Jerzy Jeremiasz Lopatto and His Notebook

• Published in: Almanach Karaimski
• Main Author: Zajączkowska-Łopatto, Maria Emilia
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: Polish
• Published: Związek Karaimów Polskich. Karaimska Oficyna Wydawnicza Bitik 2015
• Subjects: hist; socio; Vorkuta
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.33229/ak.2015.04.14; https://bibliotekanauki.pl/articles/440364.pdf; https://bibliotekanauki.pl/articles/440364

Jerzy Jeremiasz Lopatto (1896-1978) was the fifth child of Jozef Lopatto and his wife Raisa nee Juchniewicz. He graduated from cadet school in Odessa, fought at the front in World War I, was twice seriously wounded and fought alongside his brother Aleksy on the “Na Moskvu” (“To Moscow”) armoured train. In 1924 he came back to Vilnius, where he married Zofia Kobecka in 1926 and started his own land drainage office. In 1934 he moved with his wife and three sons to the Szylele estate in Mejszagoła district. He was a good landlord and a kind neighbour. He established a farmers’ association representing local landowners. On 3rd August 1940 NKVD arrested him in the middle of the night and sent him to Lukiszki prison in Vilnius. Accused of being a member of the Polish OZN Party (“Camp of National Unity”), being the landowner of 140 hectares of land, he was sentenced to 8 years in a corrective labour camp and was transported to Vorkuta. He was released from the labour camp in September 1941 after General W. Sikorski had signed an agreement in London with ambassador Iwan Majski restoring Polish-Soviet diplomatic relations and forming a Polish army in the USSR (the Sikorski–Majski Agreement). Jerzy Łopatto was issued a certificate valid for 3 months, confirming that he was of Polish nationality and was going to Buzuluk, where Polish armed forces were being assembled under the command of General W. Anders. He enlisted as a senior private. After leaving Soviet territory on 30th March 1943 he began writing his “Notebook”, entitled “Unsent Letters”, in which he described his wartime experiences to his wife and sons. This notebook consists of 154 pages written with a fountain pen. He describes the long journey he made: prison in Vilnius, work at the labour camp, the journey to Koltubianka, and then through Guzar in Uzbekistan to Pahlevi in Iran, and from there onto Iraq, Palestine and Egypt, from where in turn he was assigned to England. After having completed suitable courses, he was admitted to the Battalion of Airport ...