we may be reunited. We are suffering a [illegible] fate – to be apart for who knows how long. I am burdened with the sad feeling of being powerless and unable to help you with anything. I miss seeing you, my dearest Janeczka, and I am almost constantly thinking about you all.
I worry that you, Janeczka, together with Andrzejek and Parents, may be forced to move, because then you will have no way to fend for yourselves. I hope that your Mother’s brothers will be helping you for as long as you are in Swarzędz. Since my Parents probably are not getting their pension, please try and help them as much as you can. I will pay the Kurzewskis for everything later. They should count the payments in grain or in some other way, because it will be difficult to determine the payment in złotys. Beloved Parents, in their old age, should not have to live in poverty and destitution.
I think it would be best to sell the furniture and my clothes, if this is still possible. We have 12 [illegible] spoons to get from P[illegible]wicz [illegible] Chrobry. You can sell that too, Janeczka. There is no point in holding on to it. [Illegible] from [illegible] are entitled even if they do not own land, because [illegible] from 1 July to 1 October 1939. Warsaw, Mokotowska Street 3, flat 67, was the address of my client, engineer Alfons Kobliński, whom I had represented and who owes me about two thousand złotys. He did not have a permanent job back then, but maybe now he could send something [illegible] to you, especially if you were to be forced to move to another apartment – Dear Janeczka, you are not terribly resourceful, what would you do then? I feel terrible when I think about all of this.
Janeczka, my dearest, it is going to be amazing and beautiful when we will be together again and there will be peace. [Illegible until the end of the letter].
Kozelsk, 31 January 1940
My beloved, dearest Andrzejek!
I am writing a few words directly to my little, dearest Andrzejek, because I think he would like that. I am very sad that we were not together on your name day and on Christmas, but you were in my thoughts, dear Andrzejek, and I was wishing that you will grow up to be a good, honest and God-fearing man, and that God will give you health and success in life. I am praying for that very hard.
Dear Andrzejek, in my mind I see you crying on the day of my departure, and at that moment when you gave me your [miraculous] medal, which I always wear. Dear Andrzejek, pray that we can be together again, because I miss you, and I am very sad without you. I pray for that every day.
What have you been doing lately, Andrzejek? I hear schools are still closed. Who do you play with the most? You and Mom probably talk about me often. Andrzejek, keep learning to write, read and count, even when schools are closed. Dear Andrzejek, please write a letter or a post card and tell me everything, with all your heart. I would be so happy to get a letter from you. When I come home, I will tell my dear Andrzejek everything. Did you stay at home at the beginning of the war? Or did you leave? Make sure to write to me about it [illegible]. Andrzejek, keep helping your Mom. [Illegible] hugs and kisses for my sweet little Andrzejek.
Your Dad