Marek Rozwadowski’s speech at the Family reunion in 2022.
Rozwadowski family
How is it that we are here at all.
Our family was prominent in military, political, economic, and agricultural spheres for a very
long time over many generations. Maciej Rozwadowski took part in the relief of Vienna in 1683.
Even during the partitions 1772–1918 our forefathers and foremothers displayed great fortitude
and energy in developing their lives and families, making contributions to society, and many
suffering dispossession, injury and even death for their beliefs in a free and independent
Poland.
The brief interbellum period of freedom and independence heralded great promise and hope
for the future only to be crushed mercilessly by Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia in September 1939
Many of us have visited the sites of the estates of our family – now in western Ukraine – Babin,
Hładki, Dołpotów, Toustobaby, Różyzko.
We have seen the tombstones – some barely visible there on the land, and in Lwów, Kraków
and elsewhere.
Many of us “younger” generations – some not so young any more(!) are part of the diaspora
scattered around the world. For us life in our ancestral homeland remains very foreign, as our
elders pass on, and language and customs gradually lose their significance.
The suffering and sacrifices of our family during the Second World War ultimately gave us the
gift of life. This is something we need to remember and to honour those who fought for “our
freedom and yours”, who endured torture, imprisonment, injury, disease, loss and death.
At previous Reunions we have heard of the contributions of Wicek Rozwadowski (Pascal),
Cecylia Rozwadowska,
This year we will hear about the contributions of my father Jan Rozwadowski and my godfather
and Francois’ grandfather, Franciszek (Franio) Rozwadowski. They together with Stefan
Komornicki were part of Gen Maczek’s 1st Polish Armoured Division.
My father Jan Rozwadowski was born in Złoczów (31 Oct 1910) – a
town east of Lwów, in the Tarnopol district, province of Galicia – then
part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, now in the Ukraine. My
grandfather Adam was stationed there as a cavalry captain in the
Austro-Hungarian army. His wife Anna Trzecieska was from a
landowning family living at Miejsce Piastowe near Krosno, south west
of Lwów. Her grandfather Tytus Trzecieski, together with the inventor
and scientist Ignacy Łukasiewicz, developed the world’s first
commercial oil wells in 1854 at Bóbrka near their estate. These oil fields
are still in existence, and there is a wonderful museum with outdoor
exhibits including a functioning oil well, which Danka and I visited in
2007, and even pumped some of the black gold!
Adam’s father Franciszek was the youngest of four brothers:
Tomisław – father of General Tadeusz R,
Tadeusz (died in 1863 uprising),
Bartłomiej (grandfather of Franciszek)
Franciszek (grandfather of Jan)
My poor father was saddled with nine Christian names: Jan Antoni
Franciszek Tadeusz Augustyn Kazimierz Andrzej Maciej Jakób! The story
goes that his parents wanted nine sons. They only had one!
As a young boy, my father would spend time at Miejsce Piastowe, often
playing with his uncle Tytus, his mother’s youngest sibling and only 4
years older than he was.
When war broke out in August 1914, Adam with his regiment took part
in action against the Russians.
Anna with Jan (age 4) and Urszula (age 5) left with few possessions to
Lwów to stay with her parents in law. Their well appointed home in
Złoczów was looted.
Grandmother Anna spent time nursing war wounded soldiers in Lwów,
where she developed a severe streptococcal infection.
After World War I and the rebirth of Poland, Jan’s parents moved to
Krakow. Adam, his father, was a Colonel in the Cavalry, Commanding
Officer of the 5th Mounted Rifles Regiment (5PSK).
Jan went to school in Krakow. His elder sister Urszula (born 1909) had
been sent to Belgium to a finishing school. Their mother Anna became
ill and died in 1926 at the age of 38. The cause of death was probably
from the effects of chronic streptococcal infection. Urszula was recalled
home and stayed in Krakow, helping to look after the home (an
apartment). 1926 was a tumultuous year for the family and for Poland.
As a result of Piłsudski’s coup d’etat, many military personages opposed
to Piłsudski, were removed from their positions, including General
Tadeusz Rozwadowski, who spent a year in prison in Wilno and died
shortly after being released in 1928, possibly due to poisoning.
My grandfather Adam was not able to continue his military career and
was retired. He devoted much time to writing his monumental Family
Chronicle (Kronika Rodzinna) of our Rozwadowski family – a massive
400 page manuscript with many photographs, tables, family trees and
attached letters and documents going back centuries. This huge leather
bound volume was brought to South Africa after Adam’s death by my
cousin, Wanda Głażewska, and given to my father. I subsequently
looked after it and made some additions, and collected documents to
update it.
Although I had made photocopies of it and much of the book had been
digitised by Wanda Zachwieja in Toronto, Erazm Rozwadowski used the
information to publish a book based on Adam’s work. I donated the
original bound manuscript to the Ossolineum Archives in Wrocław
during our Rozwadowski Family Reunion in 2015.
Jan graduated from school in 1928 and enrolled at the Jagiellonian
University in Krakow – at the Agricultural Faculty.
He was very active in student affairs – Korporacja Corolla – an academic
fraternity for students of noble birth, including being elected its
president.
He was fond of horse riding and won numerous competitions. He
describes his university years as “extraordinarily colourful, interesting
and fun, without too much exertion over my studies, and also without
any extraordinary academic achievements.” I recall him telling me
when I was teenager, that once after a particularly rowdy evening, he
returned home and fell asleep rather drunk. He woke up the next
morning finding his head fully shaven by his father – to remind him to
stay sober! Perhaps this was a warning to me?
After graduating as Magister (Master of Science in Agriculture in 1933),
he was called up for his military service to the Cavalry Officers’ School
in Grudziadz. He excelled there and graduated top of his class in 1934.
He returned to civilian life, taking up a post as estate manager of
Malice, near Sandomierz, owned by the Mikułowski-Pomorski family – a
neighbouring estate to Słabuszewice. There he met Helunia Cichowska,
and they quickly fell in love.
Helunia’s parents approved of the match, and in fact became very close
to Jan.
My parents were married 28 Dec 1935 at Malice, the parish next to
Słabuszewice. The reception was held at Słabuszewice. The celebration
turned the manor house upside down to accommodate some of the
guests who had traveled considerable distances.
My father had taken up a new position managing one of the Dzików
estates, of Count Zdzisław Tarnowski near Tarnobrzeg, east of
Sandomierz, across the Vistula (Wisła) River.
In 1937 he was appointed agricultural director of all five of the Dzików estates. (approx. 1000
hectares). My parents lived at Wielowieś, one of the estates.
Two sons were born – Jan Piotr in Warsaw (18 Jan 1937) and Roman
Tomisław at Wielowieś (10 Jan 1938).
My brothers spent most of their early years at Słabuszewice with their
grandparents and nurses and a governess, with my mother spending
time there too, but not participating much in their day to day care. This
was something she regretted later and made up for it in good measure
when I was born – a child of my parents new life in peace time in Africa,
in utterly different circumstances.
Already in March 1939 Jan was called up to the military (as 2nd
Lieutenant of the 8th Lancers’ Regiment) to the newly formed 10th
Motorised Cavalry Brigade under the command of Colonel Stanisław
Maczek. As officers were needed, one officer apparently randomly
chose names of ten officers from several regiments. Years later in
England, Jan talked with this officer who acknowledged that he had
made these random choices with no consideration of the
consequences. Strange how fate changes lives.
Another incident also impacted Jan’s life. When he was returning from
a function back to Rzeszów, where his new unit – 10th Motorised Cavalry
Brigade was stationed, the officer driving the car, drove off the road
into a roadside hut. Jan injured his knee and was hospitalised in
Rzeszów and later in Kraków, before returning to Słabuszewice, walking
with a cane.
Immediately before the outbreak of the war, he was recalled to his
regiment. Even though he was not yet fully healed, he went to Rzeszów,
but his regiment had already departed to Łańcut to engage the invading
Germans. Together with a few other officers he rejoined his Brigade.
They fought valiantly, and assisted in the defence of Lwów with some
success. When the news broke about the Soviet invasion from the east
on 17th September, they were instructed to move south. Senior
government officials including the Supreme Military Commander
Marshal Edward Śmigły-Rydż and the president of Poland Ignacy
Mościcki had already fled to Romania.
However Poland was prepared for war, it was dwarfed by Germany. In
spite of that imbalance, Poland inflicted greater losses on Germany
than Britain and France combined in the westward blitzkrieg nine
months later. During the September 1939 campaign, 50,000 German
soldiers were killed or wounded, nearly 700 German planes and a
quarter of the tanks were destroyed. The stab in the back attack from
the Soviet Union on 17th September destroyed any hope of further
fighting.
In order to evade capture by the Russians, they were ordered to cross
into Hungary. On 18th September they arrived at Tatarów, a summer
Carpathian mountain resort south of Stanisławów. The next day 1500
men with heavy hearts marched in full uniform carrying their arms and
equipment across the Tatar Pass into Hungary.
The friendly Hungarians detained the Polish soldiers in internment
camps very loosely guarded, but forced them to give up their weapons.
The Poles though defeated in battle but not broken in spirit, were
determined to continue the fight to liberate their country. The Polish
consulate in Budapest assisted the Poles in arrangements to leave for
France where the Polish government in exile had been set up and the
armed forces re-established.
Jan was sent to an internment camp in Mandok, a small town in north
eastern Hungary. His father Adam initially made contact with his old
Hungarian comrades in arms from WWI to assist Jan. At that stage they
were hoping to have him return home to Poland.
The Hungarians, always friendly to Poland, had a problem. The
authoritarian regime of Admiral Horthy was allied with Hitler. Hence
they had to make some effort to keep the Poles in camps. They also
forced them to give all their weapons and military equipment.
However, if the Poles disappeared, the problem would be over. Hence
they did not hinder the soldiers plans to depart.
In order to leave Hungary and enter France, Jan had to obtain a new
identity – thus he became Jan Latawiec born in 1896. He had to be
older than military age in order to enter France. On 18 December, Jan
and a group of colleagues, dressed as civilians, supposedly tourists,
traveled by car across Hungary through Yugoslavia to Italy, staying
overnight in Udine. They could not find a hotel until an Italian
gentleman draped in a flowing black cape informed them that the word
for hotel in Italian is Albergo. The next day they crossed into France and
drove to Paris, arriving before Christmas.
They reported to the Polish military headquarters under Gen
Władysław Sikorski at the Caserne Bessieres in Paris on 30 December 1939.
Jan was posted to the 10th Mounted Rifles Regiment (10 PSK) as platoon
commander initially.
The re-established Polish Army underwent training in France under very
difficult circumstances – with limited uniforms and outdated arms and
limited resources. The French considered them a defeated army and
often were disrespectful.
With the defeat of the French themselves in 1940, Jan and his unit and
others evacuated by sea on 26 June 1940 to Great Britain.
For the next four years Jan and others underwent training in Scotland
and England. The military units eventually morphed into the 1st Polish
Armoured Division. In 1943 Jan was promoted to Lieutenant.
31 July 1944 Jan landed with the 10PSK and other units of the First
Polish Armoured Division at Arromanches and deployed under
Canadian command seeing action…
Battle of Falaise
17 Sep 1944 promoted to Captain (Rotmistrz).
Wounded twice – at Soignoiless, France and Merxplas, Belgium.
Evacuated to Scotland where Canadian surgeons operated on his left
forearm.
Regiment fought through France, Belgium, Holland and into Germany
ending the war at Wilhelmshaven Naval Base.
21 April 1945 appointed Second in Command of 10PSK.
Military Honours:
Polish:
- Virtuti Militari
- Krzyż Waleczny (Cross of Valour)
- Medal Wojska (Military Medal)
British:
- 1939–45 Star
- France & Germany Star
- Defence Medal
Belgian:
- Chevalier de L’Ordre de Leopold avec Palme et attribution de la Croix de Guere avec Palme
May 1945–March 1947 – duty with BAOR (army of Occupation) based at
Meppen, northern Germany.
October 1945 – traveled by car with a group of colleagues to Pilsen,
Czechoslovakia to meet families who had managed to leave Poland
including Helunia with Piotr and Tomek – seeing them for the first time
6 years and 6 weeks since departing from Słabuszewice. Returned with
families to Meppen, after harrowing night stop at the American zone
border crossing, where the families were initially denied transit.
March 1947 posted back to UK. Enlisted in Polish Resettlement Corps
(PRC).
July 1948 – demobilized and emigrated to Union of South Africa, taking
up job as farm manager on Molteno apple farm in Elgin near Cape
Town.
Marek was born 16 August 1949 at Elgin.
In 1950 Jan was employed as farm manager of an olive and grape farm
closer to Cape Town – Maguelonne at Faure near Somerset West,
owned by Col. Fielden and his American wife Virginia.
1953–57 Greenkeeper at Clovelly Country Club Golf Course near Cape
Town.
1957–58 Manager of Wentworth Nursery, growing carnations for
export, at Constantia, Cape Town.
1959–1980 Brooklyn Laboratories, Goodwood, Cape Town –
manufacturer of industrial adhesives; Started as sales representative,
sales manager and became Marketing Director until retirement.
Emigrated with Helunia to Canada 1989 to be close to Marek and
family in Fernie BC.
Jan died 25 July 1990 in Fernie BC, Canada.
FRANCISZEK MARJA STANISLAW J-R – Born 13 December 1910, Lwów
Son of Jan Jordan-Rozwadowski and Marja (Malusia) Rozwadowska
Education
1916–1919
Primary school in Lausanne, Switzerland and Paris, France
1920–1929
‘Gymnasium’ at ul. Lyczakowska, Lwów. Obtains ‘Matura’ in 1929
1929–1931
Ecole nationale d’agriculture, Rennes, France. Obtains diploma and title of
“Ingénieur Agricole”
1931–1932
University of Lwów, studies Economics and Political Economics
Personal information
From 1915 to 1919 lived with his parents in Lausanne, Switzerland then in Paris, France. In 1920
the family returns to Lwów where he goes to school.
Back in Poland after finishing his studies in France and at the university in Lwów he gets involved
in socio-political activities including the Kolo Mlodych Związek Ziemnian with Janek Serwatowski,
Stasek Bochdan, Adam Bielski.
When the war breaks out FJR is in Babin, goes to Stanisławów, is enrolled in the army and
instructed to join the Polish army in France. He is in France in May 1940 when Belgium is invaded.
He is amongst those who choose to fight and embark aboard British boats for the crossing from
France to the UK. They land in Liverpool and proceed to Glasgow. In Scotland, they take part in
training and manoeuvres until the June 1944 landings in Normandy – fighting in Northern France,
Belgium, Holland and Germany. In 1945 FJR requests permission to proceed to Oberlangen
prisoner of war camp where his sister, Cesia, is liberated with the other prisoners.
Awarded the Krzyż Walecznych for gallantry after World War II.
6 Dec 1945
Marries Anne-Marie Schoell at Scheveningen, The Hague, Netherlands (married by
Kot Glazewski, Polish army chaplain)
10 Jan 1945
Birth of son Jan, in The Hague, Netherlands
May 1947
FJR, Anne-Marie and Jan emigrate to South Africa
2 Dec 1948
Birth of daughter Martyna Marja Wanda, in Cape Town, S. Africa
14 Oct 1951
Birth of daughter Therese Marie Sophie in Elgin, Cape, S. Africa
9 Dec 1952
Birth of daughter Isabelle Marie Cecile, in Elgin, Cape, S. Africa
20 Nov 1956
Birth of daughter Anne Olga Marja (Annik), in Elgin, Cape, S. Africa
Dec 1973
Emigrates to France. First lives and works in Paris then moves to Boinvilliers, in the
Department of the Yvelines in France
10 Jan 1990
Death in Cape Town, South Africa
Professional Career
1932–1939
Manages 1000 hectares of arable lands, pastures and forests of family estates in
the districts of Tarnopol (Hladki) and Stanisławów (Babin). Specialised in fruit-growing bringing to
fruition acres of orchards and pioneering in Poland the newest American methods of commercial
fruit-growing, packing and merchandising specifically apples, plums and cherries. Very active in
various fruit-growing and agricultural organisations and in particular the Agricultural Association of
Lwów of which he was vice-president. Worked closely with all fruit-growing scientific research in
Poland and especially the Research Station at Skierniewice and built up a reputation as an expert
in the field.
In 1937 was sent by the Chamber of Agriculture of Lwów and the Polish Institute of Refrigeration to
investigate problems connected with the cold storage and gas storage of fruit with a view to
building such cold stores in Poland. During this trip established contact with the East Malling Fruit
Research Station in Kent, England, where he was later to spend some time studying.
1939–1945
Polish Army in Poland, campaign of September 1939. Polish Army in France,
campaign of June 1940. First Polish Armoured Division within the British Forces, garrison in
Scotland, campaign of 1944–1945 in Normandy, Northern France, Belgium Holland and Germany.
1945–1947
On long leave from the army, works in The Hague, Netherlands, for the Polish
Government in London while applying for immigration to South Africa.
1947–1959
Manager of Applethwaite Farm in Elgin, Cape, South Africa. Works for Edmond
Lombardi until 1959, managing a very successful fruit farm heading a team of specialists and
labourers in the post-war period when the mostly privately-owned fruit farms of the Western Cape
developed into a well-structured fruit-growing and exporting industry.
1959–1973
General Manager of Lourensford Estate, Somerset West, Cape, South Africa.
Applies his skills and knowledge to manage and develop a 4500 ha. property
including the engineering aspects of large-scale irrigation systems required in a Mediterranean climate, heading
up the large workforce of skilled and unskilled staff required to run 1500 ha. of fruit orchards,
picking, packing in large modern packing installations, refrigeration, transport, marketing and
exporting the fruit. Also several thousand acres of forestry.
From 1956 to 1971 he made several business trips to Europe (Belgium, France, Germany, Italy,
Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the USA) visiting agricultural research stations and
leading fruit-growing areas and farms.
Following his arrival in South Africa and in close co-operation with the fruit-growers and local
authorities he took an active part in building up a well-regulated deciduous fruit industry and, in
particular, a highly successful export body for South African fruit, mostly towards Western Europe.
With his broad experience in this field, his in-depth knowledge of the subject, his undeniable
managerial abilities, not to mention his exceptional human qualities, he became a recognised
authority whose advice was respected and sought far and wide.
1974–1978
Consultant, based in France, for the South African Deciduous Fruit Board on
technical and statistical matters, covering the whole of western continental Europe.
1979–1985
Agricultural Attaché at the South African Embassy in Paris, applying his knowledge
of the South African fruit industry for exchanges between that country and the whole of Western
Europe.