This site is connected to ‘A Forgotten Odyssey’, a recent documentary film by Jagna Wright and Aneta Naszynska. It deals with the forgotten tragedy of 1.7 million Polish citizens of various faiths and ethnicities (Polish, Ukrainian, Belorussian, Catholic, Orthodox, Jewish) deported from eastern Poland (Kresy) in 1940-42 to special labour camps in Siberia, Kazakhstan and Soviet Asia. Some 120,000 of these escaped through Persia in 1942 as soldiers of Anders Army and their families – and eventually made their way to the West because their pre-war homeland was consigned by the Allies to remain under the hated Soviet regime.
A Forgotten Odyssey
- English
- Version Française
Table of Contents
La traduction française de cet article n'est pas encore disponible.

John Kapelko 1992 – Poles Apart
The remarkable WWII memoir of Polish soldier John Kapelko — from capture and escape in Russia to fighting at Tobruk and Monte Cassino, and rebuilding life in Britain.
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Arnhem 1944: The airborne battle
A critical evaluation of Middlebrook's book, analysing strategic failings, logistics and overlooked Polish contributions.
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Campo de Concentration de Miranda de Ebro
In 1941, Polish escapees were captured crossing into Spain and sent to Miranda de Ebro, Franco’s harsh concentration camp, before release in 1943.
Read ArticleOperations
Forces
- The Technical and Non-Technical Services for the PAF
- Operation BARRIER (Bariera)
- Training Bases for the Polish Section S.O.E & Cichociemni
- Cichociemni & The Role of Couriers
- Trial of the Sixteen
- Polish Batallions
- The Wellington Crew No.304 Squadron (NZ-B) W5627
- Special Planning Unit 22
- Polish Resettlement Corps 1946 – 1948
- The Independent Carpathian Rifle Brigade
People
Events
Places
Other
- Threads of History: Selected Chapters from First to Fight
- Press Release: First to Fight and the Polish Contribution to WWII
- History of the Stole
- Enigma
- Gallery of Photographs from the Victory Parade (10/07/05)
- Letter from 10 Downing Street (18/06/03)
- Translation of Article in The Polish Daily (11/09/03)
- Press Release – Poles at Victory Parade (9/07/05)
- Excerpt from A Question of Honor
Book Reviews
- Two Paths One War: A Journey of Polish Resilience & Service throughout World War Two
- Sunlight & Shadow: Memoirs of childhood in Poland and exile in Siberia.
- Project Eagle: The Top-Secret OSS Operation That Sent Polish Spies Behind Enemy Lines in World War II.
- Threads of History: Selected Chapters from First to Fight
- Press Release: First to Fight and the Polish Contribution to WWII
- Poles in World War II as seen in British fiction
- Poland Betrayed: The Nazi-Soviet Invasions of 1939
- Market Garden: The Island
- V Weapons Hunt: Defeating German Secret Weapons.
- Through Hitler’s Back Door: SOE Operations in Hungary, Slovakia, Romania and Bulgaria 1939 – 1945.