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 Bernard Kowalski died in West
London, England leaving an estate of approximately £100,000.
He had not left a will and had no
known relatives and consequently
his estate was in danger of passing to the Crown.
In an attempt to trace kin initial enquiries were made
with the local authority and neighbours of the deceased which
revealed that had been an only child born in the Warsaw area
of Poland on 4 March 1918. He fought in the Polish Free Army
during WW11. Demobilised in England at the end of the war,
Bernard decided to remain there having
lost his family in Poland. He settled in West London
in 1957 and moved into his home in Ealing in May 1960. He
originally worked for a curtain company based in the City
of London before seeking more local employment as a carpenter
prior to retirement. Bernard Kowalski had been married to
Dora who had died five years before him. The couple had no
children.
In view of the information furnished
to Fraser & Fraser
by neighbours and the local authority who had searched through
his personal papers it was assumed that Bernard Kowalski
would have no close relatives and it would be a matter of
undertaking research in Poland to trying to locate more distant
relations, perhaps cousins, who would be entitled to share
in his estate.
A copy of the Military Service Record of Corporal Bernard
Kowalski born on 4 March 1918 disclosed that his life story
was in reality not quite as he had told it and that he did
have immediate family.
When
Bernard Kowalski had enlisted in the Polish Free Army,
he had done so under his original name of Wladyslaw Kaczmarek.
He was the son of Jozef Kaczmarek and Bronislawa Nowak, born
on 5 April 1914 in Breslau, Germany. He changed his name
and birth details in 1946/7 in an attempt to conceal the
fact that he was committing bigamy.
CONFESSION:
Fortunately, the Service papers contained the Statement
of an Englishwoman, Mrs Elizabeth Mary Kowalski made at Hereford
Police Station in May 1951 which provided a further explanation.
Elizabeth Mary Jones had apparently met Bernard Kowalski
during the summer of 1945 whilst he was stationed in Herefordshire
and serving as a Polish soldier.
She gave birth to his daughter, Susan in September 1946 and
they subsequently married at the Register Office in the district
of Hereford in January 1947. Kowalski was demobilised in
the summer of 1947 and gained employment in London. His wife
and daughter remained in Hereford but he visited them regularly.
It was whilst Elizabeth was pregnant with their second child,
Jennifer, born in April 1948 that Bernard Kowalski revealed
his true identity and confessed that he was already
married and that his wife in Poland had traced him through
the Polish Embassy in London.
The Service record showed that the abandoned wife in Poland
was Genowefa Kaczmarek nee Majewska born in 1915 who in the
1940s was living in Opole, Poland with her three children
from her marriage to Wladyslaw Kaczmarek; Elzbieta born in
1940, Tadeusz born in 1941 and Barbara born in 1944.
There was also a note mentioning that Elzbieta Zawila was
attempting to trace her father through the British Red Cross
but sadly there was nothing to say whether or not she actually
was put in touch with him.
Before turning our attentions
to the deceased’s wife
and children in Poland some additional research was undertaken
in England.
"WIFE" BY
NAME ONLY:
We could trace no
marriage for Bernard Kowalski to Dora Margaret Robinson
who was known as Mrs Kowalski and whom Bernard described
as his wife when he registered her death.
This was probably due to the fact that there is no record
of Bernard Kowalski and Elizabeth Mary Kowalski formerly
Jones obtaining a divorce and Bernard not wanting to get
caught for a second bigamous marriage.
We managed to trace Bernard’s
daughters, Susan and Jennifer both of whom are married
and living in Herefordshire. They had no knowledge of their
father beyond what their mother had told them about him.
Elizabeth Mary Kowalski formerly Jones is still alive and
is now Mrs Anderson having married again in 1955. Although
we have found no documentary proof, she maintains that
her marriage to Bernard was annulled.
Bigamous
Marriage:
Even though she had been married
to Bernard Kowalski and they appeared not to have divorced,
Elizabeth Mary Anderson formerly Kowalski
nee Jones was not entitled to claim his estate as she had
never been his lawful wife. Whether Susan and Jennifer
would be entitled to share in their father’s
estate was dependant on whether his first wife, Genowefa
Kaczmarek formerly Majewska was still alive in Poland.
Enquiries in Poland located Genowefa
Kaczmarek living in Opole. Her husband, Wladyslaw Kaczmarek
otherwise Bernard Kowalski had never divorced her. She
was therefore, the lawful widow of
the deceased. In accordance
with English intestacy law, Bernard Kowalski’s estate passed in it’s
entirety to his widow, Genowefa Kaczmarek. The five children
of the deceased from his two marriages had no entitlement
to share in their father’s estate.
Sadly, Genowefa
Kaczmarek died before the administration of her husband’s
estate was finalised and she could benefit from the money.
Her entitlement did however, form part of her own estate
and passed in accordance with Polish intestacy law to her
three children, Elzbieta Zawila, Tadeusz Kaczmarek and Barbara
Rakowska.
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