Stefan

Memorabilia - Samuel (Stefan)

Mathematician, born 1913 in Krakow. Quite a few documents have been located, amongst them excerpts from Stefan's personnel file maintained by the Polish Communist Party.

The Dossiers

In the communist era, the authorities were required, to keep details about each person's political views,, attitudes, reliability, social origin (very important), religious affiliations, etc. Presumably, it often contained incriminating material, if available, for possible future blackmail. These dossiers were maintained by the Polish Communist Party (PZPR – United Polish Worker’s Party) in cooperation with the security apparatus.
In Stefan's case these documents were maintained in his personnel file at the Wroclaw Polytechnic. Vladimir obtained these and translated the contents which can be viewed here.

Bits and Pieces

Stefan's birth Certificate extract, issued by the Jewish Records Office in Krakow in 1946. It quotes the name of his father and mother (note LIND) and his date of birth.
Below is a certificate issued to Stefan on 1946 enabling him to reside in Gliwice
and below that is Stefan's identity document issued in 1947

Like his brother Janek, Stefan was a recipient of a couple of medals :below is a certificate for the 10 year anniversary of People's Polandthen front and back of a certificate awarding Stefan a Gold Cross for "services rendered" (presumably to the State)
Ed. The original medals have not been located).

Travel directive for Stefan to Travel to Moscow from Stalinsk

Bunch of officialRubberstamps hereDate: June 19, 1944

Travel directiveThe governing body of the Sergio Orzhonikidze Siberian Metallurgical Institute in Stalinsk (Kemerov oblast’) issues to the Scientific Worker Comrade Djament Samuel Isakovitch a directive to travel to Moscow. This is to insure that he increases his professional competence and to give him an opportunity to consult with the experts in his field. This travel is to take place from the 1-st of July 1944 until the end of the fall semester of the 1944/45 academic year. We ask all that he be given the appropriate consideration and help in this matter.
Vice-rector of the Siberian Metallurgical InstituteIn charge of Scientific and Didactical workProfessor Doctor Grdina (Signed) Translated by Vladimir Drobot

Caricatures

These post war caricatures of Samuel Djament (now known as Stefan Drobot) were drawn by Polish contemporary mathematician Leon Jesmanowicz.

Permission for Samuel DJAMENT to change his name to Stefan DROBOT

1946-08-02_stefan_name_change.pdf

This document was issued by the Polish Authorities in 1946. It is a permit for Samuel Djament to change his name to Stefan Drobot.
Province of Krakow Stamp duty of 500 zlotysAdministration Section receipt number 1193 Krakow Issued 2/8/46
CHANGE OF SURNAME AND NAME ACT
In accordance with articles …... dated 10th November 1945 concerning changes of names and surnames ….. the provincial bureau permits Mr SAMUEL DJAMENT, born 7th August 1913 in Krakow, son of Ignacy and Ewa (nee Lind) to change his birth name “Djament” to surname “Drobot” and first name “Samuel” to “Stefan”.
The receipt of this permission gives Mr Samuel Djament the right to use surname and first name of “Stefan Drobot”.
Signed by A. BanachDivision Director

Translated by Adam Rutkowski

Stefan's Employment book in Russia

Stefan_russian_employment book.pdf

Front page of Stefan's Employment book
<-------- on the left is a .pdf of the entire employment book.The reader is welcome to browse through the contents

Subsequent page of Stefan's Employment bookNext two pages are similar.

Front Page Family name: DjamentFirst name: SamuelPatronymic: IsacovitchYear of the birth: 1913
Education (underline): elementary, middle, higher Profession: Scientific worker Signature: Djament S. I. Date: April 7, 1940
Translated by Vladimir Drobot

The rest of the employment booklet is organized as a table. The translation is given on the next page. Some of the items in the Justification column refer to a decree/regulation or what not. Some it is just a number, a local bureaucrat would know what is meant. I didn’t, so in some cases I put the question mark. The last two pages consist of printed instructions. They are actually signed by V. Molotov, a fairly big cheese in the Soviet Union. I did not translate these. Most of the enterprises in the Soviet Union were named after some luminary, like Stalin Factory, Lenin Shoe Repairing Enterprise, Marx Trolley, etc. The Siberian Metallurgical Institute was named after S. Orzhonikidze, a notable personality during the 1917 revolution. This custom is more of a Russian thing, it persists even today, with communists replaced by saints. In the US there are vestiges of this: Washington Bridge, Lincoln Tunnel etc., but in Soviet Union/Russia it is much more common. It’s a bit of a pain to translate, but I did the best I could.

Translation of one of the "table" pages ---------------------------------->

Stefan Employment Book translate.pdf

Application to change citizenship

1968-04-12_request_to_change_citizenship.pdf

Translated by Vladimir Drobot
217 Irving WayColumbus, Ohio 45214 Aoril 12th, 1968 To The National Council of People’s Republic of Poland via Consular sectionPolish Embassy in the USA2224 Wyoming Ave N.W.Washington, 8, D.C. 20008 We respectfully request the permission to change our Polish citizenship, because recently we became the citizens of the USA. Stefan DROBOTNatalie DROBOTKatherine Barbara DROBOT Frank Nickolas DROBOT 28 enclosures: 4 biographies, 4 completed questionnaires, 8 photographs, 2 Polish passports 4 birth certificates (request their return) and 4 photocopies of these, marriage certificate (request it’s return) and its photocopy
(

Translation of the Decision to change citizenship
DECISION On the basis of the decree from 15th of February, 1962, article 16, paragraph 3, dealing with the Polish citizenship (Dz. U. Nr. 10, Pos. 49) I grant to the citizen Stefan DROBOT born on August 7, 1913 in Krakow, son of Ignaz and Ewa, nee Lind, living in Columbus, Ohio, and to his wife Natalie DROBOT born on October 14, 1915 in the settlement Kniaginiew, the daughter of Dioniz Taganowich and Maria, nee Woloskowicz, after considering their application dated April 12, 1968, the permission to change their Polish citizenship to the citizenship of the United States of America. The permission extends to the children of the above mentioned, namely:

Katherine, born on July 2nd, 1949 in Wroclaw,
Frank, born on July 2nd, 1949 in Wroclaw.

Ineligible rubber stamp and signature
Translation of the Biographies Ed. the originals are presented in the body of the application)
Stefan DROBOT217 Irving Way Columbus, Ohio April 14, 1968Biography I was born on the 7th of August 1913 in Krakow where I finished the elementary school, gymnasium (7th, named after A. Mickiewicz), and obtained Master’s degree in philosophy from the Jagiellonian University. In 1937 I continued to study in Warsaw, after which I worked as a teacher in Rabka. In 1939 I was an assistant at the Lwow Polytechnic, and from 1940 on I lived in Stalinsk (currently Novokuznetsk), where I worked as a lecturer. In 1941 I got married to Natalia Taganowich, with whom I have three children: Vladimir (formerly Wlodzimierz) born in 1941, Katherina Barbara (Katarzyna) born in 1949, and Frank Nickolas (Franciszek Mikolaj) born in 1949. In 1946 I returned to Poland and got a job at the Wroclaw University and Polytechnic. I worked there until 1959 when, together with the entire family, I emigrated to the USA. In 1965 we all became the citizens of the USA.
Natalie DROBOT217 Irving WayColumbus, Ohio April 14, 1968 Biography I was born on October 14, 1915 in Kniaginino, county Nowowilejka. I finished high school in Marshansk, Oblast Tombolsk, USSR, and completed the higher education in Tomsk, USSR. From 1939 on I was working at the Siberian Metallurgical Institute in Stalinsk (currently Novokuznetsk) In 1941 I married Stefan Drobot, with whom I have three children. In 1947 I left for Poland to join my husband, I remained there until 1959 when our entire family emigrated to the USA. In 1964 I became a citizen of the USA.

Visa letters

1946-10-23_letter_bernard_diamond_to_stefan_usa_visa.pdf

1946-10-23_letter_bernard_diamond_to_edward_iwanczak_usa_visa.pdf

1946-11-19_letter_philip_diamond_to_stefan_usa_visa.pdf

he 2 letters above were written by Bernard Diament in 1946, Stefan's a second cousin, who was contacted by Karol Mysels, an old friend, when Stefan was looking for a way to obtain a visa to the US. Both letters state that an application for a visa has been lodged and advise that 2 copies have been sent. It appears that one copy was sent to Stefan directly, and the other c/o a cousin Edward. The third letter is c/o Wictor Borkowski and written a by a Mr Philip Diament who in spite of denying any connection to Stefan sent him an affidavit presumably stating that they are related in order to help with the visa application.

Frank and Kathy baby statistics

Page 1

1949-07-02_frank_kathy_baby_stats.pdf

Stefan maintained meticulous statistics about Frank and Kathy since the day they were born. On the left is page 1 The column are for Month, Day and Time followed by

Input from breast feeding in mls
Input from milk bottle in mls
Output (count only - no weight provided)
weight in gms

According to the first row, Kathy was born 55min before Frank, They were inoculated against TB (BCG) , went home on the 12th. Than there is a 2 week gap, with Frank and Kathy occasionally throwing up "wymiotowal" (thought you'd like to know) etc etc
If you are keen and can read Polish, you can read the entire 28 page journal here.