Born: February 22, 1922, Howiłów Mały (County  Trembowla, Voivodeship Tarnopol, Poland)

Died: August 22, 2013, in Calgary, Alberta, Canada  

Buried: Queen’s Park Cemetery, Calgary, Alberta – lot: 155, block: 25, section: P

Family: father Marcin Smal (1888-1972); mother Maria Smal (1894 –1986)

Education:

Occupation:

Married: Stanisław (Stanley) Sokołowski

Children: Beatrice (David) Dickins, Mary (Wayne) McDougall, Lucy (Tim) Henry and Mark (Edith) Sokolowski

Military Rank:

Military Medals: Information not available

Fates before joining Anders Army: Anastazja Sokolowski (née) Smal was born into a family of Polish colonists in the Kresy region. Today, this region is part of western Ukraine, western Belarus, as well as eastern Lithuania. The family had five children and Anastazja was the only daughter. Anastazja’s brothers: Teodor Smal (b. 1919), Bogdan Smal (b. 1927), Jarosław Smal (b. 1929), Włodzimierz Smal (b. 1932), Grzegorz (b. unknown).

On the night of February 10, 1940, NKWD soldiers (English translation – the People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs USSR, a Russian abbreviation – NKWD, Polish translation – Ludowy Komisariat Spraw Wewnętrznych ZSRR) knocked at the door of Anastazja’s parents’ house and ordered the family to pack necessary belongings. A few minutes later, they were escorted by soldiers to awaiting nearby sleds that took the family to a railroad station, where they were put onto a freight train used to transport cattle. Anastazja’s brother was away when Russian soldiers came to their house, and after coming back from work, he saw how their Ukrainian neighbours robbed their house and set it ablaze. During this time, Ukrainian bands killed many Polish colonists, who avoided deportation to Siberia, or other remote parts of the USSR. Anastazja’s brother, who stayed behind, managed to escape and travelled to the Polish territory where he lived during the war.

For a few weeks, the Smal family travelled on board a cattle freight train that took them to a cotton kolkhoz (collective farm) in Kazakhstan, USSR, where the entire family worked in gruelling conditions picking cotton. While in Kazakhstan, during the entire time, they were starving. On one occasion, Anastazja, wanting to save her food ration of a small piece of bread, put it under her pillow, only to have a horrible awakening when she realized that her piece of bread was gone. The hunger was so terrible that she had not realized that, not being able to control her hunger, she had eaten the piece of bread in her sleep, not remembering doing this at all. The Smal family stayed in the cotton kolkhoz for a year.

According to the data provided by the Institute of National Remembrance, the Smal family was deported from Trembowla, voivodeship. Tarnopol, in February 1940, exiled to Soksia, Priłuzski region, Komi ASRR, and released on August 27, 1941.

Military history: Based on July 30, 1941, Sikorski-Majski Agreement between the Soviet Union and the Polish government-in-exile, a Polish Army was formed in USSR. Those able to serve in the army went to mobilization points and joined the Anders Army, also known as the Polish Armed Forces.  Anastazja’s three brothers joined the Anders Army. Her youngest brother Bogdan was assigned to attend a cadet school. After he graduated, he joined the Royal Air Force (RAF). Her brother, Teodor (Fred), served in the Anders Army. Initially, after reporting to mobilization points, Anastazja was taken to an orphanage, and after that, she joined the Polish Women’s Auxiliary Service 316. The Anders Army left USSR and relocated to Pahlavi. Later on, it moved to Iran and Iraq. While in the Anders Army, Anastazja served as a military truck driver transporting troops, ammunition, weapons, and provisions for the Polish troops. She was a truck driver until the last attack on Monte Cassino took place, where she transported necessary supplies to a point at the foot of the rocky hill on which the monastery was located.  

The supplies she transported there were delivered to soldiers fighting on the hill. The only way to get supplies up the hill was to use donkeys.

Post-War: Anastazja met and married Stanisław (Stanley) Sokołowski during the war and immigrated to Canada in 1948, settling in Coleman and then moving to Calgary in 1958. The Sokołowski Family remembers that Anastazja was an avid gardener and took pride in her beautiful yard. She was a great cook, and her Sunday dinners brought her family together. She was an active member of the Polish Combatants’ Association Women’s Auxiliary and volunteered endless hours. Anastazja’s generosity extended beyond her immediate family to family in Poland and new Polish Canadian immigrants.

Anastazja is survived and lovingly remembered by her children, Beatrice (David) Dickins, Mary (Wayne) McDougall, Lucy (Tim) Henry and Mark (Edith) Sokolowski; grandchildren, Paul (Maggie), Gregory McDougall, David, Mark (Monika) Dickins and great-grandson Mikael McDougall; and special niece Grazyna (Art) Deviat.

Anastazja was predeceased by her husband Stanley in 2009 and her 5 brothers Teodor (Fred), Grzegorz, Jarosław, Bogdan and Władysław.

author: Aldona Jaworska

sources:
Personal interviews conducted with Anastazja Sokolowski by Aldona Jaworska in 2011.
Data collected by Janina Aniolczyk, member of the Polish Combatants’ Association Number 18 in Calgary, Alberta. Data compiled by Aldona Jaworska, Calgary, Alberta.
Obituary – https://mhfh.com/tribute/details/6895/Anastazja-SOKOLOWSKI/obituary.html
http://tributetoliberty.ca/content/polish-combatants-association-canada-calgary-0 – Anastazja i Stanislaw Sokolowski brick number 05368-05372
Institute of National Remembrance
 – https://indeksrepresjonowanych.pl/int/wyszukiwanie/94, Wyszukiwanie.html