These exiles found temporary refuge in Iran, India, Palestine, New Zealand, Mexico and British East and Southern Africa. With a few days, Germany invaded Poland, triggering World War II. Among them 1,000,000 were children under eighteen years of age 1. Ul. NKVD agents issued Soviet passports to Poles in February-May 1943. [15] The single man has not been traced; the woman, Josefa Bieronska, moved to South Africa with her children. Organisation and regulations of the camps in East Africa . (03.06.2019), Polish tractor maker Ursus signed a huge contract with Tanzania's National Service Corporation Sole. 23sm. During his travels to the former Polish refugee camps in South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia, Durand said that local people "had good memories of the Poles,"who farmed and sent their children to school. In Ahvaz, "Camp Polonia" was one of the main exit centers for Poles leaving Iran, and the last Ahvaz camp closed in 1945. The last Pole, Mr. Edward Wjtowicz, was buried in Tengeru in 2015. Transports of scouts, which went to Palestine, were directed to Camp Bashit. The majority refused to return to the country. There was a mast with a huge Polish flag, and the White Eagle on the gate."[12]. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Language--E. Cambridge, MA, 1988. The Millenium of Christianity in Rus'-Ukraine. The first transport of Polish refugees from the Soviet Union arrived at the Tanga port in Tanganyika on August 27, 1942. Locals from Tengeru and the Poles even sometimes celebrated mass together, said Devlin, the head of the Center for Flight and Migration at Germany's Catholic University of Eichsttt-Ingolstadt. Africa provided another safe harbor for the Poles. It is not only near Poland's 500-kilometre border with Ukraine where citizens are keen to show their solidarity with the refugees. (0-17) 326-84, 326-70 In the second stage of evacuation from the interior, more than 43,000 military personnel and about 25,000 civilians left with General Wadysaw Anders across the Caspian Sea to Iran. Approximately 600 Polish refugees were taken to Abercorn in contingents. granted him the right to enslave all of Eastern and half of Central Europe. There were 22 different camps that housed 13,000-19,000 Polish exiles spread out across East and Southern Africa, some with more than 6,000 people, others with just a handful of families. All are eager to help the Allied Cause in any way possible. But that was not z Wac?awem Potockim w Montresor, Some of them went on to emigrate to the United States, Argentina, Canada, France and Australia. Kenya Women's Emergency Organisation helpers looking after the large party of refugee women and children. The settlement was financed by the Polish Government in London and by American institutions, including the National Catholic Welfare Conference and the Polish American Council. Unfortunately, due to bad health conditions caused by the poor living standard in the Soviet Union and the hardships of traveling, more than 2,100 people (5.7% of the total) died in Iran due to dysentery, typhoid, malaria and diseases caused by malnutrition. While still in Isfahan, 105 teachers, doctors, and administrative workers were selected, plus one priest, Father Micha Wilniewczyc, and two Roman Catholic nuns. Archives in New York, English version: http://dione.ids.pl/~ijp/ang/onas.html. Own farms were run. 00-950 Warszawa skr poczt 1005 This bush was cleared by a labour force of 2,000 Ugandans by hand and over a distance of about four kilometres. Moreover, several Polish periodicals were published, Polish amateur theaters were founded, and Polish business enterprises flourished. Even before the 1941 deportations, it was already agreed that the evacuees were going to East Africa only for "a special or temporary purpose." The Polish representative to the Potsdam conference claimed there were only 1,500,000, the United States estimated 2,000,000. In Tanganyika, the largest settlement was Tengeru (4,000 refugees) and smaller camps were located in Kigoma, Kidugala, Ifunda, Kondoa, and Morogoro. of hostages, reprisal raids, forced labor, "euthanasia," starvation, exposure, In August 1945, the number of Polish refugees in Northern Rhodesia was 3,419, of which . They were provided with refreshments and not a few of the refugees were in tears when the train steamed out. The Poles living in the settlements in the then Tanganyika formed well-organized communities with an efficiently functioning educational system, cultural and sporting activities. Korespondencja z rodzina (1939-1940). Both settlements had hospital facilities run by Polish doctors and nurses. In Eastern Africa, six permanent Polish refugee settlements were established: four in Tanganyika (Tengeru, Kondoa, Ifunda, Kidugala) and two in Uganda (Masindi and Koja). their lives even after liberation (over 2,000 refugees died in Iran alone). We were not first the Poles in Africa. Polish underground courts prosecuted traitors and criminals during the war. obituaries and death notices found in the Dziennik Chicagoski, 1890-1971. The sworn deposition provides evidence of Soviet responsibility for the 1940 massacre of some 22,000 Polish officers in the Katyn forest and other places in what was then the Soviet Union. For the plight of Poles who remained in the Soviet interior until the defeat of Germany, see Polish population transfers (194446) and the population exchange between Poland and Soviet Ukraine. ch.1-4, 1988; ch.1-2, 1989; ch.1-2, 5-6, 1990; 8, 1994. They were housed in the Polish Children's Camp located in Pahiatua. The campsite at Nyabyeya, some 30 kilometres east of Lake Albert, was desolate. In time, various Polish institutions, including 24 schools serving some 3,000 students, were established in Iran and several. There was a kindergarten, a men's school, a women's school, and a middle school. In my view, this toll is the direct and indirect responsibility of the new Polish government (although aided, abetted, and promoted by the Soviets), as I will establish in the next section. "When your Polish grandmother says that she has gone on safari on Africa's highest mountain, that inspires a child's imagination," he told DW. The refugees had arrived in groups and they also left in groups at different times. [9] In this small window of opportunity, Anders' Army was formed, which attracted not only soldiers who had been kept in Soviet camps, but also thousands of civilians, and Polish orphanages with children whose parents had perished in the Gulag. T.2. Mexico. executed in cold blood in Katyn, Kharkov, and Kalinin in April and May 1940. Additional Polish transports arrived in late 1943. camps, the Nazis murdered from 15,003,000 to 31,595,000 people, most likely 20,946,000 men, women, handicapped, aged, sick, prisoners of war, forced laborers, camp inmates, critics, homosexuals, Jews, Slavs, Serbs, Germans, Czechs, Italians, Poles, French, Ukrainians, and many others. There were also councils representing residents. We were very poor, there were no jobs, kids had their classes in the open, there were no books." living conditions and brought the devastating contagious diseases under control, Zustrichi. When the Polish community By the end of 1945, another 4,300 were evacuated to Lebanon; by 1946, that number rose to 6,000. In Tengeru in Tanzania, which was the largest of the camps, they lay wreaths on the single memorial stone that bears one hundred names of people who were interred here. list of polish refugees in east africa and rhodesia. 2022. czerwiec. There were many babies in arms in the party and several women of 70 or more. This has fueled speculation that the U.S. government helped cover up Soviet responsibility for the massacre out of fear that saying the truth would anger Stalin, whom the Allies were counting on to help them defeat Germany and Japan in World War II. ul. (Vydano u spivpratsi z Fundatsiieiu Doslidzhennia Lemkivshyny. (16.06.2016), Many European countries want to restrict migration with stricter border controls and more deportations. Dluga 6 Panstwowe w Rzeszowie Valivade housed 5,000 Polish refugees; there, they had their own self-government and succeeded in establishing four elementary schools, a high school, a junior college, and a trade school. Naczelna Dyrekcja Archiwow Parstwowych (NDAP) On November 1, 1944, USS General George M. Randall (AP-115) arrived at Wellington, with 733 children on board. The bishop came from Kampala to consecrate it. The next groups arriving in October were directed to Tengeru, Kondoa, Ifunda and Kidugala. 00-202 Warszawa Only about 3,800 Polish refugees from Africa decided to repatriate to the country, which accounted for about 20% of the total. . 8s. 7a Polish refugees in Middle East (1942-47) . 3. In January 1944, the Polish staff in all East African camps had been reduced. In the Kidugala settlement, 798 Poles lived near the deserted post-German Protestant mission. Like the Nazis in the west of the country, the Soviet Union began to carry out ethnic cleansing. donation. Further Polish transports went to India by sea, from the port of Ahvaz to Bombay. amnesty etc. At that time, the Poles were the largest minority of European origin in East Africa. imprisoned about 500,000 Poles during 1939-1941, including former officials, Jewish Ghetto Police were to arrest non-Jews who made purchases in stores exclusively designated for the Jews or brought merchandise or food with them. Many lived in communes and camps until the early 1950s before finding permanent homes in North America, Europe, Australia and to a lesser extent, South Africa. Podlesice Zivilarbeiterlager (public servants A family carrying their belongings walks at the border crossing between Poland and Ukraine in Medyka, Poland, Feb. 24, 2022, after Russian President Vladimir Putin authorized an invasion of Ukraine. They were going from Kigoma to Dar es Salaam and from there by ship to the United Kingdom, where their next of kinoften husbands and sons who had been fighting in the warwere getting courses and training for civilian jobs. Two hostels were also established: one in Island Bay for girls, the other in Lyall Bay for boys. To accommodate the refugees, a sprawling stationary camp was established in Isfahan. Lelewela 4 A large Polish settlement was also founded in Mexico. PHOTO | UGANDA NATIONAL ARCHIVES. Why didn't America open its doors, and open them wide, to the Polish refugees? Camps: Still, thousands of distraught Poles remained there, sent to kolkhozs. Fundatsiia Sv.Volodymyra, . The Polish population, both civilian and military, was evacuated to Iran from the Soviet Union in two stages from March to September 1942. . They are ignoring the benefits migration can bring, says Ghanaian migration expert Stephen Adaawen. Their ships docked at Mombasa, the Kenyan port, and from there they scattered in various directions in East and Southern Africa - from the Equator to the Cape of Good Hope. He was even more grateful at Yalta, when the Western Allies The Polish civilian population could not stay in Iran for along time due to the tense international situation and the threat of a German offensive. His grandmother's testimonies about her life in the small town of Tengeru in northern Tanzania motivated the filmmaker to embark on an emotionally charged nine-year journey that took him to Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Eventually, they migrated mostly to Australia, Canada, and Great Britain. Her son died young due to an accident; her daughter still lives in South Africa with her grandchildren.[16]. Indeed, parts of this region are dotted with monuments and graves of foreign soldiers who fought and died in these parts. After the hell that we survived, Tehran was a different world. 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