Irena Dybowska

Irena Dybowska, my grandmother, was born on 12 Nov. 1912 in Toruń (nowadays Poland). Then, that area of Poland was under the Prussian rule, Poland as the country (due to the prior partition of the state) did not exist on the map of the world.

Anyhow, Irena was the only child of Anton/Antoni (von) Dybowski and his wife Bronisława ("Brunka") Manikowska.

Irena's mother Bronisława

Anton, my great-grandfather, was killed in WW1 when Irena was about 4 years old. Bronisława remarried but her second husband died soon too. Then, little Irena had another stepfather.

Irena and the family celebrated the girl's First Holy Communion Day in about 1921. Poland had been a free country already. I love this photo - see below.

Irena on her First Holy Communion Day (1921)

Grandma married when she was about 18 or 19. Her husband was Józef Czapczyński, Polish Gendarmerie Sergeant. In the early 1930s, Irena bore three daughters. Due to Józef's army service, the family moved frequently. Not long before WW2, they relocated to the war port area in Gdynia. Soon, the war changed their lives completely.

At the beginning of September, when Nazis attacked Poland, Józef was captured by the Nazi army soldiers and taken to a Stalag. Irena was arrested as well. Although she was brutally persuaded to sign the Volkslite, she did not break and did not do it (I wrote about that HERE).

Despite harsh living conditions during the war, grandma was taking care of her children as well as she could. The food and all usual goods were scarce but the lady was very resourceful and never gave up. When her daughters needed new shoes, she made the shoes for them. When they all needed new clothes, Irena sewed dresses for herself and the girls. To be able to support her children, Grandma found a job as well - she was a civilian worker of the war port.

Here is the ID photo of her which was taken during the war.

Józef came back from a forced labor camp in Germany in 1946. After the war, the family moved again to a city in central Poland. Irena worked as a premium train cars conductor. She enjoyed sewing and knitting in her free time.

Irena - 1959

In the 1960s, when Grandma's health seriously deteriorated and she was terminally ill, she moved back to Gdynia and stayed at her youngest daughter's. The latter one, despite having two little babies to take care of, she also looked after Irena and cared for the mother when she was on her death bed.

Grandma passed away on 5 Dec. 1965 before I could get to know her.

Grandpa Józef

Józef Czapczyński was born in Pabianice, nowadays Poland, to the family of Walenty Czapczyński and Stanisława Kozubska on 31 Jan. 1904. Józef's father was a worker, possibly a weaver. That area of Poland had been taken over by the Russian Empire (due to the third partition of Poland in 1795) so Józef and the family lived within the Russian Empire then.

Anyhow, the boy and his siblings (two older brothers Edmund and Władysław and at least one sister Walentyna) grew up in Pabianice which was an industrial town known of its textile factories.

The old weaving mill of Krusche and Ender's in Pabianice

When Józef was 14, WW1 ended and as a result of the peace treaty, the borders of Poland changed. Pabianice were in the territory of Poland again and they all could speak Polish freely again. Grandfather did not want to be a factory worker but an army man so he joined the military gendarmerie.

As his regiment stationed in the Toruń region, Józef met his future wife Miss Irena Dybowska (b. 12 Nov. 1912), the only daughter of Antoni Dybowski and Bronisława Manikowska.

The young couple married about 1932 in Toruń. Soon, Józef and Irena had three daughters. The family moved frequently depending on where grandpa and his military unit were transferred.  In 1938, they lived on the Hel Peninsula, in the place called Hel. Shortly before WW2, Irena and the daughters followed Józef and relocated to Gdynia.  They were not rich but wealthy enough to afford a maid. It all changed when the war started, though.

Józef and his family, Hel 1938

In September 1939, grandfather - a sergeant of the Polish Military Gendarmerie and other men of his regiment were captured by the Nazis. He was sent to Stalag XXA which had been created in Toruń. His prisoner number was 247. Sometime later, grandfather was no longer a POW, his status was changed to a laborer. Therefore, he was transported to a forced labor camp organized by Nazis in Szczecin. All Poland was occupied by the Nazis already. I do not know how long grandpa was in Szczecin.

I have come across a photograph published by someone online and I have no idea who the author of the picture is. Anyway, it supposedly portrays a group of men who were kept in the camp in Szczecin in 1941. Nevertheless, I showed the photo to my mom, and she said that the man circled in the picture resembled her father. However, she is not sure it was really him.

To compare, here is another picture taken at about the same time. The two faces look similar, but who knows.

Józef Dybowski, 1941 or 1942

According to the records of Instytut Pamięci Narodowej (National Memory Institute), from the camp in Szczecin, Józef was later sent to a forced labor camp in Germany. I do not know when and where exactly.

Grandfather came back home to Poland in 1946. He was weak and sick with TB. The communist authorities questioned him why he had come back so late, not in 1945 when the war ended. I have no idea what he told them, I can only guess, he returned when he could.

After the war, Józef, his wife and daughters moved to central Poland, to the city of Poznań where Józef's sister lived as well. Grandpa worked as a clerk with the city power station.

When I was little we sometimes visited him. I remember one time, grandma showed me a picture in which he was with his army unit men. Grandfather wanted me to point at him in that picture - I did not know which of the men was him. How could I tell that since each one of them looked the same - each one had a mustache and each one wore a uniform? Well, I recall grandpa Józef was not pleased with that at all. No, he did not shout. He just seemed displeased.

Józef suffered from results of a condition of the inner ear for years. He passed on 3 October 1980.

Update:

 I have found a copy of this document (e-kartoteka.net) that reads as follows: Józef Czapczyński, the son of Walenty and Stanisława nee Kozubski, office clerk, born on 31 January 1904 in Pabianice, Łask County. 26 June 1925, he moved from Pabianice to Poznań. In Pabianice, Józef lived with his sister Janina and her husband at 12 Ogrodowa Street.

 

The other Poznań registration card informs about the above-mentioned sister Janina, born on 31 May 1901 in Pabianice,  Łask County, and her husband Józef, office clerk, born on 9 March 1896 in Pabianice. The couple moved from Pabianice to Poznań in 1929. On 4 July 1929, they lived at 12 Łąkowa Street at the placed owned by the Maciejewski family.
 

Grandpa Józef had 4 more siblings, but I only met his sister Janina.
 

Sources:

• Instytut Pamięci  Narodowej
• Photo of the weaving mill in Pabianice: By Tszwagrzak - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8310941 
• e-kartoteka.net