photography
and multimedia journalism association
Montresor is a community in the Loire Valley with fewer than 400 inhabitants. Many of them are Polish descendants. The medieval castle, Chateau de Montresor, was bought in 1849 by Polish emigre Xavier Branicki, Count and friend of Napoleon III.
Countess Maria Rey grew up in Derazhne, Ukraine, which was part of Poland before World War II. She immigrated to France in 1945 and married Count Stanislaw Rey; a descendant of Xavier Branicki. She is a current mistress of the house in the castle.
Count Konstanty Rey, son of Countess Maria Rey, was born in Montresor. He is responsible for maintenance of the castle Chateau de Montresor where the main income comes from tourists.
The Rey family owns many houses in Montresor, as well as much of the surrounding fields and forests, where they used to organize hunting expeditions. The tower of local church and count Xavier Branickis tomb can be seen in the background.
Horacy Unrug, a retired engineer, visits Montresors cemetery where there are dozens of Polish graves. His father, Jozef Unrug - Polish admiral who helped re-establish the Polish navy after WWI is buried in the cemetery.
Ivone Wantula is French-born, of Polish origin, who spent most of her life in the US. She is a retired nurse and spends her time in the Retirement Home of Polish Humanitarian Found settled in 17th century castle Fontpertuis in Lailly-en-Val.
Marek Szypulski, director of the Polish Retirement Home founded in 1957 in Lailly-en-Val, watches training of his personnel. Szypulski finished his studies in Poland in 1972 and went away on vacation to France and never returned from his holiday.
Kazimierz P. Zaleski stands in the Historical and Literary Society in Paris - one of the oldest Polish organization in France founded by political immigrants in 1832. Zaleski is French-born professor of physics and current president of the society.
Wojciech Sikora is the manager of the Literary Institute in Maisons-Laffitte - publisher of monthly Kultura founded in 1947. He stands behind the armchair of Kulturas founder Jerzy Giedroyc. Sikora was a member of anti-communist opposition in Poland.
Maciej Morawski is a political activist, journalist and retired correspondent of Radio Free Europe. He left Poland just after the WWII. He is seen in his apartment in Paris with his portrait painted by Polish immigrant artist Jozef Czapski.
Gilles Krowicki is Polish origin public notary in La Ferte Sous Jouarre. He is in the third generation of his family to be born in France and does not speak Polish anymore, but he is very proud of his roots.
Gilles Krowickis family stands in their home in La Ferte Sous Jouarre. Mrs. Krowicki was born in Poland so she and her daughters speak fluent Polish.
Ludwik Stomma is an ethnography professor at Paris-Sorbonne University, writer and columnist. He came for a scholarship to the University in 1981. The day after his arrival to Paris martial law was introduced in Poland.
Krystyna Mazurowna is a retired dancer, seen in her apartment in Paris. She was forced to leave Poland in 1968 by communists that did not approve of her modern ballet group. Currently she visits Poland very often and has become a celebrity.
Bogdan Korczowski, a painter, stands in his workshop in Paris. He left Poland in 1979 because his French wife could not get a stay permit in communists ruled Poland.
Ryszard Piegza, at his favourite Cafe de Albert in Paris. Piegza is a performer, video, action and installation artist. He emigrated in 1982 during the martial law in Poland.
Andrzej Szafran is a photographer who has lived for 30 years in Montreuil-sous-Bois, one of the poorest suburbs of Paris inhabited mostly by immigrants from Africa, the Middle East and Eastern Europe. He works as a culture animator.
A Sunday mass in the Polish Parish in Paris. The Church of Assumption of Holy Virgin Mary was given to Polish community in 1844.
The Polish community in France, a country that has long been a Polish ally, is one of the oldest in Europe and has nearly 800,000 residents.
A large number of Poles, about 100,000, settled in France...
The Little Poland in France
The Polish community in France, a country that has long been a Polish ally, is one of the oldest in Europe and has nearly 800,000 residents.
A large number of Poles, about 100,000, settled in France at the beginning of the 19th century during the rule of the Emperor Napoleon I. Many of them fought in the French army during the Napoleonic Wars. They believed that Napoleon Bonaparte would help to free Poland from Russian rule and establish an independent Polish Kingdom.
The next wave of Poles settled during the Great Emigration between 1831 and 1870; the result of an exile of political elites from the Partition of Poland that divided its territories between the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia and Austria.
There were few major waves of Polish emigration into France during the 20th century. After World War I, many Polish workers settled in France due to the hard economic situation in the newly established Republic of Poland.
When World War II began in 1939 Polish refugees fled Nazi and Soviet occupation forming the Polish resistance movement in France. When the Communists took power in Poland after the war, a new wave of emigrants left Poland looking for a place to live outside Communist rule.
The last great wave of emigration took place when Poland joined the Eurepean Union.
Przemysław Kozłowski
