News

The collection of the Museum has been enriched by a small but incredibly interesting POW correspondence of Lieutenant Janusz Tymowski and a letter written during the Warsaw Uprising.

Lieutenant Janusz Tymowski (1902–1992), nom de guerre Ernest and Jaworski, was a trained engineer, with experience of working in Polish arms factories, which he used during the Second World War. He was, among other things, head of the Weapons Department in the War Industry Office of the Main Headquarters of the Union for Armed Struggle – Home Army. After the fall of the Warsaw Uprising, he was sent to Stalag 344 Lamsdorf, and then to Oflag II D Gross-Born. After regaining freedom in 1945, he was in charge of a professional training department for the so-called "dipis" in the western occupation zone of Germany, and participated, among other things, in the PCK search for the missing. In Poland, he held a number of responsible positions in industry, and between 1952 and 1972 was an academic at the Warsaw University of Technology.

The collection contains a letter written by Captain Zygmunt Okołów-Podhorski which, in October 1944, was received by Tymowski's wife, Maria Tymowska. It begins with the words: At the request of the Dear Madam's husband, and my colleague Janusz, a hard task befell on me to inform you that your husband marched off to oflag on Thursday after the capitulation [...]. The collection also contains three POW letter sheets and three POW postcards from Oflag II D Gross-Born. Here is an excerpt dated 28 December 1944: My comrades from the hut are very nice. They read, they learn, nobody bothers anyone, I have experienced a lot of good from them, but in fact I cannot complain about people all the time. I left W-wa [Warsaw] wearing only a tie and a windbreaker, but I was given shoes and a few sets of underwear to change, a leather coat etc.

The family memorabilia were donated to us by Jarosław Tymowski, the lieutenant's son. Thank you very much!