Hi everyone, these are records of my grandfather “Julian Kmyta” that I have obtained over the last year in my research to learn about his time in the Polish military. But there are some major aspects of his service that I can not sort out and was hoping somebody with more wwii knowledge might be able to help me out. My family has always believed he fought on the war , but all documents I have show him signing up in Sept 1945 after the war had ended. He was assigned to the 5th kresowa infantry div. And I know he was in Italy with them, ( I have photos to prove) I am struggling to learn what company or regiment he was with inside of the 5th infantry. I have translated what I could and I’m getting he was with “headquarters”. I do not know what that means nor can I find much about it… I also have his ex pow identity card and his German transport card. His labor camps are simply listed as Troppau (Czech) and Lipsk (Lipzieg Germany). It is just not enough for me to learn anything, I would very much like to know when he was liberated. I found a picture from the Warsaw uprising that I would bet money on it being him. But the dates make it next to impossible unless he was liberated after only a very short time, and in that case that means they took a year to give him his new identity card. Seems unlikely but anything possible. If anyone can tell me any part of his story based on these documents it would be very much appreciated.
Hi, You might need a Polish historian to help untangle this. I feel that the language barrier is still real. Also, I have no idea how anyone could have been liberated by the USSR and ended up in Italy, but apparently your documents show it was possible!
May be irrelevant to this thread but there were some very controversial POW exchanges between the British and Soviet Forces in Austria soon after the War finished (I think Ron Goldstein mentioned it?). Maybe this chap was one of the fortunate few who came 'this' way rather than one of those going the other way (when many, if not most, ended up dying in the Gulags).
I have been searching for a Polish historian to help for sometime, finding it very difficult to find one that is for hire.
DallasM, Getting help in person can take time, depending on where you live - if you are in London perhaps The Sikorski Institute, London is a starting point? See: PISM | Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum | Instytut Polski i Muzeum gen. Sikorskiego Have you looked to see if there is a Facebook group for the unit i.e. 5th Kresowa Infantry Division?.Or an online history group? Have you found this useful website entry and the bibliography? See: https://www.britishmilitaryhistory....es/124/2019/12/5-Kresowa-Division-1944-45.pdf This is you appeal for help elsewhere, so you may be in the USA and it includes one UK document (not looked to see if you have supplied that): Polands armed forces/5th infantry division. Please help!! Good luck.
Hey thanks a lot, I am in Canada actually. I have done a lot of hiring help in Poland and England to acquire what I have, taking a lot of time is right! I have not checked Facebook but I will do that! Until recently I had papers saying he was in the 5th infantry but not specifying which 5th infantry. Some of these docs were just finally released to me by the “national archives Kew, ministry of defence”. A long 9 month wait! So far they have clarified it was the “kresowa 5th infantry” but not much else. I will check Facebook, maybe I’ll have a bit of luck, thanks!
I can't see anything to suggest the Soviets ever liberated him. His date of birth (1927), his date of enlistment (September 1945), and mention of the 5th Kresowa Infantry Regiment and 2 Polish Corps suggest he was in Italy. Maybe he was a displaced person or (less likely) recruited into the German armed forces (or auxiliary units) and captured at the end of the war.
I`m sure there`s some of our German members can identify that last document, to me, and I`m no expert it looks like a German Foreign Workers pass of kinds from May 1944 ? Kyle
He was sent to a labor camp may 1944 at the age of 17, and his ex pow I.D is dated July 1945, first shown enlistment is Sept 1945. So I can’t say if he did anything for the military before Sept 1945. Technically the war was over by then, not that there wasn’t plenty to do still. I’m curious if he could have participated as a volunteer after the labor camps and the I.D was just made up later on. My family doesn’t know much but they all believed he had participated during the war, not just afterwards.
This is a German transportation pass promising work for poles but actually just shipped them to the labor camps. He was originally from lwow (todays Ukrainian Lviv), where according this he was working for the Lueg Company, this company shit down may of 1944 and promised agricultural work for employees in Troppau, Czech. And you can see on the ex pow identity card above that Troppau is the first place listed under labor camp.
I was aware that Troppau was active from 1939 and in the below document is listed as a `transit camp for `expropriated people ` from 1943 I`m sure you will be aware of this . Ordinary searches on the web for more information unfortunately brings up hits on other sites and forums where you previously asked for help . Hopefully a more knowledgeable person will be along who can offer you new answers . Good Luck https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/GERMAN CONCENTRATION CAMPS_0001.pdf Kyle
