A gratitude to Iranian people ...

[GregSingh]

Found this while wandering off a hotel tour in Warsaw.

Monument.JPG

If I understand Polish text correctly (can't really read Farsi ), it is a gratitude to Iranian people for being a host to 121000 polish refugees (inc. 20000 children) from Soviet Union. Signed by survivors and their descendants.

[henryk]

https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/polish ... iran-1942/
Many interesting photos of the stay in Iran.

Following the Soviet invasion of Poland at the onset of World War II in accordance with the Nazi-Soviet Pact against Poland, the Soviet Union acquired over half of the territory of the Second Polish Republic. Within months, in order to de-Polonize annexed lands, the Soviet NKVD rounded up and deported between 320,000 and 1 million Polish nationals to the eastern parts of the USSR, the Urals, and Siberia. There were four waves of deportations of entire families with children, women and elderly aboard freight trains from 1940 until 1941.

These civilians included civil servants, local government officials, judges, members of the police force, forest workers, settlers, small farmers, tradesmen, refugees from western Poland, children from summer camps and orphanages, family members of anyone previously arrested, and family members of anyone who escaped abroad or went missing.

Their fate was completely changed in June 1941 when Germany unexpectedly attacked Soviet Union. In need of as many allies it could find, the Soviets agreed to release all the Polish citizens it held in captivity. Released in August 1941 from Moscow’s infamous Lubyanka Prison, Polish general Wladyslaw Anders began to mobilize the Polish Armed Forces in the East (commonly known as the Anders Army) to fight against the Nazis.

Forming the new Polish Army was not easy, however. Many Polish prisoners of war had died in the labor camps in the Soviet Union. Many of those who survived were very weak from the conditions in the camps and from malnourishment. Because the Soviets were at war with Germany, there was little food or provisions available for the Polish Army. Thus, following the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran in 1941, the Soviets agreed to evacuate part of the Polish formation to Iran. Non-military refugees, mostly women and children, were also transferred across the Caspian Sea to Iran.

Starting in 1942, the port city of Pahlevi (now known as Anzali) became the main landing point for Polish refugees coming into Iran from the Soviet Union, receiving up to 2,500 refugees per day. General Anders evacuated 74,000 Polish troops, including approximately 41,000 civilians, many of them children, to Iran. In total, over 116,000 refugees were relocated to Iran.

Despite these difficulties, Iranians openly received the Polish refugees, and the Iranian government facilitated their entry to the country and supplied them with provisions. Polish schools, cultural and educational organizations, shops, bakeries, businesses, and press were established to make the Poles feel more at home.

The refugees were weakened by two years of maltreatment and starvation, and many suffered from malaria, typhus, fevers, respiratory illnesses, and diseases caused by starvation. Desperate for food after starving for so long, refugees ate as much as they could, leading to disastrous consequences. Several hundred Poles, mostly children, died shortly after arriving in Iran from acute dysentery caused by overeating

Thousands of the children who came to Iran came from orphanages in the Soviet Union, either because their parents had died or they were separated during deportations from Poland. Most of these children were eventually sent to live in orphanages in Isfahan, which had an agreeable climate and plentiful resources, allowing the children to recover from the many illnesses they contracted in the poorly managed and supplied orphanages in the Soviet Union.

Between 1942–1945, approximately 2,000 children passed through Isfahan, so many that it was briefly called the “City of Polish Children”. Numerous schools were set up to teach the children the Polish language, math, science, and other standard subjects. In some schools, Persian was also taught, along with both Polish and Iranian history and geography.

Because Iran could not permanently care for the large influx of refugees, other British-colonized countries began receiving Poles from Iran in the summer of 1942. By 1944, Iran was already emptying of Poles. They were leaving for other camps in places such as Tanganyika, Mexico, India, New Zealand and Britain.

While most signs of Polish life in Iran have faded, a few have remained. As writer Ryszard Antolak noted in Pars Times, “The deepest imprint of the Polish sojourn in Iran can be found in the memoirs and narratives of those who lived through it. The debt and gratitude felt by the exiles towards their host country echoes warmly throughout all literature. The kindness and sympathy of the ordinary Iranian population towards the Poles is everywhere spoken of”.

The Poles took away with them a lasting memory of freedom and friendliness, something most of them would not know again for a very long time. For few of the evacuees who passed through Iran during the years 1942 1945 would ever to see their homeland again. By a cruel twist of fate, their political destiny was sealed in Tehran in 1943. In November of that year, the leaders of Russia, Britain and the USA met in the Iranian capital to decide the fate of Post-war Europe. During their discussions (which were held in secret), it was decided to assign Poland to the zone of influence of the Soviet Union after the war

http://kresy-siberia.org/hom/element/ev ... 2/?lang=pl
More information linked on this site.

[GregSingh]

Thanks henryk for that info!

[Gorque]

I never knew of the deportations and further travels of the Poles in the Soviet annexed portion of Poland. Very informative. Thank you for posting henryk.

[Stephan]

I suppose its about the Anders Army whom managed to leave the Sovjetunion travelling to West through Iran. And yes, many in there were pure civilians, including many children.

Apparently, they didnt passed by, but also were welcomed and got quite a some help. Thinking on it, it could be quite a much. The russians apparently didnt care much about their welfare, and the west allies probably hadnt the time to organize much in short time. So the locals had to do it, and apparently they did.

[Tirdad]

Found this while wandering off a hotel tour in Warsaw.

Monument.JPG
If I understand Polish text correctly (can't really read Farsi ), it is a gratitude to Iranian people for being a host to 121000 polish refugees (inc. 20000 children) from Soviet Union. Signed by survivors and their descendants.

greetings dear Greg,

Yes, you're right. It's a memorial for those who died during exile on the way and here, in Iran. There are several Grave yards, most important one in Capital city , Tehran. They were our dear guests and I hope we were good hosts for those ppl. May their souls rest in eternal peace.

Regards,
Tirdad.

[Tirdad]

https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/polish ... iran-1942/

Many interesting photos of the stay in Iran.

http://kresy-siberia.org/hom/element/ev ... 2/?lang=pl

More information linked on this site.

dziękuję Henryk.

[GregSingh]

From earlier post by henryk:

Because Iran could not permanently care for the large influx of refugees, other British-colonized countries began receiving Poles from Iran in the summer of 1942. By 1944, Iran was already emptying of Poles. They were leaving for other camps in places such as Tanganyika, Mexico, India, New Zealand and Britain.

Took me a while to find this one in Warsaw...

Poles in India.jpg

[henryk]

https://www.polskieradio.pl/395/7785/Ar ... -in-Tehran

Foreign Minister Rau at Polish cemetery in Tehran
Polish Radio 08.05.2022 14:30

On 80th anniversary of the evacuation of the Army of General Anders from Soviet Russia
On his visit to Iran, Poland's foreign minister Zbigniew Rau has commemorated the 2 thousand Poles who are buried at the Polish Cemetery in the Iranian capital of Tehran. He spoke of the Poles who had been deported to labour camps in the Soviet Union, and who 80 years ago began the long way back home in what is known as the evacuation of General Anders' Army.

At the cemetery, he said it was " a difficult and painful experience which still shapes our vision of the contemporary world, and especially in a context of current events in Ukraine. This place also speaks of the extraordinary hospitality, awarded by Iranians to Polish exiles". The Polish Foreign Minister thanked the Iranian authorities and the Armenian community for their care of the Polish graves.

The memorial ceremony was also joined by Ukraine's Ambassador to Iran, Serhij Burdilyak. Many of the Poles buried in Teheran had been born on what is now Ukrainian territory. In his address, the Ambassador also referred to Russia's aggression and spoke his thanks to Poland "Ukraine is grateful to the friendly Polish government, and our brothers, people of Poland for their assistance, in particular for providing shelter for millions of Ukrainian civillian refugees, which is constantly bringing humanity closer to the victory over evil, death and hatred" he said.

In Iran, the Polish Foreign Minister is holding talks on bilateral issues, particularly trade contacts, and is also to speak with representatives of the Iranian authorities on Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Source: IAR

[henryk]

https://www.polskieradio.pl/395/7791/Ar ... es-in-Iran

FM opens exhibition on Polish WWII refugees in Iran
Polish Radio 09.05.2022 13:30

On a visit to Iran, Poland’s foreign Zbigniew Rau launched the display at the Academy of Arts in the Iranian capital Tehran, Polish state news agency PAP reported.minister on Monday unveiled an exhibition about Polish soldiers and refugees who were welcomed in the West Asian country during World War II.

Zbigniew Rau launched the display at the Academy of Arts in the Iranian capital Tehran, Polish state news agency PAP reported. Poland’s top diplomat said the photographs on show “offer glimpses of the life of the Polish people who found shelter in Iran, and who were often exhausted after enduring inhumane conditions in Soviet captivity.” Rau added that the exhibition, entitled Trails of Hope: An Odyssey of Freedom, “also paints a wider historical context.”

Rau thanks Iran for welcoming 120,000 Poles in 1942 He expressed gratitude to the Iranian people for the "generous assistance" provided to Polish evacuees eight decades ago, and for looking after Polish monuments and cemeteries ever since. Under a 1942 Polish-British-Soviet agreement, some 120,000 Polish people, including soldiers under Gen. Władysław Anders and refugees, were released from Soviet imprisonment and evacuated to Iran, historians estimate. Representing a cross-section of Polish society, from parentless children to university professors, the Polish refugees were able to create “a little substitute for their home country” in Iran, Rau said. He added that “lessons from the past remain valid” in the face of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.

Three-day visit to Iran

Later on Monday, Rau was due to open another exhibition, in the central city of Isfahan, where some 2,500 Polish children, mainly orphans, found refuge during World War II. Earlier in the day, Poland’s top diplomat met with Iranian Vice-President Masoud Mir Kazemi. Monday was the last day of Rau’s three-day visit to the West Asian country, which focused on bilateral issues and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, officials told reporters.

On Sunday, the Polish foreign minister held talks with Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, and also paid a visit to a Polish cemetery in Tehran, according to news outlets. Rau and Amir-Abdollahian signed an agreement "on cooperation in the fields of culture, education, science, sport, youth, and mass media," reporters were told.

Source: IAR, PAP, live.rmf.fm, president.ir

[gebhk]

My family on my mum's side were deported into the USSR but by an immense stroke of luck reunited before evacuation to Persia, as it was then known. Luckily they were in relatively good physical shape, not least because they were some of the last to be deported and among the first to escape.

A dear friend of ours, however did not do so well. His father, a senior police officer, disappeared in 1939 and was assumed to have been murdered in the Lubianka. His family, including our friend, his younger brother, stepmother and stepsister were deported. Following the Sikorski-Maiski agreement, the two brothers (our friend was 13, his brother 9. I think) decided it was their duty to join the Polish Army and they set off on a few thousand mile trek on foot. His younger brother fell ill and our friend, unable to do anything further for him, left him in a dying state in a Soviet orphanage. He made it to the Polish army and was evacuated with it to Persia and then went on to Palestine for the duration of the war. After the war he settled in the UK and his efforts through the Red Cross to find out the fate of his family came to nothing. He lived his life as the sole survivor of his family.

Tragically, he only found out less than two years before his own death that, miraculously, the entire family had survived and, apart from him, managed to make their way back to Poland. Because of his father's pre-war position which would have made him a target for persecution in communist Poland, the family lived under an assumed name and generally on the DL, one of the reasons our friend failed to locate them after the war. By the time he had been found by their descendants,they had all died, albeit his brother only recently. I don't think our friend ever managed to resolve the conflicting emotions this shatterring news brought prior to his own death aged 87.