A Civilian Army: Women, Children & Others Hashtag (topic) #Artists in Arms #heritage Nagłówek super artykułu Title on page in header A Civilian Army: Women, Children & Others Image or video 4-isfahan_kolaz_fot_rzeczyobrazkowe.jpg Podpis dla multimediów ‘Isfahan’ collage for the Artists in Arms project, photo: artwork by rzeczyobrazkowe / Adam Mickiewicz Institute Header text color rgb(255, 255, 255) Enable audio for video Off Negative header audio button Wyłączony Negative side audio button Wyłączony Zawartość (treść strony Super Artykułu) Tekst For Polish troops, becoming part of Anders Army’ meant joining the front line of the fight against Nazi Germany alongside Allied forces. But, as Norman Davies notes, the decision also caused a human crisis: what would happen to the civilians – women and, particularly, children – who had also been released from the Soviet Union? Where would they go? Who would look after them? The answer proved complex, involving long journeys, international diplomacy – as well as, crucially, help from one particular pre-war Polish singer: Hanka Ordonówna. Text size standard fonts size Columns style both columns static Left column Arrival in the Middle East After an agreement between the Soviet and Polish leaders (the so-called Sikorski-Mayski Agreement) and following Operation Barbarossa, hundreds of thousands of Poles attempted the journey out of t Right column Displaced Polish children in the USSR, photo: audiovis / NAC Fullscreen gallery items Text The role of women-soldiers serving in Anders’ Army can hardly be overestimated. The Women’s Auxiliary Service (Pomocnicza Służba Kobiet) was formed in late 1941 in the USSR. Podpis obrazka Women’s Auxiliary Service in the USSR, 1941-1942, photo: audiovis / NAC Text position left top Text Known as ‘pestki’ (‘pips’ or ‘seeds’ – from PSK), they worked as nurses, cooks, teachers in schools for orphans, as well as office secretaries, pilots and drivers. Podpis obrazka Woman volunteer fixing her car, photo: audiovis / NAC Text position left top Text Volunteers from the Women’s Auxiliary Forces at work. Podpis obrazka Photo: Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum in London Text position left top Text There were around 4,000 volunteers at any given time of World War II, but as of 1st July 1945 – the height of abundance – there were 7,000 women in the Women’s Auxiliary Service. The formation was disbanded in March 1946. Podpis obrazka Women’s Auxiliary Service members in Italy, photo: audiovis / NAC Text position left top Columns style both columns static Left column The ‘City of Polish Children’ Another orphanage – and one of the most prominent destinations – was the city of Isfahan. Right column View of Isfahan in the 1920s, photo: Wikimedia Simple Gallery Items Podpis obrazka Polish refugee colony operated by the red cross in Tehran, Iran, photo: Library of Congress Podpis obrazka Polish refugees in Iran, 1943, photo: Library of Congress Podpis obrazka Polish Cadets at their lunch, photo: Tadeusz Szumański archive / www.audiovis.nac.gov.pl (NAC) Columns style both columns static Left column Some of these more prestigious premises – which had been donated by wealthy Persians for the orphans – housed 40 to 60 children. Larger camps and convents were home to hundreds. There, writes Stella H. Right column Polish woman and her grandchildren shown in an American Red Cross evacuation camp as they await evacuation to new homes, photo: Wikimedia Columns style both columns static Left column The lost Polish orphans Nonetheless, Isfahan was still a place of trauma. Right column A Polish boy with loaves of bread in a Red Cross camp in Tehran, probably 1943, photo: www.audiovis.nac.gov.pl (NAC) Video Poles In Persia (1943) Autoplay video On Play video in loop Off Signature Polish refugees in Persia Video without audio Off Tekst For the ‘true’ Polish orphans who arrived in Isfahan, the city would be their home for some amount of time – sometimes weeks, other times years, with some settling permanently to live out the rest of their lives in Iran. Navid Kermani also notes ‘words of anger and rejection’, with some Polish girls ending up in prostitution, targeted by pimps who exploited customers’ preferences for girls with blonde hair. Text size standard fonts size Columns style both columns static Left column The star who saved the children Iran, however, was soon struggling to cope with growing numbers of refugees – and aid organisations began stepping in to help children seek new lives elsewhere. Right column Star of the Polish interwar stage Hanka Ordonka (Ordonówna), photo: audiovis / NAC Video SIK 1317 - Polish Refugees in India Autoplay video On Play video in loop Off Video without audio Off Columns style both columns static Left column Some orphans later recalled that Ordonówna would comfort them as if they were her own, teaching and singing to them – Franciszek Herzog remembers how she dressed in Polish national costume to perform at a bonfire party. Right column Hanka Ordonówna with soldiers in the USSR, photo: Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum Columns style both columns static Left column Journeying afield Aside from those travelling with Ordonówna to India, many other orphans found new homes elsewhere across the world. Right column Jam Saheb with rescued Polish orphans, photo: Centrum Studiów Polska-Azja Video SIK 1277 - Polish Refugees in Africa - Lusaka, Tengeru Autoplay video On Play video in loop Off Video without audio Off Tekst One of the most prominent was a settlement in Tengeru, Tanganyika. Taylor notes this was initially a small camp, but ambitious plans to develop an orphanage meant the area eventually became home to 4,000 refugees. Synowiec-Tobis described her journey away from Isfahan to Africa as one of ‘fascination’. The group of refugees she travelled with stopped at the Iranian holy city of Qom and at an American military camp for a generous meal, and then boarded a ‘luxurious’ passenger train, from which she watched the world go by. Text size standard fonts size Video Story of 700 Polish Children (1966) Autoplay video On Play video in loop Off Video without audio Off Columns style both columns static Left column Others settled quite literally on the other side of the world: in New Zealand. Pahiatua would be the new home of 733 children and their 105 caretakers. Again, schools were set up to support their education. Right column Children at the camp try out a new seesaw built by New Zealand soldiers, photo: Polish Children’s Reunion Committee / archiwumemigranta.pl Tekst Click the image below to return to the Artists in Arms multimedia guide: Promo art for Artists in Arms, photo: rzeczyobrazkowe / Adam Mickiewicz Institute Text size standard fonts size More Super Articles Title Humour in a Miserable Time: Cabaret Artists on the War Trail URL /en/feature/humour-in-a-miserable-time-cabaret-artists-on-the-war-trail Thumbnail Image URLhttps://api.culture.pl/sites/default/files/2021-06/6-beirut_kopia-1.png Hashtag (topic) #Artists in Arms Title Snapshots of a Portrait: The Wartime Diaries of Józef Czapski URL /en/feature/snapshots-of-a-portrait-the-wartime-diaries-of-jozef-czapski Thumbnail Image URLhttps://api.culture.pl/sites/default/files/2021-07/2-taszkient_kopia-1.png Hashtag (topic) #Artists in Arms Title Writers & Deserters: The Polish Experience in the Promised Land URL /en/feature/writers-deserters-the-polish-experience-in-the-promised-land Thumbnail Image URLhttps://api.culture.pl/sites/default/files/2021-08/7-palestyna-fin1.png Hashtag (topic) #Artists in Arms Introduction After Operation Barbarossa in 1941, hundreds of thousands of Poles who had been forcibly deported to the Soviet Union in the early years of World War II were suddenly freed, and allowed to reach Anders’ Army in the Middle East. Not standard color version On Series label Begin reading Summary After Operation Barbarossa in 1941, hundreds of thousands of Poles who had been forcibly deported to the Soviet Union in the early years of World War II were suddenly freed, and allowed to reach Anders’ Army in the Middle East. Cover Thumbnail size default [360 px] Thumbnail 4-isfahan_kolaz_fot_rzeczyobrazkowe.jpg