Vincent Pokrywka

Other Events:

• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-142524

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

Vincent married Henrietta Honorata Nosal 5 May 1914, , Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. Henrietta was born 1896, , Galicia, Austria; died Yes, date unknown. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Employer: B. F. Goodrich, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Military: WW2
• Military: WW2 - RCAF Flying Officer
• Name: Edward Vincent Pokrywka
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-157614P
• Residence: 1963, 42 Moore Ave., Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada

Notes:

PORTER, Edward V.

On Thursday, March 23, 2006 in his 91st year. Father of Gary and Ron Porter. Predeceased by his wife of 52 years, Emilie (Emma) Kiffman. Survived by sisters, Kaye Hartman, Etta Lidstone, Dorothy Palmateer-Ayres and brother Ted Pokryfka and many nieces and nephews. Predeceased by parents, Vincent and Henrietta Pokrywka; sisters, Helen (Mrs. Floyd Lichty) and Milly (Mrs. Mike Sauchuk) and brother, Don Pokryfka. As a Second World War RCAF Flying Officer, Ed was a B-24 bomber pilot in the North Atlantic on Coastal Command. He was a tire builder for B.F. Goodrich for 49 years and a security guard for 16 years. Relatives and friends are invited to Schreiter-Sandrock Funeral Home and Chapel (742-4481) 51 Benton St., Kitchener for visitation today (Friday) from 2-4 and 7-9 p.m. with parish prayers at 7: 30 p.m. Morning prayers will be offered on Saturday, March 25, 2006 at 11: 15 am., followed by a procession to Sacred Heart RC Church (Shanley St., Kitchener) for a Mass of Christian Burial at 12 p.m. with Father Eugene Pietrasik CR as celebrant. Interment Mount Hope Cemetery, Kitchener. A reception will be held in the Heritage Room of the funeral home following the interment. As expressions of sympathy, donations may be made to the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario or a charity of your choice in Edward's memory. Online condolences may be sent to the family through www. schreitersandrockfuneralhome.com.

The Record Newspaper 24 Mar 2006

Edward — Emilie M. "Emma" Kiffman. Emilie (daughter of Michael Kiffman and Mary Matz) was born 1918, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; died 1996, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; was buried , Mount Hope Cemetery, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-142925