12 R E C O L L E C T I O N S
Family Histories
1. Life in Kresy
2. Invasion
3. Deportation
4. Life in Siberia
5. The "Amnesty"
6. Joining the Polish Army
7. Evacuation to Persia
8. Training
9. The Italian Campaign
10. Life after the war
Illustrations by Tolek Sobierajski
1. Osada Krechowiecka A detailed account of life on a military settlement
Danuta's full deportation story
Danuta's "Ankieta" (so-called Hoover statement) written on arrival in Persia while details were still fresh in her mind.
Danuta's Route Map
Danuta's obituary March 2024
click to enlarge
Danuta Gradosielska (née Mączka)
Danuta was 14 years old when she was deported. She had been living a happy, carefree life on Osada Krechowiecka (an army settlement) with her parents, two brothers and a sister.
While travelling to Siberia on the deportation train, she lay on the top bunk and, looking out of the tiny grated window, wrote a diary, she noted all the place names and dates.
Follow her experiences from being a schoolgirl in Kresy, Poland ... to being a soldier in the Polish II Corps ...... and to being a mother of six in London.