A Historical Context

How did we come to Australia...

Polish history is rich in language, tragedy and strength. Polskość (very loosely translated to Polish spirit) is the strength of Polish people to retain their culture, their language and their nation, through many periods of adversity. Polskość is far more than patriotism or nationalism.

Poland was formed as a nation in 966 with the Baptism of Mieszko I who became a Christian when he married the Czech princess Dąbrówka. Along with Mieszko, his people also left the pagan gods and denounced most of the pagan traditions as they were baptised. This occasion (which appears to have occurred on Easter Sunday in 966) is a source of great pride to the Polish people, and the 1050 anniversary of Christian Poland was celebrated far and wide in 2016. The 1000 anniversary in 1966, was celebrated amongst others by a Polish Scouting Jamboree (Zlot) in Picton Lakes, Thirlmere in NSW. This was my very first Jamboree and camp.

Mieszko I was the first of the Piast dynasty of rulers, who ruled until the death of Kazimierz Wielki (the Great) in 1370. With no male successor, he was succeeded by Jadwiga Andegaweńska, daughter of Ludwik, King of Hungary and Poland, who was the son of Kazimierz Wielki’s sister, Elżbieta (Elizabeth). Jadwiga, despite being engaged at a very young age to the Austrian prince, Wilhelm Habsburg, was crowned King of Poland and married Jogaiło, a Lithuanian prince. Jogaiło was baptised before their marriage and took the name Władysław Jagiełło. The Jagiellonian dynasty spanned some 200 years and ended with the death of Zygmunt August in 1572. During this period, Poland and Lithuania as a dual commonwealth spanned from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea, and under the reign of the last two Jagiellonian regents, Zygmunt Stary (Zygmunt the Elder) and his son, Zygmunt August, Poland saw the “Golden Age” which was the rise of the culture of Polish Renaissance.

Following the death of Zygmunt, the Jagiellonian dynasty ended, and a period of the electoral monarchy began. This period is the beginning of the downfall of Poland, as elections would be held over months and often years, leaving Poland without a ruler. Rulers who were elected were in the main, not of Polish background, and were usually supported by surrounding dynasties whose aim was not to strengthen Poland but to influence and impact the elected rulers. During this period, Jan III Sobieski fought and decidedly won the Battle of Vienna, leading the armies of the Habsburg Monarchy and the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth, against the Ottoman Empire, who had besieged the city of Vienna for two months (1683). Poland was attacked regularly from all sides, by the Swedish, the Russians and the Ottoman Empire, weakening the nation through battle and through ineffective Monarchs. During this period, however, Poland also adopted the first Constitution in Europe (and the second in the world, following America). After a four-year sitting of Parliament, the Constitution was adopted on 3rd May 1791. Unfortunately, Poland was also the object of partitions, over three separate phases. The first partition (rozbiór) occurred in 1772, with Russia, Austria and Prussia annexing lands. The second partition followed the adoption of the 3rd May Constitution and resulted in lands being annexed by Russia and Prussia in 1793. This was followed by the third and final partition in 1975, during which Russia, Austria and Prussia annexed the remaining lands.

Despite many significant and insignificant uprisings, Poland remained under partition for 123 years and did not return onto the map of Europe as a nation until 11th November 1918 as one of the points listed by Woodrow Wilson. While Poland was reinstated as a nation, the borders were not settled until1920 and Poland fought many battles to regain the pre-partition borders. The Battle of Warsaw was a deciding victory on 15-16th August 1920, in which the Bolsheviks were stopped at Warsaw and were routed back to Russia, thus stopping them from overrunning the remainder of Europe. The loss by the Bolsheviks was based on a strategic decision by Joseph Stalin to ignore orders to send his armies to Warsaw, but rather to divert to Lwów, in an attempt to win that city. He thus left an open flank which Józef Piłsudski was able to attack and win.

The period from 1920 to 1939 was a period of rebuilding of Poland, which included reuniting the people who over 123 years (therefore at least 2 generations) had undergone Russification and Germanisation, which meant they were not allowed to speak or learn Polish. The nation which had once again become independent, worked towards unity again, education for all children up to the age of 12 became mandatory, infrastructure was rebuilt, and the economy was beginning to grow. However Hitler invaded Poland on 1st September 1939, and on 17th September 1939, Stalin invaded Poland from the Russian side. The armies and the airforce fought until defeated, and many escaped via Rumania, to France and then to England, once France fell. In February 1940, Stalin’s NKVD began to gather up Polish families from the Eastern regions (Kresy) and packed them into cattle carriages on trains which took them across to the Urals and further into the depths of Siberia. There were four such deportations between February and June of 1940. These people underwent extraordinarily difficult circumstances, including starvation. Many died on the way, and many more died in Siberia.

When Hitler attacked Moscow in 1941, Stalin asked the Allies for help and Russia joined the Allies. As a result, a Polish army could form in Russia, made up of the men who had been deported to Siberia. Once General Anders had gathered these men and saw the state in which they were, he was able to gain permission to move them and their families (and as many civilians as possible) out of Russia to Persia (now Iran). From there the armies went to Palestine and Egypt, while the civilians were transported to India and Africa, where they lived until 1949 and 1950.

This potted history is very general and does not do justice to the strength and courage of the Polish people, but sets a basic context for our story, the story of how our family arrived in Australia and why to this day, we still uphold many Polish traditions, have full engagement with Polish culture and cultural activities and why much of our Foodies page contains Polish recipes.