The Lisowski family was from the Jurewicze village in the Grodno Region. In 1950, Witold Lisowski for refusing the necessary wood delivery was sentenced for 7 years of imprisonment and confiscation of property. He was doing his sentence in Irkutsk.

His wife Genowefa and their children: Stanisława, Elwira, Łucja and Romualda in 1952 were taken to Pachta-Aral sovkhoz in Kazakhstan. Witold was set free from the prison after Stalin’s death and soon joined his family. To celebrate the father’s return, the collective farm authorities gave the family a day off from work, a kilogram of wheat and half a liter of oil.

In 1956 the family returned to Poland.

“We had some money left that we couldn’t bring back to the country. So we put the whole family together and bought a radio which we took on the way back. In Poland, it served us for many years.”

(from Romuald Lisowski’s memoirs)