BioGraphy
Adam CHWALIŃSKI
Adam Chwaliński was born in 1928 in Polesia (now in Belarus) to a family of civilian settlers. On 10 February 1940, his family was arrested by the NKVD and deported, along with the other 51 families in his native village. After travelling for a month, they arrived in the Arkhangelsk region and were settled in a village that had just been built by Ukrainian deportees. Adam, then aged 11, and his sister Ewa Gienia went into the taiga with their father and learnt how to saw lumber.
Gradually the children managed to produce the compulsory work quota: “2 squared-off logs, each 75 centimetres wide, 1.25 metres high and 2 metres long”. In the winter of 1940-1941, they were given the work of maintaining the collective baths and then they went back to the taiga. Despite all their efforts, Adam’s younger brother and niece died of hunger. In November 1941, hearing of the agreement between the Polish government-in-exile and the Soviet Union, the Chwalińskis left for Central Asia. Two of Adam’s nephews died on the journey.
In Kyrgyzstan he lost his mother. He and his two sisters were placed in the Polish orphanage in the town of Tokmak. So they were able to pick up their education. The family was repatriated to Poland in spring 1946 and settled in Szczecin in the “recovered territories”. Forced to earn a living, Adam resumed his studies and became a hydrology engineer.
In 1961, he and his wife settled in Opole, Silesia. Despite his insistence on mentioning his deportee status in his CVs, Adam had a brilliant career in his speciality.
The interview with Adam Chwaliński was conducted in 2010 by Anieszka Niewiedzal.
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His work in the taiga 1/2
Source: Interview conducted in Poland by A. Niewiedzial, 23/04/2010.
Licence CC BY-NC-ND.
CloseHis work in the taiga 1/2
Audio available /Adam Chwaliński describes how at the age of eleven and a half he worked in the taiga.
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His work in the taiga 2/2
Source: Interview conducted in Poland by A. Niewiedzial, 23/04/2010.
Licence CC BY-NC-ND.
CloseHis work in the taiga 2/2
Audio available /Adam Chwaliński describes how at the age of eleven and a half he worked sawing lumber in the forests of Siberia.
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Payment for special settlers
Source: Interview conducted in Poland by A. Niewiedzial, 23/04/2010.
Licence CC BY-NC-ND.
ClosePayment for special settlers
Audio available / -
Other work experience - Maintenance work at the banya
Source: Interview conducted in Poland by A. Niewiedzial, 23/04/2010.
Licence CC BY-NC-ND.
CloseOther work experience - Maintenance work at the banya
Audio available /In this extract, Adam Chwaliński describes his work maintaining the collective bath (banya) in the deportees’ village.
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Other work experience - A system of cheating
Source: Interview conducted in Poland by A. Niewiedzial, 23/04/2010.
Licence CC BY-NC-ND.
CloseOther work experience - A system of cheating
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War and amnesty - The outbreak of war announced
Source: Interview conducted in Poland by A. Niewiedzial, 23/04/2010.
Licence CC BY-NC-ND.
CloseWar and amnesty - The outbreak of war announced
Audio available / -
War and amnesty - Amnesty and the journey to Kyrgyzstan
Source: Interview conducted in Poland by A. Niewiedzial, 23/04/2010.
Licence CC BY-NC-ND.
CloseWar and amnesty - Amnesty and the journey to Kyrgyzstan
Audio available /Hearing of the German invasion of the USSR, the Poles were amnestied and were allowed to leave their places of exile. They went to Central Asia.
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Illness and death in Central Asia - Poles expelled from Kyrgyz villages
Source: Interview conducted in Poland by A. Niewiedzial, 23/04/2010.
Licence CC BY-NC-ND.
CloseIllness and death in Central Asia - Poles expelled from Kyrgyz villages
Audio available /Poles living in Kyrgyz kolkhozes struck by an epidemic were expelled.
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Illness and death in Central Asia - Death of Adam’s mother
Source: Interview conducted in Poland by A. Niewiedzial, 23/04/2010.
Licence CC BY-NC-ND.
CloseIllness and death in Central Asia - Death of Adam’s mother
Audio available /Poles living in Kyrgyz kolkhozes struck by an epidemic were expelled. Adam’s mother died in dramatic circumstances.
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In the orphanage - Hygiene
Source: Interview conducted in Poland by A. Niewiedzial, 23/04/2010.
Licence CC BY-NC-ND.
CloseIn the orphanage - Hygiene
Audio available /After his mother’s death, Adam was placed in the Polish orphanage in Tokmak, Kyrgyzstan.
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In the orphanage - Fights between Polish and Russian children
Source: Interview conducted in Poland by A. Niewiedzial, 23/04/2010.
Licence CC BY-NC-ND.
CloseIn the orphanage - Fights between Polish and Russian children
Audio available /After his mother’s death, Adam was placed in the Polish orphanage in Tokmak, Kyrgyzstan.
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In the orphanage - Orphans’ strike
Source: Interview conducted in Poland by A. Niewiedzial, 23/04/2010.
Licence CC BY-NC-ND.
CloseIn the orphanage - Orphans’ strike
Audio available /After his mother’s death, Adam was placed in the Polish orphanage in Tokmak, Kyrgyzstan.
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20th Congress
Source: Interview conducted in Poland by A. Niewiedzial, 23/04/2010.
Licence CC BY-NC-ND.
Close20th Congress
Audio available /In 1956, Adam, a student at the Wrocław agricultural academy, speaks publicly of his deportation during the discussion provoked by the denunciation of the crimes of Stalin at the 20th CPSU Congress.