Stanisław Swianiewicz (1899-1997) was a Professor of Economics at Saint Mary's University between 1963 and 1973 (and was appoint a Professor Emeritus upon retirement).

During the Second World War, Swainiewicz served in the Polish Army, where he was captured by the Soviet Army and interned as a POW in Russia. In the spring of 1940 his fellow Polish officers were transported west to the Katyn Forest and executed there; Swianiewicz, however, was separated from them by the NKVD, was arrested, convicted of spying, and eventually sent to the gulag, whereby he is believed to be the only survivor of the infamous Katyn Forest Massacre.

Further information about Swainiewicz's life can be found in his Wikipedia entry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanis%C5%82aw_Swianiewicz ,or in his autobiography, In The Shadow of Katyn: Stalin's Terror, available at SMU's Patrick Power Library: http://smu.novanet.ca/SMU:default_scope:NOVANET_ALEPH002761547

The material in this collection was gathered mainly by SMU History Professor Dr. George F. W. Young, and represents a small portion of the material maintained by the Archives.