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Izabela Grzelak

My Great-Great-Grandfather: Wawrzyniec Lubiński

27 May 2025
Tags
  • Second World War
  • "Grandparents. Grand Stories" competition
  • Honourable Mention

Izabela Grzelak
Poland

I have one photo of my great-great-grandfather Wawrzyniec Lubiński. The family told a story about him: he went to war and never came back. He left his wife and a baby girl who never knew her father. The case remained unsolved for years. His only daughter died in February 2024. I promised her that I would try to find out what happened to her dad. I looked through hundreds of archived civil status records.

It worked!

I already know that Wawrzyniec was born on 5 September 1906 in Mochowo (in Mazovia) and died on 21 September 1939 in Zamość near Lublin. The district court confirmed his death, but we don’t know the circumstances of his death. I can check it in the state archives. Perhaps my hypothesis will be confirmed that Wawrzyniec died fighting the Germans in Zamość. How did he get there? Does he have his grave in the Lublin region? I’m proud of the results of my research. Unfortunately my great-grandmother didn’t know them during her lifetime.