Born: March 25, 1903, Volyhnia, Poland
Died: February 28, 1993, Poland
Buried: parish cemetery in Ruja (Lower Silesia voivodship), Poland
Family: parents – father Andrzej, mother Zofia (nee Kulka); wife Karolina (nee Róg) (1913-1997), children – Zofia, Katarzyna, Aleksandra, Andrzej, Tadeusz
Fate before 1 Polish Armored Division:
Arrested by the Soviets in early November 1940. On November 25, 1940, he was deported to Siberia. From December 18, 1940, he was imprisoned in a labor camp in Łogwa. On February 18, 1942, in Chymkent (Kazakh SSR), he was conscripted into the Polish Army.
Military service:
From 1942, a soldier of the 1st Polish Armored Division – he served in the Workshop Company. He covered the entire combat route of the Division from France to Germany. A passionate photographer and painter. During the Division’s autumn stop in Breda, he painted several paintings and immortalized everything in photos.
Post-war fate:
Through the Red Cross in Poland, he found his wife and two children, whom he had not seen for 7 years. He returned to Poland in 1947. Together with his family, he ran a farm in Ruja (Lower Silesia). He was called Andersiak by the then authorities, which is why he was unable to get a paid job. Despite this, he and his wife raised five children. Buried in the parish cemetery in Ruja.
author: Witold Gudyś (Polska Grupa Pamięci Historycznej)
source: Józef Zazula’s diary
Paintings by Józef Zazula painted in Breda – under the common title ‘For Our Freedom and Yours’
