T H E H I S T O R Y O F K R E S Y
Osady - Military Settlements 1921-1940
Translation from the book
Z Kresów Wschodnich R.P. Wspomnienia z Osad Wojskowych 1921-1940
(From: The Eastern Borderlands of Poland, Memories of Military Settlements 1921-1940)
Pub: Ognisko Rodzin Osadników Kresowych (OROK)
(Association of the Families of the Borderland Settlers)
London, UK. 1992 and 1998
ISBN 1 872286 33 X
Province (Województwo) POLESIE
HENRYK NOWICKI
OSADA OSOWNICA
Municipality (Gmina) Osowce
District (Powiat) Drohiczyń
My father Antoni Nowicki, came from Ciechocinek [Ed. note: Lies south of Toruń on the river Wisła]. At the age of 17 he escaped from the Germans and volunteered for the Piłsudski Legions [Ed. note: Polish military force formed by Marshal Józef Piłsudski in 1914 to fight for independence]. He received the Cross of Valour. After the war he received a plot of 62 acres on the Owzicze settlement. The nearest neighbour was Kralski (mayor): others were Walas, Wasylak, Domański, Piskanowski, Wawrzyniak.
There was a school and a dairy in Osowce. I and two sisters attended the school, whilst my eldest sister attended the high school in Drohiczyn. A settler’s co-operative organisation to which my father belonged was also there.
I was born on 29 April 1929, so at the age of ten, on 10 February 1940, I was transported to Russia. Following the outbreak of the war my father was called up into the police force and served in Janów, Polesie.