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Obituary: Camp survivor and veteran of Arnhem
A VETERAN of the 1st Independent Polish Paratrooper Brigade has died in Calderdale Royal Hospital, from cancer, aged 87.
Jozef Gwizdak settled in Halifax after suffering tremendous hardship during the Second World War.
He was born in North East Poland in 1923 and when he was 16 he and his family were forcibly deported in cattle trucks in temperatures of minus 40 to a Siberian labour camp.
For over two years those that survived endured tremendous hardship, starvation, and suffering.
Mr Gwizdak's youngest brother died; his father had been arrested, taken to another camp and executed as part of the Katyn Forest Massacre which claimed 20,000 Polish lives.
When Russia joined the allies, Stalin briefly allowed some prisoners to be released.
Mr Gwizdak's family, unable to return to their homestead and farm, had to travel for months over thousands of miles to the Middle East where they had been offered temporary refuge.
Tragically, his mother perished on the last leg of her journey crossing the Caspian Sea.
Mr Gwizdak finally arrived in the Middle East suffering malnutrition, typhus and then contracted malaria but later enrolled in General Anders' Army.
"The Anders Army" was set up by General Wladyslaw Anders and provided Polish armed forces in the West.
Mr Gwizdak joined the 1st Independent Polish Paratroopers Corp aged 19 and went on to fight for Britain.
He was in active service in Arnhem, where he was wounded and subsequently awarded medals for his bravery. However, his last medal will be received posthumously. He is to be awarded the Siberian Cross from the Polish Government which is given to the scattered survivors of the 1.7 million Polish citizens Stalinist Russia deported during the war.
The gallantry of the Polish Paratroopers has never been forgotten and Mr Gwizdak was invited by the Dutch Government every year to the Commemoration of the Battle of Arnhem, and for his part in the action at Driel.
After the war Mr Gwizdak settled in Halifax and married Doreen Robinson from Elland and had three children, Richard, Marilyn and Andrea. He also leaves four grandchildren, Alex, Kristian, Sarah and Pip.
For many years he was an engineer at Pratts in Halifax.
Since retirement, Mr Gwizdak lived in Ovenden, Halifax, with his partner Olivia. He enjoyed walking, gardening and socialising.
His funeral is tomorrow at St Mary's Church, Gibbet Street, Halifax, at 11.30am followed by cremation at Park Wood Crematorium, Elland.
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Saturday 04 February 2012
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