Transcript Slide 1

Mordko Krzepicki
8 July 1909 – 24 August 1952
Early Information

My father was born in Wielun, Poland, 200 kms SW Warsaw, 80km SW of Lodz

He was married in Wielun on 20 September 1935

His wife’s name was Fela Habelska

He was divorced on 19 September 1950 (Katowice, Poland)

His parents were Szmul Krzepicki and Chana Fajwlowicz

He arrived in Melbourne on 28 January 1949 on the Napoli

He spent his first 30 years in Poland

He spent the war years in

Russia

Persia

Other Army theatres

United Kingdom
1939-42
1942
1942-46
1946-48
1909-1939
Source: National Archives
& Wielun Certificates
FAJWLOWICZ (LOVETT) FAMILY TREE
LOVETT FAMILY TREE
Mordko Krzepicki c.1946
3rd Rifle Battalion, 3rd Carpathian Infantry Division, 2nd Polish Corps, 8th British Army
Mordko Krzepicki, with mates in Palestine 1942
Mordko Krzepicki, with mates in Palestine 1942
Mordko Krzepicki in Palestine, 1942
MILITARY HISTORY
Sources of information
APC Polish Historical Disclosures
Ministry of Defence
RAF Northolt (Barbara Kroll)
Middlesex United Kingdom
Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum, Princes Gate, London
Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace
Stanford University, California
MILITARY HISTORY: Cpl M Krzepicki
July 1941
Released from Siberian labour camp after the
Polish/Soviet Agreement
Anders Army
Polish Forces under British Command (Iran)
1942 - 43
3rd Rifle Battalion 3rd Carpathian Infantry Division
2nd Polish Corps 8th British Army
Middle East (Iraq-Palestine-Egypt)
1944 - 46
Italy
1946 - 48
UK, Europe
MILITARY HISTORY: Cpl M Krzepicki
1943 - 44
Sangro and Rapido Rivers, Sth Apennines
Battle for Monte Cassino
Ancona/Goths line of enemy defences
Rearguard of 8th British Army
Northern Apennines
1945
Senio River
Bologna/Lombardy Plain
Divorcee, Sept.19th 1950, wife presumed dead
Mordko Krzepicki and Edna Dobson
THE EUREKA MOMENT

Daniel Mendelsohn at the
Jewish Holocaust Museum, May 2007

“The Lost” (550 pages)

Stephen Spielberg Visual Testimonies at Monash University

Eureka!!!!
MY FATHER’S FIRST WIFE’S FAMILY
Syma Habelska * m Berl Benesz *(Spielberg Visual Testimony)
Nuchem Chabelski
Rosie m Jack Chrapot (mother Lola Chrapot)
m
Chaja Blic
four children…..
Fela Habelska * m Mordko Krzepicki 1935 #, divorced post WW2
m (2nd marriage)*
Helen * m C Sanaki
2 children…..
# Migrated to Melbourne 1949
* Migrated to Melbourne 1951
KRZEPICKI FAMILY TREE
Lieb (Arie) KRZEPICKI
m
Source: Yad Vashem, except *
Rakhel ?
Szmul b.1889 d1941 m
Khana (Chana) Fajwlowicz b1890 d1941 Treblinka
Yekhiel
b?
Moshe (Menakhem)
b1909
d1944 Lodz
m Frida BOMS b1911 d1944 Lodz
Yeshayahu b1940/41
Mordke *
b1909 d1952 Melbourne
Rakhel
b1914
d1941 Treblinka
Tova/Gitel/Gizela
b1918
d1941 Treblinka
Kaza
b1920
d1941 Treblinka
Abram Dawid *
b 1913
?
Yaakov b1882 d1942 Chelmo m
???
Frida (Fidel) GRANEK b1885 d1942 Chelmo
Arie
b?
Rakhel
b1914
d1942
Chelmo
Lea
b1922
d1942
Chelmo
POLAND
Wielun
Wielun: Plac Legionow
Wielun: Street Scenes
Wielun Public Buildings
Wielun Synagogue
Destroyed September 1939
Wielun –
Statues from the Communist era
Wielun Urzad Stanu Cywilnego
Waiting at the USC
Wielun: Regional Museum
Petje and Mr Jan Ksiazek,Deputy
Director of the Museum
ul. Turowska, 19
My Father’s last known address in Wielun
His family home? His wife’s family home?
His home with his wife?
WIELUN BUSINESSES
Source: 1929 Business Directory, Wielun
Lingerie
M. Krzepicka
ul. Fabryczana
Fabrics
Ch.Krzepicki
ul. Kaliska
Confectionery
A. Krzepicki
ul. Kaliska
Dyers
B. Krzepicki
ul. Kaliska
Bookshop
L. Krzepicki
ul. Fabryczana
Office provisions
B. Krzepicki
ul. Kaliska
Food traders
L. Krzepicki
ul. Kaliska
Grains
L. Krzepicki
Sz.Krzepicki
ul. Fabryczana
ul. Barbary
Source: Yale Reisner, JHI Warsaw
INFORMATION FROM THE JEWISH HISTORICAL INSTITUTE WARSAW
Krzepickis in Pre-War Wielun

Leib
a member of the Communist Party in 1930s

Wowe (Zev)
manager of a library, member of a Zionist
organisation

Abram Dawid
convicted for communist activities, 1933,1937
My father’s brother?


Berl
Society of Jewish Craftsmen in late 1920s

Michel
on the Board of the Socialist Party

Michel & Lewek
one of the first Jewish families in Wielun.
Bought real estate after 1806, when Jewish
people were allowed to buy property
Source: Yale Reisner / Wielun Yizkor book
Wielun: Zajazd Boryna
USC at Boleslawiec
(24km from Wielun)
USC at Praszka
(19km from Wielun)
Praszka Synagogue – now a cinema
Towns near Wielun
Ruins of the Krzepice Synagogue
Jewish Cemetery at Krzepice
Lodz: Radegast Station and Memorial
Jewish Cemetery Lodz
Jewish Cemetery Lodz, established 1811
Graves dug prior to liberation
The Ghetto Field, burial place of
43,000
Lodz: Art Nouveau Buildings
Lodz: ul. Piotrkowska
- Arthur Rubenstein memorial
“Manufaktura”
Israel Poznanski’s factory
converted to a
“Chadstone”
Another factory complex being converted to a 5-star hotel
Museum of Textiles, Lodz
The Grand Hotel, Lodz
Podgorze (Krakow):
pl.Bohaterow Getta
Entrance to Oskar Schindler’s
factory
Sample Page from Ministry of Defence
Personnel Records
Mordko Krzepicki
8 July 1909 – 24 August 1952