Then & Now: Armenians at Home on Polish Lands
For centuries, the Armenian people have contributed in significant ways to the culture, trade and economy of Poland. Read on to explore the rich history of Armenians on Polish lands, then and now.
In the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
As early as the Middle Ages, Armenians could be found living in fortified Ruthenian settlements. They came not only from Armenia, but also from the Armenian diaspora in Crimea and other territories around the Black Sea. Their migration was due to the persecution of Christians in Muslim countries. but just as often, it was for economic reasons. Eventually, these Ruthenian settlements were annexed by Casimir the Great in the 1340s – becoming part of the Polish Kingdom, together with their Armenian communities.
The largest such Armenian group made its home in Lviv, which even had an Armenian diocese. The Armenian community of Kamianets-Podilskyi was also significant. The 16th century saw the establishment of new Armenian colonies in Bar, Tysmenytsia, Pidhaitsi, Zolochiv and Zamość; then, in the 17th century, in Zhvanets, Brody, Buchach, Berezhany, Sniatyn, Yazlovets, Lystets and Stanisławów [Ivano-Frankivsk today]. Finally, in the 18th century, they were established in Balta, Rașcov, Mohyliv-Podilskyi and Kuty. During some periods, Armenians also lived in other parts of Poland, including in Lublin, Warsaw and Poznań.
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Armenian townhouses in Zamość, photo: Jerzy Ochoński / PAP
These Armenians in Poland derived their livelihood chiefly from commerce and crafts. From the East, Armenian merchants brought luxury goods sought after by the magnates, the nobility and the wealthy bourgeoisie. Meanwhile, craftsmen made all kinds of Eastern-styled objects in their workshops, which were destined for this same clientele. This is how Armenians introduced numerous Eastern elements into Polish culture, adding to its richness.
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Armenian community laying flowers on the graves of Casimir the Great and Ladislav Jagiello on the 650th anniversary of granting Armenians in Poland the first privilege, Kraków, 2017, photo: Jakub Porzycki / AG
From the East, Armenians brought various kinds of textiles – most notably, carpets from Persia. It is to Armenian merchants that we owe the appearance of all kinds of silk fabrics in 17th-century Poland. Armenian imports also included tents, shawls and torses. Even more important were sashes, which became an integral part of the dress of Polish nobles. The latter were imported from Turkey, Georgia, Persia and even as far away as China. In the 18th century, the Nikorowicz family – which owned a warehouse in Lviv, with another branch in Istanbul – were prominent amongst sash importers.
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The Armenian Cathedral of Lviv, photo: Piotr Jedzura / Reporter / East News
While fighting Turkey and the Tatars, the Poles appropriated Eastern combat techniques. They also adopted new weapons. These were, of course, produced in Poland, but they were also imported from the East, with Armenians often acting as intermediaries. Sabres arrived whole or in parts. Items indicative of military dignity were also purchased, including tugs, bulavas and bozdogans (maces) – as were metal shields (mostly from Persia) and kalkans, a type of shield made with fig rods. Both of these types of shields were decorated, and sometimes inset with precious stones. There were also quivers adorned with metalwork or embroidery.
Armenian merchants also supplied the Commonwealth with food products. These included spices (pepper, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, saffron, thyme, cumin and cloves), dried fruit (raisins, dates, figs), as well as exotic fruit (oranges, lemons, olives). There were also, of course, wines (Greek, Wallachian, Hungarian), tobacco, coffee and medicines.
The Easternisation of Polish culture wasn’t due solely to Armenian traders. Armenian craftsmen made many Eastern-styled items, too. Though intended for practical use, they were highly aesthetic; today, they are generally considered art objects.
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An Armenian khachkar – a cross-stone commemorating the Armenians' presence in Zamość, photo: Arkadiusz Ziółek / East News
Weavers, furriers, embroiderers, as well as producers of safian (a thin, soft goat or ram hide used in bookbinding) and kontusz sashes prospered. Amongst the latter, the best-known was Jakub Paschalis of Tokat. In the year 1788, he began manufacturing sashes in Warsaw, later setting up a manual production plant in nearby Lipków, which specialised in this accessory. Ennobled in 1791 for his contribution to the development of industry, he changed his name to Jakubowicz.
We cannot fail to mention goldsmiths, too. The royal goldsmith of John III Sobieski was Bedros Zachariaszowicz, who had an atelier in a tenement house which he owned in Lviv. His rival was Arution Dadurowicz, who worked for the most prominent Polish magnates. Both would steal journeymen from each other if they needed workers for an urgent commission. Once, Dadurowicz went so far as to kidnap tradesmen from his competitor’s workshop, even though the latter was under royal protection. Armenian goldsmiths made rings, necklaces, ear pendants, pearl crowns, clasps, buttons and even sacred objects. They also adorned weapons.
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Illuminated Gospel Book, 16th-/17th-century Armenian scriptorium, photo: Jacek Bednarczyk / PAP
There were also painters. The Bogusz family, active in the early decades of the 17th century, was of note; they painted Polish kings and leaders. Waszko Kiewerowicz also made portraits of Polish rulers. Armenians painted religious works as well.
A branch of art that stands out when it comes to Armenians is certainly miniature painting, i.e. illuminating Bibles and religious books. These illustrations were made in scriptoria in Lviv, Kamianets-Podilskyi and Zamość – although they were mostly admired by Armenians, given that they were made for the community’s own use.
Armenians in Poland during this period stood out on account of their religious beliefs. The Armenian Apostolic Church was founded as early as the fourth century – Armenia proudly considers itself the world’s first Christian country. But Armenian Christianity always differed from that practised by Poles, although doctrinally, these differences were minute. In the fifth century, the Armenian Church had opted for monophysitism, or the view that Jesus Christ had not two (human and divine) but a single divine nature. Although this teaching ceased to be of much significance to Armenians a few centuries down the road, in Poland, Armenians were still sometimes seen as heretics.
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The Armenian Cathedral of Lviv, photo: Andrzej Sidor / Forum
While they did not belong to the Catholic Church, Armenians were not a persecuted religious minority. They were allowed to build their own temples. It is worth mentioning the beautiful 14th-century cathedral in Lviv, which is the only example of sacred Armenian architecture still extant in this part of Europe. Armenians could hold services according to their own religious tradition. They were therefore able to reconstitute their religious life on Polish lands in much the same form as it had been in the countries they came from.
In 1630, the Polish Armenians entered into a union with the Roman Catholic Church. This act was performed by a young bishop of Lviv, Mikołaj Torosowicz, albeit not out of love for the papal church. At the time, Torosowicz was in great trouble, playing a game of tug-of-war with his compatriots. Through an affiliation with the dominant, Polish church, he was hoping to obtain its help and protection. Armenians identified with the Armenian Apostolic Church – an institution connecting Armenians scattered all over the world – had no desire to become Catholic. For several decades, they resisted the union which the Catholic Church sought to slowly and systematically realise. In the end, however, they concluded that it wouldn’t necessarily be to their detriment. Thus, they became Armenian-rite Catholics. This meant that they embraced the Pope as the head of the Church but maintained their own archdiocese, along with their distinct laws and liturgy.
Over time, however, it became clear that the union had been conducive to their assimilation. By becoming Catholic, in some measure, these Armenians became more like the Poles.
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The Armenian liturgy, the Church of Our Lady of Jasna Góra in Łódź, photo: Marcin Stępień / AG
As the years passed, Armenians also began to lose their distinct professional specialisations. After the downfall of the republic of nobles in the late 18th century, the fashion for Eastern attire, weapons and carpets diminished amongst the Polish elite. But even though their commodities were no longer sought-after, the Armenians didn’t suffer economically. Even before the partitions, ennoblement had allowed many of them to become landowners and thus to rise to a high position within the social hierarchy.
In the 19th century, the number of Armenian landholders increased. Most Armenian communities made their home in the Austrian partition, and more precisely in Eastern Galicia. The Austrians enthusiastically conferred noble titles on local Armenians, hoping to make these nobles of non-Polish extraction the mainstay of their rule in Galicia. But things turned out differently. The Bohosiewiczes, Krzysztofowiczes, Teodorowiczes and other Armenian families showed no less Polish patriotism than other noble clans. Of course, not all Armenians became landowners. Some continued to ply their trade as merchants; in Pokutia, for example, many of them prospered as cattle dealers. There were also farmers and craftsmen. But it seems that in many cases, Armenians gravitated to intellectual professions.
Armenians had therefore ceased to play the role of mediators between Poland and the East. An artist with Armenian roots might sporadically introduce Armenian accents in their work – for example, Juliusz Słowacki with the figure of ‘Hera Armeńczyka’ (Hera the Armenian) in Król-Duch (The King Spirit). The painter Teodor Axentowicz painted Chrzest Armenii (The Baptism of Armenia). Not much remained of the Eastern community which Armenians had once formed. Only the language of their liturgy suggested the provenance of their strain of Christianity.
Some elements of their native culture, mainly folklore, could still be found in Kuty (the Armenians in Pokutia were often referred to as ‘Kabzany’). Aside from an Armenian dialect, various rites survived there, as did elements of Armenian cuisine. But Armenians only arrived in Kuty in 1715, so they simply didn’t have enough time to become as assimilated as their compatriots in Lviv or Sniatyn.
Polish Armenians took part in developing Bukovina, an underserved region belonging to Austria, which wanted to improve the area’s economic standing. During the second half of the 19th century, Galician Poles and Armenians established great fortunes in Bukovina and attained prominence in many areas of life. An Armenian parish was founded, and an impressive church was built in Chernivtsi, the region’s capital.
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The Grigoryan, Manukyan, Shahramanyan family, Koszalin, photo: from a family archive
The Armenian community in independent Poland numbered at just over 5,000 people. Around 1,000 lived in Bukovina, which now belonged to Romania. In addition, several hundred immigrants arrived in Poland from the East, fleeing the genocidal massacres perpetrated by the Turks and the October Revolution in Russia.
Polish Armenians were by then highly Polonised, perhaps with the exception of the Kuty community. The Armenian Rite Archdiocese of Lviv still remained from the old days, however, and it was headed by Archbishop Józef Teodorowicz – an outstanding politician in the Second Polish Republic. Lviv was also home to a monastery of Armenian Benedictine nuns who ran a Polish-language elementary school and a gymnasium for girls, as well as the Józef Torosiewicz Academic Establishment, a residence for male students. The Mons Pius Public Loan Company, which was essentially a bank, is also worthy of mention. All of these institutions were located on Ormiańska and Skarbkowska streets, near the cathedral and the archbishop’s residence.
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Title page of the bi-monthly journal ‘Posłaniec Św. Grzegorza’ (St Gregory's Envoy), first issue, June 1927, photo: DS reproduction
In 1930, the Archdiocesan Union of Armenians was founded in Lviv. It initiated various cultural and social undertakings, including the annual Armenian Balls held during Carnival. There were also concerts and lectures. Two periodicals were published (both of them in Polish): Posłaniec Św. Grzegorza (St Gregory’s Envoy), from 1927, and Gregoriana (1935).
By this time, Armenians enjoyed widespread respect in Polish society. Archbishop Teodorowicz was an unquestionable political authority. Although he only served as a Sejm deputy in the early years of the Second Republic, he exerted influence on political life in a variety of ways. Others, too, were involved in politics: Dawid Abrahamowicz, Janusz Jędrzejewicz, Kornel Krzeczunowicz, Reverend Samuel Manugiewicz and Professor Alfred Ohanowicz. A large group of landowners in southeastern Poland could boast Armenian ancestry, as could entrepreneurs, scholars, artists and high-ranking officials.
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Archbishop Józef Teodorowicz, 1901-1938, photo: www.audiovis.nac.gov.pl (NAC)
Archbishop Teodorowicz died at the end of 1938. Reverend Dionizy Kajetanowicz, a protonotary apostolic, was the most serious candidate to replace him, but no decision regarding his nomination was made in Rome before the outbreak of the war.
During World War II, the Armenians belonging to the old-time elites were persecuted by the Soviet occupiers. Many were arrested, and some were sent to Siberia. In the German-occupied territories, many ran into problems on account of their somewhat uncommon appearance, which was said to make them appear to be Jewish. Thanks to this, one group of Jewish people is said to have been saved when Armenian birth certificates were procured for them.
A relatively large number of Armenians, especially in Pokutia, were murdered by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army. On 21st April 1944, a pogrom in Kuty claimed the lives of around 100 Armenian residents.
But the Armenians fought, too. There were Armenians in almost all the Polish military formations. Those from Bukovina, drafted into the Romanian army, found themselves in a complicated predicament.
After the war, the administrator of the Lviv Archdiocese, Reverend Kajetanowicz, ended up in the Gulag, where he died in 1954. Other priests also suffered repressions at the hands of the communists – but fortunately, they were ultimately granted permission to go to Poland.
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Armenian Day in Kalaczakra, Wrocław, photo: Wojciech Nekanda Trepka / AG
After the war, almost all the Polish Armenians moved to Poland’s new territory. Only a small group remained behind in the Kuty parish. Most of the Armenians in post-war Poland chose to settle in big cities – Kraków, Warsaw and Gdańsk. Quite a few also settled in Upper and Lower Silesia, in Katowice, Bytom, Gliwice, Opole, Wrocław, Wołów and Oława. Armenian pastoral structures were developed in Gliwice and Gdańsk, but for various reasons, they could not revive the traditional rite, but only nominally sustain it. Young Armenians ceased to look for spouses amongst others like themselves, and endogamous marriages became extremely rare. The community was rapidly disintegrating.
And yet, in the 1980s, there was a Polish Armenian revival. It was during that decade that an Armenian Culture Circle was founded as part of the Kraków branch of the Polish Ethnological Society. Soon, similar circles sprang up in Warsaw and Gdańsk. In 1990, the Armenian Cultural Association was registered in Kraków, and a few years later, the Archbishop Józef Teodorowicz Union of Armenians in Poland was established in Gliwice. Thanks to these initiatives, Poles with Armenian roots gained a chance to preserve and practice their traditions. Such associations organised various lectures on Armenian topics, while publishing was in full swing, and exhibitions and concerts were organised.
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Armenian Association in Gdańsk plaque, photo: Łukasz Dejnarowicz / Forum
Also important are Poland’s latest newcomers from Armenia. In 1988, there was an earthquake in Armenia, followed by a war with Azerbaijan. After the breakup of the Soviet Union, the Armenian SSR became independent Armenia. In the throes of a political and economic crisis, the young state could not provide adequate living conditions to all its citizens; hence, many left the country to try their luck abroad, including in Poland.
There are currently several thousand Armenian immigrants living in Poland. The Armenian organisations which are active here today work to help them find employment and housing. They also organise schooling in the Armenian language.
Originally written in Polish, translated by Dominika Gajewska, Dec 2020
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