Zofia’s Story
Zofia Wojeciechowska ‘s story begins on the 25th of January 1900 in Pogon Goslawska, Poland, with her three brothers and one sister. Life in Poland at that time was hard, and after their father died three of her siblings decided to emigrate to the US, this would leave Zofia and her elder brother Jozef in Poland. But it wasn’t long before both Jozef and Zofia would also leave Pogon. Her life was about to change, she met and married Feliks Borkowski in 1922 a soldier and friend of her brother Jozef. Like Jozef the dream of farming their own land in the new territory was very enticing. Feliks was wounded in both legs during the war against the Bolsheviks and was therefore weakened and unable to do manual work, but this didn’t deter the young couple from moving to Polesia in the eastern Borderlands. The young Zofia on the other hand, was full of vigour, and was eager to start a new life with Feliks although she knew it wasn’t going to be easy. Feliks and Zofia raised nine of their ten children on their small farm. Their house was full of laughter and probably very chaotic, the maternal Zofia always opened her doors to her brothers’ children who lived next door, their home would have been a busy one and a happy one. She was an immense help to Feliks, and it was through her hard work and diligence that the farm became highly productive and efficient. But it wasn’t long before tragedy struck the Borkowski family, with the death of their daughter Jadwiga., this was not to be the last heartbreak Zofia would experience in her lifetime.
10 February 1940 was a terrible day for the family as it was when they were all transported into the depths of arctic Russia. Zofia was pregnant at the time with her youngest child Feliks, he was born on the way to the station as they were being transported to Arkhangelsk. As a woman and a mother, she must have been terrified, about to give birth in a shed on a bale of straw as the rest of the family were being taken away. They travelled for months in cattle trucks, no food to feed her children on the long gruelling journey to the remote Russian north. February and it was cold, people were scared and life was to get a whole lot worse for the Borkowski and the Wojciechowski families, she once described it as a living hell. The hell saw Zofia watched six of her children and her beloved husband die of starvation and disease. Helena, Celina, Mirosława, Damian, Antoni and one year old Feliks. Finally after nearly three years in Russia what was left of the families, left Russia under the protection of Anders’ army. Their journey to Persia was arduous and hard, with many fellow Poles although now free were too weak to survive their journey to freedom. One was her beloved sister-in-law Helena, her neighbour and her friend, my grandmother, dying of typhoid in Uzbekistan and left like many of her children in unmarked graves. Would this nightmare ever end for Zofia. Only three of Zofia children survived this journey, Genia, Jozef and Danusia. But as fate would have it there was more heartbreak waiting for Zofia, she was about to be separated again from her beloved children in Teheran. Genia was taken to the settlement of Tengeru in Uganda, while Danusia without her elder siblings, was sent to India where she remained in the orphanage in the camp called Valivade near Kolhapur, for four years. Finally, the war over, Danusia headed to England, and upon her arrival was reunited with Jozef through the army, a cruel twist of fate struck an Jozef lost his life in a car accident not long after. Zofia was returned to Poland without her family, she had lost her ten children, her husband, her home, and now returned to a country that she didn’t recognise. Living in the western part of Poland she knew she would never return to the home she and Felix had built, and shared with her large family, that dream was gone. But life did change, and it wasn’t long before Genia returned to Poland looking for her. Zofia and Genia both remained there for the rest of their lives. Their unbounded love made her the heart and soul of the family. Today, despite events too terrible to describe, and unimaginable hardship, Genia and Danusia, the two sisters never lost their faith in the importance of family and unconditional love. Zofia must have wondered what her life might have been like growing old with Feliks and a house full of grandchildren in that small rural village of Ostrowki, her dream was cut short. I think women like Zofia are inspirational, she is a role model for woman today. Zofia was a woman who showed great courage in the face of adversity. This woman experienced all of life’s hardship, she was brave when life was cruel, but the love she had for Feliks and her children must have kept her strong. It shows me the strength of my ancestors and the determination of women that we have a survival instinct that under extreme circumstance there is something in side of us that will make us fight for our survival. I am proud to know that this woman was related to me, and proud to share our history. Wherever you are Zofia Wojciechowska – Borkowska you will not be forgotten.
PS Zofia died at the age of 77 on the 2nd January 1977, in Kostrzyn Poland. Exert from Wladyslaw Sulma in 2008
