1947 to 1960
In 1949 Beryl wrote to the Red Cross in the hope of tracing Mieczyslaw’s family, however the whole of Europe was still in mass disarray and millions of public records had been destroyed or lost. So there was very little that the Red Cross could do.
Back in Poland Scholastyka was also trying to locate Mieczyslaw, and in 1947 and 1960 Scholastyka wrote to the Red Cross asking them to trace Mieczyslaw, but she was told that he was missing.
19?? – 1999
Over the years my Dad (Dave) had built up a good relationship with my granddad and perhaps was the closest to him. In time my dad had gleaned enough information to go back to the Red Cross and accessing their tracing service was able to set in motion the final bits of the puzzle. Over in Poland, the Polish family were doing the same!
1999
On the 29th September 1999 Mieczyslaw was admitted to hospital in Oxford, as he was to undergo a double bypass operation on his heart the next day. His wife Beryl was taken ill the same day and also admitted to hospital in Milton Keynes.
On the 30th September 1999 Mieczyslaw was successfully operated upon, but sadly on the evening of the 30th Beryl tragically passed away due to a blood clot. Sadly Beryl passed away just two months before the Red Cross located the Brojek family in Poland.
Later in mid October my dad received a letter from the Red Cross explaining that the trace had been unsuccessful but that they would keep the file open.
Then out of the blue about 2 weeks later Mieczyslaw has a telephone call from one of his brothers in Poland, the first time that they spoken for 62 YEARS.
Mieczyslaw then telephones my dad (Dave) to tell him about the phone call. Dave said:
We both end up in tears on the phone and are unable to speak.
Mieczyslaw also received a phone call from his other brother and nephew, so it was quite an emotional time for the whole family. Mieczyslaw’s son Stefan wrote down two of the phone numbers. My dad rings the first number belonging to Henryk Brojek who does not speak English and as my dad does not speak Polish it was a very short conversation!
The second number was for Wieslaw, who is the son of Henryk, who fortunately does speak English. So progress was quickly made and from that day on, it was all systems go! There were e-mails, letters, phone calls, photos and all sorts of information being exchanged between Poland and England. Exciting times!
Finally arrangements were made for Henryk and his son Wieslaw, Stanislaw and his son Henryk to come to England in April 2000.
>>Find out how The Reunion went.
A family called Brojek 