1 The Making of Polish London through Everyday Life, 1956-1976 Paweł Chojnacki, UCL PhD Thesis 2 I, Paweł Chojnacki, confirm that the work presented in this thesis is my own. Where information has been derived from other sources, I confirm that this has been indicated in the thesis. 3 Abstract The wartime and postwar Polish emigration allows us to study a ‘parallel’ history of the Polish nation. Poles in Great Britain were free from the restrictions imposed on Poles in the homeland by the communist dictatorship; they were thus better able to continue in the intellectual and cultural paths of interwar Poland. But by the later 1950s it was clear that there would be no early return to a free Poland. Poles in exile had to adapt to their condition, and interact with a rapidly changing British society. As a result, their characteristics diverged from those of Poles in the homeland and – despite their best efforts – from those of their ancestors as well. This dissertation examines the distinctive ‘parallel Polish world’ at the level of everyday life, rather than the central institutions of ‘Polish London’. It focuses on three Gminy (Communities) founded in the 1950s: the Polish Community of West London, the Polish Community of South London, and the Polish Centre in Lewisham. The diverse and enjoyable social activities undertaken or supported by the Communities – dances, Saturday schools, sport, scouting and guiding, charity, religious and national commemorations – were subordinated to the aim of maintaining Polish national identity in exile, and transmitting it to subsequent generations. This kind of ‘Polishness’ was heroic, martyrological, and Roman Catholic. The organizational and fundraising skills developed in the Communities’ pursuit of their own houses proved invaluable in the building of the Polish Social and Cultural Centre in London (POSK). However, among the casualties of POSK were the Polish Communities of West and South London, which effectively came to an end in 1976. Only the more peripheral Lewisham Centre survived. POSK’s benefit to everyday Polish life in London has been questionable. The Gminy may yet offer an organizational model for a new, more numerous wave of Polish emigrants to the UK. 4 Contents Acknowledgements The Settlement of Poles in London (the map) 1. Introduction The ‘Parallel world’ ‘ Gminy’ – Polish Communities. The stabilization of émigré society. The timeframe The structure of the thesis. Methodology and sources 2. The idea of the ‘Community’ ( Gmina ). The beginnings of organizations. The founding meetings ‘Strong in the Group’. Polish Communities outside London Founding Communities in London – ‘The Polish Community in South London’ The work of Rev. Adam Wróbel: The parish and the Lewisham Centre The origin of the Polish Community in West London Skowro ński versus Czaykowski – a dispute about sacrifice Conclusion 3. Description of the Communities. Local differences. Profiles of activists From the armies of Anders, ‘Bór’ and Maczek London cobbles The Chiswick District In ‘Praga’ The borderland of Polish London Conclusion 5 4. Parties, events and social life. The Ladies’ Circles Always with the same aim ‘Full of verve’ Eight dozen cups, that is, the Ladies’ Association Jubilee, Jubilee... Conclusion 5. Saturday Schools With the persistence of pioneers The school in Camberwell and other initiatives Schools and the GPZL The remaining schools in the South Conclusion 6. Scouting and guiding Scouting and guiding and the Polish Community of West London Scouting and the Polish Community of South London and the Polish Centre in Lewisham The ‘Niemen’ dancing group ‘Homeless’ Auxiliary Members’ Associations (KPH) Conclusion 7. Parishes and self-help ‘Until the red star falls’: Father Kazimierz Sołowiej and the Parish of St Andrew Bobola 6 Father Stanisław Cynar and the ‘Masses’ Father Adam Wróbel and ‘Classes’ ‘Pyjamas for a sick person’ – types of self-help Conclusion 8. Sport Clubs and games Games, games… ‘Młodzi’ Sports Club and ‘Grunwald’ Football Club ‘Czarni-Varsovia’ – fierce amateurs Six broken noses, or the Polish Rugby Club When you go to the ‘Country’ Conclusion 9. Houses A noble obsession The house of the Community of South London ‘Sarmatians’ PLC The presbytery in Lewisham Conclusion 10. Special occasions in the public sphere Flowers for General Haller Infiltration – between ‘Polonia’ and the emigration ‘Freedom for Poles’ was their message An act of will and faith The Lord Mayor’s bugle call Conclusion 7 11. Towards POSK The Polish Community of West London – 500 bricks POSK and the ‘South’ The end of an era Conclusion Epilogue: The true émigré heroes? 12. Conclusion Bibliography 8 Acknowledgements I wish to thank all those from the Polish Community of West London (GPZL), the Polish Community of South London (GPL-P), and the Polish Centre in Lewisham (POL) who gave me interviews and statements, and allowed access to source materials. I owe a particular debt of gratitude to Mrs Maria Siemaszko and Mr Zbigniew S. Siemaszko for numerous conversations on many aspects of the émigré destiny. I also thank the Polonia Aid Foundation Trust (PAFT), M.B. Grabowski Fund and the Holy Family of Nazareth Educational Trust for the subventions, which I received in the years 2001-2008, which helped me to conduct my research, and the staff of the Polish Library in London for their kind assistance. I am grateful to my own School of Slavonic and East European Studies for covering my fees for the entire period of my studies in 2005-2008. My thanks go also to my two supervisors, Professor George Kolankiewicz and Dr Richard Butterwick, for all the help and advice they gave me during the various phases of the work. A scholarship awarded by the UCL Graduate School allowed me to concentrated exclusively on the research, which bore fruit in this dissertation. Here I would like to name the head of the Graduate School, Professor David Bogle, and Mrs Ann MacDonald, without whose understanding and support the realization of my plans would not have been possible. My family showed much patience and support during my many trips, during one and a half years of separation, and also courage during the period of life together in London. To them no words can express my gratitude. *** An interest in the émigré ‘parallel world’ brought me to London in 2001. Initially I was most fascinated by the history of ideas in the Polish emigration. My first meeting with the problems of the Communities and everyday life of the emigration was connected with the invitation of the GPZL to write the history of their organization. I was given access to the Community’s archive, and the opportunity to talk to many of 9 it former activists. The book was published in 2006. 1 This one-off venture (in the plans of my wider studies) into the history of local social groups was intended as a counterweight to my research on the emigration’s intellectual elite. Rather unexpectedly, it bore fruit in further research and writing. While I was writing this dissertation in 2005-2008, I first lived in the ‘Polish lair’ in Acton, on the former area of the GPZL. After a year and a half circumstances took me to Lewisham, full of places and people connected with the history of the GPL-P and the POL. I believe that this experience helped me to understand the specificities of these parts of the London universe, and the differences and similarities in the life of the Poles who have lived there. It allowed me to immerse myself in, and continually discover anew the general conditions and flavour of this extraordinary scenery – a colourful, exceptional decoration for so many aspects of Polish life for the past few decades. Paweł Chojnacki London 2008 1 P. Chojnacki, Gmina Polska Zachodniego Londynu. 1959 – 1976 – 2003 , London and Lublin, 2006. The writing and publishing of the history of the Community was enabled by grants from the former Board of the GPZL and PAFT. 10 11 Chapter 1. Introduction The ‘parallel world’ As a consequence of Second World War, and above all after the abandonment of Central and Eastern Europe, including Poland, to the Soviet sphere of influence, more than one million Polish war refugees remained in Western countries. The governments of Great Britain, USA and France withdrew recognition from the Polish authorities-in-exile in summer of 1945. President Władysław Raczkiewicz, the Prime Minister Tomasz Arciszewski and his cabinet still commanded the considerable Polish Armed Forces in the West ( Polskie Siły Zbrojne, PSZ). The army, which had fought from the first until the last day of the war, was in 1945 almost 250,000 soldiers strong, with a navy and air force. The authorities in exile were not only symbolic: they were the sole legal real government for emigrants with Polish citizenship and who considered themselves to be Poles. The Yalta agreements with Soviet Union created for all Poles, both in Poland and abroad, a new, quite tragic situation, which determined their fate for the next forty- five years, and whose consequences are still visible. Arciszewski’s cabinet rejected the decisions of the Crimea conference and the Polish Armed Forces were never formally demobilized but only sent on leave. The former émigré Prime Minister Stanisław Mikołajczyk’s experiment in co-operation with Soviet collaborators in occupied Poland failed in 1947. It ended with hundreds of casualties from the Polish Peasants’ Party ( Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe, PSL) which he led, and his own escape from Poland. After a few years of relocations, when some of the Poles in Western countries had decided to return to the homeland, 1 while many others escaped from communist terror; after the journey to countries beyond Europe, and returns from such exotic 1 It is impossible to capture the full meaning of the Polish expression w kraju in English.