| W wieku 101 lat zmarła w Sydney kombatantka i działaczka społeczna Helena Zapaśnik. Pogrzeb odbedzie się w najblizszy piątek. Nekrolog ukazał się we wtorkowym wydaniu The Sydney Morning Herald...Niniejszym przedrukowujemy materiał na temat Zmarłej, znaleziony w internecie. Life was never easy for Helena Zapasnik but after overcoming great hardship she celebrated her 100th birthday with close friends and family in Macquarie Park recently.Mrs Zapasnik is a resident of BaptistCare Shalom Centre and marked this momentous occasion with a surprise high tea as well as a personal letter from the Federal Government acknowledging her commitment to the Polish community in Sydney.
Born in Warsaw, Mrs Zapasnik was raised as the eldest of three children and studied finance at university before WWII began and she sought refuge in Lithuania. After refusing to sign Soviet citizenship she was arrested and deported to a hard labour camp.
By 1942 she had moved to Tehran where she completed a medical course and became a specialist nurse working with patients who had typhoid, diphtheria and cholera. She was later evacuated to England where she worked for many years, specialising in tuberculosis. She eventually tracked down her long-lost sister while also discovering that her husband had died.
She met her second husband Mieczyslaw Zapasnik while he was a patient and soon joined him in Australia as a lieutenant.
In recent years the Republic of Poland awarded her the status of lieutenant colonel for her war services.
For many years Helena was secretary of the Polish Seniors Association, who took an active role in ethnic affairs.
Her niece Barbara Raczynski said her life's motto was "get on with it.""She is stoic to say the least," Ms Raczynski said."She never expected to live this long and is surprised to actually be alive at this age."
Posted by Michelle Van Doninck on 11 May 2015
zródło: baptistcare.org.au
With thanks to the Northern District Times where this article first appeared on 29 April 2015.
Informacje na temat siostry Zmarłej, Anieli.
www.1944.pl/historia/powstancze-biogramy/Aniela_Lange_1
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