Alicja ('Ala')

Maria Alicja (Ala) Ferenc was born in Ostrow, Poland in 1932 to Ignacy Ferenc and Zofia Kaczynska.  She had three brothers - Zbigniew (who died in infancy), Ryzsard and Bogdan. Ala was just eight (8) years old when she was deported, along with her family, to Siberia.  Ryzsard was arrested for stealing during their deportation and was never seen again. 

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After their time on "Stalin's all-inclusive holiday" (as Wlodek likes to call it) had come to an end, Ala's father Ignacy, joined Anders Army and travelled ahead to Tehran.  They never saw him again.  Ala and her remaining family travelled to Tehran, then to India before arriving in East Africa along with 12,500 other people.  They were housed in one of four large camps, called Tengeru, which was located on the foothills of Mount Meru in Tanganyika.  The houses were built of timber and clay with thatched rooves which were cool in the hot weather and warm in the cold. 

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Ala came to the United Kingdom aboard the M/V Dundalk Bay in September 1950, along with her mother Zofia, brother Bogdan and grandmother Franciszka, docking at Hull.  Their next temporary home would be Springhill Lodges, where Ala met Franciszek Pruski.  She was helping a family friend light a fire in a stove when the friend had to leave and asked Ala to tend the fire.  Ala, not too keen to be stuck looking after a stove, filled the stove with loads of coal and went home.  Franciszek and his friends came to the room in response to all the smoke pouring out of it.

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Ala's early working life was spent at the fruit cannery in Pershore.

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​In 1951, she married Franciszek in Chipping Camden Church, with whom she settled in Coventry and had two sons - Andrew and Christopher.  ​In 1972, Franciszek died and Ala remarried Josef Gradkowski in 1978, who passed away in 2010.​  Ala retained strong ties with her family in Poland.  Along with her cousin Stan Ferenc, she kept in contact with Wlodek's family in Australia and her Aunt Grazyna and her family in Poland.

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After marriage, Ala worked at GEC, along with Franciszek and her in later years, as a cleaner for Peter and Jill Seargeant at their surgeries.

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Ala was an active member of the church, crocheting a cloth for the alter and receiving an award from the Pope.  She found a passion for QVC (an online shopping channel); something I recall her passionately talking about when I visited her in Coventry.  She was just starting to use an iPad

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I was lucky enough to meet Ala twice; once whilst visiting her son Chris in Wales and a second time when  Wlodek, Sherrill and I visited her in her home town of Coventry.  I recall fondly on that first visit, she held my face in her hands and said "I never thought I'd get to meet one of Wlodek's daughters".​

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Ala passed in October 2022 after a short illness.​It is thanks to Ala's notes that we know as much as we do about our family's incredible journey.  Thank you Ala. xxx