The 1st Independent Polish Parachute Brigade

(1 Samodzielna Brygada Spadochronowa)

Index Of The Repressed

Over 316,000 Records

The "Index Of The Repressed" is a database that contains records of persons who from 17 September 1939 came under Soviet rule and suffered in Soviet prisons, Gulags, labour camps, collective farms and exile. It is not a conclusive list, but it is extensive!

In 2013 the Index Of The Repressed that was formerly managed by Karta, became part of the Institute For National Remembrance.

Accessing The Database

A little more info about the database is available here.

Index Of The Repressed Versus Memorial

The Index Of The Repressed was built from 2 main sources of information:

  • Questionnaires, memories and reports from the Archives of the Siberians Association, Warsaw.
  • Information obtained from the computer base of the Office for War Veterans and Victims of Oppression in Warsaw

What this means is that if someone did not receive or fill in a questionnaire (these were circulated after repatriation to Poland) then they are unlikely to be on this database. I cant comment on the information supplied by the Office for War Veterans etc in Warsaw.

Conversely, Memorial is a Russian website built from NKVD records i.e arrest warrants etc. Not all deported persons were issues arrest warrants and so we can see how a very large amount of people (600,000+ ??) are not on these databases.