1: INTRODUCTION by Franek Rymaszewski     7: WITH MY BROTHER in WARTIME ENGLAND   11: POLISH CHRISTMAS and EASTER
2: MY FAMILY TREE   8: MY FAMILY SURVIVORS in POLAND 12: ANCESTORS - Part 1 : Origin and Records    
3: RELEVANT MAPS and POLISH HISTORY   9: MY EMIGRATION to AUSTRALIA       ANCESTORS - Part 2 : Family Tree
4: MY FAMILY ANCESTRY in POLAND 13: Rymaszewskis in present-day POLAND
5: PINSK UNDER COMMUNIST TYRANNY 10: Descendants in AUSTRALIA - Part 1     14: Rymaszewskis  WORLD-WIDE (Part 1)
    MIETEK'S MEMOIRS OF GULAG       Descendants in AUSTRALIA - Part 2       Rymaszewskis in the USA (Part 2)
6: MY ESCAPE FROM STALIN       Descendants in AUSTRALIA - Part 3 15: EMAILS from Visitors
 


Part 1

 ANCESTORS :
ORIGIN  OF OUR SURNAME,
EARLY FAMILY HISTORY
AND RECORDS



10th - 15th century
:
 The Kingdom of Poland

Our roots extend to the medieval Kingdom of Poland. The forefathers were the knights in the Kingdom. They served with princes and dukes as members of their household military elite.



In retirement the knights were settled on crown lands where they trained their grandsons in the knightly skills.


At a later period our ancestors served as royal guards at the "Wawel" Kings Court in Cracow, then the capital of Poland.



 
Polish Kings castle "Wawel" in Cracow - 15th c.

 

Some of the knights were attending upon the king as the courtiers in the Wawel castle. The courtiers were rewarded for their services by the king with landed estates, privileges or gold.

 

In the 16th century, the king bestowed on one such knight, Lukash Zaglobczyk, whose son Gregory became our Rymaszewski progenitor, a property in the large eastern region of Poland that generally carried the historical name of Grand Duchy of Litva.



16th century Poland :
  the Polish Commonwealth

From the15th century, the ancestors transformed from the medieval knights - the warriors, to a new social class of landlords, who settled on landed estates.

They became the nobility and, in a feudal system, they possessed serfs who lived in a village or villages located on their estates.

The nobility were called "szlachta".

 


Polish nobility called "szlachta" : 16th-17th c.

Nobility (plural) called "szlachta" is pronounced "shlakhta":
sz
= sh, as in "shop", ch = ch, as in "loch".
A nobleman was called "szlachcic": c = ts, as in "bits"

The turn of the 15th and 16th century
INTRODUCTION OF MODERN SURNAMES OF NOBLES

 

At first, Polish nobles, former knights, were called similarly as the knights before, often by single given name, or a nickname, e.g. Witosh, Zavisha, Dobek. For more formal and legal identification, the name of their landed property (or their locality of birth and origin) was added, i.e. from.... , or of.... , and the name of their clan's coat of arms (c.o.a.),  e.g. Witosh from Wola c.o.a. Gryf; Dobek from Mazowia c.o.a. Dolega;  Gregory of Ryma c.o.a. Pobóg.

During the 16th century, formal surnames of Polish nobles were being introduced and established. The surname was obtained by forming it into Polish adjective with last three letters ...SKI  and (sometimes) ....CKI. In many instances such adjective was derived from the name of the estate or locality where the family lived. Thus, Witosh from Wola became Witosh Wolanski and his wife Wolanska (equivalent feminine adjective);  Dobek from Mazowia became Dobek Mazowiecki and his wife Mazowiecka;  and Gregory of Ryma became Gregory Rymaszewski and his wife Rymaszewska.

So, a surname ending  ...SKI  or  ...CKI   meant the bearer was of noble birth.

 

Pronunciation of Rymaszewski is : Rymashevski
sz = sh,
as in "shop",         w = v, as in "vat"


By the way, the ending ...cki is pronounced ...tski,
e.g. Lewicki is pronounced, Levitski, not Leviki !
COATS OF ARMS (HERB) OF THE POLISH NOBILITY
  • The basis by which Polish coats of arms were acquired differs from those of Western Europe where they were individual or familial. Polish coat of arms belonged to groups of families, i.e. to a clan (ród) who, either served the Crown together, or resided in the same territory, or carried out extraordinary endeavors. The coat of arms was an integral part of the noble's identity as warriors who fought in defense of the fatherland.
  • Each Polish coat of arms had its own name, which was typically different than the family names.
    Some of the coat of arms names were clan rallying cries.
  • Once obtained, a coat of arms was handed down through the generations. Every member of the clan had the right to use the arms. As a result, a higher proportion of the Polish population possessed noble status (about 10%) than was the case in Western Europe (1% to 2%).


THE ORIGIN OF RYMASZEWSKI  FAMILY 
Rymaszewski family and the surname originates from the 16th century settlement of a Polish knight LUKASZ on the Eastern Frontier of Poland, among vast, virgin forests of the Grand Duchy of Litva. The settlement was called RYMA.




At the beginning of the year 1546, Polish king Zygmunt II August (1520-1572) bestowed on his favourite knight LUKASZ (Lukash) of Zaglobczyk knights, a woodland property on crown lands in the Polish Eastern Frontier.

Rumour has it that Lukasz was a heroic warrior, had good command of Latin, and always accompanied the king. He also played the lute superbly and liked singing. (Lute is a mediaeval stringed instrument).


The woodland estate was located southwest of MINSK, near KOPYL and river NIEMEN.

Its name was RYMA.


The original Ryma settlement had a defensive character because of the Tatar raids from the East.





Tatar incursions from Asia into Polish Eastern Frontier

The settlement RYMA in the Duchy of Litva, given by the Polish king to Lukash in 1546, was vacant after a family that completely perished 40 years before, during the Tatar incursions from the East.

The Tatars, believers in Islam, ravaged the area in 1503, burning and looting and taking thousands of "infidels" as captives. Three years later in 1506, during the subsequent Tatar incursion, the joint armies of the Crown and the Duchy were ready and crushed the Tatar hordes in battles near KOPYL and KLECK

Although many captives were freed but an epidemic disease finally devastated sparse population in the area.



Lukasz (Lukash) was the last member of Zaglobczyk knightly family. His father, Jan, died soon after the birth of Lukasz in 1520, his first and only son.

Jan left also one year older daughter Anna. An uncle named Grzegorz, their widowed mother's brother, who was a canon and a member of the Cracow Cathedral Chapter, took care of the family and children's upbringing.

After a parochial school, young Lukash finished the Cracow Cathedral School and then was trained as a knight at the Royal court in Wawel. He also attended the renowned Cracow University for three years. In that university not that long before him studied Nicolaus Copernicus (Latin name for Polish : Mikolaj Kopernik). Copernicus became the great astronomer who proposed that the earth revolves around the sun, making Poland famous in the whole of Europe.

Lukasz moved to live in Ryma with his mother Maryna and sister Anna in 1546. He was then 26 old.

Lukasz's father : Jan of the Zaglobczyk knights, bearing the Pobóg coat of arms.




GREGORY  OF  RYMA - son of LUKASH
- the first RYMASZEWSKI

At those times modern formal surnames of Polish nobles and knights were being established. Lukasz's son, Gregory of Ryma, adopted the surname Rymaszewski after the name of their estate and became the first ancestor of our family.

The establishment of the Rymaszewski noble surname carrying the original Lukash's knightly coat of arms (Pobóg), as well as the perpetual land ownership of Ryma, was confirmed by the Polish king Zygmunt III Waza (1566 - 1632), in a royal deed dated 6 July 1610.



Location of Ryma estate in 16th century Poland
the origin of Rymaszewski Families


Early 17th century
THE  RYMASZEWSKI  FAMILY  EXPANDS


During the subsequent years the family of Gregory Rymaszewski, together with ageing Lukasz, greatly improved and developed their estate and prospered.

Gregory's son, Jerzy, purchased an additional grange called Mohylonka on 19 April 1637.

The next generations of Rymaszewskis were the families of Jerzy's three sons: 1. Pawel, 2. Tomasz and 3. Jan.

The family grew as follows:
1. Pawel had two sons Janusz and Jerzy.
2. Tomasz had a son Mikolaj,
3. Jan had three sons Michal, Franciszek and Józef.

2.Tomasz's first son Mikolaj had a son Michal and three grandsons: Stanislaw, Ignacy and Pawel.

I discovered later, that 2. Tomasz had also another son, Jakób, who served as a "pancerny" (an armoured noble), during the Turkish invasion of Poland's Eastern Frontier. He was killed in a battle at Kamieniec Podolski in 1672.


In the fifth generation there were eight families with 15 male grandchildren.
Janusz
had two sons called Michal and Kazimierz.
Michal
had three sons: Stefan, Floryan and Franciszek.
Kazimierz
had two: Andrzej and Franciszek, etc...
see Family Tree - Chapter 12 (Part 2
)

Great growth and expansion of Gregory's descendants occurred from the seventh and eighth generation of families, and in the following decades the families expanded to various granges and estates over the woodland region between KOPYL, NIESWIEZ, KLECK, SLUCK and MINSK.





European bisons in primeval forests near Ryma



17th and 18th century
THE FAMILY SPREADS FURTHER

Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries the Rymaszewski descendants spread out westwards to various land properties, and could be found near LACHOWICZE, DAREWO, LIPSK, MIR, CHOTYNICZE, BARANOWICZE, STOLPCE, NOWOGRÓDEK, NOWOJELNIA and SLONIM.

Later they also moved southwards to farms and granges near PLOTNICA, PINSK, LUNINIEC, MOZYR and BOBRUJSK.



19th century
WILNO and KOWNO

Some Rymaszewski descendants migrated northwards, as far as two large historic towns of WILNO and KOWNO in the north.

The town WILNO was a large Polish cultural and intellectual centre where many Rymaszewskis were studying at Wilno University. After graduation, some obtained positions in Wilno, married local noblewomen and settled in the area.

Eventually the families spread back south, to: OSZMIANA, TROKI, WILEJKA, SUWALKI, LIDA, GRODNO.

 



Wilno University - 17th century
Poland


Chapel of Ostra Brama - Wilno, Poland

"POBÓG" COAT OF ARMS

herb "Pobóg"
In a heraldic book "Herbarz Polski", dated 1839-1846, the author Kasper Niesiecki, a Jesuit monk, lists RYMASZEWSKI families as belonging to the Pobóg Clan. So all members of the clan were the bearers of the POBÓG coat of arms.

The name Pobóg means "for God", thus "Pobóg" was also used as a battle cry where families joined together to defend their country "for God" !

Jesuit monk describes in his book he POBÓG Coat of Arms as follows:

"Azure, a horseshoe argent, surmounted of a cross patée, or, mantled of his liveries, whereupon is set for a crest: out of a ducal coronet a demi greyhound rampant, collared and leashed, all proper." (Herbarz, VII, 331 - 335).

Later heraldry sources describe the arms thus:

"A horseshoe is shown with its ridge upward in a blue field; it is silver or polished iron, atop it is a cross of gold. On the helmet a half greyhound appears, as if leaping from the crown, facing the right: it is collared and leashed."

TENDIT AD ASTRA VIRIBUS


RYMASZEWSKI family, like all noble families, had their own family motto which was placed on their seals and the coat of arms.   It was in Latin: "Tendit ad Astra Viribus" and meant "Reach up for the stars by your own effort".

Translated into Polish "Dosiegnij gwiazd swojá wlasná pracá"

Oral accounts and family records handed down, bear testimony that the ancestors preserved their dignity and for centuries lived in accordance with the above heraldic device.



17th and 18th CENTURY :
the Polish Commonwealth

The following record was found in a heraldic book (herbarz) "Heraldry of many Houses of the Polish Crown and Grand Duchy of Litva", published in 1757 in Zamosc by Stanislaw J. Dunczewski. [MSR-74]

 

  • Jakób Rymaszewski, the son of Tomasz Rymaszewski, bearing "Pobóg" coat of arms, served as an armoured noble or an "armoured companion". In Polish : "towarzysz pancerny", i.e. a cavalry officer wearing a cuirass armour. In the Polish army, the "towarzysz" was a noble who served in the Army and his pay was relative to the number of men he brought with him in his "retinue" (poczet). He armed, provisioned and commanded his men.

    During the Turkish invasion of the Polish Commonwealth's eastern frontier, Jakób was killed in a battle with the Turks at Kamieniec Podolski in 1672.



" towarzysz pancerny "
(an armoured "companion")


Other entries in the heraldic book "Herbarz", published in 1757 in Zamosc by S.J. Dunczewski "Heraldry of many Houses of the Polish Crown and Grand Duchy of Litva" [MSR-74] are:

 
    POBÓG

    18th century Polish nobles ("szlachta")
    Rymaszewski ancestors

  • Rymaszewskis are recorded in the above heraldic book as "Polish nobles bearing the Pobóg coat of arms (see image on right) and living in Grand Dutchy of Litva (Litwa) around 1640" [MSR-24,74]
  • N. Rymaszewski, coat of arms (c.o.a.) Pobóg, married Miss Czechowicz, a daughter of the cupbearer (podczaszy), an officer in a royal household . They lived in Oszmiana district. [MSR-74]
  • Adam Rymaszewski, c.o.a. Pobóg, lived in Oszmiana district, Wilno province, information dated 1757 [MSR-74]
  • Wincenty Rymaszewski was the King's official from 1781 to 1794 as a regent of the "Szewelski gród", a fortified stronhold. [MSR-74,75,4]
  • N. Rymaszewski, c.o.a. Pobóg, married Miss Chlopicka, information dated 1757. [MSR-74]
  • A family of Rymaszewski, c.o.a. Pobóg, lived in Wilkomirski district, Podole province. [MSR-74]
  • N. Rymaszewski, c.o.a. Pobóg, married Miss Godycka. They had two boys Wawrzyniec and N. Remiesz - Rymaszewski and a daughter who married Mikulski. [MSR-74]
  • Teresa Rymaszewska married Wojciech Korwin-Bienkowski, a member of wojski wsch. (?), information dated 1781. [MSR-77]

    From the internet :


  • N. Rymaszewski, was a member of the Grodno provincial parliament in 1773.
  • Stanislaw Rymaszewski. District Public Library in Lublin has a print (druk) by Stanislaw Rymaszewski, dated 1785 and titled "The sermon on the occasion of (King) Stanislaus August birthday" - published by Trinity Order. ("Kazanie na dzien narodzin Stanislawa Augusta" - Drukarnia Trinitarzy).


Spread of Rymaszewski Families from Ryma
during the 17th and 18th centuries




All Rymaszewski noble families owned various landed estates.

Generally they were medium size landowners, many owned average granges, but some happened to be large and wealthy.

A number of Rymaszewskis served as military commanders in the Grand Duchy of Litva's own regional army under administration of the Crown. Several Rymaszewskis were appointed as officials of the Crown.

As nobles, at all levels, they preserved their old Polish knightly traditions, values and privileges.

 




RYMASZE near KOPYL  
Searching through the 18th-19th century maps, I found a very detailed map of Central Europe by the Military Surveys of Austria-Hungarian Empire, published about 1890, with place names spelled in the language of each territory.
In the area near Kopyl with Polish spellings, I found a place named Rymasze (See circle on the map).

Could it be the spot where the original 16th century knightly estate RYMA existed — not far from Kopyl, as mentioned in the historical notes?

In any case it must have been the property of a family of Rymaszewski descendants who lived there in the 18th century, and the place was described after them.

A place name called Rymasze suggests in the Polish language a plural word meaning "a place inhabited by, or belonging to, Rymaszewskis"

The word "rymasze" has no other meaning in the Polish language (neither in Belarus or Russian language), and therefore must come from the surname.

Also notice on the map a small rectangular dot above it, marked H.H. Rymasze. According to map's legend, which is in the Austrian language, the H.H. stands for "herrenhaus". In English it means "manor house". So it could be that Rymaszewskis, the owners of the "Rymasze" estate, lived in the manor house and owned on their land a village with its surfs, which they named after the estate.


Old manor house

NOTE added in 2007:
It appears from description of this area in the research of Stanislaw Rymaszewski (1908 -1979) see Chapter 12:(2), that the location of the original 16th century settlement RYMA, was close to the 19th century Manor House Rymasze marked on the map above.


CLICK HERE
To see current 21st century Belarus map with location of "Rymasze, Rymaszy" village marked on it as "Rimashi" (also the location of the Rymasze (Rimashi) manor house to the north of the village Rimashi).

However, the village sign post is properly spelled "Rymashy" which confirms that Polish name Rymaszewski is often spelled in Russian language incorectly as "Rimashevski" as on that map.

 

PHOTO :

Krzysztof Rymaszewski from Terespol, Poland, and his father Jozef, at entry to Rymaszy village during their visit to Belarus in 2000.


Below is a Polish topographical map dated 1920
showing location of Rymasze just behind the new Polish Border, spelled in Belorussian "Rymaszy" (as all the other places behind the Polish Border are). Note on the map below that above "Rymaszy" is marked "(D) Staryje Rymaszy", meaning in Belorussian "(Dwor = manor house) Old Rymasze".


 


RYMASZE in 2010

Vladimir Rymaszewski living in Russia, whose ancestors come from farmstead Zabolot'e in Kopyl district, traveled to our historical homeland in Belarus in 2010, and visited village Rymasze (Rymashy) in Kopyl district.

He writes that there are 89 homes in the village and 140 inhabitants, but more than a 100 of them are aged pensioners. None of the people he talked to, could remember where Rymaszewskis' manor house was located.

The oldest tree in Rymashy was a tall linden tree (or Tilia) - he hopes it might be 400 years old and remembers the noble Rymaszewski ancestors. (photo >)


RYMASZE in 2010



19th - 20th century :
Poland under the rule of 3 foreign powers 1795 - 1918
----------------
Eastern Poland under Tsarist Russia

At the end of 18th century, after the second and third partitions of Poland (1793 - 1795), the lands of eastern Poland where the Rymaszewski families lived, fell under Russian Tsar's rule and became part of the Russian Empire.

For
123 years Rymaszewski families preserved Polish language, traditions and Roman Catholic faith until 20th century when these lands became Polish again in 1918 after the end of First World War.


After the third partition in 1795, Poland disappeared from the map of Europe, believe it or not. Alongside is a map of Eastern Europe dated 1838.

Its central part was restored for a short period from 1806 to 1815 by Napoleon as a Duchy of Warsaw. After Napoleon's defeat by Russia it was taken over by the Tsar.

As a result, Poland remained under the rule of foreign masters for 123 years until the end of World War One in 1918.

In the 19th century a number of insurrections was attempted by Poles to win back the independence, especially in the Russian partition.

Very many Rymaszewskis were involved in conspiratorial activities and uprisings. This brought heavy reprisals on participants including exile to Siberia and confiscation of their properties, either whole or substantial parts or their estates. The families became poorer, their estates smaller.


Two nobles : a Russian noble on the left and a Polish noble on the right
.

But their noble status was still respected. For example, tsarist police employed punishment by lashing, which did not apply to nobles, no matter whether they were Russian or Polish or how small landowners they were.

 

 

 

 




Many RYMASZEWSKIS emigrated. Some to France but mostly to the United States of America, also to Canada and Argentina.

Some Rymaszewskis subdivided land among children or sold their estates and moved to live in towns, where many achieved important positions and prominence.

Many studied in St. Petersburg, some in Kiev, and then served as doctors, public servants, etc. and, being of noble status, as commanders in the Russian Army. The commanders were posted to various key locations including military academies. Similarly those qualified as doctors went to specific hospitals, etc.

However, majority of Rymaszewskis still run their land properties in the original ancestral homeland.



Poland partitioned by Russia, Prussia and Austria

 

The Russian Imperial coat of arms dated 1840.

Notice small coat of arms of component countries on top. Second on top left is the Polish Eagle.


From "Biographic Dictionary of Officers of the November 1831 Uprising" by Robert Bielecki, Warsaw 1995-98. [MSR-239]

 
  • Pawel Rymaszewski from Wilno province married Agata Wolczacka.
  • Their son Julian Rymaszewski was born in 1812 at the time of Napoleon's retreat from Moscow. Julian studied law at the University of Wilno.


    In 1831, both Pawel and 19 year old son Julian took part in the "November" Uprising against Russia.

From files of the Historical and Literary Society in Paris, published in Paris, 1991. [MSR-279]

 
  • Julian Rymaszewski (born 1812), the son of Pawel and Agata, left his law studies to become on 19 August 1831 a youngest second lieutenant in 3rd infantry regiment (3 ppl) to take part in the "November 1831" Uprising against Russia. After the failure of the uprising he had to leave Poland to avoid persecution.

    In February 1833 he went to Besancon in France, then on 7 April 1833 to Switzerland. He returned to France in January 1834 and from 27 September 1836 studied law and medicine in Paris. Then he offered his services (3 pp) to the Sultan and sailed for Africa from the port of Marseilles in the south of France on board the ship "Tabor" on 28 February 1856.

In 1871, at the end of the Franco - Prussian War, he was accused of participation in a revolt against French government. The revolt was called "the Commune of Paris". He was imprisoned on the pontoons in Paris and died next year in 1872 at the age of 60.


Information received by email (in 2006) from George Levchenko
See Mail no.016 in Chapter 15

 
  • Wasyl Rymaszewski, the son of Mateusz was born in the early 1800s in Kraków, Poland (see below), but moved to the Ukraine. His birth certificate was written in Russian and it states that Vasiliy Matveev(ich) Rymashevskiy is of noble rank (dvoryanin) in the Russian Empire, and a Roman Catholic. He lived, and was buried, in the town of Pereyaslav (Perejaslaw) (also called Pereyaslav Khmel'nitskiy) south of the city of Kiev. By profession he was a medical doctor and was married to a lady from a Polish noble family of Królikowski, coat of arms Poraj. He had a son who was an attorney and later became a judge in the town Zolotonosha, a little further south from Pereyaslav.

    His present day descendants N. Rymaszewska and her grandson George Levchenko now live in the USA. Email: glevchen@engineer.com
 

MY REMARKS : Kraków in the early 1800s.
At the turn of the 18th century, after final partition of Poland in 1795, Kraków was in the Austrian sector. When Napoleon conquered Central Europe, and Polish troops were serving in his armies, he restored the Polish state as a Duchy of Warsaw, which included Kraków. The Duchy of Warsaw existed only from 1806 to 1815.

After Napoleon's defeat in Russia (retreat from Moscow in 1812) and the Congress of Vienna in 1815, the victorious Russia absorbed the Duchy of Warsaw in the Russian Empire, calling it "Kingdom of Poland" with the Tsar becoming also the "King of Poland". However, the "Kingdom" did not include Kraków. The Vienna Congress of 1815 declared it a Free City of Kraków. It was independent until 1846, when it was again taken over by Austria, becoming part of Galicia province. After insurrection against Russia in 1831, the Poles in the "Kingdom" were deprived of all civil liberties.


From "Main Archives of Old Records" (Archiwum Glówne Akt Dawnych) in Warsaw (Reference 118,119,120,121).

 

  • Jan Rymaszewski, was a steward of Duchy of Nieswiez in the year 1747. File contains various cash vouchers and bonds.
  • Jan Rymaszewski, was a steward Olycki (of town Olyce) from 1754 to 1765. File contains receipt for salary, various cash vouchers, copy of payment receipt for services done, etc.
  • Pawel Rymaszewski, was a cashier of town Sluck from 1802 to 1808. File contains cash vouchers and receipt for salary, accounts and deposits to the treasury.
  • Adam Rymaszewski, was a land surveyor in 1811. File contains vouchers and receipt for amounts due.

From "State Archives in Bialystok" for the period 1796 - 1807

 

  • Mateusz Rymaszewski and Barbara Rymaszewska, who lived in Gieniusze near Sokólka, owned a forest area in Lipin - Record dated 12 October 1799. (Record no.1126)

From a publication "Rodzina", in Polish "The Family", by count Seweryn Uruski, issued annually from 1904 in Warsaw [MSR-4]

 

  • Mikolaj Rymaszewski lived in Kowno area (now Kaunas in Lithuania), and had a son named Piotr.
  • Piotr Rymaszewski, in turn, had three sons:
    (1) Marcin Rymaszewski (1854 record)
    (2) Wojciech Rymaszewski, and
    (3) Andrzej Rymaszewski (1866 record)

 

  • Florian Rymaszewski lived in Kowno area (now Kaunas in Lithuania), and had a son named Marcin. .
  • Marcin Rymaszewski, in turn, had three sons:
    (1) Wincenty Rymaszewski (1806 record)
    (2) Hilary Rymaszewski, and
    (3) Józef Rymaszewski
 

  • Jakób Rymaszewski lived in Minsk area,
    and had a son:
  • Wincenty Rymaszewski (1853 record)
    and a grandson:
  • Jan Rymaszewski (1853 record)
 

  • Stefan Rymaszewski lived in Minsk area,
    and had a son:
  • Józef Rymaszewski, (1853 record)
    and two grandsons:
    (1) Filip Rymaszewski (1853 record)
    (2) Jan Rymaszewski
 
  • Florian Rymaszewski lived in Wilno area, and was a Russian language translator at the Maryampolski district Bank from 1845 to 1857. Later he held a position of Secretary in the management of bank's Accountancy department. [Additional info also in MSR-550, 586]
    Florian had a son Adam (1835 record)

  • Adam Rymaszewski, Florian's son, had three boys: (1835 record)
    (1) Otto Rymaszewski (1835 record)
    (2) Mieczyslaw Rymaszewski
    (3) Herkulian Rymaszewski

The following information was sent to me on 25 March 2012 from Poland by Maria Dubiczynska,
E-mail mariadubiczynska@poczta.onet.pl

Text In Polish:
Witam serdecznie, w spisach parafian kosciola trynitarskiego w Kamiencu Podolskim z roku 1878 r., we wsi Dluzek nalezacej do tej parafii znalazlam Wladyslawa Rymaszewskiego z zona Domicella. Moze przydadza sie do Panskiego drzewa.
Serdecznie pozdrawiam i zycze zdrowia.
Maria Dubiczynska, 25.3.2012

Text In English
:

Greetings, In the parish register of the Trinity Church parishioners in Kamieniec Podolski dated 1878, in the village Dluzek of that parish I found Wladyslaw Rymaszewski with his wife Domicella. Perhaps they will be useful addition to your family tree.
Kind regards and wish you good health.
Maria Dubiczynska, 25.3.2012


Below is an image of the register. See entry No. 21.
Note abbreviation "Dworz." in front of Wladyslaw Rymaszewski's name. It stands for "Dworzanin" which means Nobleman or Szlachcic or owner of an estate (and manor house = dwor).



From the Russian commemorative books, published in St.Petersburg : "Medical public servants - 1870" and "Military and civil doctors - 1871". [MSR-729, 730]

 

  • Mieczyslaw Rymaszewski, the son of Adam Rymaszewski (compare Adam and Mieczyslaw above in 1835 record) is recorded as a Chief Medical Doctor of Catherine's (?) Military Hospital in Kuban in 1870 and 1871. Also in the "Russian medical register", St. Petersburg, 1878. [MSR-421]

From "Geographic Dictionary of Polish Kingdom" (Slownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego), 15 volumes published in Warsaw from 1880 to 1914

 
(Volume X, page 97)
Rymaszewski grange, an estate owned by Rymaszewski family in Darewo parish, Nowogródek District, situated by the roadside from Darewo to Odachowszczyzna. It has fertile soil and few forests.



Geographic Dictionary of Polish Kingdom, published in Warsaw, 1880

 
(Volume XI, page 770)
Szakiszki, an estate by the pond, Wilno area, Ilino parish, 9 verst from Ilino, and 30 verst from Wilno. It is rural area and possesions, mainly Rymaszewski's Haraburdziszki (date 1865). Szakiszki have 4 homes. There are 32 inhabitansts (25 catholics and 7 orthodox)
 
(Volume XIII, page 550)
Winków or Winkowo (sometimes wrongly referred to as Wankowo), a noble neighbourhood in Sluck region, Hrozów district, catholic parish of Kopyl, 36 verst from Sluck. The owners here are Rymaszewski family and Korbuts family. Rymaszewskis own over 30 hectares of land.
 
(Volume XIV, page 207)
Zabrodzie (a village and 3 granges, catholic parish of Darewo, 64 verst from Nowogrodek. The village has 10 settlements (households). And granges are owned by noblemen Rymaszewskis and noblemen Kodziewicze. Rymaszewski family owns 90 hectares of land.
 
(Volume XV, part 1, page 61)
Babinsk property and village Babinsk in Oszmiana district, Logumowicze parish, belonged to Rymaszewski family in 1865. The village had 44 inhabitants.
 
(Volume V, page 872)
Macewicze, an estate in Ihumen district. Property of Rymaszewski family. It has about 12 wlók (12x18ha) i.e. 216 hectares of land.
 
(Volume VIII, page 344)
Pobole, a village in Oszmiana district, Juraciszki parish, 53 verst from Oszmiana, 28 verst from Dziewieniszki. It has 4 homes, 32 inhabitants catholic (Last census gave 15 souls). Belongs to the Jatolowicze property of the Rymaszewski family.
 
(Volume XV, part 1, page 275)
Burbiszki , locality in Kowno district, Sredniki parish, 45 verst from Kowno. It contained 3 manorial estates. One, the largest, belongs to Rymaszewski family. It has 131 hectares (119 dziesiecin).
 
(Volume XV, part 2, page 13)
Jatolowicze, an estate and a villagein Oszmiana district, Iwie parish. It was owned by Rymaszewski family in late 1800's. Later sold. Before the First World War the land was parceled out to local peasants.
 
(Volume III, page 32)
Rymaszewski family own a large property in Wilno district called Haraburdziszki formerly owned by the Jesuits. It is situated 32 km (30 versts) south-east from Wilno in Ilinsk parish. It has over 1100 hectares of land (over 1000 dziesiecin). I hectare = 10, 000 square metres. Half of the property is occupied by forests of mixed trees. The soil is clayish with plenty of meadows. In 1866 there were 25 inhabitants in Haraburdziszki (sometimes wrongly referred to as Halaburdziszki).
    From a record in Historical Archive of Lithuania in Vilnus:
  • Adam and Helena Rymaszewski were owners of an estate Haraburdziszki and Pobieñ, Wilno district in 1848.
 
(Volume VII, page 268)
Village Nowosady at the Ilino parish in the rural area of the Haraburdziszki property, located 9 verst (10 km) from the parish. Village belongs to the Rymaszewski's estate. It has 21 inhabitants.
 
(Volume , page )
Rymaszewski family (Polish and catholic) owns an estate in Oszmiana district called Jatolowicze, which includes a village named Rodziewicze with 14 houses and 42 inhabitants supplying labour to the estate. As per census in year 1864.
 
    (Volume IX, page 654)
    Village Rodziewicze in Oszmiana district, Iwie parish, in the rural area of Urciszki, 5 and half verst (6 km) from the parish, 59 verst from Oszmiana, and 32 verst from Dziewieniszki. It has 14 homes, 82 inhabitants, all catholics. (Census in 1864 recorded 42 inhabitants). The village is part of Jatolowicze property of the Rymaszewski family.
 
(Volume XV, part 1, page 275)
Burakowce, yeomen's settlement, Sluck district, near Lachowicze, catholic parish of Kleck, 70 verst from Sluck. It has 13 colonies, belongs to Nacza landed estate.


From a Soviet communist publication "Activists of the Russian and Polish Freedom Movement in the Tsar's Army between 1856-1865", published in Moscow by W.A. Dyakov in 1967, one can find the following: [MSR-137]

 

  • Feliks Rymaszewski took active part in the Polish 1830-31 Uprising against the "tsarist oppression of Russia".
  • His son, Wladyslaw Rymaszewski, who was a colonel in the Russian High Command of 6th Infantry Division (March 1863), was accused by the High Command of collaborating in the 1863-64 Polish Uprising against "the tsar's rule over Russia".

    Not quite true. This was typical communist ideological propaganda. Rymaszewskis and all Poles were NOT rising against the Tsar's rule or the Russian political system. They were fighting for Poland's independence from Russia.

Extracts from various sources, as marked

 

  • Adam Rymaszewski was an engineer, building roads in Przemysl during 1870-78, and in Sadecki region 1874-93. [MSR-24,206]
  • Aleksander Rymaszewski from Zielezniki, had offered in 1840 a large church bell to the Church Sw. Krzyza in Pultusk. The bell was inscribed in Latin "Fecit Alexander Rymaszewski, Anno Domini 1840" [from internet - www.info.pultusk.pl ]
  • Wincenty Rymaszewski, the son of Jan Rymaszewski, is recorded in the Russian "Commemorative book of Suwalki guberniya (province)", as a clerk of the Court in Kalwaria between 1872-75, and in Suwalki Provincial Court in 1877. [MSR-742]
  • Hipolit Rymaszewski, the son of August Rymaszewski, is recorded in 1850 as a municipal medical doctor of town Ostróg, Wolyn province. [MSR-24]. Also in the "Russian medical register", St. Petersburg, 1878. [MSR-421]
  • Kazimiera Rymaszewska, Benedictine nun, is recorded in the Russian "Commemorative book of Kowno guberniya (province)" as the Mother Superior of Benedictine Monastery in Kowno in 1894. [MSR-746]

From the "Directory of eminent persons in South-Western Lands for the year 1879-80", published in Kiev 1879, in Russian. [MSR-481]

 

  • Fabian Rymaszewski, the son of Józef Rymaszewski, was the Commander of the 6th battalion, 11th Artillery Brigade in 1879.

From a list of senior officers in the Russian Army, Saint Petersburg, 1831 (in Russian). [MSR-428]

 

  • N. Rymaszewski, was a Second Lieutenant in the Bretski Infantry Regiment (record dated 1831).

Information from visitors to this website received by email ( 2001-2005)

 

  • Michal (Mikhail) Rymaszewski, born about 1850, lived in Ustron and was a state forest ranger and gamekeeper. He died in tragic circumstances by the end of the 19th century, leaving a son Stefan who was about 10 year old.
  • Stefan (Stepan) Rymaszewski, the son of Michal was born in Ustron in 1880. He moved later to live in Pogost (or Pohost), about 20 km south of Sluck. Stepan's son Ivan (Jan) and grandson Leonid also lived in the Sluck area.
    Their present day descendants Alexander and his son Artem Rymashevski now live in Melbourne, Australia.
 

  • Wincenty (Vincent, Vikenti) Rymaszewski, and his wife Albina lived in Sluck in the second part of the 19th century. They had three children: (1) Telesfor, born 1883, (2) Adam, born 1885, (3) Wilhelm, born 1888. Young Telesfor and Wilhelm emigrated to the United States in 1905 and settled in the state Wisconsin.
    Telesfor's
    present day descendants David and his sons Daniel and James Rymaszewski now live in Milwaukee, USA.
 

  • Michal (Mikhail) Rymaszewski, the son of Kazimierz (Kazimir) was born about 1870. As a young man, near the end of the 19th century, he had been suspected by the Tsarist police of political dissident activity. Similarly to the fate of many Polish insurrectionists, he was sentenced to be exiled to a remote region of northern Russia. The exile, recorded as Mikhail Kazimirovich Rymashevskiy, was deported to a town called Syktyvkar, past Kotlas on the Vytchegda river in Komi Region.
    His present day descendants Slava and his son Victor Rymashevsky now live in Petrozavodsk, Karelia, Northern Russia.

    This could be the father of Mikhail Kazimirovich Rymashevskiy :
    Kazimir (Kazimierz) Rymaszewski, the son of Ignaty (Ignacy), is listed on 1907 Bobruysk Duma List. Details are: nationality Polish, resident of Bobrujsk (Bobruysk), Minsk guberniya

    Above from internet "Google" search :
    BOBRUYSK Uyezd, Minsk guberniya 1907 Duma List.


Some information on Rymaszewski estates around Minsk found in an old Russian document entitled "List of landowners in the MINSK province" dated 1889. ("Spisok zemlevladcev minskoy gubernii - 1889") [MSR-413]


1 ha = 1 hectare = 10,000 square metres

 
 

     

  • Ludwika Rymaszewska, the daughter of Józef Rymaszewski, owned 44 ha at Swojaszki estate in Nowógrodek district.

  • Józef Rymaszewski and his three sons : Stanislaw, Franciszek and Feliks owned 58 ha at Zabrodze estate in Nowógrodek district.

  • Wincenty Rymaszewski, the son of Adam, owned ?? ha in 1889 (check ref. [MSR-413] in Nowógrodek district.
 
 


  • The sons of Albert Rymaszewski: (1) Franciszek owned 13 ha, and (2) Adam owned 10 ha at Bobrównia estate.

  • Stella Rymaszewska, the daughter of Fremant Rymaszewski, owned 23 ha at Winków estate, Sluck district.

  • Konstanty Rymaszewski, the son of Stefan, owned 42 ha at Korbowce estate, Sluck district.
 
 

  • Franciszek Rymaszewski, the son of Antoni, owned 55 ha at Kolosowszczyna (Kolosowszczyzna) estate near Kopyl, located south of Rymasze in Sluck district (see map above).

  • Franciszek Rymaszewski, the son of Tomasz, owned 17 ha at ??, Minsk guberniya.

  • Wincenty Rymaszewski, the son of Albert, owned 12 ha estate at Kolosowszczyzna in Sluck district.
 
 

  • Wiktor Rymaszewski and his two sons : Ferdynand and Walenty owned 161 ha at Ostrów estate, Switez district.
  • Adam Rymaszewski, the son of Stanislaw, owned 23 ha at Ostrówki estate.
  • Franciszek Rymaszewski, the son of Jerzy, owned 31 ha at Zaolchów estate, Borysov district.
  • Jan Rymaszewski, the son of Bonifacy, owned 33 ha at Trasejki estate in Nowógrodek district.
 


Niswiez (Nesvizh) Archive of Princes' Radziwills Fund No.1280, now kept at National (Lithuanian) Historical Archives in Vilnius, contains following records:


Niswiez (Nesvizh) winter panorama
  • NN. Rymaszewski - was the manager of Radziwills properties. (Fund record 37 - nr.2).
  • NN. Rymaszewski - was the administrator of Radziwills Piaseczno property. (Fund record 439 nr.2)
  • Jan Rymaszewski - was the general economist of Olyksij property. (Fund record 319 & 320 nr.2)
  • Józef Rymaszewski - and his wife Brigita - were the leaseholders. (Fund record 386)


Early 20th CENTURY :
eastern Poland still under Russia

From Russian "Commemorative books of Wilno guberniya (province)", and "of Kowno guberniya" [MSR-740,746]


  • 1901: Aleksander Rymaszewski, the son of Maciej Rymaszewski, is recorded as acting Secretary of Provincial Public Prosecutor's Office in 1901, later as secretary to Investigating Judge in Telsze in 1908.

From Russian "Commemorative book of Kiev Educational Region" (Kiev Uchebny Okrug), published in 1902 [MSR-750]


  • 1902: Maria Rymaszewska (Rymarewska?) was a school teacher in Skoreczen (Skorechen) in 1902.

From the Russian "Commemorative book of Siedlce guberniya", published in 1903 [MSR-745]


  • 1903: Franciszek Rymaszewski, the son of Wawrzyniec, is recorded as working in the Financial Office of the Bielski administrative district.

Some data about officers in the Russian Tsarist Army from reference [MSR-683]

 

  • Konstanty Rymaszewski, the son of Fabian Rymaszewski, was a Captain in the 11th Artillery Brigade in Dubno (record dated 1909).
  • Walerian Rymaszewski, the son of August Rymaszewski, was a Captain in the Tsar Alexander's Army Academy in Moscow. Next record, dated 1909, gives Walerian Rymaszewski (the son of August) as a Captain in the Guards of the Finnish Regiment (Note: Part of Finland was under Russian imperial rule).
  • Dymitry Rymaszewski, the son of Aleksander Rymaszewski, was a Second Lieutenant in the Guards of the Grenadiers Regiment (record dated 1909).
  • Seweryn Rymaszewski, the son of Michal Rymaszewski, was a Lieutenant in the 28th Polocki regiment (7th Infantry Division) in Petrokov - Berezowka (record dated 1909)
  • Konstanty Rymaszewski, the other son of Michal Rymaszewski (brother of Seweryn above), was a Second Lieutenant in the 17th Eastern Siberian Rifle Regiment (5th Division) in Radom (record dated 1909).

Some Russian municipal records of town NIESWIEZ (Nesvizh, Niasviz), SLUCK district (uyezd), Minsk Guberniya, found on the Internet. A list of Real Estate possessors, dated 1905-6, contains:


  • 1905: Maria Rymaszewska (of catholic religion) owned a 2 storey masonery house in Bazarnaya square in the Old town, Nieswiez (paid tax 4950 rubles).
  • 1905: Jesmerika(?) Rymaszewska (of catholic religion) owned a wooden house in Slavkovskaya Street, New town, Nieswiez (paid tax 400 rubles).

  • 1905: Józefa Rymaszewska (of catholic religion) owned a wooden house in Kladbistyenskaya Street, Old town, Nieswiez ( tax free).
  • 1905: Wincenty (Vikyentiy) Rymaszewski (of catholic religion) owned a wooden house in Zaghumiennaya Street, New Town, Nieswiez (paid tax 100 rubles).
  • 1905: Teofilja Rymaszewska (catholic religion) owned a 4 hectare plot of land near town Nieswiez (free of taxation) .


VOTERS LISTS FOR DUMA IN TSARIST RUSSIA

These are records of registration of those eligible to vote for indirect representatives to the constitutional body in Russia - the Duma. The records are called the Duma voting lists. They contain the names of those men who were 24 years of age and older who were eligible to vote.

The lists are from the first decade of the 20th century (i.e. 1900 to 1910) up to 1917 (Bolshevik Revolution). These lists were required to be published in the official Russian newspapers Guberniyskie Vedomosti i.e. "Provincial Gazettes" where the following records were found :

 


From internet "Google" search:
MINSK Uyezd, Minsk guberniya, 1906 Duma List.


  • Aleksander (Alexandr) Rymaszewski, the son of Josip (Jozef ?) (Osipovich), state public servant (or retired), 1906 Minsk Uyezd Duma list no. 970.
  • Andrzej (Andrey) Rymaszewski, the son of Simon? (Semenovich), state public servant (or retired), 1906 Minsk Uyezd Duma list no. 971.
  • Edward (Eduard) Rymaszewski, 1906 Minsk Uyezd Duma list no. 978.
  • Józef (Josif) Rymaszewski, the son of Florian, homeowner and appartment leaser, 1906 Minsk Uyezd Duma list no. 974.
  • Józef Rymaszewski, state employee or retired ,1906 Minsk Uyezd Duma list no. 975.
  • Joachim Rymaszewski, the son of Michal (Mikhailovich), state employee or retired,1906 Minsk Uyezd Duma list no. 979.
  • Mikolaj (Nikolay) Rymaszewski, the son of Jan (Ivanovich), state public servant or ret.,1906 Minsk Uyezd Duma list no.977
  • V. (Wiktor?, Wincenty?) Rymaszewski, the son of I (Jan? Jozef?), appartment leaser, 1906 Minsk Uyezd Duma list no. 973.
  • Wiktor Rimaszewski, the son of Hippolit (Victor Ippolitovich), homeowner and appartment leaser in Minsk Uyezd (paying bussiness tax), 1906 Duma list no. 334, also at no. 972.

From internet "Google" search: Residents of Nieswiez (Nesvizh), Sluck Uyezd 1907 Duma List, Minsk guberniya.

  • Antoni (Anton) Rymaszewski, resident of Nieswiez (Nesvizh), paid apartment tax, listed on 1907 Sluck Uyezd Duma List no. 2337
  • Edward (Eduard) Rymaszewski, resident of Nieswiez (Nesvizh), paid apartment tax, listed on 1907 Sluck Uyezd Duma List no. 2339
  • Wincenty (Vikenti) Rymaszewski, resident of Nieswiez (Nesvizh), listed on 1907 Sluck Uyezd Duma List no. 2333
  • Wladyslaw Pawel (Vladislav Pavel) Rimaszewski (Rimashevski) of Polish nationality, resident of Sluck, paid apartment tax, Sluck Uyezd Duma List no. 1463.


NIESWIEZ circa 1910.
Water well with a hand pump on the street for public use.
An elderly Jewish resident of Nieswiez standing on the left.


Extracts from various internet sources and [MSR]'s bibliography.


  • Bronislawa Rymaszewska was born in Minsk in 1877. She married Wincenty Lukaszewicz who was born in 1867. Their son, Aleksander Lukaszewicz emigrated to Bayonne, New Jersey, USA. (From: www.RootsWeb.com - 13 October 2000)
  • 1906: Dominik Rymaszewski (Domenik Rymashevskiy), the son of Józef (Iosifovich), is listed on the 1906 Novogrudok Uyezd (Nowogródek district) Duma list No. 2492.
  • 1907: Pawel Rymaszewski is listed on the 1907 Mozyr Uyezd Duma list. Record no. 984.
  • 1907: Florian Rymaszewski is listed on the 1907 Mozyr Uyezd Duma list. Record no. 990.
  • 1908: Emilia Rymaszewska, widow, was living in Kraków. From Kraków Address Book dated 1908. [MSR-390]
  • 1908: Wladyslaw Rymaszewski, the son of Ferdynand, was a medical doctor in Telechany (Telekhany), Pinsk administrative district, in 1908. From Russian "Commemorative book of Minsk province", published in Minsk 1908. [MSR-751]
  • 1908-1915: Marian Rymaszewski, the son of Michal, was a medical doctor in Klewan, 1915, and court councillor in 1908, 1913. From Russian "Commemorative books of Volynskaya province", published in Zhytomir (Zytomierz) 1908-15. [MSR-725]

Ref: [MSR-24, 733, 736, 740]


  • 1910: Antoni I. Rymaszewski held a position in Forestry in Podbrody, administrative district of Swieciany. From Russian "Commemorative book of Wilno province" in 1910. [MSR-740]
  • 1910: Antoni Rymaszewski, the son of Jan Rymaszewski, held a position of Secretary of the Police Headquarters of Grodno district in 1910. From Russian "Commemorative book of Grodno province" [MSR-733]
  • 1914: Franciszek Rymaszewski was a Director of the Bank Cooperative (Zw. Sp. Zarobk.) in Poznan, between 1914 - 24. [MSR-436]
  • 1917 ?: Edward Rymaszewski. Corporal in the 1st Polish Eastern Corps (bat.11, P.Strz.). [MSR-24]

From the list of perished Polish soldiers during the 1918-1920 war with the Bolshevik Russia, published by Army Historical Bureau in 1934. (Lista strat Wojska Polskiego, Wojskowe Biuro Historyczne, 1934).


  • Michal Rymaszewski, private (strzelec), Kowenski pulk strzelcow. Died on 29 January 1920 in Grodno.
  • Seweryn Rymaszewski, lieutenant colonel (pplk.), Grodzienski pulk strzelcow. Died on 19 November 1920 in Maciejunce.

The following information was provided by Jerzy Zgirski, whose father was born in Nieswiez. He is the grandson of Wiktoria Rymaszewska from Lida (see below). Jerzy Zgirski now lives in Melbourne, Australia. His email is bodytune1@hotmail.com


  • Antoni Rymaszewski, lived in the second half of the 19th century in Krzywe Siolo (Krive Sielo ?), near Kopyl, the original Rymaszewski families area. He had three daughters: Wiktoria, Maria and Filomena.
    1. Wiktoria, born 5.12.1893, married Wladyslaw Zgirski.
    2. Maria married Bierezowski, who was later killed in Soviet prison. He left young daughter Leonora and son Witold.
    3. Filomena married Antoni Rymaszewski. They had two sons: Jozef (who married and lived in Lida), other son (? name) lived in Kopyl.


    Wiktoria Rymaszewska and Wladyslaw Zgirski had 3 sons: Adolf, Zygmunt and Aleksander.


FIRST WORLD WAR : 1914 -1918


After the First World War, in independent and democratic Poland, the noble status of "'szlachta" was discontinued by Polish Constitution of 1921, which made all people equal in law.



20th century :   POLAND resurrected as a Republic in 1918,
including "Kresy Wschodnie" (part of Eastern Borderlands)

SOVEREIGN AND DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF POLAND
from 1918 to 1939
This is Poland where Franek Rymaszewski, the author of this website was born in Hancewicze in 1923 and lived in Pinsk till the outbreak of World War Two, when eastern Poland was invaded by the Red Army. At the age of 16, on 13 April 1940 Franek was deported to Siberia by the Soviet Secret Police - NKVD (later called KGB).
The rectangle marks Rymaszewski ancestral lands. The gray area shows where Rymaszewski families lived in independent Poland :

NIESWIEZ, KLECK, CHOTYNICZE, BARANOWICZE, LACHOWICZE, HANCEWICZE, NOWOGRÓDEK, NOWOJELNIA, PINSK, STOLPCE, GRODNO, WILNO, OSZMIANA, WILEJKA, SUWALKI.
Those Rymaszewskis that were left in Bolshevik Russia behind the new 1918 Polish border, e.g. in SLUCK, KOPYL, MINSK, etc., were not allowed by Soviets to move to Poland or emigrate to the United States as they could do before the Revolution during the times of the Tzar's Russia. Some Rymaszewskis managed to escape to Poland during the early years. Others became subject to Stalin's terror and gradual extermination.  


INDEPENDENT POLAND 1918 -1939

Ref: [MSR-505, 613, 788]+ email 026

Hipolit Fabian Rymaszewski, mathematician, was a Manager of Wilno University Finance Branch in Nowogródek around year 1910, in Poland under Tsarist Russian rule. He had some connections with Minsk and Wilno. His wife was Wiktoria Butkiewicz (born in 1886).

Hipolit had a brother (?) Otto
and four sons:
  1. Henryk, now deceased
  2. Zygmunt, born in Wilno on 28 July 1910, electrician, working in armaments industry in independent Poland in Deba near Tarnobrzeg, COP ("Centralny Okreg Przemyslowy" = Central Industry Zone, a triangular area between Vistula and San rivers).
    His wife: Czeslawa was born on 28 Oct. 1913. Children: Barbara, born 1942.
  3. Czeslaw, born in 1912 near Minsk (or in Wilno?), student at SGGW ("Szkola Glówna Gospodarstwa Wiejskiego") i.e. the Main College of Farming in Warsaw in prewar Poland. After WW2 Czeslaw ended up in England, where he designed cranes and conveyor belt machinery. In England he had a son Henryk (Henry) and two younger daughters Krystyna and Iwona. Czeslaw died in 1992. Henry Rymaszewski, the son of Czeslaw, was born in 1947 in England. See Chapter 14 (ENGLAND) :
  4. Stefan, youngest son of Hipolit, died in Poland in Zielona Góra in year 2000.
  • 1917 - 1939:
    Eugeniusz Rymaszewski
    and Karol Rymaszewski, officers (urzednicy) of the Ministry of Education (Ministerstwo Wyznan i Oswiecenia Publicznego w W-wie). Their personal records are filed in the State Archives, 1917-1939, ref.nr. 2/14/0/5461 and 5462. From:
    http://www.aan.gov.pl
  • 1920:
    N. Rymaszewski
    , Lieutenant-Colonel, Commander of the 6th Infantry Regiment in Grodno during the 1920 Polish - Soviet war. [MSR-506]
  • 1920: N. Rymaszewski, a lieutenant in the 1st regiment of Ulani Krechowiecki during the 1920 Polish - Soviet war. Fought near Beresteczko.
  • 1923: Romuald Remiesz - Rymaszewski. Born on 1 August 1878, lieutenant in the 78 Infantry Regiment in 1923 - 1924. [MSR-462]
  • 1923: Wladyslaw Rymaszewski, born on 8 January 1878, medical doctor (in 1902). An officer in the army (9th Medical Battalion) in Poznan in 1923 - 24. [MSR-278]
    (Not to be confused with doctor Wladyslaw Jan Rymaszewski, born 15 November 1891, a Reserve army officer (colonel) who was murdered in Katyn).
  • 1925: P. Rymaszewski, was a Paramedic ("Felczer") in a town Nieswiez in Poland near Baranowicze. An entry, dated 1925, in the municipal records (List of Merchants and Businesses: Nieswiez / Nowa Wies). Now in Belarus (Nesvizh, Niasviz). [from internet]
  • 1926: Eugeniusz Rymaszewski, lecturer in the State College for boys and girls (Gimnazjum) in Lublin in 1926 [MSR-444]. From 1928 to 1939 Eugeniusz was teaching in the Polish Grammar School (Gimnazjum) in Gdansk. [from internet]
  • 1928: Marja Rymaszewska, was a landowner in Darewo, Zabrodzie 109, between Baranowicze and Lachowicze.
  • 1928: Eugeniusz Rymaszewski, was in Zakopane in 1928. [MSR-24]
  • 1928: Bronislawa Rymaszewska, was in Mielzyn, Zakopane in 1928. [MSR-24]
  • 1928: Jerzy Rymaszewski, worked as a medical doctor in Lubomla district. [AltaVista 2005. geocities.com]
  • 1929: M. Rymaszewski - was an owner of a variety store (sundries) in a town Zaostrowiecze near Nieswiez in Poland in 1928, now in Belarus. An entry in the municipal records of Nieswiez (List of Merchants and Businesses: Slawkowo, Zaturia) [from internet]
  • 1929 - 1937 : dr. K. Rymaszewski - was a well known medical doctor in Wilno. From: http://www.wilno.pl/naszczas/017
  • 1930: Jadwiga Rymaszewska - Kozakiewicz, born in 1902, was a dental surgeon (dr.med) in Wilno in 1930. From "Official Register of Doctors, etc." [MSR-278]
  • 1932: Jerzy Rymaszewski, author of "Muzyka a Sugestia", Warszawa. "Gospodarcza" Printing House, 1932. [from internet]
  • 1934: Maria Rymaszewska, was the owner of land estate (109 ha) called Zabrodzie near Darewo, district Baranowicze [from Polish 1934 Informator]
  • 1935: Jan Rymaszewski, forestry engineer, thesis in 1935 re: primeval forest (puszcza) Kampinoska, publ. by SGGW. (http://www.kampinoski.pn.gov.pl)
  • 1935 - 1938 : Wladyslaw Rymaszewski, was in charge of military "Sanatorium" in Zakopane (Koscielisko) from 1935 to 1938. [from internet]
  • 1936 ?: Hipolit Rymaszewski. Minister for Agriculture and Agricultural Reforms. [MSR-24]
  • 1939 ?: Wladyslaw Rymaszewski. Captain, medical doctor, Warszawa [MSR-24]
  • 1939: Halina Rymaszewska, was in Warszawa in 1939. [MSR-24]
  • 1939: Antoni Rymaszewski, was in Warszawa in 1939. [MSR-24]
  • 1939: Henryk Rymaszewski, lieutenant, commander of Signals platoon in Army "Modlin" (13th Ulans Regiment) during the September 1939 war campaign. [MSR-378]
  • 1939: Zbigniew Rymaszewski, second lieutenant, platoon commander, 1st Regiment of Krechowiecki Ulans, Suwalska Cavalry Brigade, during the September 1939 war campaign [MSR-167]
  • 1939: N. Rymaszewski, doctor, Kamienna street, Poznan, 1939-1945 [MSR-278,276]
  • before 1939: from http://www.genealodzy.pl
    Konstanty Rymaszewski
    , and his wife Sabina nee Szumowska lived in Osmolowo near Nieswiez
  • 1921 - 1939 : From http://kresy24.pl/archiwum-kresowe/
    Józef Rymaszewski
    was a plenipotentiary of the estate of count B.Tyszkiewicz in Pierszaje, near Wolozyn, Novogrodek district. And his brother Wincenty Rymaszewski was his assistant. Jozef was tall, round faced with a moustache and slightly bolding. He wore high boots and a sport jacket. Wincenty was shorter than Josef, combed his hair with a parting and wore shoes. Jozef had two daughters: older Wicia and younger Irenka, a student of the Wolozyn college.
    Wincenty had five children: three boys and two girls, all very young. When the Soviets invaded eastern Poland in September 1939, both brothers were arrested and sent to gulags, and their fate is unknown. Their families were also later arrested and deported to Siberia. Jozef's two daughters, Wicia i Irena survived and returned to Communist Poland in 1946.

Information from visitors to this website received by email (See Email 072)


  • Miroslawa (Mirka) Rymaszewska (married name Sacewicz) writes in her email no. 072 (mirka44@vp.pl ) that she is the daughter of Edward Rymaszewski, and granddaughter of Franciszek Rymaszewski and Apolonia nee Radkiewicz. The parents of Franciszek were Konstanty Rymaszewski and Teofilia nee Modzelewska. Miroslawa now lives in Gorzów Wielkopolski 66-400, ul. 9 Maja 34.

    Grandfather Franciszek Rymaszewski lived in Kaczanowicze near Nieswiez in Eastern Poland. He was an elected chair of village council. During the Soviet occupation of Eastern Poland in 1939 he was executed by firing by the KGB ( then NKVD). His wife Apolonia Rymaszewska was deported to Siberia with her two young sons. After the war in 1945, as part of the so called "repatriation", the family was settled in the West of Polish People's Republic in Miedzyrzecz.


The following extract from the records of Polish Central Military Archives (Centralne Archiwum Wojskowe) in Rembertów near Warszawa was sent to me by Tomasz Sudol from Warsaw.
His e-mail address is :
tomasz.sudol@gmail.com

Among the records of officers, NCOs, civilian workers in the army and other persons who were awarded various medals during the pre war period of 1918-39, there are the following Rymaszewskis:

Rymaszewska Barbara, born 27.11.1878 in Russia, worked for the Polish Red Cross
Rymaszewska Izabela, born 1892 in Ukraine, awarded Medal of Independence
Rymaszewska-Szymanowska Janina, born 1902 or 1898, daughter of Boleslaw

Rymaszewski Adam that lived in Kaczanowszczyzna
Rymaszewski Aleksander, born 12.01.1898
Rymaszewski Antoni, born 15.01.1913
Rymaszewski Edward, corporal, awarded Cross of Merit (Krzyz Zaslugi)
Rymaszewski Eugeniusz, teacher, born 27.11.1884
Rymaszewski Eugeniusz, officer, born 27.11.1884
Rymaszewski Henryk, born 11.07.1908
Rymaszewski Jan, born 23.06.1894
Rymaszewski Jerzy-Marian, 11.09.1899
Rymaszewski Jerzy, born 24.4.1900 in Tyflis
Rymaszewski Kasper, born 19.01.1892
Rymaszewski Michal, lived in Pinsk (
** father of Franek Rymaszewski, the author of this website)
Rymaszewski Piotr, medic, born 24.07.1882, lived in Nieswiez
Rymaszewski Romuald-Remierz, born 1.3.1894
Rymaszewski Seweryn, born 8.1.1882
Rymaszewski Seweryn, corporal, died in prewar times, lived in Grodno
Rymaszewski Seweryn, captain, born 1882
Rymaszewski Seweryn, awarded Virtuti Militari, colonel
Rymaszewski Stanislaw, in Polish Army since 19.12.1921, sergeant
Rymaszewski Wincenty, born 2.12.1900, son of Wincenty,
Rymaszewski Wincenty, private in Polish Army, awarded Krzyz Walecznych
Rymaszewski Wladyslaw, born 1.8.1878
Rymaszewski Wladyslaw, rotmistrz (Polish rank in cavalry), awarded Krzyz Walecznych
Rymaszewski Wladyslaw, doctor, born 15.11.1891 in Nieswiez, lived in Warsaw, Medal of Independence
Rymaszewski Wladyslaw, colonel, born 13.11.1891 in Nieswiez
Rymaszewski Zbigniew, lieutenant, son of Wladyslaw, born 13.06.1916
Rymaszewski Zbigniew Antoni, born 13.06.1916
Rymaszewski Zenon, born 16.7.1910
Rymaszewski Waclaw, born 9.8.1913


The list of recipients of the Order of the Virtuti Militari, Poland's highest military decoration for gallantry in the field, includes the names of:

    • Zbigniew Rymaszewski, (1939-45)
    • Dominik Rymaszewski , (4.5.1970)
    • Seweryn Rymaszewski, colonel (gen.staff), (? -1939)

The order can be compared to British Victoria Cross, French Crois de Guerre or American Medal of Honor.

 



Bolshevik Revolution
in Russia
and
Collectivization
1917 - 1939


Extermination of many Rymaszewski families
by the evil of Communism


These are only some examples of the fate of Rymaszewski families who, after the end of First World War, were living outside the borders of the resurrected independent Poland and were left in Communist run Soviet Union thus becoming Soviet citizens.


Information from Zbigniew Wolocznik's website (in Russian and Polish) containing albums of old family photos and other materials dealing generally with Kleck, as well as contemporary history of Kresy Wschodnie.
      http://fotki.yandex.ru/users/Zbiwol1961/


  • Rymaszewska Antonina, married Wincenty Nicziperowicz, coat of arms Ostoja, and they lived in Cecylianów (Cecyliany), district Uzda. They had two children: Waclaw Nicziperowicz (born 1905) and Wanda Nicziperowicz (born 1918). Wincenty, Antonina's husband, was arrested by NKVD in February 1930, together with his brother Aleksander. They were kept in Minsk prison, where they were murdered in the spring of 1930 (probably in Kuropaty, the suburb of Minsk).
    Antonina
    was deported with her daughter Wanda (age12) and son Waclaw (age 25) via Kotlas to Archangelsk area, to Vyerkhnietoimski district, village Okhtama. They survived there for 8 years. Her son, Waclaw, was accused on 19 July 1938 by the NKVD of "contra-revolutionary activities" and was executed by firing on 25 September 1938. Wanda, aged 18, married another Polish exile from Uzda, Marian Kniszewski, and they eventually moved to Bolkhovo near Orel in 1944, where mother Antonina died.

  • Rymaszewska Aleksandra, married Wladyslaw Chelmowski in Kleck (?). They had a daughter Filomena.
    Filomena was born in 1920 in Zascianek Holynka. On 3 March 1941, Filomena Chelmowska, aged 21, married in Kleck, Stanislaw Zmijewski, aged 37, born in Zascianek Holynka, the son of Ludwik Zmijewski and Feliksa Lewkowicz
    .

Information is based on NKVD records in Perm, Ural mountains, sent to me by Sergey Rimashevski.


  • Rymaszewski Julian, the son of Antoni, was born on 15 December 1870 on an estate in Mikhailotsky Igumensky district, Minsk guberniya. As a young man he owned a landed property: Ugorino farmstead, near village Bulushevo in district Pukhovichi (Puchowicze), Minsk guberniya.
    He and his family were registered as of Polish nationality and of Roman-Catholic religion.

    We will keep out Kulaks from the collective farms !
    1930
    In 1930 they were labeled by Communist ideology as Kulaks ("large, rich farmers"), therefore class enemies. Their property was confiscated and the whole family was deported in 1931 to hard labour in Sverdlovsk province (Ural mountains), Kosinski district, Sergeevski mine. They lived in the barracks in a mining penal colony and worked as wood-cutters at the Jukseevsky timber industry "sovkhoz".  
     In January 1938, Julian was now 67 years old, and his family were:   
        Wife - Magdalena (the daughter of "Faddey" = Thaddeus ?), age 65
        Son - Antoni, age 35
        Son - Julian, age 29
        Daughter - Juzefa (Józefa), age 22 (24?)
        Daughter - Antonina, age 16
      
    On New Year's Eve in 1937, Julian's eldest son Antoni (35) was arrested by Kosinski district NKVD, accused of causing fire to the barrack and forest ( fire to snow covered forest-taiga ? !). 5 days later, in January 1938, Julian, the father, was also arrested, accused of arson in the same fire.
    Julian Rymaszewski, the father, died in prison, in town Perm, after being there for 12 months.
    Antoni was eventually sentenced to 4 years imprisonment, followed by loss of all rights for 3 years.

Information is based on NKVD records in Perm, Ural mountains, sent to me by Sergey Rimashevski.

 
  • Rymaszewski Waclaw, the son of Franciszek and grandson of Michal, was born in November 1882 at Swidycze (Svidichi),  Slobodo-luchanski area, Kopyl district, Minsk region, and lived on his own estate in Eastern Poland under the Tsarist Russia.

    After Bolshevik revolution  the whole province became the Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic.
    Waclaw and his family were registered as of Polish nationality and of Roman-Catholic
    religion.

    In the year 1930 the Communist authorities declared them as class enemies by being kulaks i.e. rich farmers. Their land property was confiscated and the whole family was deported to hard labour in Ural mountains area, near Kochevo and Perm. They worked as unskilled labourers on grain farming and lived at Ust-Smolva labour-village.


    On 16 December 1937, while in the labur village, Waclaw Rymaszewski was arrested by the Kochevo area NKVD. He was accused of espionage. What kind of spying could he do, slaving with his family in a remote, backward region of the USSR ?
    Well...., just because he had a brother living in the USA, in the capitalist (i.e. an enemy) country and exchanged an occasional letter with him, where he may have complained about his hard life, it was sufficient reason to accuse him of criticizing Soviet state, treason to socialism, reporting conditions in "workers paradise" which means espionage.
    By decision of the NKVD "troika" (Court of Three) he was sentenced to death and was executed by firing on 2 March 1938, leaving wife and young family in the labour-village.

    (In soviet documents his name is spelled Rimaszewski - see Chapter 14)


Waclaw Rymaszewski and his wife Marja in Swidicze
year about 1914

"The Kulaks are the enemy
of the state".
Joseph Stalin

Waclaw was 55 years old at the time of his execution on 16 December 1937, and his family in Ust-Smolva labour-village were:

Wife - Marja (Maryia), the daughter of Wincenty (Vintsent),   age 42
 Daughter - Marja (Maryia), age 22, (born in 1915)
 Son - Waclaw (Vatslav), age 9
 Daughter - Wanda (Vanda), age 7
 Son - Edward, age 2  



For Waclaw's descendants in Poland see: Family of Leszek Rymaszewski in Legnica, Poland




Waclaw's brother who emigrated to the USA in early 1914, before the bolshevik revolution, was Josef (the son of Franciszek).
For Josef's descendants in the USA see Family of Jill Rumoshosky Werner, Kansas, USA





The following information about Rymaszewski victims is based on records of
Belarus MEMORIAL (Society).


Translated from Russian by Franek Rymaszewski - year 2014

0


On the right : 3 Soviet Judges > > >

Below : NKVD officers executing a prisoner

TROIKA
NKVD "troika" (in Russian means "a group of three").
In Soviet Union history, were institutional commissions of three persons who issued sentences to people after simplified, speedy investigations and without a full trial. These commissions were employed as an instrument of extra judicial punishment introduced to supplement the Soviet legal system with a means for quick execution or imprisonment.

It began as an institution of the Cheka, then later became prominent again in the NKVD, when it was used during the Great Purge to execute many hundreds of thousands of citizens.

 
0


An officer in NKVD uniform (later called KGB)
trained to kill prisoners.

 
1

• Rymaszewski Bronislaw
, son of Jan
Born in 1908 in village Yazviny, Uzda district, Minsk region. Nationality : Polish. Farmer. Education primary; individual farm household. Lived in: Minsk region., Uzda district, village Yazviny. Arrested on 24 April, 1933. Verdict by "troika" May 23, 1933 : falsely accused of anti-socialist activities (actually complaining about current hard life). Sentence: 3 yrs imprisonment with loss of right to live in the district.

 
2

Rymaszewski Wincenty, son of Julian
Born in 1899 on farmstead Zwieriniec, Uzda district. Nationality : Polish. Education primary. Member of the local kolkhoz. Lived on : Juricki's farmstead, Uzdenski district, Minsk region. Arrested in 1937. Commission of the NKVD and prosecutor of the USSR on 21 January 1938 falsely accused him as a Polish intelligence agent. Verdict: maximum sentence, therefore was shot on 20 February 1938. Place of burial - Minsk.

 
3

Rymaszewski Witold, son of Fraciszek
Born in 1882, in village Kolosovschina, Kopyl district, Minsk region. Nationality: Polish. Primary education. Accountant of the kolkhoz "Orco". Lived in village Kolosovschina , Kopyl district, Minsk region. Arrested on 16 December 1937. The NKVD Commission of the USSR accused him on 21 January 1938 as a member of the former POW (Polska Organizacja Wojskowa - Polish Army Organization) was collecting espionage information. Verdict: maximum sentence, therefore was shot on 26 February 1938. Place of burial - Slutsk.

 
4

Rymaszewski Wlodzimierz, son of Andrzej
Born in 1905, in village Sloboda Kuchinka, Kopyl district, Minsk region. Nationality : Polish Belarus. Chairman of the kolkhoz. Lived in village Litvyanka, Uzdenski district, Minsk region. Arrested on 8 February 1945. Judicial body on 22 August 1945, accused him of ?? posob. nem. okkup (? assisting German occupiers). Sentenced to 8 years of hard labour in a gulag, plus 3 years loss of all rights and confiscation of property.

 
5

Rymaszewski Wlodzimierz, son of Jozef
Born in 1897, in village Prusinovo, Uzda district, Belarus Soviet Socialist Republic, Nationality: Polish. Primary education, Member of the kolkhoz named "12 years". Lived in village Stara(?) Byelica , Cherikov district, Mogilev region. Arrested on 21 June 1938. Falsely accused by "troika" on 26 September 1938 of espionage. Verdict: maximum sentence, therefore was shot on 11 October 1938. Place of burial - Minsk.

 
6

Rymaszewski Jan, son of Jan
Born in 1883, in village Bulatniki, Kopyl district, Minsk region. Nationality: Polish. Education primary. Occupation: smith in the collective farm. Lived in Minsk region, Kopyl district, village Bulatniki. Arrested on 17 December 1937. The NKVD Commission on 21 January 1938, falsely accused him of contact with the Polish intelligence. Verdict: maximum sentence, therefore was shot on 20 February 1938. Place of burial - Minsk.

 
7

Rymaszewski Lucian, son of Ignacy
Born on 2 October 1910, in village Domichi, Kopyl district. Nationality Polish. Primary education. Accountant in the collective farm "Profintern". Lived in village Obchaya, Sielecki soviet, Gresski district, Minsk region. Arrested on December 6, 1937. The Commission of the NKVD of the USSR on January 3, 1938, falsely accused him of spying for Poland. Verdict: maximum sentence, therefore was shot on January 23, 1938. Place of burial - Slutsk.


 
8

Rymaszewski Piotr, son of Piotr
Born June 1893, in village Kolosovschina, Kopyl district, Minsk region. Nationality Polish. Education primary, member of the kolkhoz. Lived in Minsk region, Kopyl district, village Kolosovschina. Arrested on August 24, 1937. On October 11, 1937, falsely accused by "troika" of anti soviet agitation. Verdict: confiscation of property and maximum sentence, therefore was shot on October 20, 1937. Place of burial - Slutsk.

 
9

Rymaszewski Franciszek , son of Jozef
Born May 1902, in village Kolosovschina, Kopyl district, Minsk region. Nationality Polish. Education primary. Villager on independent household. Lived: Minsk region, Kopyl district, village Kolosovschina. Arrested on November 26, 1929. Accused on January 13, 1930 by NKVD of anti-socialist agitation (actually just complaining about current life). Sentence: 3 years exile to Northern Territory of Russia.

 
10

Rymaszewska Leokadia, daughter of Witold
Born in 1902, in village Zorka, Slutsk district. Nationality Polish. Education primary. Villager, on independent property. Lived in village Vasilevschina, Kopyl district, Minsk region. Verdict: on 29 January 1930 - failure to report. Therefore sentenced to 3 years expulsion to Northern Territory of Russia.

 
11

Rymaszewska Emilia, daughter of Jozef
Born in 1891, in village Bulatniki, Kopyl
district, Minsk region. Nationality Polish. Education Primary. Occupation: Homemaker. Lived in township Timkovichi, Kopyl district, Minsk region. Arrested on September 17, 1937 . Verdict: by "troika" on October 26, 1937, falsely accused of espionage. Sentence: 10 years of hard labor (gulag) serving in Volgolag.

 
12

Rymaszewski Adam, son of Wincenty
Born in 1885, in village Morozy, Gress district, Belarus Soviet Socialist Republic. Nationality Polish. Education Primary. Accountant-cashier. State farm "Timkovichi". Lived in Minsk region., Kopyl district, township Timkovichi. Arrested on August 6, 1937. Falsely accused on August 22, 1937 by " troika" of contacts with the Polish intelligence. Verdict: maximum sentence, therefore was shot on September 2, 1937. Place of burial - Slutsk.

 
13

Rymaszewski Adolf, son of Jan
Born in 1885, in village Piaski, Minsk region. Pole. Education Primary. Occupation: smith at the 8th section on rail line from Minsk station. Lived in Minsk, 37 / 1 Krvsivaya street. Arrested on March 10, 1938. Falsely accused by "troika" on 14 March 1938 of anti soviet agitation, and also, while being a police officer in 1914-1916 (i.e. before the Soviet Revolution) participated in the arrests of revolutionary workers. Verdict: maximum sentence: confiscation of property and was executed on March 31, 1938.

 
14

Rymaszewski Aleksander, son of Adam
Born on farmstead Zhurava, Nesvizh district . Pole. Primary education. Villager on independent household. Lived in Minsk region, Nesvizh district, farmstead Zhurava. Arrested on March 18, 1940. Falsely accused on 19 July 1940 as agent of Polish police. Sentence: 8 years of hard labor camp (gulag) serving in Sevzheldorlag.

 
15

Rymaszewski Aleksander, son of Aleksander
Born in 1911, in village Podzerichi, Novosverzhensk, Stolbtsy district, Baranovichi region. Pole. Education Secondary. Controller at Stolbtsy powerhouse. Lived: Minsk region, Stolbtsy district, Stolbtsy, 17 September street. Arrested on 2 December 1939. Verdict on 27 June 1940, served in the Polish police. Sentence: 8 years of hard labor camp (gulag) serving in Vorkutlag.

 
16

Rymaszewski Aleksander, son Wlodzimierz
Born in 1887, in village Kolly, Kopyl district. Pole. Education Primary. Villager on independent household. Lived: Minsk region, Uzda district, village Golovnya. Arrested on November 21, 1932. Accused by "troika" on 16 December 1932, Member of a group spreading anti soviet agitation. Sentence: 3 years of hard labor camp (gulag)

 
17

Rymaszewski Alfons, son of Jan
Born on 9 October 1904, in village Mogilnyansk village soviet , Uzda district, Minsk region. Pole. Education Primary. Member of kolhoz named after Stalin. Lived: Minsk region., Uzda district, village Yazviny. Arrested on 13 August 1938. Falsely accused by NKVD "troika" on 11 October 1938 as being Polish intelligence agent. Sentence:
10 years of corrective labor camp (gulag).

 
18

Rymaszewski Antoni, son of Jan
Born in 1898, in village Kolosovschina, Kopyl district, Minsk region. Pole. Education Primary. Villager, on independent property. Lived in Minsk region, Kopyl district, village Kolosovschina. Arrested on April 6, 1930. Accused by "troika" on April 27, 1930, as a gang member expressing anti-socialist views. Verdict: permanent deportation Siberia.

 
19

Rymaszewski Boleslaw, son of Jan
Born in 1908, at farmstead Kozarezovschina , Koydanov district, Minsk region. Pole. Education low-primary. Villager on independent household. Lived in Minsk region. Dzerzhinsky district, farmstead Kozorezovschina. Arrested on July 7, 1929, accused on July 12, 1929 of low spying in favor of Poland. Sentence: 3 years of deportation to Siberia and confiscation of property. See also his father no. 34 below.

 
20

Rymaszewski Boleslaw, son of Jozef
Born on 3 July 1902, in village Falichi, Starodorozhe district, Minsk region . Pole. Primary education. Signalist, Station Staryje Dorogi. Lived in Minsk region., Starodorozhe district, village Falichi. Arrested on June 29, 1938. Accused by "troika" on 10 October1938, of being a member of contra - revolutionary organization. Verdict: maximum sentence, therefore was shot on 19 October 1938. Place of burial - Minsk.

 
21


Rymaszewski Bronislaw, son of Hilary
Born in 1888 in village Sloboda, Koydany district, Minsk area. Pole. Minimum education. Villager on independent household. Lived in Minsk region., Dzerzhinsky district, farmstead Milashy.
Arrested on February 8, 1930. Accused by "troika" on February 23, 1930, of anti soviet agitation and assisting "White-Poles". Verdict: Maximum sentence, therefore was shot.

 
22

Rymaszewski Waclaw, son of Wladyslaw
Born in 1887, in Rogachev, Mogilev guberniya. Pole. Lived in Bobruisk, Mogilev region. Arrested on July 24, 1927. Accused by decision of state authorities on 22 November 1927 of participating in contra revolutionary kulak organization. Rehabilitated on 22 November 1927. Case dismissed.

 
23

Rymaszewski Wincenty, son of Adam
Born in 1894, in village Lipnitskiye, Nesvizh district. Pole. Primary education. Villager on independent household. Lived in Minsk region, Volozhin district, township Pershai. Arrested on September 25, 1939. Accused on January 9, 1941 of being an agent of Polish police. Sentenced to 8 years of hard labor camp (gulag) serving in Uhtalag.

 
24

Rymaszewski Wincenty, son of Piotr
Born in 1905, in village Dubrovo, Luban district, Byelorus SSR. Pole. Primary education. Villager on independent household. Lived in Minsk region, Luban district, village Dubrovo. Arrested on October 15, 1933. Accused by "troika" on February 23, 1934 of contra-revolutionary activities. Sentenced to 5 years of hard labor camp (gulag).

 
25

Rymaszewski Witold, son of ? Fomicz
Born in 1879, in village Usokhii, Pukhoviche district, Minsk area. Pole. Pensioner. Lived in Mogilev region, Osipoviche district, township Lipel. Arrested on August 26, 1938. Falsely accused by "troika" on October 10, 1938, of espionage. Verdict: Maximum sentence, therefore was shot on October 19, 1938.

 
26

Rymaszewski Wlodzimierz, son of Jozef
Born on 10 March 1895, in village Novoselki, Starodorozhe district, Minsk region. Pole. Primary education. Lumberjack, Starodor forestry. Lived: Minsk region. Starodorozhe district, village Falichi. Arrested on June 17, 1938. Accused falsely by "troika" on October 10, 1938, as being a member of a contra-revolutionary organization. Verdict: maximum sentence, therefore was shot on October 19, 1938. Place of burial - Minsk.

 
27

Rymaszewski Wlodzimierz, son of Pawel
Born in 1901, in village Stare Baranoviche , Novogrudek county, Minsk guberniya. Nationality Polish-Russian. Secondary education. Candidate for membership of the Communist Party (of Bolsheviks). Military employee, chief of staff of air unit no.129. Lived in Khabarovsk. Arrested on July 12, 1937. Accused by OGPU Collegium on March 25, 1938, of participation in the anti soviet right wing -Trotskyist terrorist organization. Verdict: maximum sentence: deprivation of his "Captain" rank and execution. He was shot on March 25, 1938. Place of burial - Khabarovsk.

 
28

Rymaszewski Zenon, son of Adam
Born on 7 September 1905, in Minsk. Nationality: Pole. Higher education. Associate Professor, Pedagogical Institute. Lived in Minsk, 17 Pulikhova street , Minsk region. Arrested on January 20, 1937. Falsely accused by the Commission of the NKVD of the USSR on 14 December 1937, as a member of former POW (Polish army organization) was spying for Poland. Verdict: Maximum sentence, therefore was shot on December 26, 1938. Place of burial - Minsk.

 
29

Rymaszewski Jan, son of Antoni
Born on 15 June 1907, in village Krivoye Selo, Kopyl district, Minsk region. Pole. Primary education. Member of the kolhoz (collective farm) named "Kyibyshev". Lived in Minsk region, Kopyl district, village Kotelniki. Arrested on November 2, 1936. Accused by Judiciary on March 22, 1937, of anti-soviet agitation. Sentenced to 6 years of hard labour camp, serving at Dollag.

 
30

Rymaszewski Jan, son of Wiktor
Born in May 1919, town Cherven; Pole. Education Secondary. Driller, specialist of geological investigations. Lived in village Yazvino, Uzda district, Minsk region. As an 18 years old boy he was arrested on November 18, 1937. Falsely accused by OCO on 16 December 1937, as a Polish intelligence agent. Sentenced to 10 years of of hard labor camp (gulag).

 

 



The prisoners of Soviet gulag (forced slave labour concentration camp)
working on construction of Belmor canal - year 1933

 
 

Prisoners of Belbalt gulag at work


Belmor canal

Prisoners building canal from White Sea in the North to the Baltic sea
 
 


Prisoners mine gold at KOLYMA the most notorious Gulag camp in extreme northeastern Siberia

Gulag - the slave labour camp
at MAGADAN

Another gulag - hard labour concentration camp

 

31


Rymaszewski Jan, son of Jozef
Born in 1912, in village Kolosovschina, Kopyl district, Minsk region. Pole. Primary education. Kolhoznik, in local collective farm. Lived in Minsk region, Kopyl district, village Kolosovschina. Arrested on March 17, 1933. Accused by "troika" on May 13, 1933, of anti-soviet views, and assisting in espionage in favor of Poland. Sentenced to 5 years of hard labor camp, serving in Belbaltlag. Sentence extended in gulag. Released after 8 years on 17 March 1941.

 
32

Rymaszewski Jan, son of Piotr
Born on 20 August 1914, in village Ostrovok, near Sinyava, Nesvizh district, Minsk region. Pole. Education Secondary. Employed by Nesvizh bank. Lived at 38 Dominikanska street, Nesvizh, Minsk region. Arrested on December 14, 1939. Accused by OCO on 27 June 1940, of contra- revolutionary activity. Sentenced to: 5 years of hard labor camp (gulag), serving in Vorkutalag.

 
33

Rymaszewski Jan, son of Felicjan
Born in 1877, in village Blon', Pukhoviche district. Pole. Primary education. Member of a collective farm - kolhoz named "Proletarians". Lived in village Yazvinka, Grodyanski village soviet, Osipoviche district, Mogilev region. Arrested on 2 July 1938. Accused by : "troika" on 11 October 1938, of Espionage. Verdict: Maximum sentence, therefore was shot on 28 November 1938.

 
34

Rymaszewski Jan, son of Dominik
Born in 1873, in village Skirmuntovo, Koydany district, Minsk area. Pole. Primary education. Villager on independent household. Lived in: Minsk region, Dzerzhinsky district, village Kozarezovschina. Arrested on May 12, 1929. Accused by CCA on April 18, 1929, of low spying for Poland. Sentence: 3 years of exile serving in Siberia and confiscation of property. He was accused and deported together with his son Boleslaw - see no 19 above. The negative point against them was that they lived independently and were not in a hurry to join the collective farm "kolhoz''.

 
35

Rymaszewski Jozef, son of Mateusz
Born in 1881, on farmstead Kopan', Gresski district, Minsk area. Pole. Primary education. Villager on independent household. Lived: Minsk region, Gressky district, farmstead Kopan'. Arrested on 17 February 1930. Accused by : "troika" on 14 March 1930, of anti-soviet activity. Sentence d to 5 years of hard labor camp (gulag).

 
36

Rymaszewski Jozef, son of Julian
Born in 1906, on farmstead Zverynets, Uzda district, Minsk region. Pole. Primary education. Member of the collective farm - kolhoz named "Chyrvony pogranichnik." Lived in village Yazviny, Uzda district, Minsk region. Arrested on 9 July 1935. Accused by OCO on 10 November 1935, of assisting an agent of Polish intelligence. Sentenced to 3 years deportation moving to Krasnoyarski Krai.

 
37

Rymaszewski Konstanty, son of Antoni
Born 11 July 1900, in Savichi, Slutsk district, Minsk region. Pole. Primary education. Bookkeeper in kolhoz named " 8 March ". Lived in village Obraztsovo, Kopyl district, Minsk region. Arrested on 7 June 1938. Accused by "troika" on 25 September 1938, of spying for Poland. Verdict: Maximum sentence, therefore was shot on 7 October 1938. Place of burial - Minsk.

 
38


Rymaszewski Leon, son of Hilary
Born in 1874, in village Milashi, Koydany district, Minsk area. Pole. Low education. Villager on independent household. Lived in Minsk region, Dzerzhinsky district, farmstead Kotlovo. Arrested on 13 February 1930. Accused by "troika" on 23 February 1930, of anti-socialist agitation. Sentenced to 5 years of hard labor camp (gulag).

 
39

Rymaszewski Mateusz, son of Ludwik
Born in 1902, in village Lyady, Cherven district, Minsk region. Pole. Education Primary. Villager on independent household. Lived in Minsk region, Pukhovichi district, village Krasnyi Mayak. Arrested on 6 May 1932. Accused by OGPU Collegium on 23 September 1932, of anti-socialist agitation, and membership of anti-socialist group. Sentenced to 10 years of hard labor camp (gulag).

 
40


Rymaszewski Mikolaj, son of Daniel
Born on 13 June 1889, in village Kuchenka. Kopyl district, BSSR. Pole. Secondary education. Priest in Novodorozhski church. Lived in Minsk region, Starodorozhe district, village Novye Dorogi. Arrested on 30 April 1936. Accused by judicial body on 21 July 1936, of anti-socialist agitation. Sentenced to 5 years of hard labor camp (gulag) plus 3 years loss of all rights.

 
41

Rymaszewski Piotr, son of Adam
Born on 25 December 1895, in village Smolyarnya, Starodororzhe district. Pole. Education Primary. Forester. Verhutino-Urechskaya forest cottage. Lived in Minsk region. Starodorozhski district, village Verhutino. Arrested on 6 February 1938. A week later was accused by : "troika" on 14 February 1938, of anti-soviet agitation. A month later verdict was : confiscation of property and maximum sentence, therefore was shot on 13 March 1938. Place of burial - Minsk.


 
42

Rymaszewski Semion, son of Fiodor
Born in 1887, in village Dubrovo, Ljuban district. Polish Belarus. Education Primary. Villager on independent household. Lived in Minsk region., Ljuban district, village Dubrovo. Arrested on 17 March 1933. Accused by "troika" on 5 May 1933, of being a member of anti-socialist group, and anti-socialist agitation. Sentenced to 3 years expulsion to exile.

 
43

Rymaszewski Zygmunt, son of Jozef
Born in 1891, farmstead Polianki, Starodorozhski district, Minsk region. Pole. Primary education. Rail line inspector, 13 section distance from Falichi. Lived in Minsk region, Starodorozhski district, village Falichi. Arrested on 17 June 1938. Falsely accused by "troika" on 10 October 1938, as a Polish intelligence agent. Verdict: Maximum sentence, therefore was shot on 19 October 1938. Place of burial - Gomel.

 
44

Rymaszewski Stanislaw, son of Antoni
Born in 1893, in village Bunev, Glusk district of Mogilev region. Pole. Education Primary. Member of collective farm kolhoz named " 1st August ". Lived in Minsk region, Lujban district, village Yamensk. Arrested on 10 January 1933. Falsely accused by "troika" on 14 February 1933, of anti-soviet agitation and sabotage. Verdict: Maximum sentence and confiscation of property, therefore was shot on 27 February 1933. Place of burial - Minsk.

 
45

Rymaszewski Stanislaw, son of Boleslaw
Born in 1922, village Podchitsy, Kletsk district, Minsk region. Pole. Education Secondary. Villager on independent household. Lived in Minsk region, Kletsk district, village Podchitsy. Arrested on 9 July 1940. Accused by OCO on 9 January 1941, as a member of kontra-revolutionary organization.
Sentenced to 5 years of hard labor camp (gulag) serving in Uhtizhemlag.

 
46

Rymaszewski Stefan, son of Jan
Born January 1887, in village Kolosovschina, Kopyl district, Minsk area. Pole. Education Primary. Member of a local kolhoz in Kolosovschina. Lived in Minsk region. Kopyl district, village Kolosovschina. Arrested on 19 November 1937. Falsely accused by the NKVD and Prosecutor of the USSR on 9 December 1937, of spying for Poland. Verdict: Maximum penalty, therefore was shot on 22 January 1938. Place of burial - Slutsk.

 
47

Rymaszewski Stefan, son of Jan
Born in 1899, in village Kopan', Slutsk district, Minsk region. Pole. Education Secondary. Villager on independent household. Lived in Minsk region, Slutsk district, village Kopan'. Arrested on 17 February 1930. Falsely accused by "troika" on 14 March 1930, of anti- soviet agitation. Sentenced to 10 years of hard labor camp (gulag) serving at Belbaltlag, location Krasnyi Bor, Nizhny Tagil. Sentence extended till 4 October 1947.

 
48

Rymaszewski Stefan, son of Maksymilian
Born in 1869, farmstead Skorodnoye, Koydanovo district, Minsk area. Pole. Education Low-primary. Villager on independent household. Lived in Minsk region, Dzerzhinsky (formerly Koydanovo) district, village Skorodnoye. Arrested on 11 October 1929. Accused by OCO on 20 November 1929, of anti-socialist agitation. Sentenced to confiscation of property and 3 years deportation to exile.

 
49

Rymaszewski Teofil, son of Wincenty
Born in 1886, in village Vasilevschina, Veleshiny village council, Kopyl district, Minsk area. Pole. Education Primary. Farmer on independent household. Lived in Minsk region, Kopyl district, village Vasilevschina. Arrested on 13 October 1929. Accused by OGPU Collegium on 3 January 1930 of anti-socialist agitation as a member of a gang. Sentenced to 5 years of hard labor camp (gulag) serving in Kotlas.

 
50

Rymaszewski Florian, son of Jozef
Born on 5 November 1889, in village Novoselky, Starodorozhski district, Minsk region. Pole. Primary education. Rail-worker, on 13th section of rail line from Falichi. Lived in Minsk region., Starodorozhski district, place Falichi. Arrested on 17 June 1938. Falsely accused by "troika" on 10 October 1938, as a member of contra-revolutionary Polish organization. Verdict: Maximum sentence, therefore was shot on 19 October 1938. Place of burial - Minsk. (See also entry no. 43 above - must be the brother of Zygmunt, working together on railway, both arrested and executed at the same time).

 
51


Rymaszewski Franciszek, son of Florjan
Born on 15 May 1905, in village Olhovka, Kievitse district, Slutsk region. Pole. Primary education. Forester at settlement Konyushevo, Govezskoy district. Lived in Minsk region, Nesvizh district, village Konyushevo. Arrested on 16 December 1939. Accused by OCO on 9 January 1941,of contra-revolutionary activities. Sentenced to 8 years of hard labor camp (gulag), serving at Uhtizhemlag.

 
52

Rymaszewski Julian, son of Jan
Born in 1906, on farmstead Kozarezovschina, Koydany district, Minsk area. Pole. Secondary education. Bookkeeper at Putchinskoe creditnoe tovar-vo. Lived in Minsk region, Koydany district, village Sakoviche. Arrested on 20 February 1928. Falsely accused by : "troika" on 18 April 1928, of assisting Polish intelligence agents. Sentenced to 10 years of hard labor camp (gulag) serving at the notorious Solovetsky lager.

 
53

Rymaszewska Helena, daughter of Jan
Born in 1913, on farmstead Kozarezovschina, Koydany district, Minsk area. Pole. Education low-primary. Villager living on independent household. Lived in Minsk region, Dzerzhinsky district, farmstead Kozorezovschina. Arrested on 7 July 1929. Accused by OCO on 12 July 1929, of concealed espionage in favor of Poland. Sentence : confiscation of property and 3 years of deportation to exile.

 

All above information is based on Belarus Memorial (Society) records, and
the following information is based on various sources, as marked below

54


Rymaszewski Jozef, son of Jozef
Born in 1902, village Kazanovka, Kopyl district, Minsk region. Nationality Polish Byelorus. Deported to exile and work in mines of Yakutia. Lived at the mine "Yatsik", Aldan region, Yakutia Soviet Republic. Arrested again in exile on 5 April 1938 by Aldan sector of NKVD. By decision of the Special Meeting of the USSR NKVD on 15 June 1938, sentenced to to 8 years hard labour in a gulag.

Source: The Book of Memory of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia)

 
55


Rymaszewski Michal
Colonel. Lived in Tomsk, Tomsk region. Arrested on 21 December 1937.

Source: Krasnoyarsk "Memorial" Society

 
56

Rymaszewski Mikolaj , son of Jan
Born in 1938, in Kitayski (Chinese) Klyuch, Zeya district. Verdict: born of parents in special settlements.

Source: NKVD office of the Amur region

 
57

Rymaszewski Antoni, son of Jan
Born in 1896, in village Kolonyem, Pole. He worked in exile at the mine "Michaylovski" in Selemdzhin district . Accused by "troika" on 21 November 1932, under Criminal Code ref.11/10/58 RSFSR. Sentenced to 3 years in concentration camp (gulag).

Source: The Book of Memory of the Amur region

 
58

Rymaszewski Antoni, son of Julian
Born in 1903, at a farmstead Ugodino, Pukhovichi district, Minsk region. Pole. Lived in exile at Sergeyevsky settlement, Kosinski district, Perm region. Arrested December 31, 1937. Accused almost a year later on November 16, 1939 of anti-socialist agitation. Sentenced to 4 years imprisonment.

Source: The Book of Memory Perm region

 
59

Rymaszewski Anatol, son of Antoni
Born in 1910, Nowogródek voivodeship, Nesvizh district , village Chwoelo. Pole. Accountant. Lived in Nowogrudski, Nesvizhenski, village Chwoyelo. Accused by the Lithuanian NKVD on 18 July 1945, as per Criminal Code, etc. , the punishment sanctioned art. 2 of the Decree of 19/04/43. Sentenced to 15 years of hard labor camp in Vorkuta gulag , and afterwards 5 years loss of all rights.

Source: Database "Polish prisoners Vorkuta gulags"

 
60


Rymaszewski Waclaw, son of Franciszek
Born in 1882, in village Svidichi, Kopyl district, Minsk region, Pole. Lived in exile in settlement Ust-Onolva, Kochevsky district, Perm region. Arrested again in December 16, 1937. Falsely accused on February 7, 1938, of espionage. Verdict: Maximum sentence, confiscation of property, and was shot on March 2, 1938.

Source: The Book of Memory Perm region.


 
61

Rymaszewski Wlodzimierz, son of Jozef
Born in 1912, in village Sorochi, Sluck district, BSSR. Pole. Secondary education. Member of the Comsomol (Young Communist League). Accountant with the Village Council in Sorochi. Lived in village Sorochi, Sluck district. 25 years old Wlodzimierz Rymaszewski was arrested on September 19, 1937 and quickly dealt with by "troika" of Moscow region NKVD. Accused on November 10, 1937, of expressing counterrevolutionary provocative rumors, vulgarizing party leaders and the government, discrediting the Soviet court and correctional labour camps policy.
6 days later was shot on November 16, 1937
. Place of burial Butovo range, Moscow Region.

Source: Moscow, list of executions - Butovo range

 
62

Rymaszewski Piotr, son of Konstanty
Born in 1890, Kurlandskaia gubernia. Pole. Instructor in an agricultural school. Lived in town Barnaul. Arrested on February 5, 1938. Accused by "troika" from Altai Krai NKVD on 4 March 1938. The verdict: Maximum sentence. Therefore was shot on 10 March 1938. Place of burial - Barnaul.

Source: Memorial Book of Altai Krai

 
63

Rymaszewski Julian, son of Antoni
Born in 1870, in Mikhailov, Chervensky district, Minsk region. Nationality: Pole. Deported in 1930 with his family for being a "rich a kulak", after confiscation of his land property, to exile in Sergeyev, Kosinski district, Perm region . Arrested again in exile on 5 January 1938, accused of arson. After 11 months, case dismissed due to death of the accused in Perm prison. Died on 21 December 1938, aged 68. Left behind his wife Magdalena (age 65), son Antoni (age 35), son Julian (age 29), daughter Juzefa (age 22), daughter Antonina (age 16).

Source: The Book of Memory Perm region.

 
 



To the east of Perm region next to Ural mounties lies the vast Siberian hinterland. It contains hundreds of forced labour camps. The prisoners cut down trees throughout the year and send the lumber down river during the spring thaw.

 



SECOND WORLD WAR : 1939 -1945


SOVIET  OCCUPATION OF EASTERN  POLAND from
1939 to 1941 and further persecution of Rymaszewski families, this time Polish citizens


In 1939, the Soviet Union rejected an offer from the Allies (Great Britain, France and Poland) to form an alliance against Hitler's continuing aggression in Europe. Instead, the Soviet Union signed a Friendship Treaty with Germany which included a secret collusion to divide Poland and Eastern Europe between Germany and the Soviet Union.
Accordingly, in September 1939, in support of Hitler's invasion of  Poland from the west, the Red Army attacked Poland from the East.

On 17 September 1939, eastern Poland, where the Rymaszewski families lived, was invaded by the Red Army. The area was renamed Soviet Western Byelorussia as part of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic.

During the Soviet occupation lasting 21 months (from Soviet attack on Poland to Hitler's betrayal of his Soviet ally, and his invasion of the USSR itself on 22 June 1941), hundreds of thousands of Polish citizens were arrested in eastern Poland and imprisoned by Soviet Secret Police. Their homes and land properties were confiscated.

 

The following Rymaszewskis in the above category are listed below. They were found among records of KARTA, the Polish Information Center on the Repression of Polish citizens by the Soviet Union.

However, KARTA's records are very incomplete .

1939 - Outbreak of war
 

  • Rymaszewski Adam , the son of Stanislaw, born in 1905, deported from Baranowicze district (Karta id. 192345)
  • Rymaszewski Adam , the son of Julian, born in 1892, deported to Vologoda district (Karta id. 217541)
  • Rymaszewski Adolf , the son of Adam, born in 1919, arrested in (Karta id. 82879)
  • Rymaszewski Aleksander , the son of Adam, born in 1900, arrested (Karta id. 48404)
  • Rymaszewski Aleksander , the son of Aleksander, born in 1911, arrested (Karta id. 57514, 160225)
  • Rymaszewski Aleksander , the son of Aleksander, born in 1911, arrested in Bel (Karta id. 244360)
  • Rymaszewski Anatol , the son of Antoni, born in 1910, sent to Vorkuta-2 gulag (Karta id. 147538)
  • Rymaszewska Anna , the daughter of Konstanty, born in 1930, deported from Baranowicze district (Karta id. 192326)
  • Rymaszewska Anna , the daughter of Pawel, born in 1899, deported from Baranowicze district (Karta id. 192325)
  • Rymaszewski Antoni , the son of Romuald, born in 1902, executed in Kozielsk (Karta id. 3286)
  • Rymaszewski Antoni , the son of Piotr, born in 1913, executed in Starobielsk (Karta id. 7208)
  • Rymaszewski Antoni , the son of Józef, born in 1900, deported from Nieswiez, Baranowicze district (Karta id. 192346)

  • Rymaszewska Barbara , the daughter of Bogdan, born in 1940, deported Vologoda district (Karta id. 217540)
  • Rymaszewska Bernarda , the daughter of Adam, born in 1935, deported Vologoda district (Karta id. 217538)
  • Rymaszewski Bogdan , the son of Boleslaw, born in 1927, deported from Baranowicze district (Karta id. 192347)
  • Rymaszewski Bogdan , the son of Pawel, born in 1904, deported to Vologoda district (Karta id. 217542)
  • Rymaszewski Boleslaw , the son of Stanislaw, born in 1897, deported from Baranowicze district (Karta id. 192348)
  • Rymaszewski Czeslaw , the son of Hipolit, born in 1912, arrested in (Karta id. 55423)
  • Rymaszewski Czeslaw , the son of Boleslaw, born in 1897, state forest ranger, executed in prison in 1944-45? (Karta id. - not listed)
  • Rymaszewska Danuta , the daughter of Stanislaw, born in 1936, deported from Baranowicze district (Karta id. 192327)
  • Rymaszewska Danuta , the daughter of Franciszek, born in 1936, deported from Brest district (Karta id. 226462)
  • Rymaszewski Dominik , the son of Dominik, born in 1904, arrested in (Karta id. 85480)

  • Rymaszewski Edward, the son of Michal, born in 1918, post office employee, sent to Vorkuta gulag (Karta id. 50750)
  • Rymaszewski Edward, the son of Adam, born in 1925, deported to Vologoda district (Karta id. 217543)
  • Rymaszewska Elzbieta, the daughter of Waclaw, born in 1939, deported from Baranowicze district (Karta id. 192328)
  • Rymaszewska Emilia, the daughter of Franciszek, born in 1902, deported Vologoda district (Karta id. 217534)
  • Rymaszewski Eugeniusz, the son of Franciszek, born in 1935, deported from Baranowicze district (Karta id. 192349)
  • Rymaszewski Eugeniusz, the son of Bogdan, born in 1925, deported to Vologoda district (Karta id. 217544)
  • Rymaszewski Franciszek, the son of Jan, born in 1888, executed in Ostaszkow (Karta id. 12925)
  • Rymaszewski Franciszek, the son of Florian, born in 1905, arrested Bel (Karta id. 85313)
  • Rymaszewska Franciszka, the daughter of Adam, born in 1934, deported from Baranowicze district (Karta id. 192329)
  • Rymaszewska Helena, the daughter of Adam, born in 1873, deported from Baranowicze district (Karta id. 192330)
  • Rymaszewska Idalia, the daughter of Jozef, born in 1913, deported from Baranowicze district (Karta id. 192331)

  • Rymaszewski Jadwiga, the daughter of Adam, born in 1929, deported from Baranowicze district (Karta id. 192332)
  • Rymaszewska Jadwiga, the daughter of Bogdan, born in 1927, deported to Vologoda district (Karta id. 217536)
  • Rymaszewski Jan, the son of Piotr, born in 1914, arrested in (Karta id. 53456, 160226)
  • Rymaszewski Jan, the son of Wincenty, born in 1907, deported from Brest district (Karta id. 231134)
  • Rymaszewski Jan, the son of Piotr, born in 1914, arrested in Bel. (Karta id. 244361)
  • Rymaszewska Janina, the daughter of Adam, born in 1927, deported from Baranowicze district (Karta id. 192333)
  • Rymaszewska Janina, the daughter of Franciszek, born in 1933, deported from Baranowicze district (Karta id. 192334)
  • Rymaszewska Janina, the daughter of Jozef, born in 1911, deported from Baranowicze district (Karta id. 192335)
  • Rymaszewska Janina, the daughter of Bogdan, born in 1923, deported to Vologoda district (Karta id. 217535)
  • Rymaszewski Jozef, the son of Waclaw, born in 1937, deported from Baranowicze district (Karta id. 192350)
  • Rymaszewski Jozef, the son of Jan, born in 1940, deported from Brest district (Karta id. 227499)
  • Rymaszewska Jozefa, the daughter of Wincenty, born in 1892, deported to Vologoda district (Karta id. 217533)

  • Rymaszewski Kasper, the son of Adam, born in 1892, executed in Starobielsk (Karta id. 7209)
  • Rymaszewski Konstanty, the son of Ignacy, born in 1899, deported from Baranowicze district (Karta id. 192351)
  • Rymaszewska Leonarda, the daughter of Jozef, born in 1911, deported from Brest district (Karta id. 228237)
  • Rymaszewska Lucja, the daughter of Bogdan, born in 1930, deported to Vologoda district (Karta id. 217537)
  • Rymaszewska Maria, the daughter of Adam, born in 1931, deported from Baranowicze district (Karta id. 192336)
  • Rymaszewska Maria, the daughter of Franciszek, born in 1913, deported from Baranowicze district (Karta id. 192337)
  • Rymaszewska Maria, the daughter of Klemens, born in 1904, deported from Baranowicze district (Karta id. 192338)
  • Rymaszewski Michal, the son of Aleksander, born in 1894, public servant, executed in Minsk prison in 1940-41?(Karta id. - not listed)
  • Rymaszewska Michalina, the daughter of Jan, born in 1870, deported from Baranowicze district (Karta id. 192339)
  • Rymaszewski Mieczyslaw, the son of Czeslaw, born in 1921, sent to Vorkuta gulag (Karta id. - not listed. His memoirs are published on my site. It shows how incompenent Karta is.)
  • Rymaszewska Regina, the daughter of Boleslaw, born in 1935, deported from Baranowicze district (Karta id. 192340)

  • Rymaszewski Stanislaw, the son of Boleslaw, born in 1922, arrested in Bel. (Karta id. 67424, 244362)
  • Rymaszewski Stanislaw, the son of Boleslaw, born in 1928, deported from Baranowicze district (Karta id. 192352)
  • Rymaszewski Stanislaw, the son of Wincenty, born in 1870, deported from Baranowicze district (Karta id. 192353)
  • Rymaszewska Stanislawa, the daughter of Antoni (Adam?), born in 1908 (1910?), deported from Nieswiez, Baranowicze district (Karta id. 192341)
  • Rymaszewska Stanislawa, the daughter of Bronislaw, born in 1909, deported from Baranowicze district (Karta id. 192342
  • Rymaszewska Teresa, the daughter of Franciszek, born in 1938, deported from Baranowicze district (Karta id. 192343)
  • Rymaszewska Teresa, the daughter of Bogdan, born in 1935, deported to Vologoda district (Karta id. 217539)

  • Rymaszewski Waclaw, the son of Wincenty, born in 1910, deported from Baranowicze district (Karta id. 192354)
  • Rymaszewska Wanda, the daughter of Antoni, born in 1929, deported from Nieswiez, Baranowicze district (Karta id. 192344)
  • Rymaszewski Wienczeslaw, the son of Boleslaw, born 1897, POW, executed (Karta id.30209)
  • Rymaszewski Wincenty, the son of Adam, born in 1894, arrested in Bel. (Karta id. 85488)
  • RymaszewskiWincenty, the son of Waclaw, born in 1940, deported from Baranowicze district (Karta id. 192355)
  • Rymaszewski Wladyslaw, the son of Antoni, born in 1891, executed in Starobielsk (Karta id. 7210)
  • Rymaszewski Zenon, the son of Jan, born in 1910, executed in Kozielsk (Karta id. 3287)
  • Rymaszewski Zygmunt, the son of Michal, my brother, born in 1920, arrested in Pinsk, and sent to Vorkutlag gulag. Died on 4 June 1942, aged 21. (Karta id.51374, 120197)

The Karta's very incomplete list does not include families of individually arrested men, their wives and children, parents, etc. who were afterwards deported separately to remote areas in Northern Russia, Northern Kazakhstan and Siberia as slave labour.

Total number of victimised Poles nearly two million people. Half of them had died within the first two years. Below are some examples from other sources, not found in the above Karta Information Centre.

 

• 1940: Mrs N. Rymaszewska, whose husband was arrested by the NKVD, was deported in 1940 by the Soviets to Pavlodar district, Kazakhstan, Siberia, with five children. She died there from typhoid fever, leaving five orphans: Wiktoria, Irena, Zofia, Jerzy, Tadeusz. [MSR-592].

  • 1940: Mrs Ewelina Rymaszewska, whose husband was arrested by the NKVD, was deported in 1940 by the Soviets to Pavlodar district, Kazakhstan, Siberia, with four children: Danuta, Anna, Czeslaw, Stanislaw. [MSR-592]
  • 1940: Zenon Rymaszewski, born on 16.7.1910, the son of Jan Rymaszewski and Zofia Michalowska, completed Technical College in Wilno in 1932, served in infantry in Zambrów, promoted to second lieutenant on 1.1.1937. Murdered by the Soviets in April 1940. Left two children: a daughter Anna and a son Antoni. [MSR-772]
From the book: Swiadkowie przezyc sowieckich : 1939 - 1946 ("The witnesses of Soviet experience : 1939 - 1946")
by Zbigniew S. Siemaszko, London 1999
  • 1940: Franciszek Rymaszewski, aged 16 (born on 25.10.1923) and his brother Zbigniew, aged 13 (born on 8.5.1926), whose father Michal Rymaszewski (born 1894) was imprisoned and executed by the Soviets, were arrested in Pinsk on 13th April 1940, together with their mother Aleksandra (born 1894) and deported to Northern Kazakhstan, Kokchetav railway station, then to Korsakovka and Matveyevka near Aryk-Balyk.

    Above information and records of the fate of many other deported families are not listed by the above mentioned Karta Information Centre and the IPN ("Instytut Pamieci Narodowej " = The Institute of National Remembrance), run by incompetent bureaucrats !


  • 1941: Andrzej Rymaszewski, army major, Wilno - 1941, instructor in ZWP [MSR-386]
  • 1941: Julia Rymaszewska. Born in 1904, a teacher at Primary School in Kolnica, near Augustów. She was teaching under Soviet occupation of eastern Poland until June 1941, then disappeared without trace during Soviet retreat from advancing Germans. [MSR-225]


Polish Homeland Army (Armia Krajowa) fighting Germans in Eastern Borderlands (Kresy) under German occupation.

  • July 1944 : Czeslaw Rymaszewski

    Czeslaw Rymaszewski ("Nagan") was in charge of a partisan unit operating in Baranowicze and Nieswiez districts.

    After Soviet troops "liberated" (i.e. occupied) the area, Czeslaw was arrested by the Soviet secret police (NKVD) and disappeared without trace, no doubt killed.

Polish Homeland Army : Photo in the forest : First on the right is sergeant Czeslaw Rymaszewski

The girl in the middle was a messenger who kept contact between partisans and the local Underground.


from - http://www.pamietamy.pl/polski/zolnierze/056.htm - portal no longer found


  • 1944 : Anatol Rymaszewski (pseudonym: "Andrzej"), the son of Antoni, born in 1910 (Karta id.147538)

    An article "From Wilno to Warsaw via Workuta", published in a Polish paper "Slowo Powszechne" of 25 July 1990, and an article "Katyn's Echo in Vorkuta" published in a Polish weekly "Zycie Warszawy" of 6 July 1990, describe the interview and story of Anatol Rymaszewski.

    (Photo >> : "Andrzej" a year after discharge from Vorkuta gulag)

    Anatol Rymaszewski, native of Wilno, a young captain in the Homeland underground Army during German occupation, was in charge of a partisan group which took part in action to liberate Wilno (Vilnius) from the Nazis in 1944 and assist advancing Red Army.

    But when the Soviets entered Vilnius he was arrested by them and sentenced to 15 years hard labour, accused of being in contact with the bourgeois (i.e. enemy) Polish government - in-exile in London. He was sent to Vorkuta gulag in the North, to slave in primitive coal mines.



    Anatol returned to the Polish People's Republic 13 years later, in 1957. His story could not be published until after 1990 in the free Poland when Soviet Russia collapsed and the truth about communism could be told. Anatol died few years later



    (Photo >>: Anatol in the gulag camp of coal mine nr.6, autumn 1956, 2 years after Stalin's death, one year before discharge from Vorkuta)




1940 :
MASSACRE AT KATYÑ

During the war, the Germans advancing into Russian territory discovered in April 1943, the bodies of thousands of Polish officers buried in mass graves in Katyn, Russia. An independent Red Cross commission concluded that they had been killed by Soviet NKVD troops in the spring 1940, during Soviet occupation of eastern Poland, when around 25,000 Polish officers imprisoned by Russians disappeared. Katyn came to be a symbol of communist mass murder and (usual) communist official lies. The Communist Russia lied to the world, claiming that the massacre was committed by Germans. It was not until 1989, when the Russian government under Mr. Gorbachov admitted responsibility for this and other murders,


Ignoring all human and international military rights, on the orders of Stalin, 25,700 Polish officers were individually and bestially murdered by a revolver bullet to the back of the head.

They committed no crime. They were fighting the Nazis and while retreating were taken prisoner by the Russians.

The flower of Polish officer corps and intelligentsia was exterminated. It was political and ideological genocide. In 1943 the Allied leaders knew about it and said nothing. They did not want to antagonize Stalin.

Exhumed bodies of the Polish officers murdered in Katyn in April 1940.


After 3 years in common graves many bodies were not identified. Those that were identified included six (6) Rymaszewskis from different families :

To me, the Hammer and
Sickle symbol is equivalent to Nazi swastika and should be treated as such. Read about misrepresentation of history at Anzac Day march in Sydney
(re:Chapter 10/1)
 
MEMBERS OF AT LEAST SIX (6) RYMASZEWSKI FAMILIES
WERE MURDERED IN KATYÑ
IN APRIL 1940,
AMONG THOUSANDS OF OTHER OFFICERS
Killed in 1940 in
Katyñ forest

(KOZIELSK)

  • RYMASZEWSKI  Antoni, the son of Romuald. Born on 14 November 1902. Vice public prosecutor, in army uniform. Letter from Wilno (Vilnius) University, visiting cards, postcards (Ref. AM 2059), writing from 79 pp regiment (Ref. WO 2059, page 32).
  • RYMASZEWSKI  Zenon, the son of Jan Rymaszewski and Zofia Michalowska. Born  on 16 July 1910 in Wilno (or Ukraine?). Building professional. Second Lieutenant of Army Reserve,  in uniform of 1 pp regiment. Identity disc, photograph (Ref. AM 3258). Left a son named Antoni.
    His surviving granddaughters Agnieszka and Maria Rymaszewska now live in Olsztyn, Poland.
Killed in 1940 in
Miednoje forest
(OSTASZKÓW)

  • RYMASZEWSKI Franciszek, the son of Jan. Born on 11 October 1888 in Gasówka Skwarki. Sergeant (plutonowy) of  the Police Force, in uniform.
Killed in 1940 in
Charków forest
(STAROBIELSK)

  • RYMASZEWSKI Antoni, the son of Piotr and Anna. Born on 15 January 1913 in Kleck. He was a teacher in Stolpce. As a Lieutenant - Engineer in Army Reserve, mobilized before the beginning of war to the border guards (KOP) in Stolpce.
  • RYMASZEWSKI Kasper, the son of Adam. Born on 19 January 1892 in Pasieki. Medical doctor in Wilno, in the rank of Captain. (Ref. 2708).
    His surviving daughter Anna now lives in Ottawa, Canada.

  • RYMASZEWSKI Wladyslaw Jan, the son of Antoni. Born on 15 November 1891 in Nieswiez. Medical doctor, in rank of Colonel (Reserve). Wife: N. Rymaszewska. (Ref. 2709). (As far as I can remember, my father mentioned to me that he had a second cousin, our relative, who was a doctor and lived in Nieswiez. Could it be Wladyslaw?)

From: "Ksiega Cmentarna Polskiego Cmentarza Wojenego - CHARKÓW" (Page 463) - Rada Ochrony Pamieci Walk i Meczenstwa - Warszawa 2003





Soviet ethnic cleansing
of Poles on former Polish Kresy
after the end of Second World War
in 1946

Polish citizens including Rymaszewski survivors were removed from Kresy, their ancestral native lands in the east of Poland, and were dispersed in the west of Soviet controlled post war Poland

From the beginning of the war in September 1939, when Germany and Russia attacked Poland, all the lands where the Rymaszewski families lived, called KRESY, have been incorporated into the Soviet Union.

The area was named "Soviet Western Byelorussia", part of the U.S.S.R. The people were subjected to a Communist terror.

After the end of war, in 1946, any Rymaszewski families that survived extermination, were expelled to new Poland, a communist state created, occupied and controlled by the Soviet Union.

This removal was described as "repatriation". In fact, it was ethnic cleansing of Kresy, the removal of former Polish citizens who were resistant to communist rule.

The Rymaszewskis were dispersed to various locations, mostly in Western parts of Poland called Regained Territories, marked black on the map.



Rymaszewskis living outside the former Polish territory KRESY, in Byelorussia, who were not former Polish citizens, for example lived in SLUCK, KOPYL, MINSK, were not permitted by Soviets to be "repatriated" to Poland in 1946.

They remained in the Soviet Union as before, and were reconciled to Stalin's repression
and gradual Russification.


FINAL  UPROOTING of RYMASZEWSKI FAMILIES
from their centuries old historic homeland



Other Rymaszewskis, like myself, were scattered around the world from the beginning of the 1939 - 1945 war. My fate has thrown me on the shores of Australia. I am the only survivor of our family from Pinsk, Poland.

When 50 years later in 1993, the Evil Empire under Russian Communist Party rule finally collapsed and broke up into separate states, all the places mentioned above in this Chapter 12 (Part 1 and 2), i.e. the original 500 year old Polish ancestral homeland of the Rymaszewski families, have been taken over by the the newly created states of BELARUS and LITHUANIA.
See map of BELARUS - 2000


PRESENT  DAY  POLAND

Year 2002
Rymaszewski families now live in Poland in 80 different districts and towns.    See map >>

Most Rymaszewskis are found in :

• WARSAW (WARSZAWA)  - 46
(16 males, 30 females)
• WROCLAW                          - 45 (22 males, 23 females)
• BIALYSTOK                         - 42 (16 males, 26 females)
• BYDGOSZCZ                       - 37 (15 males, 22 females)
• KOLOBRZEG                      - 29 (14 males, 15 females)
• KROSNO ODRZANSKIE  - 29 (17 males, 12 females)
• ZIELONA GÓRA                 - 24 ( 8 males, 16 females)
• LUBAN                                 - 20 (10 males, 10 females)
• SZCZECIN                           - 19 (  8 males, 11 females)
• KOLO                                   -   9 (  9 males   0 females)
• Other districts                   354 (171 males, 183 females)
                         TOTAL           654 (306 males, 348 females)


 
1: INTRODUCTION by Franek Rymaszewski     7: WITH MY BROTHER in WARTIME ENGLAND   11: POLISH CHRISTMAS and EASTER
2: MY FAMILY TREE   8: MY FAMILY SURVIVORS in POLAND 12: ANCESTORS - Part 1 : Origin and Records    
3: RELEVANT MAPS and POLISH HISTORY   9: MY EMIGRATION to AUSTRALIA       ANCESTORS - Part 2 : Family Tree
4: MY FAMILY ANCESTRY in POLAND 13: Rymaszewskis in present-day POLAND
5: PINSK UNDER COMMUNIST TYRANNY 10: Descendants in AUSTRALIA - Part 1     14: Rymaszewskis  WORLD-WIDE (Part 1)
    MIETEK'S MEMOIRS OF GULAG       Descendants in AUSTRALIA - Part 2       Rymaszewskis in the USA (Part 2)
6: MY ESCAPE FROM STALIN       Descendants in AUSTRALIA - Part 3 15: EMAILS from Visitors