POLISH COMMUNITY IN CALGARY

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History of the Polish Community in Birmingham

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Birmingham has been home to a Polish community since World War II. In 1939,
Germany and Communist Russia partitioned Poland and refugees came to England to
fight alongside Britain's armed forces.

Many individuals survived war, occupation and labour camps before coming to
Britain. One man, interned in one of Stalin's labour camps, was released when
Britain and Russia became allies and joined the Polish forces in the Soviet
Union. He came to British India via Iraq and Iran, embarked for South Africa,
sailed to Britain in a ship that was torpedoed off Sierra Leone and eventually
joined an aircraft squadron at the end the war. His arrival in Birmingham
involved piloting a Mustang fighter plane to Castle Bromwich airfield to begin
an engineering course at what is now Aston University!

Foreign qualifications were not recognised in the UK and some Polish men found
it difficult to obtain employment. Ex-servicemen, however, were eligible for
grants to retrain so they were able to improve their English skills and secure
qualifications. In Birmingham there was plenty of work in engineering and metal
bashing.

Not all Polish refugees were ex-servicemen. Helena is one local Polish woman. As
a teenager she survived six weeks in Dachau Concentration Camp and then worked
as a slave labourer for the Nazis in agriculture and industry. In 1948 she came
to Wolverhampton to work in Courtaulds and eventually secured employment in
Cadbury's. Now retired, Helena is catching up with the education she missed and
is studying English, Maths and Art. Her home is decorated with her own paintings.

How did the Polish community maintain their identity? Local priests and the
Catholic Church linked 6,000 people across the West Midlands. Originally the
community worshipped at the Oratory and then at St Michael's in Carrs Lane. In
1947 a Polish Catholic Association was formed later moving to Digbeth where a
purpose-built centre was created in 1958. The community is proud of the fact
that it was able to pay the full cost of over £28,000 out of individual
contributions.

A school was formed to teach Polish, history, geography, singing and dancing to
children. The centre sold Polish food, provided a social facility and offered
support to older people who needed help with form filling and dealing with
British bureaucracy. Many Poles have moved out of the inner city, but the Polish
centre remains crucial in maintaining and transmitting a national culture to new
generations and enriching the city's identity.

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