Following the chaotic disruption to their lives, Sybiraks settled in their new homes in various parts of the UK and other countries. Memories of their pre-war homeland remained, pride in their achievements retained. After the birth of the Second Polish Republic in 1918, Poland underwent a spectacular period of development.  Organs of state were created anew and cities and towns were rebuilt. Kresy and its diverse ethnicities had been largely neglected by the Russian Empire. The state set about populating this area with Poles given the task of developing its agriculture and its Polishness.
Read Sybirak memories, their family histories and the obituaries written by them and their families.

Often descendants of Sybiraks regret that their interest in their families’ wartime experiences are awakened too late.  Memories for some can be too painful to recall or memories fade; ill health takes a toll and sadly information is buried with its owners.
In the 1980s, sources of information began to be opened and made available, particularly on the internet.
Use the links in this section to provide information on where and how you can find more about individuals, their deportation, their journey to freedom, maps of locations key to those journeys, military war records and a guide to the Siberian Exile Cross application process.

Despite the difficulties and hardships suffered by Poles during the wartime period, their creative skills were not neglected. Shortages of food and hard labour did not prevent artists from drawing scenes that they witnessed on scraps of paper or whatever came to hand.
Similarly, these experiences inspired Sybiraks to write poetry, to express emotions and use words to convey images of those gulags, cattle wagons, hard labour, survival and fierce fighting. Poetry written in the original Polish has been translated into English.
Descendants of Sybirak survivors have contributed to this genre with their own poetry. In this section view artists’ images and poets’ words that encapsulate “The Kresy Story”.