Miroslava Igorevna Efimov
Archivist of the Catholic Parish of the Most Holy Mother of God

Translated by Fr. Daniel Maurer, CJD

The first spelling listed for each first name and family name is in Polish, although perhaps without the special accent marks. The spelling of the patronimic name (in parentheses) is in Russian transliterated into American English spelling based on pronunciation. The patronimic is a second name that all citizens of Russians use, based on their father's first name with the suffix "ovich" or "evich" for men and "ovna" or "evna" for women.

[First Name (Patronimic) Family Name]

1. Anton (Ivanovich) Gerasimuk (1878-1938).
2. Waleriy (Antonovich) Gerasimuk (1914-1938). Son of Anton. (In American English we would spell the first name Valery or Valerie.) Both were arrested at the home of Anton on July 19, 1937, and charged with taking part in counter-revolutionary, underground activities of a Polish religious organization. They were found guilty by a decree of the UNKVD (forerunner of KGB) on December 30, 1937 and sentenced to death. They were executed by firing squad at 6:00 PM on February 3, 1938.
3. Sigizmund (Vladislavovich) Brzezinski (1892-1938). First husband of our living parishioner, Sophia (Mikhailovna) Brzezinski, age 90 (year of birth 1911). Arrested while praying with other Catholics on September 2, 1937, and charged with the establishment of an underground, counter-revolutionary Polish religious organization. He pleaded innocent, but was found guilty and executed by firing squad at 6:00 PM on February 3, 1938.
4. Jan (Jeronimovich) Strudzinski (1878-1938). Arrested on September 13, 1937 on two charges: 1. organizing and directing the underground activities of a counter-revolutionary, religious organization; 2. espionage for Japan for which he was also paid illegally in foreign (hard) currency. He pleaded guilty, the only Catholic parishioner to plead guilty of any charges. He was executed by firing squad on February 3, 1938.
5. Marcin (Petrovich) Maliniewski (1880-1938). The last trustee of the parish when it was legally liquidated and all church property confiscated in 1935, he was arrested on September 13, 1937 and charged with membership in a counter-revolutionary, underground religious organization of Poles. He maintained his innocence, but admitted to praying at home. He was sentenced to death, and executed by firing squad at 6:00 PM on February 3, 1938. On July 30, 1959 he was posthumously declared innocent of all charges by a decision of the Military Tribunal of the Russian Pacific Navy.