BARBARA HALBER

Warsaw, 28 August 1989

Dear Editors!

I am writing in connection with the list of the victims, published by your magazine. At the end of 1939 and the beginning of 1940 my paternal uncle, engineer of forestry, Józef Myssak, son of Franciszek, born on 28 January 1911, in Rakoniewice, Poznań Voivodeship, was detained in the camp in Kozelsk (correspondence).

On the “List of the victims” in issue 18 of “Zorza”, position 2931, under no. 538, is the surname Mirsak (Mirczak), with the name and date of birth of my paternal uncle. I would like to know if it is possible to correct the name, and whether Poland possesses the items which had been found with the corpses of the people murdered in Katyń.

Out of those who were adults in 1939, and had been in touch with my paternal uncle Józef until the outbreak of the war, the following people still live: Maria Sobkowiak (sister), Prelate Władysław Pawelczak (school friend), and engineer Marian Lipowicz (nephew, who personally addressed the packages which were then sent to Kozelsk).

Thank you very much for your response in advance.

Kind regards

JÓZEF MYSSAK

Cumań, 25 August 1939

J. Myssak
Ołyka
The Administrative Office of the Ołyka Forests
In Cumań district of Łuck,
Wołyń Voivodeship

Dear Sir Jan Sobkowiak
Grunwaldzka Street 1
Poznań 7, Junikowo

Dear all!

I apologize for not writing for so long, but I did not have time. From morning till night I am in the forest. Very little time is left for correspondence. I work in the forest, where traces of war are still visible: there are many trenches, remains of barbed wire fences, and mass graves. In these areas the Russian Army commanded by Brusilov broke through the front, so the Austrians had to withdraw to the Carpathian Mountains.

What is new with you? Does it rain as often as it does here, in Wołyń? In these parts it often happens that there are more rainy than sunny days. The summer is ending, the autumn is clearly upon us. Let’s hope it will be sunny.

I apologize for writing only a postcard, but this was really due to the lack of time. I am sending my regards from these distant lands.