Waterloo Region Generations
A record of the people of Waterloo Region, Ontario.

Vincent Pokrywka

Male 1892 - 1976  (84 years)


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  • Name Vincent Pokrywka 
    Born 1892  , Galicia, Austria Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Male 
    Eby ID Number Waterloo-142524 
    Died 1976  Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Person ID I142524  Generations
    Last Modified 25 Apr 2024 

    Father Valentine\Walenty Pokrywka,   b. CA 1860, , Poland Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Yes, date unknown 
    Mother Maria Procknik,   b. CA 1860, , Poland Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Yes, date unknown 
    Family ID F223977  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Henrietta Honorata Nosal,   b. 1896, , Galicia, Austria Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Yes, date unknown 
    Married 5 May 1914  , Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Children 
     1. Edward Vincent "Vincent" Porter,   b. 1915, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 23 Mar 2006, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 91 years)
     2. Donald Pokrywka,   b. 1930, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 2004, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 74 years)
    Last Modified 26 Apr 2024 
    Family ID F45099  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Notes 
    • Separated 55 Years, Sister Sees Brothers

      A 60-year-old Polish - born woman who spent five years in a forced labor camp under the Russians finally met her two Kitchener brothers over the weekend - after 55 years.

      "It's the happiest day of my life," smiled Frank Pokrywka, 73, of 79 Strange St., one of the brothers.

      "It's wonderful," said her other brother Vincent Pokrywka, 70, of 42 Moore Ave. "We ,are all getting old and I never thought we would ever see each other again."

      The trip to the .United States to see her son and to Canada to see her brothers has been a life-long dream for Mrs. Rudolf (Eva) Rauth. It only began to take shape eight years ago when she started to save for the trip.

      KEPT IN TOUCH

      The two brothers left Poland when their sister was five years old. They have kept in touch all through the years, except for a 10-year period during and immediately after the war, when they lost contact with her.

      The loss of contact wasn't surprising since the German and Russian invasions of Poland resulted in her family fleeing from one end of the country to the other.

      In 1939 Mrs. Rauth fled with her four children from Russian occupied Poland into German-occupied Poland. In 1943 when the Russians started advancing, they attempted to :flee deeper into Germany.

      But the Russians caught them and on their return to Poland, she and her two sons, one eight and the other 11 years old, spent the next five years in forced labor working in the fields for as long as 15 hours a day, seven days a week.

      "Occasionally we would get a Sunday off," she said.

      LOST CONTACT

      Meanwhile, she had lost all contact with her husband, a German, who had been captured by the Russians.

      It was only in early 1950 she was allowed to enter West Germany. There she was reunited with her husband who had been just released by the Russians.

      But talk of war and hardship vanished over the weekend as all the Pokrywka relations gathered at 79 Strange St. to celebrate the reunion in typical Polish style. Mrs. Rauth will now spend a holiday in Pittsburgh, Pa., with her son, Stanley, before returning to West Germany, whey she and her family now live.

      Kitchener-Waterloo Record 8 Jul 1963


  • Event Map
    Link to Google MapsBorn - 1892 - , Galicia, Austria Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsMarried - 5 May 1914 - , Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsDied - 1976 - Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Link to Google Earth
     = Link to Google Earth