Herzog Dukedom of Cēsis 23rd MarkGraft (Marquis) of Wenden
Journey to Australia
Grab interest
Records indicate my parents were both in Unrra- Michelsdorf a displaced persons camp as early as 1944. They were prisoners and lived in the labour camp until they were liberated by the Americans at the end of the Second World War. It was then referred to as the American sector. My Father was only 15 years old. His father the 21st Marquis of Wenden was a high-ranking officer in the Polish army and was killed in the first days of WW1. My parents met and were married during their time there I was born in October of 1946. In 1947 they were allowed to leave Unrra-Michelsdorf camp and moved to Belgium were my father worked as a coal miner until 1952. Both my Sisters were born in Belgium.
Journey to Australia (cont.)
Grab interest
In 1952 the family was sponsored by my mother’s stepsister and The Red Cross together with the Catholic Church to migrate to Australia. I am not aware of what my parents did before the war however records indicate that were farmers and held lands in Poland. I vividly recall the words of my paternal grandmother Francesca Kopytko (nee Lapko) once warned me when I first joined the army as apprentice musician in 1962 that if I was ever posted to eastern Europe particularly Russia not to divulge my sir name to anyone other than those in my own forces as if it became known that I came from a European Noble family they may try to execute me.
At that time Russia was a communist country and it was at the height of the cold War.
Nothing more was explained at the time so I mealy dismiss it as an old woman's Fairy-tale. It wasn’t until 2009 when I extensively started to investigate our Family heritage that I discovered that her fears may have been proven correct as the Lapko's were in fact of European nobility. Dating back to the early 1123 in what was then a small Kingdom known as Livonia and members of the Teutonic order.
My great- great- great Grandparents, were part of Livonia Royalty (now part of Lithuania and Poland under the Lithuanian Polish confederation). living in Belarus in a region called Lapki, being of noble standing after the Russian they constantly lived-in fear for their lives. The Russian Bolshevik Communist in 1905-7 began purging all and any European noble families. This also included the Russian Czar and his family.
The possibility of capture, persecution or even death was a high probability, enough to make them so afraid that they were not willing to divulge any information about themselves to anyone, not even to their children and grandchildren in order to keep them safe.
Pomerania and Livonia were, one of those nations that were constantly being invaded and conquered by various nations such as the Netherlands, Russia, Poland and Lithuania, until finally it was absorbed to become part Polish- Lithuania confederation and is now known as Latvia just one of a number of disputed territories.
After the First World War it was agreed to by various nations to amalgamate these conquered lands to become part of a larger confederation of states and thus it become part of the Lithuania-Polish Confederation under the protection of the Polish King. This allowed those titled landowners to retain their nobility.
However, this also had an extremely negative outcome for them. In return for the polish King’s protection the nobility was forced to forfeit any lands they held title too.
During this period records indicate that many of the noble families of the day either fled to Poland, Latvia or Estonia to find a safe haven for If they had been captured by the Russian’s Bolshevik Communists it would have meant an automatic death sentence as the Russians Communists, we're executing all noble families of the time including Czar Nicholas of Russia and his entire immediate Royal family.
Arriving in Australia
Birth Certificate for Petro Lapko
Birth Certificate for Petro Lapko
Birth Certificate for Petro Lapko
Official Conformation
Birth Certificate for Petro Lapko
Birth Certificate for Petro Lapko
Time and place of birth
Unrra Michelsdorf camp
in D.P Camp Cham - Bei.
Identity Papers
Birth Certificate for Petro Lapko
Identity Papers
Birth record
German Camp Identity documents
Identity Papers
German Camp Identity documents
German Camp Identity documents
Identity Papers
German Camp Identity documents
German Camp Identity documents
German Camp Identity documents
Arriving in Australia
Birth Certificate for Petro Lapko
Birth Certificate for Petro Lapko
Birth Certificate for Petro Lapko
Official Conformation
Birth Certificate for Petro Lapko
Birth Certificate for Petro Lapko
Time and place of birth
Unrra Michelsdorf camp
in D.P Camp Cham - Bei.
More Documentation
Birth Certificate for Petro Lapko
More Documentation
French ID Papers
More Documentation
French ID Papers
French ID Papers
French ID Papers
Camp ID Papers
French ID Papers
French ID Papers