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.

Anton Dybowski and His Prussian Infantry Unit

My great-grandfather Antoni (Anton) Dybowski was born in the territory of Poland which had been taken over by Prussia due to the Partitions of Poland. I neither know the date of his birthday nor where exactly he was born. Possibly it was the nowadays Kuyavian-Pomeranian region of Poland as he lived with his wife Bronisława and daughter Irena in the Toruń area.

When WW1 began, Antoni was appointed to the Prussian army. In the picture below we can see him (last row, the man in the middle) and his fellow soldiers, probably before they were sent to the war front.

Grandpa did not come back from the war, he was killed during the fights. I tried to find out where and when he fell, therefore I searched the German archives of WW1 casualties.

To my surprise, the searched results showed nine entries regarding nine men of the same name Anton Dybowski. To make it more difficult, eight of them were from the Toruń region. Studying the records, I could eliminate four Antons who were wounded but did not die. The information about other four you can see below:

1. Anton Dybowski
Page number: 12020
Edition: 937
Date: 13 April 1916
Place: Koncheitz, Thorn (present Kończewice, Toruń district)
List: Prussia 505
Regiment: Reserve Infantry Regiment 53, Company A
Status: missing
Gov Id: KONITZJO93GE

2. Anton Dybowski
Page number 15477
Edition: 1203
Date: 12 October 1916
Place: Konchewitz, Thorn
List: Prussia 657
Regiment: Infantry Regiment 145, Company 12
Status: fallen
GOV Id: KONITZJO93GE

3. Anton Dybowski
Page number 4265
Edition: 365
Date: 14 Jan. 1915
Place: Leibitsch, Thorn (present Lubicz, Toruń District)
List: Prussia 125
Regiment: Reserve Infantry Regiment 59, III Battalion, Company 9
Status: missing
GOV Id: LEISCHJO93JA

4. Anton Dybowski
Page number 29394
Edition: 2348
Date: 28 Feb. 1919
Place: Drzonowo, Culm (Drzonowo, Chełmno District)
List: Prussia 1377
Regiment: Fusilier Regiment 40, Company 1
Status: missing
GOV Id: DRZOWOJO93IG
24.04.1898

After some further investigation, I decided to discard no. 4 as (according to the photos found on the net), the type of uniform worn by grandpa and the soldiers of his unit was not Fusilier but Infantry uniform. Besides, my grandmother and Anton's daughter was born in 1912. The date given in the record suggests that Anton no. 4 was born in 1898 - he was fourteen in 1912. It would not have been possible for a boy at that age to be a father of course but it all does not match. The uniform for sure.

Anton No. 1 and 2 were listed in the same village, maybe they even knew each other. However, records No. 1 and 3 say those men were missing. They could have been killed of course but their bodies were not found.

As far as I know, my great-grandmother received a message which clearly stated that her husband had fallen. It means Anton No. 2 is the one. I have tried to find out where were the 145 Infantry Regiment men in October 1916. One source says they took part in the Argonne Forrest, Fille Morte area. Another one tells they fought in the Vosges.

Mum told me a story which she heard from her mother, Anton's daughter. According to that grandma Irena (who was four then), had a music box on her bedside table. She had got the music toy from her dad. On the night when Anton died, the box woke little Irena up - it opened and closed itself three times, one by one.

I wish I could find out more about Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 53 and 59. All in all, it seems all of them - Anton No. 1, 2 and 3 fell somewhere in France.