Meeting of Poles with Portugal in the shadow of World War II
Justyna Haftka
Doctoral School of Human Sciences
Jagiellonian University in Kraków
ORCID: 0000-0001-8735-1505
Published: 23/09/2022
DOI: https://doi.org/10.31338/ahi.2022.1.12
ABSTRACT: The present essay is devoted to Portugal’s sudden encounter with thousands of Poles during World War II, analyzed in a brief overview of the relations between both countries during the interwar period. In 1939–1945, Portugal was officially a neutral country, and the paths of many temporary refugees crossed there under various circumstances. Due to its location, Lisbon became their asylum and transit point, mainly on the way to the United States of America, Great Britain and Brazil. Among them were people who left Poland (occupied by the Third Reich and by the Soviet Union): civilian refugees, escaping from repressions and who wanted to cross the Atlantic Ocean, members of the military, diplomats, emissaries and representatives of the underground resistance movement, whose aim was to join Polish and Allied organizations in exile. For some of them, it was their first direct contact with Portugal and, also, for many Portuguese, it was their first contact with Poles.
KEYWORDS: Poland, Portugal, refugees, World War II, Lisbon.
