Wanda Zofia Ciecierska papers

The Wanda Zofia Ciecierska papers consist of biographical materials, correspondence, photographs, printed material, and writings documenting Ciecierska’s experiences in Nazi-occupied Warsaw and during the Warsaw Uprising, as a forced laborer in Germany, and as a displaced person after the war. The papers also document her husband Stanislaw Ciecierski and his experiences in Nazi-annexed Poznań and as a displaced person in Germany. Biographical materials include marriage certificates, immigration, immunization, and travel records for Wanda Zofia and Stanislaw. Additional wartime records documenting Wanda Zofia include certificates regarding her wartime nursing education and work at the Polish Red Cross Hospital, orders to report for trench digging following the Warsaw Uprising, transportation vouchers, and permits and a payroll record for the Petzold factory. Postwar records include an AEF assembly center registration card, certificates documenting her kitchen work for an American Army unit and nursing work for the UNRRA hospital in Ganacker and IRO hospital in Regensburg, her appeal to be recognized as a displaced person, and a Polish Veteran’s Association membership card. Records documenting Stanislaw include his 1934 scouting card; notifications explaining his Polish and Russian heritage and his work for the Grundstücksgesellschaft, postwar identification cards, medical records documenting his treatment for diphtheria, correspondence about his use of an apartment and furniture formerly appropriated by Nazis whose owner requested their return, and a letter documenting problems with his wife’s travel permit. This series also includes a registration certificate documenting Włodzimierz Ciecierski’s visit from Straubing to Hof. The small correspondence series primarily consists of postcards exchanged among Ciecierski and Weber relatives after the war. Photographic materials include two photographs albums documenting Stanislaw and Wanda Zofia Ciecierski in Poland, Germany, and America at the end of World War II, during the early postwar years, and through their immigration to the United States. Photographs depict the couple in street scenes and countryside scenes, aboard a train and a boat, and with nursing and hospital staff. Loose photographs include the couple’s parents, their wedding, a photograph of the IRO hospital staff, and additional family and friends. Printed material includes Catholic imagery; newspaper clippings; commemorative stamps and a postcard celebrating the anniversary of the liberation of Dachau; postcards picturing scenes in Poland, Germany, and New York City; a sticker depicting the Polish emblem and eagle, and a leaflet describing the National Catholic Welfare Conference and its War Relief Services. The writings series includes handwritten and typed cookbooks, five handwritten diaries, two notebooks containing poetry and addresses, and loose song lyrics and poems primarily documenting Wanda Zofia’s experiences as a forced laborer in Grunhain and as a displaced person after the war. Most of the material is in Polish.

The Wanda Zofia Ciecierska papers are arranged as five series: Series 1: Biographical materials, circa 1934-1968 Series 2: Correspondence, circa 1940-1961 Series 3: Photographs, circa 1930-1950 Series 4: Printed material, circa 1945-1949 Series 5: Writings, circa 1945-1949