Polish Forced Diasporas to be remembered 75 years on
 LIVE! Watch the (Polish) Holy Mass IN MEMORIAM those Forcibly Deported from Poland to the Soviet Union and did not survive. 12:00 GMT today, Sunday 8th February. The webcam is on all day, so if you tune in earlier, you may catch a different Holy Mass |
The night of February 9th/10th marks the 75th anniversary the first of five forced exoduses of people from Poland to the Soviet Union.
If they were “lucky”, the people were given just half an hour to collect all their belongings before being loaded into cattle trucks and transported to the Soviet Union. Many died in the process.
A special Holy Mass will take place in London at Midday on Sunday 8th February to remember these events. The venue is St Andrew Bobola Roman Catholic Polish Church, 1 Leysfield Road, London W12 9JF. Please come and support this commemoration.
A souvenir brochure is available and can be downloaded here.
History
The transport of the people from Polish lands occupied by the Soviets to Russia took place in stages.
- The Night of 9th/10th December 1939, 4,800 Polish people were sent to civilian prisons.
- I – The night of 9th/10th February 1940, Deportation of 320,000 settlers, foresters with their families and friends and neighbours
- II - 13th April 1940, Deportation of 330,000 mostly women and children - families of those who were arrested, imprisoned, sentenced and killed in the five "Katyn" murders.
- III - The night of 28th/29th June 1940, Deportation of 420,000 refugees from Central Poland. (According to German census data given to the Russians, 185,000 Jews were also deported around 15th August 1940.)
- IV - 20th June 1941, Deportation of 300,000 people labelled as "convicted."
By 1945, from all those deported to Russia from Soviet occupied Poland, over 1,000,000 did not survive.
Requiem æternam dona eis Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis, requiescant in pace, Amen
Related: Polskie Radio (In English) Former Police Chief Calls for Katyn War Criminals to be brought to Justice (Listen from 14'45" by clicking on the speaker icon on that page. Also there is a short clip at 00'40" on the same broadcast)
Related: BBC 70th Anniversary of Katyn Massacres Remembered
Related: Kresy Siberia Virtual Museum
