Our roots extend to the medieval Kingdom of Poland. The forefathers were the knights in the Kingdom. They served with princes and dukes as members of their household military elite.


At a later period they served as royal guards at the "Wawel" Kings Court in Cracow, then the capital of Poland.
In retirement the knights were settled on crown lands where they trained their grandsons in the knightly skills.

 Polish Kings castle "Wawel" in Cracow - 15th c.

In the 16th century, the king bestowed on one such knight, whose son later became our Rymaszewski progenitor, a property in the large eastern region of Poland that generally carried the historic name of the Grand Duchy of Litva.

From the15th century, the ancestors transformed from the medieval knights - the warriors, to a new social class of landlords, who settled on landed estates.

They became the nobility and, in a feudal system, they possessed serfs who lived in a village or villages located on their estates.

The nobility were called "szlachta".

At those times modern formal surnames of Polish nobles and knights were being established. Lukasz's son, Gregory of Ryma, adopted the surname Rymaszewski after the name of their estate and became the first ancestor of our family.

The establishment of the Rymaszewski noble surname carrying the original Lukash's knightly coat of arms (Pobóg), as well as the perpetual land ownership of Ryma, was confirmed by the Polish king Zygmunt III Waza (1566 - 1632), in a royal deed dated 6 July 1610.

During the subsequent years the family of Gregory Rymaszewski, together with ageing Lukasz, greatly improved and developed their estate and prospered.

Gregory's son, Jerzy, purchased an additional grange called Mohylonka on 19 April 1637.

The next generations of Rymaszewskis were the families of Jerzy's three sons: 1. Pawel, 2. Tomasz and 3. Jan.

The family grew as follows:
1. Pawel had two sons Janusz and Jerzy.
2. Tomasz had a son Mikolaj,
3. Jan had three sons Michal, Franciszek and Józef.

2.Tomasz's first son Mikolaj had a son Michal and three grandsons: Stanislaw, Ignacy and Pawel.

I discovered later, that 2. Tomasz had also another son, Jakób, who served as a "pancerny" (an armoured noble), during the Turkish invasion of Poland's Eastern Frontier. He was killed in a battle at Kamieniec Podolski in 1672.

In the fifth generation there were eight families with 15 male grandchildren.
Janusz had two sons called Michal and Kazimierz.
Michal had three sons: Stefan, Floryan and Franciszek.
Kazimierz had two: Andrzej and Franciszek, etc...
see Family Tree - Chapter 12 (Part 2)

Great growth and expansion of Gregory's descendants occurred from the seventh and eighth generation of families, and in the following decades the families expanded to various granges and estates over the woodland region between KOPYL, NIESWIEZ, KLECK, SLUCK and MINSK.

European bisons in primeval forests near Ryma

Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries the Rymaszewski descendants spread out westwards to various land properties, and could be found near LACHOWICZE, DAREWO, LIPSK, MIR, CHOTYNICZE, BARANOWICZE, STOLPCE, NOWOGRÓDEK, NOWOJELNIA and SLONIM.

Later they also moved southwards to farms and granges near PLOTNICA, PINSK, LUNINIEC, MOZYR and BOBRUJSK.

19th century
WILNO and KOWNO

Some Rymaszewski descendants migrated northwards, as far as two large historic towns of WILNO and KOWNO in the north.

The town WILNO was a large Polish cultural and intellectual centre where many Rymaszewskis were studying at Wilno University. After graduation, some obtained positions in Wilno, married local noblewomen and settled in the area.

Eventually the families spread back south, to: OSZMIANA, TROKI, WILEJKA, SUWALKI, LIDA, GRODNO.

"POBÓG" COAT OF ARMS

In a heraldic book "Herbarz Polski", dated 1839-1846, the author Kasper Niesiecki, a Jesuit monk, lists RYMASZEWSKI families as belonging to the Pobóg Clan. So all members of the clan were the bearers of the POBÓG coat of arms.

The name Pobóg means "for God", thus "Pobóg" was also used as a battle cry where families joined together to defend their country "for God" !

Jesuit monk describes in his book he POBÓG Coat of Arms as follows:

"Azure, a horseshoe argent, surmounted of a cross patée, or, mantled of his liveries, whereupon is set for a crest: out of a ducal coronet a demi greyhound rampant, collared and leashed, all proper." (Herbarz, VII, 331 - 335).

Later heraldry sources describe the arms thus:

"A horseshoe is shown with its ridge upward in a blue field; it is silver or polished iron, atop it is a cross of gold. On the helmet a half greyhound appears, as if leaping from the crown, facing the right: it is collared and leashed."

TENDIT AD ASTRA VIRIBUS


RYMASZEWSKI family, like all noble families, had their own family motto which was placed on their seals and the coat of arms.   It was in Latin: "Tendit ad Astra Viribus" and meant "Reach up for the stars by your own effort".
Translated into Polish "Dosiegnij gwiazd swojá wlasná pracá"

Oral accounts and family records handed down, bear testimony that the ancestors preserved their dignity and for centuries lived in accordance with the above heraldic device.

• Jakób Rymaszewski, the son of Tomasz Rymaszewski, bearing "Pobóg" coat of arms, served as an armoured noble or an "armoured companion". In Polish : "towarzysz pancerny", i.e. a cavalry officer wearing a cuirass armour. In the Polish army, the "towarzysz" was a noble who served in the Army and his pay was relative to the number of men he brought with him in his "retinue" (poczet). He armed, provisioned and commanded his men.
  
  During the Turkish invasion of the Polish Commonwealth's eastern frontier, Jakób was killed in a battle with the Turks at Kamieniec Podolski in 1672.
  
  

POBÓG

18th century Polish nobles ("szlachta") Rymaszewski ancestors



• Rymaszewskis are recorded in the above heraldic book as "Polish nobles bearing the Pobóg coat of arms (see image on right) and living in Grand Dutchy of Litva (Litwa) around 1640" [MSR-24,74]

• N. Rymaszewski, coat of arms (c.o.a.) Pobóg, married Miss Czechowicz, a daughter of the cupbearer (podczaszy), an officer in a royal household . They lived in Oszmiana district. [MSR-74]
  
• Adam Rymaszewski, c.o.a. Pobóg, lived in Oszmiana district, Wilno province, information dated 1757 [MSR-74]
  
• Wincenty Rymaszewski was the King's official from 1781 to 1794 as a regent of the "Szewelski gród", a fortified stronhold. [MSR-74,75,4]

• N. Rymaszewski, c.o.a. Pobóg, married Miss Chlopicka, information dated 1757. [MSR-74]
  
• A family of Rymaszewski, c.o.a. Pobóg, lived in Wilkomirski district, Podole province. [MSR-74]
  
• N. Rymaszewski, c.o.a. Pobóg, married Miss Godycka. They had two boys Wawrzyniec and N. Remiesz - Rymaszewski and a daughter who married Mikulski. [MSR-74]
  
• Teresa Rymaszewska married Wojciech Korwin-Bienkowski, a member of wojski wsch. (?), information dated 1781. [MSR-77]
  
  

  From the internet :

  
  
• N. Rymaszewski, was a member of the Grodno provincial parliament in 1773.
  
• Stanislaw Rymaszewski. District Public Library in Lublin has a print (druk) by Stanislaw Rymaszewski, dated 1785 and titled "The sermon on the occasion of (King) Stanislaus August birthday" - published by Trinity Order. ("Kazanie na dzien narodzin Stanislawa Augusta" - Drukarnia Trinitarzy).

All Rymaszewski noble families owned various landed estates.

Generally they were medium size landowners, many owned average granges, but some happened to be large and wealthy.

A number of Rymaszewskis served as military commanders in the Grand Duchy of Litva's own regional army under administration of the Crown. Several Rymaszewskis were appointed as officials of the Crown.

As nobles, at all levels, they preserved their old Polish knightly traditions, values and privileges.

 

RYMASZE near KOPYL  
Searching through the 18th-19th century maps, I found a very detailed map of Central Europe by the Military Surveys of Austria-Hungarian Empire, published about 1890, with place names spelled in the language of each territory. In the area near Kopyl with Polish spellings, I found a place named Rymasze (See circle on the map).

Could it be the spot where the original 16th century knightly estate RYMA existed — not far from Kopyl, as mentioned in the historical notes?

In any case it must have been the property of a family of Rymaszewski descendants who lived there in the 18th century, and the place was described after them.

A place name called Rymasze suggests in the Polish language a plural word meaning "a place inhabited by, or belonging to, Rymaszewskis"

The word "rymasze" has no other meaning in the Polish language (neither in Belarus or Russian language), and therefore must come from the surname.

Also notice on the map a small rectangular dot above it, marked H.H. Rymasze. According to map's legend, which is in the Austrian language, the H.H. stands for "herrenhaus". In English it means "manor house". So it could be that Rymaszewskis, the owners of the "Rymasze" estate, lived in the manor house and owned on their land a village with its surfs, which they named after the estate.

CLICK HERE
To see current 21st century Belarus map with location of "Rymasze, Rymaszy" village marked on it as "Rimashi" (also the location of the Rymasze (Rimashi) manor house to the north of the village Rimashi).

However, the village sign post is properly spelled "Rymashy" which confirms that Polish name Rymaszewski is often spelled in Russian language incorectly as "Rimashevski" as on that map.

PHOTO :

Krzysztof Rymaszewski from Terespol, Poland, and his father Jozef, at entry to Rymaszy village during their visit to Belarus in 2000.

At the end of 18th century, after the second and third partitions of Poland (1793 - 1795), the lands of eastern Poland where the Rymaszewski families lived, fell under Russian Tsar's rule and became part of the Russian Empire.

For 123 years Rymaszewski families preserved Polish language, traditions and Roman Catholic faith until 20th century when these lands became Polish again in 1918 after the end of First World War.

After the third partition in 1795, Poland disappeared from the map of Europe, believe it or not. Alongside is a map of Eastern Europe dated 1838.

Its central part was restored for a short period from 1806 to 1815 by Napoleon as a Duchy of Warsaw. After Napoleon's defeat by Russia it was taken over by the Tsar.

As a result, Poland remained under the rule of foreign masters for 123 years until the end of World War One in 1918.

In the 19th century a number of insurrections was attempted by Poles to win back the independence, especially in the Russian partition.

Very many Rymaszewskis were involved in conspiratorial activities and uprisings. This brought heavy reprisals on participants including exile to Siberia and confiscation of their properties, either whole or substantial parts or their estates. The families became poorer, their estates smaller.

But their noble status was still respected. For example, tsarist police employed punishment by lashing, which did not apply to nobles, no matter whether they were Russian or Polish or how small landowners they were.

Many RYMASZEWSKIS emigrated. Some to France but mostly to the United States of America, also to Canada and Argentina.

Some Rymaszewskis subdivided land among children or sold their estates and moved to live in towns, where many achieved important positions and prominence.

Many studied in St. Petersburg, some in Kiev, and then served as doctors, public servants, etc. and, being of noble status, as commanders in the Russian Army. The commanders were posted to various key locations including military academies. Similarly those qualified as doctors went to specific hospitals, etc.

However, majority of Rymaszewskis still run their land properties in the original ancestral homeland.

Poland partitioned by Russia, Prussia and Austria

The Russian Imperial coat of arms dated 1840.

Notice small coat of arms of component countries on top. Second on top left is the Polish Eagle.

• Pawel Rymaszewski from Wilno province married Agata Wolczacka.
  
• Their son Julian Rymaszewski was born in 1812 at the time of Napoleon's retreat from Moscow. Julian studied law at the University of Wilno.
  
  
  In 1831, both Pawel and 19 year old son Julian took part in the "November" Uprising against Russia.

• Julian Rymaszewski (born 1812), the son of Pawel and Agata, left his law studies to become on 19 August 1831 a youngest second lieutenant in 3rd infantry regiment (3 ppl) to take part in the "November 1831" Uprising against Russia. After the failure of the uprising he had to leave Poland to avoid persecution.
  
  In February 1833 he went to Besancon in France, then on 7 April 1833 to Switzerland. He returned to France in January 1834 and from 27 September 1836 studied law and medicine in Paris. Then he offered his services (3 pp) to the Sultan and sailed for Africa from the port of Marseilles in the south of France on board the ship "Tabor" on 28 February 1856.

In 1871, at the end of the Franco - Prussian War, he was accused of participation in a revolt against French government. The revolt was called "the Commune of Paris". He was imprisoned on the pontoons in Paris and died next year in 1872 at the age of 60.

• Wasyl Rymaszewski, the son of Mateusz was born in the early 1800s in Kraków, Poland (see below), but moved to the Ukraine. His birth certificate was written in Russian and it states that Vasiliy Matveev(ich) Rymashevskiy is of noble rank (dvoryanin) in the Russian Empire, and a Roman Catholic. He lived, and was buried, in the town of Pereyaslav (Perejaslaw) (also called Pereyaslav Khmel'nitskiy) south of the city of Kiev. By profession he was a medical doctor and was married to a lady from a Polish noble family of Królikowski, coat of arms Poraj. He had a son who was an attorney and later became a judge in the town Zolotonosha, a little further south from Pereyaslav.
  
  His present day descendants N. Rymaszewska and her grandson George Levchenko now live in the USA. Email: glevchen@engineer.com

MY REMARKS : Kraków in the early 1800s.
At the turn of the 18th century, after final partition of Poland in 1795, Kraków was in the Austrian sector. When Napoleon conquered Central Europe, and Polish troops were serving in his armies, he restored the Polish state as a Duchy of Warsaw, which included Kraków. The Duchy of Warsaw existed only from 1806 to 1815.

After Napoleon's defeat in Russia (retreat from Moscow in 1812) and the Congress of Vienna in 1815, the victorious Russia absorbed the Duchy of Warsaw in the Russian Empire, calling it "Kingdom of Poland" with the Tsar becoming also the "King of Poland". However, the "Kingdom" did not include Kraków. The Vienna Congress of 1815 declared it a Free City of Kraków. It was independent until 1846, when it was again taken over by Austria, becoming part of Galicia province. After insurrection against Russia in 1831, the Poles in the "Kingdom" were deprived of all civil liberties.

• Jan Rymaszewski, was a steward of Duchy of Nieswiez in the year 1747. File contains various cash vouchers and bonds.
• Jan Rymaszewski, was a steward Olycki (of town Olyce) from 1754 to 1765. File contains receipt for salary, various cash vouchers, copy of payment receipt for services done, etc.
• Pawel Rymaszewski, was a cashier of town Sluck from 1802 to 1808. File contains cash vouchers and receipt for salary, accounts and deposits to the treasury.
• Adam Rymaszewski, was a land surveyor in 1811. File contains vouchers and receipt for amounts due.

• Mateusz Rymaszewski and Barbara Rymaszewska, who lived in Gieniusze near Sokólka, owned a forest area in Lipin - Record dated 12 October 1799. (Record no.1126)

• Mikolaj Rymaszewski lived in Kowno area (now Kaunas in Lithuania), and had a son named Piotr.
  
• Piotr Rymaszewski, in turn, had three sons:
  (1) Marcin Rymaszewski (1854 record)
  (2) Wojciech Rymaszewski, and
  (3) Andrzej Rymaszewski (1866 record)
  

• Florian Rymaszewski lived in Kowno area (now Kaunas in Lithuania), and had a son named Marcin. .
  
• Marcin Rymaszewski, in turn, had three sons:
  (1) Wincenty Rymaszewski (1806 record)
  (2) Hilary Rymaszewski, and
  (3) Józef Rymaszewski
  

• Jakób Rymaszewski lived in Minsk area,
  and had a son:
• Wincenty Rymaszewski (1853 record)
  and a grandson:
• Jan Rymaszewski (1853 record)
  

• Stefan Rymaszewski lived in Minsk area,
  and had a son:
• Józef Rymaszewski, (1853 record)
  and two grandsons:
  (1) Filip Rymaszewski (1853 record)
  (2) Jan Rymaszewski
  

• Florian Rymaszewski lived in Wilno area, and was a Russian language translator at the Maryampolski district Bank from 1845 to 1857. Later he held a position of Secretary in the management of bank's Accountancy department. [Additional info also in MSR-550, 586]
  Florian had a son Adam (1835 record)
  
  
• Adam Rymaszewski, Florian's son, had three boys: (1835 record)
  (1) Otto Rymaszewski (1835 record)
  (2) Mieczyslaw Rymaszewski
  (3) Herkulian Rymaszewski

• Mieczyslaw Rymaszewski, the son of Adam Rymaszewski (compare Adam and Mieczyslaw above in 1835 record) is recorded as a Chief Medical Doctor of Catherine's (?) Military Hospital in Kuban in 1870 and 1871. Also in the "Russian medical register", St. Petersburg, 1878. [MSR-421]

• (Volume X, page 97)
Rymaszewski grange, an estate owned by Rymaszewski family in Darewo parish, Nowogródek District, situated by the roadside from Darewo to Odachowszczyzna. It has fertile soil and few forests.

Geographic Dictionary of Polish Kingdom, published in Warsaw, 1880

• (Volume XI, page 770)
Szakiszki, an estate by the pond, Wilno area, Ilino parish, 9 verst from Ilino, and 30 verst from Wilno. It is rural area and possesions, mainly Rymaszewski's Haraburdziszki (date 1865). Szakiszki have 4 homes. There are 32 inhabitansts (25 catholics and 7 orthodox)

• (Volume XIII, page 550)
Winków or Winkowo (sometimes wrongly referred to as Wankowo), a noble neighbourhood in Sluck region, Hrozów district, catholic parish of Kopyl, 36 verst from Sluck. The owners here are Rymaszewski family and Korbuts family. Rymaszewskis own over 30 hectares of land.

• (Volume XIV, page 207)
Zabrodzie (a village and 3 granges, catholic parish of Darewo, 64 verst from Nowogrodek. The village has 10 settlements (households). And granges are owned by noblemen Rymaszewskis and noblemen Kodziewicze. Rymaszewski family owns 90 hectares of land.

• (Volume XV, part 1, page 61)
Babinsk property and village Babinsk in Oszmiana district, Logumowicze parish, belonged to Rymaszewski family in 1865. The village had 44 inhabitants.

• (Volume V, page 872)
Macewicze, an estate in Ihumen district. Property of Rymaszewski family. It has about 12 wlók (12x18ha) i.e. 216 hectares of land.

• (Volume VIII, page 344)
Pobole, a village in Oszmiana district, Juraciszki parish, 53 verst from Oszmiana, 28 verst from Dziewieniszki. It has 4 homes, 32 inhabitants catholic (Last census gave 15 souls). Belongs to the Jatolowicze property of the Rymaszewski family.

• (Volume XV, part 1, page 275)
Burbiszki , locality in Kowno district, Sredniki parish, 45 verst from Kowno. It contained 3 manorial estates. One, the largest, belongs to Rymaszewski family. It has 131 hectares (119 dziesiecin).

• (Volume XV, part 2, page 13)
Jatolowicze, an estate and a villagein Oszmiana district, Iwie parish. It was owned by Rymaszewski family in late 1800's. Later sold. Before the First World War the land was parceled out to local peasants.

• (Volume III, page 32)
Rymaszewski family own a large property in Wilno district called Haraburdziszki formerly owned by the Jesuits. It is situated 32 km (30 versts) south-east from Wilno in Ilinsk parish. It has over 1100 hectares of land (over 1000 dziesiecin). I hectare = 10, 000 square metres. Half of the property is occupied by forests of mixed trees. The soil is clayish with plenty of meadows. In 1866 there were 25 inhabitants in Haraburdziszki (sometimes wrongly referred to as Halaburdziszki).

From a record in Historical Archive of Lithuania in Vilnus:

• Adam and Helena Rymaszewski were owners of an estate Haraburdziszki and Pobieñ, Wilno district in 1848.

• (Volume VII, page 268)
Village Nowosady at the Ilino parish in the rural area of the Haraburdziszki property, located 9 verst (10 km) from the parish. Village belongs to the Rymaszewski's estate. It has 21 inhabitants.

• (Volume , page )
Rymaszewski family (Polish and catholic) owns an estate in Oszmiana district called Jatolowicze, which includes a village named Rodziewicze with 14 houses and 42 inhabitants supplying labour to the estate. As per census in year 1864.

• (Volume IX, page 654)
Village Rodziewicze in Oszmiana district, Iwie parish, in the rural area of Urciszki, 5 and half verst (6 km) from the parish, 59 verst from Oszmiana, and 32 verst from Dziewieniszki. It has 14 homes, 82 inhabitants, all catholics. (Census in 1864 recorded 42 inhabitants). The village is part of Jatolowicze property of the Rymaszewski family.

• (Volume XV, part 1, page 275)
Burakowce, yeomen's settlement, Sluck district, near Lachowicze, catholic parish of Kleck, 70 verst from Sluck. It has 13 colonies, belongs to Nacza landed estate.

• Feliks Rymaszewski took active part in the Polish 1830-31 Uprising against the "tsarist oppression of Russia".
  
• His son, Wladyslaw Rymaszewski, who was a colonel in the Russian High Command of 6th Infantry Division (March 1863), was accused by the High Command of collaborating in the 1863-64 Polish Uprising against "the tsar's rule over Russia".
  
  Not quite true. This was typical communist ideological propaganda. Rymaszewskis and all Poles were NOT rising against the Tsar's rule or the Russian political system. They were fighting for Poland's independence from Russia.

• Adam Rymaszewski was an engineer, building roads in Przemysl during 1870-78, and in Sadecki region 1874-93. [MSR-24,206]
  
• Aleksander Rymaszewski from Zielezniki, had offered in 1840 a large church bell to the Church Sw. Krzyza in Pultusk. The bell was inscribed in Latin "Fecit Alexander Rymaszewski, Anno Domini 1840" [from internet - www.info.pultusk.pl ]
  
• Wincenty Rymaszewski, the son of Jan Rymaszewski, is recorded in the Russian "Commemorative book of Suwalki guberniya (province)", as a clerk of the Court in Kalwaria between 1872-75, and in Suwalki Provincial Court in 1877. [MSR-742]
  
• Hipolit Rymaszewski, the son of August Rymaszewski, is recorded in 1850 as a municipal medical doctor of town Ostróg, Wolyn province. [MSR-24]. Also in the "Russian medical register", St. Petersburg, 1878. [MSR-421]
  
• Kazimiera Rymaszewska, Benedictine nun, is recorded in the Russian "Commemorative book of Kowno guberniya (province)" as the Mother Superior of Benedictine Monastery in Kowno in 1894. [MSR-746]

• Fabian Rymaszewski, the son of Józef Rymaszewski, was the Commander of the 6th battalion, 11th Artillery Brigade in 1879.

• N. Rymaszewski, was a Second Lieutenant in the Bretski Infantry Regiment (record dated 1831).

• Michal (Mikhail) Rymaszewski, born about 1850, lived in Ustron and was a state forest ranger and gamekeeper. He died in tragic circumstances by the end of the 19th century, leaving a son Stefan who was about 10 year old.
• Stefan (Stepan) Rymaszewski, the son of Michal was born in Ustron in 1880. He moved later to live in Pogost (or Pohost), about 20 km south of Sluck. Stepan's son Ivan (Jan) and grandson Leonid also lived in the Sluck area.
  Their present day descendants Alexander and his son Artem Rymashevski now live in Melbourne, Australia.
  

• Wincenty (Vincent, Vikenti) Rymaszewski, and his wife Albina lived in Sluck in the second part of the 19th century. They had three children: (1) Telesfor, born 1883, (2) Adam, born 1885, (3) Wilhelm, born 1888. Young Telesfor and Wilhelm emigrated to the United States in 1905 and settled in the state Wisconsin.
  Telesfor's present day descendants David and his sons Daniel and James Rymaszewski now live in Milwaukee, USA.

• Michal (Mikhail) Rymaszewski, the son of Kazimierz (Kazimir) was born about 1870. As a young man, near the end of the 19th century, he had been suspected by the Tsarist police of political dissident activity. Similarly to the fate of many Polish insurrectionists, he was sentenced to be exiled to a remote region of northern Russia. The exile, recorded as Mikhail Kazimirovich Rymashevskiy, was deported to a town called Syktyvkar, past Kotlas on the Vytchegda river in Komi Region.
  His present day descendants Slava and his son Victor Rymashevsky now live in Petrozavodsk, Karelia, Northern Russia.
  
  This could be the father of Mikhail Kazimirovich Rymashevskiy :
  

  • Kazimir (Kazimierz) Rymaszewski, the son of Ignaty (Ignacy), is listed on 1907 Bobruysk Duma List. Details are: nationality Polish, resident of Bobrujsk (Bobruysk), Minsk guberniya Above from internet "Google" search : BOBRUYSK Uyezd, Minsk guberniya 1907 Duma List.

 

• Ludwika Rymaszewska, the daughter of Józef Rymaszewski, owned 44 ha at Swojaszki estate in Nowógrodek district.
  
  
• Józef Rymaszewski and his three sons : Stanislaw, Franciszek and Feliks owned 58 ha at Zabrodze estate in Nowógrodek district.
  
  
• Wincenty Rymaszewski, the son of Adam, owned ?? ha in 1889 (check ref. [MSR-413] in Nowógrodek district.

• The sons of Albert Rymaszewski: (1) Franciszek owned 13 ha, and (2) Adam owned 10 ha at Bobrównia estate.
  
  
• Stella Rymaszewska, the daughter of Fremant Rymaszewski, owned 23 ha at Winków estate, Sluck district.
  
  
• Konstanty Rymaszewski, the son of Stefan, owned 42 ha at Korbowce estate, Sluck district.

• Franciszek Rymaszewski, the son of Antoni, owned 55 ha at Kolosowszczyna (Kolosowszczyzna) estate near Kopyl, located south of Rymasze in Sluck district (see map above).
  
  
• Franciszek Rymaszewski, the son of Tomasz, owned 17 ha at ??, Minsk guberniya.
  
  
• Wincenty Rymaszewski, the son of Albert, owned 12 ha estate at Kolosowszczyzna in Sluck district.

• Wiktor Rymaszewski and his two sons : Ferdynand and Walenty owned 161 ha at Ostrów estate, Switez district.
  
• Adam Rymaszewski, the son of Stanislaw, owned 23 ha at Ostrówki estate.
  
• Franciszek Rymaszewski, the son of Jerzy, owned 31 ha at Zaolchów estate, Borysov district.
  
• Jan Rymaszewski, the son of Bonifacy, owned 33 ha at Trasejki estate in Nowógrodek district.

• NN. Rymaszewski - was the manager of Radziwills properties. (Fund record 37 - nr.2).
  
• NN. Rymaszewski - was the administrator of Radziwills Piaseczno property. (Fund record 439 nr.2)
  
• Jan Rymaszewski - was the general economist of Olyksij property. (Fund record 319 & 320 nr.2)
  
• Józef Rymaszewski - and his wife Brigita - were the leaseholders. (Fund record 386)

• 1901: Aleksander Rymaszewski, the son of Maciej Rymaszewski, is recorded as acting Secretary of Provincial Public Prosecutor's Office in 1901, later as secretary to Investigating Judge in Telsze in 1908.

• 1902: Maria Rymaszewska (Rymarewska?) was a school teacher in Skoreczen (Skorechen) in 1902.

• 1903: Franciszek Rymaszewski, the son of Wawrzyniec, is recorded as working in the Financial Office of the Bielski administrative district.

• Konstanty Rymaszewski, the son of Fabian Rymaszewski, was a Captain in the 11th Artillery Brigade in Dubno (record dated 1909).
  
• Walerian Rymaszewski, the son of August Rymaszewski, was a Captain in the Tsar Alexander's Army Academy in Moscow. Next record, dated 1909, gives Walerian Rymaszewski (the son of August) as a Captain in the Guards of the Finnish Regiment (Note: Part of Finland was under Russian imperial rule).
  
• Dymitry Rymaszewski, the son of Aleksander Rymaszewski, was a Second Lieutenant in the Guards of the Grenadiers Regiment (record dated 1909).
  
• Seweryn Rymaszewski, the son of Michal Rymaszewski, was a Lieutenant in the 28th Polocki regiment (7th Infantry Division) in Petrokov - Berezowka (record dated 1909)
  
• Konstanty Rymaszewski, the other son of Michal Rymaszewski (brother of Seweryn above), was a Second Lieutenant in the 17th Eastern Siberian Rifle Regiment (5th Division) in Radom (record dated 1909).

• 1905: Maria Rymaszewska (of catholic religion) owned a 2 storey masonery house in Bazarnaya square in the Old town, Nieswiez (paid tax 4950 rubles).
  
• 1905: Jesmerika(?) Rymaszewska (of catholic religion) owned a wooden house in Slavkovskaya Street, New town, Nieswiez (paid tax 400 rubles).
  
  
• 1905: Józefa Rymaszewska (of catholic religion) owned a wooden house in Kladbistyenskaya Street, Old town, Nieswiez ( tax free).
  
• 1905: Wincenty (Vikyentiy) Rymaszewski (of catholic religion) owned a wooden house in Zaghumiennaya Street, New Town, Nieswiez (paid tax 100 rubles).
  
• 1905: Teofilja Rymaszewska (catholic religion) owned a 4 hectare plot of land near town Nieswiez (free of taxation) .

VOTERS LISTS FOR DUMA IN TSARIST RUSSIA

These are records of registration of those eligible to vote for indirect representatives to the constitutional body in Russia - the Duma. The records are called the Duma voting lists. They contain the names of those men who were 24 years of age and older who were eligible to vote.

The lists are from the first decade of the 20th century (i.e. 1900 to 1910) up to 1917 (Bolshevik Revolution). These lists were required to be published in the official Russian newspapers Guberniyskie Vedomosti i.e. "Provincial Gazettes" where the following records were found :

• Aleksander (Alexandr) Rymaszewski, the son of Josip (Jozef ?) (Osipovich), state public servant (or retired), 1906 Minsk Uyezd Duma list no. 970.
  
• Andrzej (Andrey) Rymaszewski, the son of Simon? (Semenovich), state public servant (or retired), 1906 Minsk Uyezd Duma list no. 971.
  
• Edward (Eduard) Rymaszewski, 1906 Minsk Uyezd Duma list no. 978.
  
• Józef (Josif) Rymaszewski, the son of Florian, homeowner and appartment leaser, 1906 Minsk Uyezd Duma list no. 974.
  
• Józef Rymaszewski, state employee or retired ,1906 Minsk Uyezd Duma list no. 975.
  
• Joachim Rymaszewski, the son of Michal (Mikhailovich), state employee or retired,1906 Minsk Uyezd Duma list no. 979.
  
• Mikolaj (Nikolay) Rymaszewski, the son of Jan (Ivanovich), state public servant or ret.,1906 Minsk Uyezd Duma list no.977
  
• V. (Wiktor?, Wincenty?) Rymaszewski, the son of I (Jan? Jozef?), appartment leaser, 1906 Minsk Uyezd Duma list no. 973.
  
• Wiktor Rimaszewski, the son of Hippolit (Victor Ippolitovich), homeowner and appartment leaser in Minsk Uyezd (paying bussiness tax), 1906 Duma list no. 334, also at no. 972.

• Antoni (Anton) Rymaszewski, resident of Nieswiez (Nesvizh), paid apartment tax, listed on 1907 Sluck Uyezd Duma List no. 2337
  
• Edward (Eduard) Rymaszewski, resident of Nieswiez (Nesvizh), paid apartment tax, listed on 1907 Sluck Uyezd Duma List no. 2339
  
• Wincenty (Vikenti) Rymaszewski, resident of Nieswiez (Nesvizh), listed on 1907 Sluck Uyezd Duma List no. 2333
  
• Wladyslaw Pawel (Vladislav Pavel) Rimaszewski (Rimashevski) of Polish nationality, resident of Sluck, paid apartment tax, Sluck Uyezd Duma List no. 1463.

NIESWIEZ circa 1910.
Water well with a hand pump on the street for public use.
An elderly Jewish resident of Nieswiez standing on the left.

• Bronislawa Rymaszewska was born in Minsk in 1877. She married Wincenty Lukaszewicz who was born in 1867. Their son, Aleksander Lukaszewicz emigrated to Bayonne, New Jersey, USA. (From: www.RootsWeb.com - 13 October 2000)
  
• 1906: Dominik Rymaszewski (Domenik Rymashevskiy), the son of Józef (Iosifovich), is listed on the 1906 Novogrudok Uyezd (Nowogródek district) Duma list No. 2492.
  
• 1907: Pawel Rymaszewski is listed on the 1907 Mozyr Uyezd Duma list. Record no. 984.
  
• 1907: Florian Rymaszewski is listed on the 1907 Mozyr Uyezd Duma list. Record no. 990.
  
• 1908: Emilia Rymaszewska, widow, was living in Kraków. From Kraków Address Book dated 1908. [MSR-390]
  
• 1908: Wladyslaw Rymaszewski, the son of Ferdynand, was a medical doctor in Telechany (Telekhany), Pinsk administrative district, in 1908. From Russian "Commemorative book of Minsk province", published in Minsk 1908. [MSR-751]
  
• 1908-1915: Marian Rymaszewski, the son of Michal, was a medical doctor in Klewan, 1915, and court councillor in 1908, 1913. From Russian "Commemorative books of Volynskaya province", published in Zhytomir (Zytomierz) 1908-15. [MSR-725]
  

• 1910: Antoni I. Rymaszewski held a position in Forestry in Podbrody, administrative district of Swieciany. From Russian "Commemorative book of Wilno province" in 1910. [MSR-740]
  
• 1910: Antoni Rymaszewski, the son of Jan Rymaszewski, held a position of Secretary of the Police Headquarters of Grodno district in 1910. From Russian "Commemorative book of Grodno province" [MSR-733]
  
• 1914: Franciszek Rymaszewski was a Director of the Bank Cooperative (Zw. Sp. Zarobk.) in Poznan, between 1914 - 24. [MSR-436]
  
• 1917 ?: Edward Rymaszewski. Corporal in the 1st Polish Eastern Corps (bat.11, P.Strz.). [MSR-24]

• Michal Rymaszewski, private (strzelec), Kowenski pulk strzelcow. Died on 29 January 1920 in Grodno.
  
• Seweryn Rymaszewski, lieutenant colonel (pplk.), Grodzienski pulk strzelcow. Died on 19 November 1920 in Maciejunce.
  

FIRST WORLD WAR : 1914 -1918

After the First World War, in independent and democratic Poland, the noble status of "'szlachta" was discontinued by Polish Constitution of 1921, which made all people equal in law.

• 1917 - 1939: Eugeniusz Rymaszewski and Karol Rymaszewski, officers (urzednicy) of the Ministry of Education (Ministerstwo Wyznan i Oswiecenia Publicznego w W-wie). Their personal records are filed in the State Archives, 1917-1939, ref.nr. 2/14/0/5461 and 5462. From: www.aan.gov.pl
  
• 1920: N. Rymaszewski, Lieutenant-Colonel, Commander of the 6th Infantry Regiment in Grodno during the 1920 Polish - Soviet war. [MSR-506]
  
• 1920: N. Rymaszewski, a lieutenant in the 1st regiment of Ulani Krechowiecki during the 1920 Polish - Soviet war. Fought near Beresteczko.
  
• 1923: Romuald Remiesz - Rymaszewski. Born on 1 August 1878, lieutenant in the 78 Infantry Regiment in 1923 - 1924. [MSR-462]
  
• 1923: Wladyslaw Rymaszewski, born on 8 January 1878, medical doctor (in 1902). An officer in the army (9th Medical Battalion) in Poznan in 1923 - 24. [MSR-278]
  (Not to be confused with doctor Wladyslaw Jan Rymaszewski, born 15 November 1891, a Reserve army officer (colonel) who was murdered in Katyn).
  
• 1925: P. Rymaszewski, was a Paramedic ("Felczer") in a town Nieswiez in Poland near Baranowicze. An entry, dated 1925, in the municipal records (List of Merchants and Businesses: Nieswiez / Nowa Wies). Now in Belarus (Nesvizh, Niasviz). [from internet]
  
• 1926: Eugeniusz Rymaszewski, lecturer in the State College for boys and girls (Gimnazjum) in Lublin in 1926 [MSR-444]. From 1928 to 1939 Eugeniusz was teaching in the Polish Grammar School (Gimnazjum) in Gdansk. [from internet]
  
• 1928: Marja Rymaszewska, was a landowner in Darewo, Zabrodzie 109, between Baranowicze and Lachowicze.
  
• 1928: Eugeniusz Rymaszewski, was in Zakopane in 1928. [MSR-24]
• 1928: Bronislawa Rymaszewska, was in Mielzyn, Zakopane in 1928. [MSR-24]
  
• 1928: Jerzy Rymaszewski, worked as a medical doctor in Lubomla district. [AltaVista 2005. geocities.com]

• 1929: M. Rymaszewski - was an owner of a variety store (sundries) in a town Zaostrowiecze near Nieswiez in Poland in 1928, now in Belarus. An entry in the municipal records of Nieswiez (List of Merchants and Businesses: Slawkowo, Zaturia) [from internet]
  
• 1929 - 1937 : dr. K. Rymaszewski - was a well known medical doctor in Wilno. From: www.wilno.pl/naszczas/017
  
• 1930: Jadwiga Rymaszewska - Kozakiewicz, born in 1902, was a dental surgeon (dr.med) in Wilno in 1930. From "Official Register of Doctors, etc." [MSR-278]
  
• 1932: Jerzy Rymaszewski, author of "Muzyka a Sugestia", Warszawa. "Gospodarcza" Printing House, 1932. [from internet]
  
• 1934: Maria Rymaszewska, was the owner of land estate (109 ha) called Zabrodzie near Darewo, district Baranowicze [from Polish 1934 Informator]
  
• 1935: Jan Rymaszewski, forestry engineer, thesis in 1935 re: primeval forest (puszcza) Kampinoska, publ. by SGGW. (www.kampinoski.pn.gov.pl)
  
• 1935 - 1938 : Wladyslaw Rymaszewski, was in charge of military "Sanatorium" in Zakopane (Koscielisko) from 1935 to 1938. [from internet]

• 1936 ?: Hipolit Rymaszewski. Minister for Agriculture and Agricultural Reforms. [MSR-24]
  
• 1939 ?: Wladyslaw Rymaszewski. Captain, medical doctor, Warszawa [MSR-24]

• 1939: Halina Rymaszewska, was in Warszawa in 1939. [MSR-24]
  
• 1939: Antoni Rymaszewski, was in Warszawa in 1939. [MSR-24]

• 1939: Henryk Rymaszewski, lieutenant, commander of Signals platoon in Army "Modlin" (13th Ulans Regiment) during the September 1939 war campaign. [MSR-378]

• 1939: Zbigniew Rymaszewski, second lieutenant, platoon commander, 1st Regiment of Krechowiecki Ulans, Suwalska Cavalry Brigade, during the September 1939 war campaign [MSR-167]

• 1939: N. Rymaszewski, doctor, Kamienna street, Poznan, 1939-1945 [MSR-278,276]

• Miroslawa (Mirka) Rymaszewska (married name Sacewicz) writes in her email no. 072 (mirka44@vp.pl ) that she is the daughter of Edward Rymaszewski, and granddaughter of Franciszek Rymaszewski and Apolonia nee Radkiewicz. The parents of Franciszek were Konstanty Rymaszewski and Teofilia nee Modzelewska. Miroslawa now lives in Gorzów Wielkopolski 66-400, ul. 9 Maja 34.
  
  Grandfather Franciszek Rymaszewski lived in Kaczanowicze near Nieswiez in Eastern Poland. He was an elected chair of village council. During the Soviet occupation of Eastern Poland in 1939 he was executed by firing by the KGB ( then NKVD). His wife Apolonia Rymaszewska was deported to Siberia with her two young sons. After the war in 1945, as part of the so called "repatriation", the family was settled in the West of Polish People's Republic in Miedzyrzecz.
  

The following extract from the records of Polish Central Military Archives (Centralne Archiwum Wojskowe) in Rembertów near Warszawa was sent to me by Tomasz Sudol from Warsaw. His e-mail address is : tomasz.sudol@gmail.com Among the records of officers, NCOs, civilian workers in the army and other persons who were awarded various medals during the pre war period of 1918-39, there are the following Rymaszewskis:

Rymaszewska Barbara, born 27.11.1878 in Russia, worked for the Polish Red Cross
Rymaszewska Izabela, born 1892 in Ukraine, awarded Medal of Independence
Rymaszewska-Szymanowska Janina, born 1902 or 1898, daughter of Boleslaw

Rymaszewski Adam that lived in Kaczanowszczyzna
Rymaszewski Aleksander, born 12.01.1898
Rymaszewski Antoni, born 15.01.1913
Rymaszewski Edward, corporal, awarded Cross of Merit (Krzyz Zaslugi)
Rymaszewski Eugeniusz, teacher, born 27.11.1884
Rymaszewski Eugeniusz, officer, born 27.11.1884
Rymaszewski Henryk, born 11.07.1908
Rymaszewski Jan, born 23.06.1894
Rymaszewski Jerzy-Marian, 11.09.1899
Rymaszewski Jerzy, born 24.4.1900 in Tyflis
Rymaszewski Kasper, born 19.01.1892
Rymaszewski Michal, lived in Pinsk (** father of Franek Rymaszewski, the author of this website)
Rymaszewski Piotr, medic, born 24.07.1882, lived in Nieswiez
Rymaszewski Romuald-Remierz, born 1.3.1894
Rymaszewski Seweryn, born 8.1.1882
Rymaszewski Seweryn, corporal, died in prewar times, lived in Grodno
Rymaszewski Seweryn, captain, born 1882
Rymaszewski Seweryn, awarded Virtuti Militari, colonel
Rymaszewski Stanislaw, in Polish Army since 19.12.1921, sergeant
Rymaszewski Wincenty, born 2.12.1900, son of Wincenty,
Rymaszewski Wincenty, private in Polish Army, awarded Krzyz Walecznych
Rymaszewski Wladyslaw, born 1.8.1878
Rymaszewski Wladyslaw, rotmistrz (Polish rank in cavalry), awarded Krzyz Walecznych
Rymaszewski Wladyslaw, doctor, born 15.11.1891 in Nieswiez, lived in Warsaw, Medal of Independence
Rymaszewski Wladyslaw, colonel, born 13.11.1891 in Nieswiez
Rymaszewski Zbigniew, lieutenant, son of Wladyslaw, born 13.06.1916
Rymaszewski Zbigniew Antoni, born 13.06.1916
Rymaszewski Zenon, born 16.7.1910
Rymaszewski Waclaw, born 9.8.1913

The list of recipients of the Order of the Virtuti Militari, Poland's highest military decoration for gallantry in the field, includes the names of:

    • Zbigniew Rymaszewski, (1939-45)
    • Dominik Rymaszewski , (4.5.1970)
    • Seweryn Rymaszewski, colonel (gen.staff), (? -1939)

The order can be compared to British Victoria Cross, French Crois de Guerre or American Medal of Honor.

• Rymaszewska Antonina, married Wincenty Nicziperowicz, coat of arms Ostoja, and they lived in Cecylianów (Cecyliany), district Uzda. They had two children: Waclaw Nicziperowicz (born 1905) and Wanda Nicziperowicz (born 1918). Wincenty, Antonina's husband, was arrested by NKVD in February 1930, together with his brother Aleksander. They were kept in Minsk prison, where they were murdered in the spring of 1930 (probably in Kuropaty, the suburb of Minsk).
  Antonina was deported with her daughter Wanda (age12) and son Waclaw (age 25) via Kotlas to Archangelsk area, to Vyerkhnietoimski district, village Okhtama. They survived there for 8 years. Her son, Waclaw, was accused on 19 July 1938 by the NKVD of "contra-revolutionary activities" and was executed by firing on 25 September 1938. Wanda, aged 18, married another Polish exile from Uzda, Marian Kniszewski, and they eventually moved to Bolkhovo near Orel in 1944, where mother Antonina died.

• Rymaszewska Aleksandra, married Wladyslaw Chelmowski in Kleck (?). They had a daughter Filomena.
  Filomena was born in 1920 in Zascianek Holynka. On 3 March 1941, Filomena Chelmowska, aged 21, married in Kleck, Stanislaw Zmijewski, aged 37, born in Zascianek Holynka, the son of Ludwik Zmijewski and Feliksa Lewkowicz.

• Rymaszewski Julian, the son of Antoni, was born on 15 December 1870 on an estate in Mikhailotsky Igumensky district, Minsk guberniya. As a young man he owned a landed property: Ugorino farmstead, near village Bulushevo in district Pukhovichi (Puchowicze), Minsk guberniya.
  He and his family were registered as of Polish nationality and of Roman-Catholic religion.
  
  

  We will keep out Kulaks from the collective farms ! 1930

  In 1930 they were labeled by Communist ideology as Kulaks ("large, rich farmers"), therefore class enemies. Their property was confiscated and the whole family was deported in 1931 to hard labour in Sverdlovsk province (Ural mountains), Kosinski district, Sergeevski mine. They lived in the barracks in a mining penal colony and worked as wood-cutters at the Jukseevsky timber industry "sovkhoz".  
   In January 1938, Julian was now 67 years old, and his family were:   
      Wife - Magdalena (the daughter of "Faddey" = Thaddeus ?), age 65
      Son - Antoni, age 35
      Son - Julian, age 29
      Daughter - Juzefa (Józefa), age 22 (24?)
      Daughter - Antonina, age 16
    
  On New Year's Eve in 1937, Julian's eldest son Antoni (35) was arrested by Kosinski district NKVD, accused of causing fire to the barrack and forest ( fire to snow covered forest-taiga ? !). 5 days later, in January 1938, Julian, the father, was also arrested, accused of arson in the same fire.
  Julian Rymaszewski, the father, died in prison, in town Perm, after being there for 12 months.
  Antoni was eventually sentenced to 4 years imprisonment, followed by loss of all rights for 3 years.

• Rymaszewski (Rimaszewski) Waclaw, the son of Franciszek, was born in November 1882 at Swidycze (Svidichi),  Slobodo-luchanski area, Kopyl district, Minsk region. After Bolshevik revolution  the whole province was named Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic.

  "The Kulaks are the enemy of the state". Joseph Stalin

  
  Waclaw and his family were registered as of Polish nationality and of Roman-Catholic religion.
  
  In 1930 they were marked by Communist authorities as class enemies by being Kulaks ("large farmers"). Their land property was confiscated and the whole family was deported to hard labour to Ural mountains area, near Kochevo and Perm. They worked as unskilled labourers on grain farming and lived at Ust-Smolva labour-village.

  On 16 December 1937, Waclaw was now 55 years old, and his family were:
     Wife - Marja (Maryia), the daughter of Wincenty (Vintsent),   age 42
     Daughter - Marja (Maryia), age 22, (born in 1915)
     Son - Waclaw (Vatslav), age 9
     Daughter - Wanda (Vanda), age 7
     Son - Edward, age 2
     He also had a brother - Josef (the son of Francis, Franciszek), aged then 69, who emigrated to the USA before the bolshevik revolution.
  
  On 16 December 1937, Waclaw was arrested by the Kochevo area NKVD. He was accused of espionage. What kind of spying could he do, slaving with his family in a remote, backward region of the USSR ?
  Well...., just because he had a brother living in the USA, in the capitalist (i.e. an enemy) country and exchanged an occasional letter with him, where he may have complained about his hard life, it was sufficient reason to accuse him of criticizing Soviet state, treason to socialism, reporting conditions in "workers paradise" which means espionage. By decision of the NKVD "Court of Three" he was sentenced to death and was executed by firing on 2 March 1938, leaving wife and young family in the labour-village.
      Continued below .....
  

Leszek Rymaszewski, now living in Legnica in Poland, discovered the fate of his grandfather from my website.

He wrote to me that he is the descendant of Waclaw, his grandfather, who disappeared without a trace after his arrest by the KGB and deportation to the Urals.

He says that only two of Waclaw's four children survived: daughter Wanda, then aged 7, and son Edward, then aged 2.

Years later, after Stalin's death, young Edward, then aged 23, returned to Poland with his mother in 1958.

Leszek Rymaszewski is Edward's son.

Unfortunately, Edward died last year (2007) without knowing what happened to his own father Waclaw.

In December 2009 Leszek sent me a photograph of his grandparents Waclaw and Maria. >>>

Waclaw Rymaszewski and his wife Maria - photo about 1914
In soviet documents (see Chapter 14) his name is spelled Rimaszewski

See also Leszek's Email in Polish No. 077

SECOND WORLD WAR : 1939 -1945

In 1939, the Soviet Union rejected an offer from the Allies (Great Britain, France and Poland) to form an alliance against Hitler's continuing aggression in Europe. Instead, the Soviet Union signed a Friendship Treaty with Germany which included a secret collusion to divide Poland and Eastern Europe between Germany and the Soviet Union. Accordingly, in September 1939, in support of Hitler's invasion of  Poland from the west, the Red Army attacked Poland from the East.

During the Soviet occupation lasting 21 months (from Soviet attack on Poland to Hitler's betrayal of his Soviet ally, and his invasion of the USSR itself on 22 June 1941), hundreds of thousands of Polish citizens were arrested in eastern Poland and imprisoned by Soviet Secret Police. Their homes and land properties were confiscated.

 

The following Rymaszewskis in the above category are listed below. They were found among records of KARTA, the Polish Information Center on the Repression of Polish citizens in the Soviet Union.

However, KARTA's records are very incomplete .

• Rymaszewski Adam , the son of Stanislaw, born in 1905, deported from Baranowicze district (Karta id. 192345)
• Rymaszewski Adam , the son of Julian, born in 1892, deported to Vologoda district (Karta id. 217541)
• Rymaszewski Adolf , the son of Adam, born in 1919, arrested in (Karta id. 82879)
• Rymaszewski Aleksander , the son of Adam, born in 1900, arrested (Karta id. 48404)
• Rymaszewski Aleksander , the son of Aleksander, born in 1911, arrested (Karta id. 57514, 160225)
• Rymaszewski Aleksander , the son of Aleksander, born in 1911, arrested in Bel (Karta id. 244360)
• Rymaszewski Anatol , the son of Antoni, born in 1910, sent to Vorkuta-2 gulag (Karta id. 147538)
• Rymaszewska Anna , the daughter of Konstanty, born in 1930, deported from Baranowicze district (Karta id. 192326)
• Rymaszewska Anna , the daughter of Pawel, born in 1899, deported from Baranowicze district (Karta id. 192325)
• Rymaszewski Antoni , the son of Romuald, born in 1902, executed in Kozielsk (Karta id. 3286)
• Rymaszewski Antoni , the son of Piotr, born in 1913, executed in Starobielsk (Karta id. 7208)
• Rymaszewski Antoni , the son of Józef, born in 1900, deported from Nieswiez, Baranowicze district (Karta id. 192346)
  
  
• Rymaszewska Barbara , the daughter of Bogdan, born in 1940, deported Vologoda district (Karta id. 217540)
• Rymaszewska Bernarda , the daughter of Adam, born in 1935, deported Vologoda district (Karta id. 217538)
• Rymaszewski Bogdan , the son of Boleslaw, born in 1927, deported from Baranowicze district (Karta id. 192347)
• Rymaszewski Bogdan , the son of Pawel, born in 1904, deported to Vologoda district (Karta id. 217542)
• Rymaszewski Boleslaw , the son of Stanislaw, born in 1897, deported from Baranowicze district (Karta id. 192348)
• Rymaszewski Czeslaw , the son of Hipolit, born in 1912, arrested in (Karta id. 55423)
• Rymaszewski Czeslaw , the son of Boleslaw, born in 1897, state forest ranger, executed in prison in 1944-45? (Karta id. - not listed)
• Rymaszewska Danuta , the daughter of Stanislaw, born in 1936, deported from Baranowicze district (Karta id. 192327)
• Rymaszewska Danuta , the daughter of Franciszek, born in 1936, deported from Brest district (Karta id. 226462)
• Rymaszewski Dominik , the son of Dominik, born in 1904, arrested in (Karta id. 85480)
  
  
• Rymaszewski Edward, the son of Michal, born in 1918, post office employee, sent to Vorkuta gulag (Karta id. 50750)
• Rymaszewski Edward, the son of Adam, born in 1925, deported to Vologoda district (Karta id. 217543)
• Rymaszewska Elzbieta, the daughter of Waclaw, born in 1939, deported from Baranowicze district (Karta id. 192328)
• Rymaszewska Emilia, the daughter of Franciszek, born in 1902, deported Vologoda district (Karta id. 217534)
• Rymaszewski Eugeniusz, the son of Franciszek, born in 1935, deported from Baranowicze district (Karta id. 192349)
• Rymaszewski Eugeniusz, the son of Bogdan, born in 1925, deported to Vologoda district (Karta id. 217544)
• Rymaszewski Franciszek, the son of Jan, born in 1888, executed in Ostaszkow (Karta id. 12925)
• Rymaszewski Franciszek, the son of Florian, born in 1905, arrested Bel (Karta id. 85313)
• Rymaszewska Franciszka, the daughter of Adam, born in 1934, deported from Baranowicze district (Karta id. 192329)
• Rymaszewska Helena, the daughter of Adam, born in 1873, deported from Baranowicze district (Karta id. 192330)
• Rymaszewska Idalia, the daughter of Jozef, born in 1913, deported from Baranowicze district (Karta id. 192331)
  
  
• Rymaszewski Jadwiga, the daughter of Adam, born in 1929, deported from Baranowicze district (Karta id. 192332)
• Rymaszewska Jadwiga, the daughter of Bogdan, born in 1927, deported to Vologoda district (Karta id. 217536)
• Rymaszewski Jan, the son of Piotr, born in 1914, arrested in (Karta id. 53456, 160226)
• Rymaszewski Jan, the son of Wincenty, born in 1907, deported from Brest district (Karta id. 231134)
• Rymaszewski Jan, the son of Piotr, born in 1914, arrested in Bel. (Karta id. 244361)
• Rymaszewska Janina, the daughter of Adam, born in 1927, deported from Baranowicze district (Karta id. 192333)
• Rymaszewska Janina, the daughter of Franciszek, born in 1933, deported from Baranowicze district (Karta id. 192334)
• Rymaszewska Janina, the daughter of Jozef, born in 1911, deported from Baranowicze district (Karta id. 192335)
• Rymaszewska Janina, the daughter of Bogdan, born in 1923, deported to Vologoda district (Karta id. 217535)
• Rymaszewski Jozef, the son of Waclaw, born in 1937, deported from Baranowicze district (Karta id. 192350)
• Rymaszewski Jozef, the son of Jan, born in 1940, deported from Brest district (Karta id. 227499)
• Rymaszewska Jozefa, the daughter of Wincenty, born in 1892, deported to Vologoda district (Karta id. 217533)
  
  
• Rymaszewski Kasper, the son of Adam, born in 1892, executed in Starobielsk (Karta id. 7209)
• Rymaszewski Konstanty, the son of Ignacy, born in 1899, deported from Baranowicze district (Karta id. 192351)
• Rymaszewska Leonarda, the daughter of Jozef, born in 1911, deported from Brest district (Karta id. 228237)
• Rymaszewska Lucja, the daughter of Bogdan, born in 1930, deported to Vologoda district (Karta id. 217537)
• Rymaszewska Maria, the daughter of Adam, born in 1931, deported from Baranowicze district (Karta id. 192336)
• Rymaszewska Maria, the daughter of Franciszek, born in 1913, deported from Baranowicze district (Karta id. 192337)
• Rymaszewska Maria, the daughter of Klemens, born in 1904, deported from Baranowicze district (Karta id. 192338)
• Rymaszewski Michal, the son of Aleksander, born in 1894, public servant, executed in Minsk prison in 1940-41?(Karta id. - not listed)
• Rymaszewska Michalina, the daughter of Jan, born in 1870, deported from Baranowicze district (Karta id. 192339)
• Rymaszewski Mieczyslaw, the son of Czeslaw, born in 1921, sent to Vorkuta gulag (Karta id. - not listed. His memoirs are published on my site. It shows how incompenent Karta is.)
• Rymaszewska Regina, the daughter of Boleslaw, born in 1935, deported from Baranowicze district (Karta id. 192340)
  
  
• Rymaszewski Stanislaw, the son of Boleslaw, born in 1922, arrested in Bel. (Karta id. 67424, 244362)
• Rymaszewski Stanislaw, the son of Boleslaw, born in 1928, deported from Baranowicze district (Karta id. 192352)
• Rymaszewski Stanislaw, the son of Wincenty, born in 1870, deported from Baranowicze district (Karta id. 192353)
• Rymaszewska Stanislawa, the daughter of Antoni (Adam?), born in 1908 (1910?), deported from Nieswiez, Baranowicze district (Karta id. 192341)
• Rymaszewska Stanislawa, the daughter of Bronislaw, born in 1909, deported from Baranowicze district (Karta id. 192342
• Rymaszewska Teresa, the daughter of Franciszek, born in 1938, deported from Baranowicze district (Karta id. 192343)
• Rymaszewska Teresa, the daughter of Bogdan, born in 1935, deported to Vologoda district (Karta id. 217539)
  
  
• Rymaszewski Waclaw, the son of Wincenty, born in 1910, deported from Baranowicze district (Karta id. 192354)
• Rymaszewska Wanda, the daughter of Antoni, born in 1929, deported from Nieswiez, Baranowicze district (Karta id. 192344)
• Rymaszewski Wienczeslaw, the son of Boleslaw, born 1897, POW, shot (Karta id.30209)
• Rymaszewski Wincenty, the son of Adam, born in 1894, arrested in Bel. (Karta id. 85488)
• RymaszewskiWincenty, the son of Waclaw, born in 1940, deported from Baranowicze district (Karta id. 192355)
• Rymaszewski Wladyslaw, the son of Antoni, born in 1891, executed in Starobielsk (Karta id. 7210)
• Rymaszewski Zenon, the son of Jan, born in 1910, executed in Kozielsk (Karta id. 3287)
• Rymaszewski Zygmunt, the son of Michal, born in 1920, arrested in Pinsk, and sent to Vorkutlag gulag. Died on 4 June 1942, aged 21. (Karta id.51374, 120197)
  

The Karta's very incomplete list does not include families of arrested men, their wives and children, parents, etc. who were afterwards deported separately to remote areas in Northern Russia, Northern Kazakhstan and Siberia as slave labour.

Total number of victimised Poles nearly two million people. Half of them had died within the first two years. Below are some examples from other sources, not found in the above Karta Information Centre.

• 1940: Mrs N. Rymaszewska, whose husband was arrested by the NKVD, was deported in 1940 by the Soviets to Pavlodar district, Kazakhstan, Siberia, with five children. She died there from typhoid fever, leaving five orphans: Wiktoria, Irena, Zofia, Jerzy, Tadeusz. [MSR-592].
  
• 1940: Mrs Ewelina Rymaszewska, whose husband was arrested by the NKVD, was deported in 1940 by the Soviets to Pavlodar district, Kazakhstan, Siberia, with four children: Danuta, Anna, Czeslaw, Stanislaw. [MSR-592]
  
• 1940: Zenon Rymaszewski, born on 16.7.1910, the son of Jan Rymaszewski and Zofia Michalowska, completed Technical College in Wilno in 1932, served in infantry in Zambrów, promoted to second lieutenant on 1.1.1937. Murdered by the Soviets in April 1940. Left two children: a daughter Anna and a son Antoni. [MSR-772]

• 1940: Franciszek Rymaszewski, aged 16 (born on 25.10.1923) and his brother Zbigniew, aged 13 (born on 8.5.1926), whose father Michal Rymaszewski (born 1894) was imprisoned and executed by the Soviets, were arrested in Pinsk on 13th April 1940, together with their mother Aleksandra (born 1894) and deported to Northern Kazakhstan, Kokchetav railway station, then to Korsakovka and Matveyevka near Aryk-Balyk.
  

  Above information and records of the fate of many other deported families are not listed by the above mentioned Karta Information Centre and the IPN (The Institute of National Remembrance), run by incompetent bureaucrats !

• 1941: Andrzej Rymaszewski, army major, Wilno - 1941, instructor in ZWP [MSR-386]
  
• 1941: Julia Rymaszewska. Born in 1904, a teacher at Primary School in Kolnica, near Augustów. She was teaching under Soviet occupation of eastern Poland until June 1941, then disappeared without trace during Soviet retreat from advancing Germans. [MSR-225]
  

Polish Homeland Army (Armia Krajowa) fighting Germans in Eastern Borderlands (Kresy) under German occupation.

• July 1944 : Czeslaw Rymaszewski

  Czeslaw Rymaszewski ("Nagan") was in charge of a partisan unit operating in Baranowicze and Nieswiez districts.

  After Soviet troops "liberated" (i.e. occupied) the area, Czeslaw was arrested by the Soviet secret police (NKVD) and disappeared without trace, no doubt killed.

Polish Homeland Army : Photo in the forest : First on the right is sergeant Czeslaw Rymaszewski

The girl in the middle was a messenger who kept contact between partisans and the local Underground.

from - http://www.pamietamy.pl/polski/zolnierze/056.htm - portal no longer found

• 1944 : Anatol Rymaszewski (pseudonym: "Andrzej"), the son of Antoni, born in 1910 (Karta id.147538)

  An article "From Wilno to Warsaw via Workuta", published in a Polish paper "Slowo Powszechne" of 25 July 1990, and an article "Katyn's Echo in Vorkuta" published in a Polish weekly "Zycie Warszawy" of 6 July 1990, describe the interview and story of Anatol Rymaszewski.
  
  (Photo >> : "Andrzej" a year after discharge from Vorkuta gulag)
  
  Anatol Rymaszewski, native of Wilno, a young captain in the Homeland underground Army during German occupation, was in charge of a partisan group which took part in action to liberate Wilno (Vilnius) from the Nazis in 1944 and assist advancing Red Army.

  But when the Soviets entered Vilnius he was arrested by them and sentenced to 15 years hard labour, accused of being in contact with the bourgeois (i.e. enemy) Polish government - in-exile in London. He was sent to Vorkuta gulag in the North, to slave in primitive coal mines.

  
  
  Anatol returned to the Polish People's Republic 13 years later, in 1957. His story could not be published until after 1990 in the free Poland when Soviet Russia collapsed and the truth about communism could be told. Anatol died few years later
  
  
  
  (Photo >>: Anatol in the gulag camp of coal mine nr.6, autumn 1956, 2 years after Stalin's death, one year before discharge from Vorkuta)

During the war, the Germans advancing into Russia discovered in April 1943, the bodies of thousands of Polish officers buried in mass graves in Katyn, Russia. An independent Red Cross commission concluded that they had been killed by Soviet NKVD troops in the spring 1940, during Soviet occupation of eastern Poland, when around 25,000 Polish officers imprisoned by Russians disappeared. Katyn came to be a symbol of communist mass murder and (usual) communist official lies. The Communist Russia lied to the world, claiming that the massacre was committed by Germans. It was not until 1989, when the Russian government under Mr. Gorbachov admitted responsibility for this and other murders,

Ignoring all human and international military rights, on the orders of Stalin, 25,700 Polish officers were individually and bestially murdered by a revolver bullet to the back of the head.

They committed no crime. They were fighting the Nazis and while retreating were taken prisoner by the Russians.

The flower of Polish officer corps and intelligentsia was exterminated. It was political and ideological genocide. In 1943 the Allied leaders knew about it and said nothing. They did not want to antagonize Stalin.

Exhumed bodies of the Polish officers murdered in Katyn in April 1940.

• RYMASZEWSKI  Antoni, the son of Romuald. Born on 14 November 1902. Vice public prosecutor, in army uniform. Letter from Wilno (Vilnius) University, visiting cards, postcards (Ref. AM 2059), writing from 79 pp regiment (Ref. WO 2059, page 32).
  
• RYMASZEWSKI  Zenon, the son of Jan Rymaszewski and Zofia Michalowska. Born  on 16 July 1910 in Wilno (or Ukraine?). Building professional. Second Lieutenant of Army Reserve,  in uniform of 1 pp regiment. Identity disc, photograph (Ref. AM 3258). Left a son named Antoni.
  His surviving granddaughters Agnieszka and Maria Rymaszewska now live in Olsztyn, Poland.

• RYMASZEWSKI Franciszek, the son of Jan. Born on 11 October 1888 in Gasówka Skwarki. Sergeant (plutonowy) of  the Police Force, in uniform.

• RYMASZEWSKI Antoni, the son of Piotr and Anna. Born on 15 January 1913 in Kleck. He was a teacher in Stolpce. As a Lieutenant - Engineer in Army Reserve, mobilized before the beginning of war to the border guards (KOP) in Stolpce.
  
• RYMASZEWSKI Kasper, the son of Adam. Born on 19 January 1892 in Pasieki. Medical doctor in Wilno, in the rank of Captain. (Ref. 2708).
  His surviving daughter Anna now lives in Ottawa, Canada.
  
• RYMASZEWSKI Wladyslaw Jan, the son of Antoni. Born on 15 November 1891 in Nieswiez. Medical doctor, in rank of Colonel (Reserve). Wife: N. Rymaszewska. (Ref. 2709). (As far as I can remember, my father mentioned to me that he had a second cousin, our relative, who was a doctor and lived in Nieswiez. Could it be Wladyslaw?)

From the beginning of the war in September 1939, when Germany and Russia attacked Poland, all the lands where the Rymaszewski families lived, called KRESY, have been incorporated into the Soviet Union.

The area was named "Soviet Western Byelorussia", part of the U.S.S.R. The people were subjected to a Communist terror.

After the end of war, in 1946, any Rymaszewski families that survived extermination, were expelled to new Poland, a communist state created, occupied and controlled by the Soviet Union.

This removal was described as "repatriation". In fact, it was ethnic cleansing of Kresy, the removal of former Polish citizens who were resistant to communist rule.

The Rymaszewskis were dispersed to various locations, mostly in Western parts of Poland called Regained Territories, marked black on the map.

Other Rymaszewskis, like myself, were scattered around the world from the beginning of the 1939 - 1945 war. My fate has thrown me on the shores of Australia. I am the only survivor of our family from Pinsk, Poland.

Year 2002
Rymaszewski families now live in Poland in 80 different districts and towns.    See map >>

Most Rymaszewskis are found in :
• WARSAW (WARSZAWA)  - 46 (16 males, 30 females)
• WROCLAW                          - 45 (22 males, 23 females)
• BIALYSTOK                         - 42 (16 males, 26 females)
• BYDGOSZCZ                       - 37 (15 males, 22 females)
• KOLOBRZEG                      - 29 (14 males, 15 females)
• KROSNO ODRZANSKIE  - 29 (17 males, 12 females)
• ZIELONA GÓRA                 - 24 ( 8 males, 16 females)
• LUBAN                                 - 20 (10 males, 10 females)
• SZCZECIN                           - 19 (  8 males, 11 females)
• KOLO                                   -   9 (  9 males   0 females)
• Other districts                   354 (171 males, 183 females)
                         TOTAL           654 (306 males, 348 females)