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Documents of war losses as an important source for genealogical research
2023-11-29
Recently, I have had to deal several
times with documents created after World War II regarding war losses. I noticed them when looking
for non-record documents in order to supplement the information about my clients' family history
with additional information.
According to materials
presented at the International Reparations Conference in Paris in 1946, property losses in Poland
amounted to $16.9 billion, and 2/5 of Poland's cultural assets were completely destroyed. As a
result of the arrangements between the Western Allies (mainly Great Britain and the United States)
and the Soviet Union, Poland had to give the USSR about 48% of its territory, losing about 178,000
km² in the east.
Most of the losses occurred during the German occupation.
However, the material losses suffered by the Polish state as a result of the activities of the Red
Army in 1939-1945 were not estimated. Due to political reasons and the actual occupation of the
territories within the borders of the Second Polish Republic by the Soviet Union, this issue was not
included in the balance of Poland's losses entitled Report on Poland's war losses and damages in the
years 1939-1945, prepared by the War Compensation Office at the Presidium of the Council of
Ministers in the late 1940s.
A War Damage Inspectorate was
established at each voivodeship office, as well as departments at County offices, or the boards of
separate cities and municipal boards. A distinction was made between: damage suffered by the state,
local governments and citizens, and individual applications. The registration covered damage caused
as a result of direct military operations carried out by German troops and any other troops, as well
as damage resulting from orders of the occupation authorities.
The archival
units that I checked for the villages of Jadeszki and Jaświły were located in the State Archives in
Białystok in Fond No. 89, Starostwo Powiatowe Białystok, but in other state archives the names of
the fonds in which questionnaires on war damage are stored may be called
differently.
The documents included in the collection are individual questionnaires
completed by the injured after the war, containing information such as name and surname, date and
place of birth, place of residence before 1939, current place of residence, profession performed
before 1939, profession currently performed, marital status, number of dependent children or other
persons. The questionnaire also contains detailed information about the time and circumstances of
the damage, details of witnesses and a description of the losses themselves.
Here is a
sample questionnaire by Henryk Sieńko from the village of Jadeszki and its
description.
Questionnaire No. 1068,
dated December 1, 1945 of Henryk Sieńko, born in 1894 in Jadeszki, married farmer, having one
daughter Anna, 18 years old, owning 10 ha of grounds (4,5 ha of arable grounds, 2,5 ha od meadows,
2,5 ha of pastures, 0,5 ha of gardens and orchards). He reported that the loss happened in 1944 and
regarded robbery of a cart, 2 horses, 7 pieces of cattle, 3 pigs, 5 pieces of poultry, 3 m3 of
wheat, 25 m3 of rye, 9 m3 of barley, 10 m3 of oat, 40 m3 of potatoes, 10 m3 of pea,
4 m3 of other agricultural produce, 1500 l of milk, 500 eggs, 30 kg of straw, 50 kg of hay, 5
m3 of builidng wood, 2 m3 of other building materials, pine planks - 4 m3, birch tress were cut –
2 m3, destruction of wire fencing, robbery or destruction of linens. 20 % of a farm was
destroyed. Henryk Sieńko petitioned of 5742 zł of remuneration.
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