Information on Jan Niechwiadowicz
My full name is David Jan Niechwiadowicz. My Grandfather on
the one side is Welsh and my Dad Polish. The agreement was I would be named David
first but known as Jan. Both sides thought they could win on the name. The
Welsh side never had a chance.
My Grandfather was Jakub Niechwiadowicz & my Grandmother was Jadwiga Dankewicz
from Lebedevo near Molodeczno.
My Grandfather was arrested shortly after Russia entered the war. We understand that he was held in Molodeczno.
No letters were ever received. The Red Cross said that my Grandfather was
murder at Katyn but he is not on any modern list. My Grandmother, Aunt, Uncle
and Father (Aged 6) were deported to Siberia.
My Uncle and Great Uncle went on to fight with Anders army.
My Great Uncle is buried in Wales
and both my Aunt and Grandmother are buried in England. My Uncle lives in America and my parent’s lives in England.
It was not until 1973 that I had any interest in Poland. When Poland knocked England out of the World Cup, I was
bullied at school. So I thought if I am going to be bullied, I might as well support
Poland.
Ever since then I supported Poland
rather than England
in football.
Over the years, I gained a keen interested in Polish history. I must have over
700 books on Poland.
Sadly, I have failed in the past to get more involved in the Polish community
and carry out my interest into helping Poland.
In July 2005 there were several individuals were campaigning
on behalf Poles and Poland
here in the UK. There was an unfortunate incident involving a
radio station. It was believed they said
“Polish Concentration camp”. The radio
admitted saying it to over the phone to me but refused to take any action as
they already had been reported to OFCOM.
OFCOM rule they had not said it hence no action was taken. It would have been better to discuss with the
radio station rather than going straight to OFCOM.
The individuals meet up to discuss how to organise better
resulting in the group. The result was a
group now called the Polish Media issues group.
As moderator of this group I have help deal with hundreds of incorrect
facts in newspapers, websites and television programmes.
Support Poland
limited was meant to help Poles in the UK
(partially successfully) and raise awareness of Polish suffering at the hands
of the Soviet Union (almost total
failure). The new website is designed to
bring these together with the work I am doing at the PMI.
Currently I live in Cardiff
and working as an IT consultant (BusinessObjects/Oracle).
