Abstract
Oral history presentation by George Kielak to an unidentified group recorded on February 1, 2007. In his talk, Kielak explains that he was born in Warsaw, Poland in 1929 and was nine years old when Germany occupied the country. He describes what it was like living under the German occupation forces and comments that of all the occupied countries during World War II, Poland suffered the most severe restrictions and punishments. He then outlines the progress of the war from 1939 to 1944, a period in which he joined the Polish resistance movement. He explains that after the resistance fighters rose up against the Germans in 1944 Russia would not help, leading to the collapse of the movement, his capture by the German forces, and his seven month internment in a POW camp. He describes immigrating to England at the end of the war because Poland became part of the Soviet Union. After serving in the British Army, he immigrated to the United States in 1950. At the end of the presentation he shows maps and photographs and answers questions from the audience.
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Scope and Contents Note
Oral history presentation by George Kielak to an unidentified group recorded on February 1, 2007. In his talk, Kielak explains that he was born in Warsaw, Poland in 1929 and was nine years old when Germany occupied the country. He describes what it was like living under the German occupation forces and comments that of all the occupied countries during World War II, Poland suffered the most severe restrictions and punishments. He then outlines the progress of the war from 1939 to 1944, a period in which he joined the Polish resistance movement. He explains that after the resistance fighters rose up against the Germans in 1944 Russia would not help, leading to the collapse of the movement, his capture by the German forces, and his seven month internment in a POW camp. He describes immigrating to England at the end of the war because Poland became part of the Soviet Union. After serving in the British Army, he immigrated to the United States in 1950. At the end of the presentation he shows maps and photographs and answers questions from the audience. Digital audio available; no transcript available.
Access Note
Collection is open for research. Where use copies do not exist, production of use copies is required before access will be granted; this may delay research requests. Advanced notice is required.
Publication Rights
Materials in this collection may be protected by copyrights and other rights. See Reproductions and Use on the UNLV Special Collections and Archives website for more information about reproductions and permissions to publish. Some transcripts do not exist in final form, therefore any editing marks in a transcript (deletions, additions, corrections) are to be quoted as marked. No release form is on file for this interview. The interview is accessible onsite only, and researchers must seek permission from the interviewee or heirs for quotation, reproduction, or publication. Please contact special.collections@unlv.edu for further information.
Preferred Citation
George Kielak oral history presentation, 2007 February 01. OH-03313. [Cite format consulted: Audio recording or Transcript.] Oral History Research Center, Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada.
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Acquisition Note
This audio presentation was donated to the UNLV University Libraries Special Collections and Archives Division.
Processing Note
Interview materials were processed by UNLV Libraries Special Collections and Archives in 2022 and 2023. Melise Leech wrote the collection description. Access copies were created for born-digital audio and/or transcript files. The audio has been minimally reviewed and all readily available information has been included in the description.