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About Sonia
Sonia's Hiding Places
These are barely-edited research notes.
Credits: Aerial Imagery: Google; Interwar Polish maps: mapywig.org, made available in tiled WMS format by Cartomatic and indexed by kami.net.pl. Web mapping library: Leaflet.js.
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In no particular order:
• Village Urwiedź (Урведзь, Урведь, Urviedź, Urvied, Urviedz, Urwedz, Urved; pronounced Ervietz). Coordinates: 52 ° 5657.16 "N, 26 ° 4945.16" E. Google Map showing current town bounds. Sonia's childhood home.
• Village Jakszyce (Якшычы, Якшичи. Jakszycach; pronounced: Yakshitz] Located in "Šepepice Sielsovce" part of Kletsk region. Radzima.org page. With Kazimierz and Alexandra Cybulski, in the apartment of Alexandra’s parents – the Kuroczyckich [Kurochiski]. Before the war, [the Kurochiskis] had in a colonial/imported goods? Shop - Their economic situation was quite good and they were wealthy landlords.
Kazimierz and Aleksandra (Oleńka, Olcia) were always looking for hiding places for Sonia with their relatives.
• Farm Szumowo [pronunciation: Shumovo] - surname Piotrowska [Piotrovska]- sister of Alexandra’s mother, Stephania - Two days
• Village Lipa - Bronisław Kuroczycki - [brother of grandmother Kuroczycki]- Zbigniew's great-grandmother
• Village Orda.
• Village Łazewicze [Wozviche]- under difficult/bad conditions - Sabina Karczewska [Karchevski] afterwards, after/according to husband/spouse -Twarowska and Wiktor Twarowski. [Tvarovska and Viktor Tvarovski]
• Kleck ul. Zawalna 65 - in the house of Włodzimierza [Wojimierz] and Maria Wołocznik [Vowochnik] ne: Żmijewska [Z’miyevski] (Zbigniew's grandmother and grandmother) - Dziadek [Jyadek] drove Sonia on his bicyle to Jakszyc [Yakshitz] - to the Kuroczyckich [Kurochiskis]. One day.
blue marking: ul. Zawalna (click to enlarge)
• Village Pavlikovshchizna (not far from Lachowicze [Lakhovitz] and Niedzwiedzicy [N’ydj’yedjiche]) - Franciszek Krepski –[Frantzishek Krepski] (he studied in the US law counselor ?), returned to Poland and bought a farm Pawlikowszczyzna [Pavlikovshchijna = Folwark Pawlukowszczyzn?]. Sonia stayed here a year and a half under the best conditions. From there, in July 1944, - her caretaker, Aleksandra Cybulska, fetched Sonia, walking on foot 15 km
• After returning from Pawlikowszczyzny [Pavlikovshchizna], Sonia lived again with the Cybulskich [Tzibulskis] starting from July 1944 till 6th of April 1946, until they were evacuated to Poland - See the “document of evacuation”
• Apart from that, Sonia hid also with ks. Tadeusza Grzesiaka [Parson Tadeush Gjesh’yak] . Location unknown.
Post-WWII in Poland
After the war, Kazimierz and Aleksandra took Sonia (known at this point as Sofia Berkowicz) and other family members west, to portions of Poland now freed of ethnic Germans settled there during the territorial expansion of Nazi Germany.
Sonia recalls a visit to the "big and beautiful city called Szczecin", without a doubt the Polish Pomeranian city of Stargard Szczeciński. (Since 2015 is is known simply as Stargard.)
Alekandra tells that they disembarked from their train in Szczecin Dąbie. (This names a suburb of Szczecin located at the south end of its large lake, also called Dąbie. The marker on the accompanying map is placed at the present-day station known as Szczecin Dąbie. See a platform view of that station, here.)
Their ultimate destination was the town of Kania Gora, a small town in the gmina of Chociwel. It is about 30km northeast of Stargard Szczeciński and is known today as Kania. A pre-WWII German map identifies it as Kaniagora. This video is a highway tour of the contemporary town.
Sometime later, Sonia was taken to an orphanage in Łódź, Poland.
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| Sonia's Postwar locations in Poland |