Our Europe. Ethnography – Ethnology – Anthropology of Culture
Vol. 1/2012
p. 045–054
Grzegorz Pełczyński
Institute of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology,
Adam Mickiewicz University, Poland
Armenians in Poland in the period of communism
and in the “Third Polish Republic”
Armenians were settling in the areas of today’s Ukraine, later incorporated into
Poland (Stopka 2000: 19-22), as early as in the 11th century. During the following centuries,
they established settlement centers in many cities and towns, in particular Kamieniec Podolski and Lvov (Barącz 1869:72-180). They were mainly occupied with trade and craft. In the
16th and 17th centuries, Armenians introduced Orient onto the Polish market, importing
from the East a variety of oriental luxury goods, and producing their own from oriental designs for the nobility and patritians (Reychman 1964: 51-70) . Although they were an affluent
community, some restrictions were imposed on them, since members of the Armenian Apostolic Church were regarded as heretics in the Polish society. However, in 1630 they entered a
union with the Roman-Catholic Church and became Catholics of the Armenian Liturgy,
which advanced their assimilation processes (Obertyński 1990: 13-43; Pisowicz 1999: 17-19).
Towards the end of the 18th century, the country of Poland, partitioned by Russia, Prussia and Austria, ceased to exist. The area inhabited by the Armenians, i.e. East Galicia with
its capital in Lvov, was incorporated into Austria. Soon afterwards, the nearby Bukowina
became the settlement place for the Polish Armenians.
In the inter-war period there were almost five thousand Armenians in Poland; one thousand Polish Armenians lived in Bukowina, which then belonged to Romania. In addition, in
Poland lived about one thousand emigrants from Armenia and Russia who had escaped the
1915-1920 pogroms in West Armenia and the October Revolution. The Polish Armenians
were at the time highly polonized, except for those in the village of Kuty, who had preserved
many elements of their culture (Kościów 1989). One token retained from the old times was
the Lvov Archdiocese of the Armenian Rite, headed by archbishop Józef Teodorowicz, an
outstanding politician of the “Second Polish Republic”. In the 1930’s, the Archdiocese Association of Armenians initiated many cultural undertakings that performed an integrative
function. Despite being a small population, the Armenians were highly respected by the
Polish people not only in view of their prosperity, as many of them were landowners and
industrialists, but also because of their patriotism.
During WWII, the Armenians from Eastern Little Poland (Małopolska Wschodnia) and
Bukowina experienced twists and turns of fate similar to those of the other Polish citizens in
those regions. During the Soviet occupation numerous Polish Armenians, who represented
former elites, suffered severe persecutions. When the Germans invaded the area, the lives of
some Armenians became threatened due to their exotic, Jewish-like appearance. At the same
time, that appearance was instrumental for the saving of Jews, for whom Armenian birth
46
Grzegorz Pełczyński
certificates (Sławiński 1987: 6-7) could be forged. A significant number of Armenians, particularly those from Pokucie, were killed by the Ukrainian Uprising Army (UPA). In the
genocide in Kuty, lasting from 19 to 21 April 1944, over one hundred Armenians lost their
lives. For a certain period of time, Armenian collaboration divisions were stationed in Lvov,
for whom pastoral service was provided by priests Dionizy Kajetanowicz, the Archdiocese
administrator, and Kazimierz Romaszkan. They both became imprisoned and, after the incorporation of Eastern Little Poland (Małopolska Wschodnia) to the Soviet Union, sentenced
to many years’ imprisonment. Unusual were the stories of the Armenians in Bukowina, who
regarded themselves as Poles, yet were residing in a country allied with the Third Reich
(Danilewicz 2004: 53-126).
***
As a result of WWII, the territory for centuries inhabited by the Polish Armenians became part of the USSR. The Armenians, like most of the Polish population living there, left
their houses to go west to Poland. They were to become the citizens of the Polish People’s
Republic (PRL). They settled mainly in the “Regained Territories”, predominantly in the
Upper Silesia and the Lower Silesia. Many of them also settled in Cracow, Warsaw, the Tricity (Trójmiasto) and other towns. Some tried to settle where their relatives or acquaintances
lived before WWII. However, they did not manage to create close-knit settlement centers,
being widely scattered throughout Poland. The dispersion affected not only members of
parishes but also closest relatives, so contacts were often lost.
Many missed Lvov, Kuty or Śniatyń, some hoping for a quick return to their homeland,
yet they had to settle down in the new places. Sooner or later, they became integral parts of
the new communities joined after the displacement. When those communities did not include other people from the “Kresy” region (the Polish eastern frontier), they would often
be distinguished as people of the “Kresy” (“Kresowianie”).
As before WWII, affiliation in the Armenian group was connected with belonging to the
Armenian-Catholic religious rite (Roberson 1998: 34-36, 153-155). However, in the later years
this membership was becoming increasingly formal only. In the Soviet Ukraine, the Armenian as well as the Greek-Catholic rites were abolished (Smirnow 2002: 221). The administrator of the Lvov Archdiocese, priest Dionizy Kajetanowicz died in exile in Abież by the
northern polar circle in 1954. Conspiracy was practiced temporarily by Samuel Manugiewicz, the parish priest of the Kuck parish, who passed away in 1956. All the Armenian
churches were deprived of their sacral character: the beautiful Lvov Cathedral was transformed into a warehouse, the church in Stanisławów became the Museum of Religion and
Atheism (Chrząszczewski 1996: 19). These persecutions affected only those Polish Armenians who, for various reasons, remained in the West Ukraine, while most of them had migrated to Poland. There, however, the church authorities, preoccupied with more significant
issues during the difficult post-war period, did not show enough care to meet the needs of
the followers of the Armenian rite.
In the 1940’s two centers for the Armenian rite followers were established, one at the
small Dominican St. Idzi church, where Andrzej Łukasiewicz, a priest from Bukowina,
served until his death in 1951. His duties were then taken over by priest Franciszek Jakubowicz, who, after becoming seriously ill, celebrated mass in his room only, with archbishop
Karol Wojtyła’s permission. After priest Jakubowicz’s death in 1972, the Armenian liturgy
was occasionally offered by priests commuting from Gliwice.
After WWII, the Armenians in Gliwice became the owners of a small Holy Trinity church,
where priest Kazimierz Roszko celebrated masses until 1964. Later, he emigrated to Italy,
then the USA, Canada and Israel. While in exile, he left the Armenian rite for the GreekCatholic one. In the years 1969-1973, the Holy Trinity church was administered by priest
Armenians in Poland in the period of communism and in the “Third Polish Republic”
47
Kazimierz Romaszkan, who had survived labor camps. After his death, priest Krzysztof Staniecki, previously connected with the Latin and Greek rites, took over his duties and performed Masses for both the Armenians and Greek-Catholics (the Ukranians) in the Holy
Trinity Church until 1985 (Kubit 2001: 6-7).
The third center for the followers of the Armenian-Catholic rite was established toward
the end of the 1950’s on the initiative of priest Kazimierz Filipiak, the former parish priest in
Stanisławów. The priest had moved from one place to another for many years, finally to be
granted a ruined St. Peter and Paul’s Church in Gdansk in 1958, which he then continued
rebuilding until the mid-1970’s. However, only one of the chapels was made available to the
Armenians, while the main church was designated for the major Roman-Catholic rite.
A sanctuary of the Heavenly Mother of Mercy was founded in the church, whose painted
portrait priest Filipiak had brought from Stanisławów.
One of the most important institutions of the archdiocese was the Benedictine convent
and school in Lvov. The convent, however, moved to Poland in 1946, where it stayed in
Lubiń for ten years, before finally moving to Wołów in the Lower Silesia. From among
a dozen or so sisters who came to Poland not all were of Armenian origin. Over time, not
even one Armenian was left, and in 1961 the convent officially adopted the Latin rite.
As before WWII, the Polish Church institutions were unable to help sustain the Armenian traditions. Families could do so only to a small extent. This was because in the interwar period endogamy was already in decline, and in the decades after the war it completely
ceased to be practiced. Consequently, in families where only one of the parents or grandparents was an Armenian, Armenian traditions could not be fully maintained.
Some people did not accept the disintegration of the Armenian community and wanted
to revive it. These were usually relatives or close acquaintances of priests of the Armenian
rite as well as former activists of the Archdiocese Association of the Armenians, including
Stanisław Dionigiewicz (Kamocki, Tyszkowa 1982: 429-430), and innumerous immigrants
from Armenia or Russia still associated with their country of origin. Rebirth of the Armenian communities might have been accomplished at the time, had it not been for their huge
dispersion over the PRL territory. Another obstacle was the lack of democratic rights; this
problem, however, could perhaps have been overcome.
In the second half of the 1950’s, following the political liberalization in PRL, minority
associations began to emerge in the country. The idea of founding an Armenian organization was thus brought up. Little is known about who and where had the idea first; what has
been established is that talks must have been held in friendly circles in several cities. However, the idea attracted only some attention at first, while most people remained indifferent:
unlike Lithuanians or Ukrainians, the Polish Armenians did not seem interested in having
their own organization. In Warsaw (Tryjarski 2001: 49-51) one informal group, concentrated
around Leon Ter-Oganian (Pełczyński 2004: 419-420), emerged, whose members were meeting in restaurants or private apartments to discuss Armenian problems.
***
For over thirty years Armenians had been dissolving into the mass of the Polish national
majority. However, at the beginning of the 1980’s their communal spirit was suddenly
roused. At that point their population was estimated at about fifteen thousand, which is
a figure difficult to accept (Pełczyński 1997: 92), since it included Polish Armenians and their
children, mostly from mixed marriages, and families of the pre-war and post-war emigrants.
Still. irrespective, of how large or small the population was, individuals capable of initiating
a revival were found.
At the end of the 1970’s, the idea of creating the first Armenian organization in PRL was
conceived in Cracow. On March 24, 1980 (i.e. before the August 1980 Solidarity events), the
48
Grzegorz Pełczyński
Armenian Culture Circle (KZKO) was founded within the Cracow division of the Polish
Ethnological Association (PTL). The people who helped to found it were two ethnographers
sympathetic to the Armenian community: Anna Kowalska-Lewicka and Janusz Kamocki.
The first president was Michał Bohosiewicz. KZKO was not an independent association, but
rather a branch of PTL, associating both professional ethnographers as well as amateurs.
The inclusion of Armenians in this scientific association was only possible owing to the intellectual ethos of their community (Kamocki 1996: 25-27).
Somewhat later, in December 1980, within PTL’s office in Warsaw an Armenian Culture
Circle appeared. Its leader was Leon Ter-Oganian, well-known among the Warsaw Armenians. In 1984, a KZKO organization was established in Gdansk, run by Marian Abga-rowicz.
The first major undertaking of KZKO was a scientific symposium in November 1980 in
Cracow. During the two-day session a number of papers were given; however, the more
significant role of the event was in the reintegration of the Armenians. The conference was
attended by 200 people, many of whom had seen each other for the first time in decades. The
occasion stirred extraordinary emotions among its participants.
In December 1983, the Armenian Culture Circle in Cracow organized another scientific
session wholly dedicated to the memory of archbishop Teodorowicz on the 45th anniversary
of his death. This meeting was not attended by as many people as the previous one, but it
was also successful.
With time the activities of the Circle became less spectacular and mainly involved the
organization of lectures about the history and culture of the Armenians. During 1980-1982,
the Circle held language courses of Armenian run by Andrzej Pisowicz (2000: 140), an outstanding expert in Armenian culture. As of 1983 interesting brochures and books began to
come out in Warsaw – another example of the independent editorial initiatives so characteristic of Poland of the 1980’s.
In the 1980’s the Armenian rite also underwent considerable transformation. Kazimierz
Filipiak, the only priest of the rite at the beginning of the decade, was looking for his successor. He found two young priests of Armenian origin, who were to be sent to the Papal Armenian College in Rome to learn the Armenian rite. Due to his opposition activities, priest
Tadeusz Isakowicz-Zaleski was refused a passport and thus only one priest, Józef Kowalczyk, was allowed to go.
In 1985 priest Kowalczyk assumed the post in Gliwice at the Holy Trinity Church. Having learned the Armenian liturgy in Rome and Lebanon, he began performing it in Gliwice
and Cracow, causing consternation particularly among the old generation Armenians. The
Lvov Archdiocese Armenian liturgy, thus far faithfully retained by priest Filipiak, had been
vastly Latinized, whereas the liturgy brought by priest Kowalczyk was Eastern and devoid
of Latin elements.
In September 1989, priest Kowalczyk organized coronation of the painting of the Łysiecka
Heavenly Mother placed in the church in Gliwice. The celebration was attended by the Armenian-Catholics’ patriarch John Peter Casparian XVIII from Beirut, and many other patriarchs of the Armenian hierarchy, also primate Józef Glemp along with the Polish bishops.
Above all, the event was attended by great numbers of Armenians from across Poland. The
coronation event helped them gather and see how many of them remained and how significant their heritage was.
Somewhat earlier, on December 7, 1988 Armenia was struck by an earthquake. The Armenian Culture Circles, in particular the one affiliated with the Warsaw PTL branch, organized aid for the victims of the disaster. They used the media (the radio, the press, the television) to ask the Polish society to provide aid to the Armenian nation. Despite the poverty of
the Polish people, money and other necessary items for the thousands of Armenians in Ar-
Armenians in Poland in the period of communism and in the “Third Polish Republic”
49
menia were gathered. Later, a summer camp was organized for children and teenagers from
the areas affected by the earthquake. In the same period, Armenia and Azerbaijan became
involved in a conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, which turned into a war between both countries1. The Polish Armenian society again exerted efforts to help war victims.
The misfortunes which Armenia was facing at the end of the 1980’s triggered off an emigration wave of thousands of its inhabitants. Poland, much respected at the time for its
contributions in the fight against communism, attracted refugees both from Armenia and
from other parts of the USSR, now in decline. The new Armenians who came to Poland were
met by the already well-settled Armenians and by Poles of Armenian origin, who were helping the newcomers in their difficult situation of emigrants.
***
The rebirth of the Armenian community in the 1980’s enabled its development in the
“Third Polish Republic”. In the new Polish society the Armenians became a minority with
its own organizations and institutions and a considerable degree of credit. Outside Poland,
Armenians began to be treated as part of the Armenian Diaspora2, which had some political
implications.
The Armenian Culture Circles affiliated with the Polish Ethnological Society (PTL) did
not have legal personality, so their activities had to be limited. Therefore, in September 1990
the Armenian Cultural Society (OTK) was established in Cracow, headed until today by
Adam Terlecki, the leader of KZKO in Cracow. On 15 June 1991, the OTK organized the First
Polish National Meeting of the Armenian Community. Since then, several such meetings
have taken place, resembling the two symposiums from the beginning of the 1980’s. In 1993,
a “Bulletin of the Armenian Culture Society”, edited by Anna Krzysztofowicz, was first issued, inspiring an outburst of publishing activity; until today, almost 50 brochures and several books (Terlecki 2000: 5-7) have appeared.
Besides OTK, various other organizations were founded, such as the Abp. J. Teodorowicz Association of Armenians in Poland, with the seat in Gliwice. Its interesting initiative has
been the attempt to re-introduce the pre-war periodical of the Polish Armenians entitled
“St. Gregory the Illuminator’s Messenger”. Also worth noting are two other organizations:
the Ararat Association of Armenians in Poland and the Association of Armenians in Poland,
founded by emigrants from Armenia. Of all those, however, the association headed by Adam
Terlecki appears to have made the biggest achievements.
Another noteworthy organization is the Polish Armenians Culture and Heritage Foundation, appointed by the decree of primate Józef Glemp, the Catholic ordinary of the Armenian Rite in Poland on 7 April, 2006, and founded by Monika Agopsowicz . The aim of the
foundation is to protect what has remained from the Armenian communities that once
lived in Poland and to preserve the memory of their rich heritage. Such was the intention
of an exhibition opened in the Senate of Poland3 on 4 March, 2008, commemorating archbishop Teodorowicz on the 70th anniversary of his death. The “Ararat” foundation, established by the emigrants, in addition to cultural activities, also concerns itself with social
matters.
1
  The Warsaw KZKO issued a brochure about it: J. Głodek 1989, Arcach Górski Karabach [Mountain
Karabach], Warszawa.
2
  This is attested, for example, by two monographic issues of Armenian magazines about Polish
Armenians which came out in the USA: “Ararat” 1990, no. 124; “Agbu” 1998, no. 2.
3
  A special issue of “Gregoriana” was edited on the occasion of the exhibition (its title referring to
the periodical issued by The Lvov Archdiocese of the Armenian Rite before the war).
50
Grzegorz Pełczyński
The period described was unfavorable for the lot of the Armenian-Catholic rite. Its prewar tradition was, to some degree, terminated by the death of priest Filipiak in 1992, the last
active minister of the Lvov Archdiocese of the Armenian Rite. Although in Rome there lived
priest Grzegorz Petrowicz, connected with the Papal Armenian College, the author of the
three-volume work La Chiesa Armena in Polonia, his ties with the Armenians in Poland were
rather weak.
After priest Filipiak’s death, the legal status of the Armenian rite was standardized. Priest
Józef Glemp, ordinary of the rite, in 1992 erected the Holy Trinity Armenian-Catholic Rite
and Parish with its seat in Gliwice. Being a personal parish, it gathered all the believers on
the whole territory of Poland. Priest Kowalczyk became the parish priest, whereas priest
Cezary Annusiewicz was entrusted with the care over the followers in northern Poland.
In 1990 priest Kowalczyk began visiting Lvov to perform Masses at the Armenian Cathedral Courtyard for the few Armenian-Catholic residents there. When the opportunity arose
to recover sacral buildings once illegally seized by the Soviet authorities, the efforts to regain the Cathedral were made by the post-war Armenian settlers from Armenia and other
parts of the Soviet Union, who were not Catholics but members or advocates of the Armenian Apostolic Church. The authorities granted them the historic temple, where Masses
(Gajuk 2002: 117-124; Smirnow 2002: 230-236) have since 2002 been performed regularly,
following a long period of reconstruction. The life of the community is chronicled by “The
Armenian Cultural Association Bulletin”.
Despite his passion and numerous organizational merits, priest Kowalczyk lost the respect of the majority of his parishioners due to his conflicting character. As a result of an
incident on 8th September, 1999, in Gdansk, he was excluded from the Armenian community.
On that day, along with a group of men, priest Kowalczyk attacked priest Annusiewicz in
St. Peter and Paul’s Church in an attempt to seize the painting of the Heavenly Mother of
Mercy from the sanctuary founded by priest Filipiak. The incident was discussed in the
media, and brought unnecessary shame onto the Armenian community. Unfortunately,
priest Filipiak continued committing misdeeds and frauds, which ultimately led to his
imprisonment.
After those incidents, the organizational structure of the Armenian rite was quite shaky.
Over time, the serving minister became priest Isakowicz-Zaleski, earlier forbidden from
travel to Rome, now involved in charity work as president of Brother Albert’s Foundation in
Radwanowice. Today, he is best known for his book “Księża wobec bezpieki” (Polish Priests
and the Communist Secret Police), in which he reveals the highly complicated life stories of
the clergy in the PRL period. The metropolitan of the Armenian liturgy became archbishop
Kazimierz Nycz, who at the end of 2009 decided to establish three territorial parishes: the
northern one with the seat in Gdansk, headed by priest prelate Cezary Annusiewicz; the
central one in Warsaw, headed by Artur Awdalian, and the southern one in Gliwice, headed
by priest Isakowicz-Zaleski.
In 2001, the Polish Armenians together with the rest of the Armenian Diaspora celebrated the 1700th anniversary of Christianity in Armenia, which brought along numerous religious events. One outcome of these celebrations was that a vast part of the Polish society
could learn that Armenia was in fact the oldest Christian country. On 25 June, 2001, the visit
of Pope John Paul II to Lvov was planned, and a week before the visit the Pope expressed his
wish to see not only the Latin and Roman-Catholic Cathedrals, but also the Armenian Cathedral in Lvov. This advanced the restoration work that had been started there. It is said
that the Polish Pope had special fondness for the Armenians, because his school friend in
Wadowice was an Armenian, Antoni Bohdanowicz, later KZKO’s president in Gdansk.
While in Lvov, the Pope prayed along with the Armenian community in their Cathedral.
Another significant event was the visit of Nerses Bedros XIX, the patriarch of the Armenian-
Armenians in Poland in the period of communism and in the “Third Polish Republic”
51
Catholic Church in the Ukraine, on the break of October-November 2001. The distinguished
guest, accompanied by priest Isakowicz-Zaleski, visited Lvov and other places connected
with the Polish Armenians. Earlier in June, the leader of the Armenian-Catholic church celebrated the 1700th anniversary of Armenian baptism in Poland, performing Armenian liturgy in several Polish cities (Isakowicz-Zeleski 2002: 4-9). Undoubtedly, the anniversary
activated the Polish Armenians staying in Poland, both those settled here for centuries as
well as the newcomers. By joining the worldwide celebrations, they demonstrated their affiliation with the Diaspora.
At the end of the 1980’s, the Armenians from the Soviet Union began coming to Poland.
Emigration continued in the following decades. The first groups came from the areas affected by the earthquake in 1988, and were joined by refugees from Azerbaijan at the time
when their country was in conflict with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh. Once in Poland,
they were mostly placed in centers for refugees. Then arrived those escaping poverty in
Armenia and other former Soviet Republics. Some of these people stayed in Poland only
temporarily before going on to the West. Most, however, remained longer ultimately to
settle. This resulted in some problems over their legal status, since Poland was only gaining
experience in immigration policy and the Polish civil service did not always know how to
deal with the new situation. Nevertheless, the emigrants mostly found Poland an attractive
place to live, and were aided by well-organized Armenian organizations and institutions as
well as the Embassy of the Republic of Armenia, which opened in 1998.
A vast proportion of those Armenian immigrants who have remained in Poland are involved in common trade. However, they do not continue the earliest Armenians’ tradition of
bringing luxury goods to Poland; instead, they mostly sell inexpensive clothing imported
from Asian countries. The Armenian salesmen have to compete with the Polish vendors at
market places in big cities, which occasionally results in disagreements or squabbles. On the
other hand, there are also Armenians who have set up businesses. Armenian restaurants
offering Armenian cuisine (Marciniak 2004: 64-67) deserve special mention. Some Armenians also manage to go into self-employment or freelancing. An exceptional venue is that
of the Gagika Persamiana Gallery in Gdansk, which specializes in selling Polish Armenians’
art work and is involved in the organization of cultural events.
However, not all Armenians are successful in the country on the Vistula. Those without
jobs, suffering ill health, devoid of the Polish citizenship or even a permanent stay permit,
are in a difficult situation, and the Armenian institutions and organizations are not always
able to help them, as information about the people in need does not always reach them.
Trouble-stricken immigrants can only rely on charity (Cieślińska 1998: 122-123) institutions.
It is hoped that with the growing stabilization of the “New emigration”, as these immigrants
are often called, the number of those in need of financial support will be decreasing.
One interesting phenomenon is that of Armenian education. Already in the refugee
camps, the Armenians felt the need to be educated in their native language. However, organized education of children was only possible in the more stable conditions of the Armenian
communities, essentially in Warsaw and Cracow, as only those cities were inhabited by a
sufficient number of children and teachers with appropriate qualifications acquired in Armenia. Weekend schools are run and attended by dozens of children. However, not all children can be taught in the native language spoken at home; those with parents settled in
Poland are educated in Polish schools and often become very good pupils.
An event of special concern for the Armenians worldwide (Ter-Minassian 1994: 118-119)
is the mass killing of their compatriots in Turkey which took place during WWI (Kucharczyk 2004; Ternon 2005). Despite clear evidence showing their guilt, the Turkish authorities
have been denying involvement in the massacre. The Armenians are determined to continue
informing the world of the slaughter of 2 million of their countrymen on the orders of the
52
Grzegorz Pełczyński
Turkish state, and the Polish Armenians have also been actively involved. In the 1980’s, their
priests remembered the victims while performing Mass; the Warsaw KZKO also issued brochures about the subject. The level of interest increased in the times of the “Third Polish
Republic”, after the new wave of immigrants arrived from Armenia, where the question of
the Turkish responsibility for the crime has been one of the most important political issues
for decades. Owing to the efforts by the Polish Armenians and following the example of
parliaments worldwide, on 19 April 2005 the Polish Sejm adopted by acclamation a resolution paying tribute to the victims of the genocide and condemning the perpetrators. The
demonstration of the Armenians and Poles which took place in front of the Sejm building
three days earlier, was a display of their gratitude to the Polish state for the acceptance of the
resolution. The demonstrators were welcomed by PM’s Marek Jurek and Zbigniew Ziobro,
who, along with another PM Kazimierz Ujazdowski, had contributed to the adoption of the
resolution.
A year earlier, at St. Nicholas Church in Cracow a Khatchar was erected to commemorate, inter alia, the genocide of the Armenians in Turkey, despite the Turkish Embassy’s attempts to prevent the initiative. The monument, designed by Jacek Chrząszczewski in the
form of a Khatchar, i.e. a bas-relief depicting an Armenian “blooming cross”(Ostapowicz
1991), has become an exceptional symbol for the Polish Armenians. They gather around it
on 24 April, which is the day dedicated to the victims of the genocide. The representatives
of the Republic of Armenia, while visiting Poland, lay flowers at the monument. The first to
have done so was Armenian prime minister Andranik Markarian, when he arrived in Cracow on 25 January, 2005, to award cardinal Franciszek Macharski with the Mkhitar Gosh
Medal for his merits to Armenia and his long-term support for the Armenian activities in the
Cracow Archdiocese.
***
The Armenians settled in Poland for centuries, the Armenians migrated in the last 25
years, and the Armenians living in cities which once belonged to Poland, are unusual communities. Each of them maintains its own traditions, which today intermesh in a variety of
ways.
Those Armenians who left the south-east borderland (“Kresy”) after WWII to settle
within Poland’s new borders, have largely been replaced by new generations. These people
are aware of the significant role they have played in Polish history, although few proofs in
their possession remain to testify to this. What is important for them is the preservation of
the Armenian-Catholic rite, for which they are ready to exert efforts and sustain hardships.
However, it is also becoming increasingly important for them to continue the ethnic revival
(Pełczyński 1997: 103-132; Ziętek 2008) initiated in the early 1980’s.
The second group are those Armenians who came to Poland within the last two and
a half decades from Armenia and from the various Armenian centers in former Soviet Union.
As first-generation immigrants, they attempt to preserve the national Armenian traditions
as they acquired them in Armenia. The memory of the genocide of their ancestors in Turkey
is a vital component of their national identity. The task is to preserve that heritage, or a part
of it, and to pass it down to the younger generations.
It is difficult to estimate the exact sizes of both groups. According to the national census
of 2002, Poland had 1082 Armenian residents, of whom only 262 had Polish citizenship. This
implies that mainly the latest emigrants declared themselves as Armenians. The census
clerks could not have the opportunity to count people who only had an Armenian grandmother, for example, and who would identify themselves as Armenian in some situations,
while typically presenting themselves as Poles.
Armenians in Poland in the period of communism and in the “Third Polish Republic”
53
As a result of the migrations, new Armenian centers have emerged in the western
Ukraine, where the Polish Armenians once used to live. At present, the Armenian Apostolic
Church and its tradition are taking roots there, although the people do not appear indifferent also to the heritage of the Polish Armenians.
The traditions of these three groups are not separate. Their representatives have been in
contact with each other, and cultural exchange and dialogue have been possible. The Armenians from the first, oldest and most assimilated group have their ancestors’ legacy and heritage to communicate to the others. Naturally, each group may have different attitudes toward this heritage, given their unique contexts, but what the Polish Armenians have to offer
can be of importance. The knowledge that their predecessors had managed to survive and
thrive in a country where they themselves feel strange and alienated can be helpful in easing
the state of immigrant isolation. On the other hand, the Polish Armenians who for a long
time were not involved in the home matters of Armenia and of the Diaspora, since the 1980’s
have gradually been recognizing these concerns as their own. This has manifested in their
growing knowledge about the history and culture of the Armenians in the East and their
contemporary life. The new knowledge has also contributed to the increased activities of the
Polish Armenian organizations in the Diaspora, and kindled the need to develop more defined attitudes toward the new Armenians settling in Poland and those residing in the West
Ukraine.
The varied traditions of the Armenian communities have conflated most adequately and
honorably in the Khatchar monument, whose inscription reads:
This
Khatchar
That is
A “cross stone”
With an Armenian “blooming” cross
Commemorates the Armenians
Who
Lived in Poland from the 14th century
And contributed numerous merits
To the Polish Republic
The monument also commemorates:
The Armenian victims of the genocide
In Turkey in 1915,
The Armenians and the Poles killed by
The Ukrainian Nationalists of UPA
on 10-21 IV 1944
in Kuty on the Czeremosz river
And in other Polish eastern frontier locations,
The Armenian-Catholic priests arrested,
Killed or deported to Siberia
By the Soviet Occupation Authorities
During WWII
Bibliography
– Barącz S. (1869), Rys dziejów ormiańskich [A Sketch of the Armenian History], Tarnopol:
Komitet Budowy Kościoła Ormiańskiego w Czerniowcach.
– Cieślińska B. (1998), Ormianie w Białymstoku [Armenians in Białystok], “Przegląd Polonijny” 23, pp. 117-126.
– Danilewicz A. (2004), Z rumuńskiej Bukowiny na Dolny Śląsk [From Romanian Bukowina
to Lower Silesia], Kraków: Ormiańskie Towarzystwo Kulturalne.
– Gajuk I., (2002), Virmenska Cerka v Ukraini [Armenian Church in Ukraine], Lviv: Vidavnictvo Lvivskogo muzeju istorii religii “Logos”.
54
Grzegorz Pełczyński
– Isakowicz-Zaleski T. 2002, Wizyta patriarchy ormiańskokatolickiego Nersesa Bedrosa XIX na
Ukrainie [A Visit of an Armenian Catholic Patriarch Nerses Bedros XIX to the Ukraine], “Biuletyn OTK” 28/29, pp. 4-9.
– Kamocki J. i Tyszkowa A. (1982), Stanisław Donigiewicz, “Lud” 66, pp. 429-430.
– Kamocki J. (1996), Glossa do artykułu Grzegorz Pełczyńskiego [A gloss to a Grzegorz
Pełczyński’s Article], “Biuletyn OTK” 9, pp. 25-27.
– Kościów Z. (1989), Wiadomość o Ormianach kuckich [A Message about Armenian in Kuty],
Warszawa: Koło Zainteresowań Kultura Ormian.
– Kubit B. (2001), Ormianie w Gliwicach [Armenian in Gliwice], Zabrze: Muzeum Miejskie
w Zabrzu.
– Kucharczyk G. (2004), Pierwszy holokaust XX wieku [The First Holokaust of the 20th Century] , Warszawa: Fronda.
– Marciniak T. (2004), Konsumpcjonizm po ormiańsku [Consumerism in the Armenians Fashion], “Biuletyn OTK” 38/39, pp. 64-67.
– Obertyński Z. (1990), Historia Kościoła Ormiańskiego w Polsce [The History of the Armenian
Church in Poland], Warszawa: Koło Zainteresowań Kulturą Ormian.
– Ostapowicz K. (1991), Chaczkary [Khatchars], Warszawa: Koło Zainteresowań Kulturą
Ormian.
– Pełczyński G. (1997), Ormianie polscy w XX wieku. Problem odrębności etnicznej [The Polish
Armenians in the 20th Century. A Problem of Ethnic Autonomy], Warszawa: Koło
Zainteresowań Kulturą Ormian.
– Pełczyński G., (2004), Leon Ter-Oganian (1910-2002), “Lud” 88, pp. 419-420.
– Pisowicz A. (1999), Wokół unii Ormian polskich z Kościołem katolickim w XVII wieku [On
the Polish Armenians’ Union with the Catholic Church in the 17th Century], “Biuletyn OTK”
15, pp. 17-19.
– Pisowicz A. (2000), Ormianie polscy. Problem świadomości narodowej a kwestia języka [Polish Armenians: The Problem of national consciousness and the issue of language], in M. Bobrownicka (ed.) Język a świadomość narodowa Słowian [The Language and the Slav’s National Identity], Kraków: Universitas, pp. 135-142
– Reychman J. (1964), Orient w kulturze polskiego Oświecenia [The Orient in the Culture of the
Polish Enlightenment], Wrocław: Ossolineum.
– Smirnow Jurij (2002), Katedra ormiańska we Lwowie [Armenian Cathedra in Lviv], Lwów:
San Set.
– Stopka K. (2000), Ormianie w Polsce dawnej i dzisiejszej [Armenians in Poland of the Old
Times and Today], Kraków: Księgarnia Akademicka.
– Ter-Mianssian A. (1994), La diaspora armenienne, « L’Espace geographique » 2, pp. 115128.
– Ternon Y. (2005), Ormianie. Historia zapomnianego ludobójstwa [Armenians. The History of
the Forgotten Genocide], transl. by W. Brzozowski, Kraków: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu
Jagiellońskiego.
– Ziętek D. (2008), Tożsamość i religia. Ormianie w krakowskiej i lwowskiej diasporze [Identity
and religion: Armenians in the Kraków and Lviv diasporas], Kraków: Zakład Wydawniczy
Nomos.