Object numberM2017/014:002
DescriptionJacket worn by Wladzimierz Klunicki while imprisoned in concentration camps. The jacket was made with no pockets, but inside of the jacket on the left hand side a large pocket has been stitched on. There is a remnant of hand stitching in the shape of a rectangle which held his prisoner identification number. Part of uniform that includes striped concentration camp trousers (M2017/014:001).
Wladzimierz Klunicki (also known as Wally Konezki) was born on 20 May 1912 in the city of Baranavichy, Poland, to Radziwil and Helena Klunicki. Religion: Greek Orthodox, Nationality Polish. Little is known about his early life. He attended school from 1919 to 1926 but did not go on to university, instead spending a number of years at sea working for a shipping company. During the early years of the war he became a carpenter and worked on the railroads in Baranavichy; he joined the partisans where he was actively involved in attacking German supply lines. He was arrested November 1942, detained by the Gestapo and imprisoned for destroying German propaganda. Specific details remain unknown. Wladzimierz’s family was, in the meantime, seized by the Soviets and sent to Siberia. They were just a few of the millions who were deported in this period as a means of ethnic cleansing.
Wladzimierz was deported to Auschwitz 17 June 1943; he was transferred to Ravensbrück in August 1944, then to Sachsenhausen from February 1945 to April 1945. He was then transferred to Schwerin in April 1945 where he was liberated by the Soviets. After the war he spent time in a DP camp in Germany where he met Luba Kucharska whom he later married in Sydney.
Towards the end of 1948, he left for Australia on board the 'Wooster Victory', although official documents state he preferred Canada as his destination. Fluent in Russian, Polish and Ukrainian (he described himself as Ukrainian when applying for resettlement) and with extensive experience as both a sailor and carpenter, he was nevertheless regarded as ‘unskilled’ and employed as a builders’ labourer.
He rarely talked about his experiences during the war. His identification number tattoo had been replaced with that of a heart. He was left physically and psychologically scarred by his experience in the camps, spending much of the remainder of his life in hospital. He died in 1974 at the age of 62.
For whatever reason peculiar to Wladzimierz, he decided to keep his uniform from the concentration camps, bringing it with him to Australia. The uniform lay unknown and out of sight in a garden shed for decades after his death, until its unintended discovery by his daughter, who was encouraged to donate it to the Sydney Jewish Museum.
Wladzimierz Klunicki (also known as Wally Konezki) was born on 20 May 1912 in the city of Baranavichy, Poland, to Radziwil and Helena Klunicki. Religion: Greek Orthodox, Nationality Polish. Little is known about his early life. He attended school from 1919 to 1926 but did not go on to university, instead spending a number of years at sea working for a shipping company. During the early years of the war he became a carpenter and worked on the railroads in Baranavichy; he joined the partisans where he was actively involved in attacking German supply lines. He was arrested November 1942, detained by the Gestapo and imprisoned for destroying German propaganda. Specific details remain unknown. Wladzimierz’s family was, in the meantime, seized by the Soviets and sent to Siberia. They were just a few of the millions who were deported in this period as a means of ethnic cleansing.
Wladzimierz was deported to Auschwitz 17 June 1943; he was transferred to Ravensbrück in August 1944, then to Sachsenhausen from February 1945 to April 1945. He was then transferred to Schwerin in April 1945 where he was liberated by the Soviets. After the war he spent time in a DP camp in Germany where he met Luba Kucharska whom he later married in Sydney.
Towards the end of 1948, he left for Australia on board the 'Wooster Victory', although official documents state he preferred Canada as his destination. Fluent in Russian, Polish and Ukrainian (he described himself as Ukrainian when applying for resettlement) and with extensive experience as both a sailor and carpenter, he was nevertheless regarded as ‘unskilled’ and employed as a builders’ labourer.
He rarely talked about his experiences during the war. His identification number tattoo had been replaced with that of a heart. He was left physically and psychologically scarred by his experience in the camps, spending much of the remainder of his life in hospital. He died in 1974 at the age of 62.
For whatever reason peculiar to Wladzimierz, he decided to keep his uniform from the concentration camps, bringing it with him to Australia. The uniform lay unknown and out of sight in a garden shed for decades after his death, until its unintended discovery by his daughter, who was encouraged to donate it to the Sydney Jewish Museum.
Production date 1939 - 1945
Subjectuniforms, WWII, concentration camps
Object nameconcentration camp clothing
Materialfibres (fabrics)
Dimensions
- Jacket height: 705.00 mm
Jacket width: 745.00 mm
Jacket width: 540.00 mm
Credit lineSydney Jewish Museum Collection, Donated by Helen Klunicki