{"id":44997,"date":"2026-04-09T08:58:04","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T06:58:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sybir.bialystok.pl\/?p=44997"},"modified":"2026-04-13T13:05:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T11:05:13","slug":"a-meeting-centered-around-the-memories-of-wiktor-zyzdryn-has-come-to-an-end","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sybir.bialystok.pl\/en\/a-meeting-centered-around-the-memories-of-wiktor-zyzdryn-has-come-to-an-end\/","title":{"rendered":"He once dreamed of an incredibly long and strong thread\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

He once dreamed of an incredibly long and strong thread. Upon waking, a fellow prisoner from the labor camp said to him: \u201cWiktor, hold on\u2014because a long and happy life still awaits you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wiktor \u017byzdry\u0144 came from the area around Lida, in territories that are now part of Belarus. He graduated from the State Technical School in Vilnius and became a surveyor. During World War II, he served as a soldier in the Home Army. Two months before the end of the war, he was captured by the Soviets. He was quickly tried and sentenced to death for his pro-independence activities; the sentence was later commuted to twenty years in labor camps. Wiktor \u017byzdry\u0144 spent nearly eleven years there. He was released under an amnesty following Stalin\u2019s death. Thanks to the efforts of his family\u2014especially his sister, Anna Grygielewicz\u2014he was able to return to Poland in January 1957.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Reading accounts of people who endured such extreme experiences, we often wonder how they managed to cope and how they were able to return to \u201cnormal life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat kind of man and what kind of father was Wiktor \u017byzdry\u0144?\u201d asked Marcin Zwolski, PhD, head of the Research Department, during a conversation with the author\u2019s children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor my father, family was sacred. He returned to Poland at the age of 45. After such experiences, what were the chances of starting a family and having children? What sustained him was hope\u2014that a miracle would happen, that he would return to Poland, start a family, get married, and have children. He dreamed of raising them, seeing them grow up, and watching how they would manage in life. He had immense gratitude within him. He used to say that in Vorkuta, it was his faith in God and the belief that he would endure everything that kept him going. He remained constantly grateful to God for all that he had been given, despite everything he had gone through,\u201d recalled Wiktor\u2019s son, Grzegorz \u017byzdry\u0144.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDad always saw what he received as a gift. He was simply grateful. He didn\u2019t dwell on what he had lost or relive it; instead, he gave thanks for what he had\u2014and that is what he taught us: to be optimistic. He was very kind and trusting toward others. Perhaps these qualities are why he lived a long life, with inner peace and a deep sense of joy,\u201d added his daughter, Beata Dygulska.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Wiktor \u017byzdry\u0144\u2019s faith and trust also shine through the pages of his memoirs:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTrying to take my eyes off the walls and my thoughts away from the grim reality, after every meal I would kneel or squat on the cement and pray fervently. I recited all the prayers I could remember, and at the end I improvised in my own words. Carried away in prayer, I felt great relief in my soul and heart\u2014so much so that it seemed to me as if I were at the Gate of Dawn in Vilnius at that very moment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wiktor \u017byzdry\u0144 began writing his memoirs after retiring. The notes circulated among his closest family members until, years later, they were transcribed and edited by his daughter, Beata Dygulska. One of the typescripts found its way into the hands of Ma\u0142gorzata Perigot-Grygielewicz. Her grandmother Anna and Wiktor were siblings\u2014it was Anna who fought tirelessly for his release, ensuring that his story survived within the family for generations. Thanks to Ma\u0142gorzata Perigot-Grygielewicz, the memoirs were eventually donated to the Sybir Memorial Museum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAfter reading them, we came to the conclusion that they were ready to be published as a book,\u201d said Anna Py\u017cewska from the Research Department, the editor of the text.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The memoirs were published under the title Man \u2013 Shovel, Man \u2013 Pickaxe. In this way, Wiktor \u017byzdry\u0144 continues to tell his story, passing it on to future generations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The author\u2019s family, including his children, attended the meeting in large numbers and warmly shared their memories of their father.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":44961,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_editorskit_title_hidden":false,"_editorskit_reading_time":0,"_editorskit_is_block_options_detached":false,"_editorskit_block_options_position":"{}","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44997","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHe once dreamed of an incredibly long and strong thread\u2026 - Muzeum Pami\u0119ci Sybiru<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sybir.bialystok.pl\/en\/a-meeting-centered-around-the-memories-of-wiktor-zyzdryn-has-come-to-an-end\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"He once dreamed of an incredibly long and strong thread\u2026 - 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