Between September 2014 and April 2015, we collected 15 oral history interviews with people of Polish heritage living in, or with a connection to Waltham Forest. You can explore the complete archive here by scrolling down the page, or use the links to jump to a specific period of history.
- 1st wave migration (1830-34)
- 2nd wave migration (1880-1920)
- 3rd wave migration (1939-47)
- 4th wave migration (1989-now)
1st wave migration (1830-34)
Kay Pack – 7th generation
Kay’s great-great-great-grandfather was Tomasz Czaykowski, a Polish soldier who was in the unsuccessful 1830 November Uprising against the Russians. He was exiled and subjected to numerous atrocities, yet he and over four hundred other rank-and-file soldiers refused to give up their fight for Polish independence.
Eventually they were put on three ships heading towards America. When fierce storms hit, two of the ships took shelter on the English coast, in Harwich and Portsmouth; the third went to France. Like many of his companions, Tomasz decided to stay, abandoning the onward trip to America. At this point in time, this was the largest influx of Polish migrants to date, forcing the Government to reassess it migration policy and support for refugees. A £10,000 package of support was set up to help the new arrivals.
Tomasz met and married a local girl, moving to the Eastend of London where he worked as a sugar baker. Kay’s grandmother moved to Leytonstone and Kay was born in 1953 in Walthamstow. Today she lives in Leyton.
>> WATCH: Kay Pack on her Polish ancestor, Tomas Czaykowski
Tomasz and the other brave Polish soldiers are named on the Polish War Memorial in Portsmouth
2nd wave migration
John Eastwood – related by marriage to Henry Buritsky
John was born in Tottenham in 1922. His father was one of nine children, which included Aunt Rose, a quiet woman who worked in a factory near where they lived. In 1925, she married Harry (Henry) Buritsky , a Polish migrant who worked at the Lebus Factory on Ferry Lane. He was a “nice uncle” who would pass out “tuppence” to the children, which was considered a fortune at the time.
The family were very open to him. “Nobody worried that he was a Jew or that sort of thing”. John always knew he was from a foreign country, but that never bothered him. Harry’s English was very good – the same as talking to any of the other uncles or aunties.
Walthamstow was quite multi-cultural at the time and there were mixed race families on John’s street. It didn’t seem to bother people. On the bus it would not be uncommon to sit next to someone from Africa or the West Indies.
In 1933 Rose and Harry moved to the other side of Walthamstow and John saw them less. They had three children, one of whom died in infancy. Their daughter June lived in Walthamstow until 2010 and was an active member of the community until just before her death.
>> LISTEN: John Eastwood on his Uncle Harry Buritsky
Michael Freeman – 3rd generation
Michael’s grandparents came from Kutno in Poland, arriving in Leeds around 1890. Like many Jewish Poles they were likely fleeing the Russian pogroms, state sponsored violent and economic persecution of Jews.
Michael’s grandfather was was a “journey-man tailor”, which was fairly low skilled work. He died fairly soon after arriving in Britain, leaving an illiterate wife and four children to fend for themselves.
Michael’s father also became a tailor. Despite difficult childhood circumstances, he made a success of himself. He married and moved to London, buying a successful men’s clothing store.
Although brought up Jewish, Michael didn’t think much about his Polish roots until he visited the country in the 1990s. The trip ignited a connection with the country that “is different from any other European country.”
>> WATCH: Michael on his grandfather Joseph Friedman
Ivor Groman – 2nd generation
Ivor’s comes from a Jewish family, who lived in a small Polish village on edge of the Russian border. His grandfather worked as a leather maker, and had four sons. In 1920, as the Russian pogroms were hitting their third and final wave, the family decided to leave. They left behind two sons who had been conscripted into the army.
They travelled across Poland by horse and cart, the family valuables hidden in the horse’s nose bag to protect them from searches by Cossacks. Food was scarce, and they had to take what they could, when they could.
Eventually they arrived in Britain, heading to Wales where Ivor’s father got a job in an ironworks. He then went to London, finding what work he could to survive.
Ivor’s father married and ran a number of successful businesses in the West End, until local “villains” drove him out. During the war the family lived in Walthamstow, running a grocery store on Boundary Road. Ivor remembers one time there was a crate of raisons, which was rare. A bomb blasted the shop window, glass going into the box. Ivor’s mother picked out the glass because food was so precious.
After the war, Ivor’s father tried to find out what happened to the two brothers he’d left behind in Poland. They found one in the American sector, but the other had disappeared. They assume he came to a bad end. The surviving brother came over to England with his wife, another Holocaust survivor. They lived in Waltham Forest with Ivor’s family.
The family eventually moved out of Waltham Forest, but after Ivor married he returned. He opened a confectioners in Leyton, and another in Leabridge Road. He ran the stores for 14 years.
>> LISTEN: Ivor on his father and life in Walthamstow during WW2
3rd wave migration
Kate Bohdanowicz – 3rd generation
Kate’s grandfather was in the Polish Airforce fighting the Russians, when he was captured and sent to a POW camp. When the Russians switched sides, he was released to fight against the Germans, narrowly surviving death. It’s unclear how he came to be in Britain, but Kate’s mother was born in Edinburgh in a Polish airbase near Edinburgh.
When the war ended the family moved to Nottingham. Her grandfather started a business making snakeskin handbags, which was quite successful. They also opened the first Polish delicatessen in Nottingham, and later a second one in Derby.
Kate’s father spoke Polish but she was never taught it until she was 9, when she was sent to Polish Saturday school. Kate still celebrates a Polish-style Christmas, conducting the main festivities on Christmas Eve and eating Polish food. She also celebrates name days, which is a Polish tradition.
“It’s important to us to always continue the Polish tradition… we feel like its slipping from our hands.”
>> WATCH: Kate talks about her Polish grandparents
Alan Wito – 3rd generation
Alan’s grandfather was born in Krakow, and served in the Polish Army. In 1939 he escaped and came to Britain, where he served under the 1st Polish Armoured division based in Scotland. Here he met and married a local girl.
His unit was moved to Southern England, where it was earmarked for the Normandy invasion. He fought through France and ended up in Germany. Events that followed are unclear, but Alan’s grandfather was arrested and imprisoned by the British. He escaped, but he couldn’t return to Britain, so he went back to Poland. He didn’t see his children for another four decades.
Alan’s grandfather remarried and had several more children. There was little contact with the family back in Britain, and Alan’s grandmother did like to talk about it. In the 1980s Alan’s father and uncle went over to Poland and saw their father for the first time since the war.
In 1990 Alan’s grandfather died and it was rarely discussed in the family after that. It wasn’t until 2007, when Alan went to Poland, that the Polish and British side met for the first time.
>> LISTEN: Alan talks about his Polish grandfather
Odette Gaba – 2nd generation
Both Odette’s parents lost almost their entire families in the Holocaust. After the war her mother met Rabi Morganstern, who was funding boats to take under-18 Jewish children to Britain.
She ended up in the Eastend. It was a terrible slum, but she loved London and the British people. She liked that they didn’t ask you questions, that they gave you peace and opportunity.
Odette grew up in the shadows of her parents experiences. She felt very cut off from her Polish roots, and was encouraged to be British. Yet she felt different from the other children at school. There were all these secrets in her house, and nobody she could talk to about them. It could be very alienating.
Odette is an artist, and her work is inspired by the experiences of her parents. “You have to recreate stuff out of the ashes, otherwise what is the point of them all dying?”
>> WATCH: Odette talks about growing up as the child of Polish Holocaust survivors
Norman Fenton – 2nd generation
Norman’s father was born in Lodz in Poland in 1920 into a poor Jewish family. When the Nazis invaded, one of the first cities they invaded was Lodz. The family were were confined to the ghetto and endured forced labour.
At the beginning they weren’t murdering Jews, but they were rounding up and hanging Communists. Norman’s father had become active in politics, joining the Communist party when he was young. He knew his political affiliations would mean life would become very difficult for him, so escaped from the ghetto with his brother. That was the last time he saw any members of his family.
They eventually got through to the Russian zone, where they thought everything would be better. But the Russians were rounding up all fleeing Jews, sending them to the gulags in Siberia. This is where Norman’s father and uncle ended up, working in the salt mines. The conditions were terrible, and working in sub-zero conditions, his brother died. When Germany invaded Russia, the Polish Jews were released into the Free Polish Army. Norman’s father fought the rest of the war first through the Middle Eastern campaign and then Italy and was decorated for fighting on the front lines at Monte Casino.
When the war ended he went back to Poland to see what had happened to his family. All he could find out was that they had all been murdered as part of the Lodz ghetto extermination. He’d no desire to stay in Poland: his family was all gone and he was very bitter about the anti-semitism he had experienced in the Polish Free Army.
Norman’s father had trained as a tailor before the war, so went to the Eastend, working in the sweat shops. He met his wife and in 1950 they were married. They had their first child in 1951 and in 1956 Norman was born. The family lived in a crowded flat in Stepney.
Norman was five or six years old when he first learnt about what had happened to his father. He remembers hearing his father screaming at night with nightmares, and he could be difficult to live with at times.
In 1962 they moved to Ilford to live in their uncle’s house, which in comparison to Stepney was luxury. Anyone who could had moved out of the Eastend – if you had the money you moved. By the late 60s Redbridge and Waltham Forest had one of the largest Jewish communities in Western Europe. This has mostly all gone now.
Norman had a happy childhood, passing the 11+ and going to grammar school. He ended up at the London School of Economics and is now a Professor at Queen Mary’s University. It gave his parents “unbelievable pride”.
Norman had a thirst to seek out what had happened during the war, however he never had the desire to go back to Poland to see where the family perished. He feels it would be too difficult and he knows the story – he doesn’t need to go there to feel and understand what it was about.
>> LISTEN: Norman recounts his father’s story and the impact it had on his own life.
4th wave migration
Gosia Eicholc –1st generation
Gosia had been married for two years when her husband decided to leave Poland and come to London for work. In 2005 she and her young son joined him. Things between them quickly turned bad. He was unable to find employment, and began drinking heavily. In 2007 she left him.
Gosia’s friend helped her find work as a cleaner in Seven Sisters, but she would visit Walthamstow regularly for the market. At the time there were no Polish shops there, but she was aware how big the Polish community was, so in 2010 she got a bank loan and opened a small Polish grocery.
It was a big challenge, negotiating council permits and banking requirements with very little English. At first business in the shop was slow. She began to worry she’d made a big mistake as she’d borrowed a lot of money. But eventually it picked up and soon the shop was a huge success. It was doing so well that Gosia decided to open her second business – a Polish restaurant. This was a bigger challenge, with kitchens to install and the whole place needing redecorating. She used all her savings to make it happen.
Gosia still has family in Poland and visits regularly, although getting time away from the restaurant is difficult. She’d like to return one day, but her son wants to stay. He’s grown up and has friends here. He also speaks little Polish now. Gosia believes many Polish families think about going back, but as their children become embedded into British culture, that becomes less likely.
Magdalena Baranska – 1st generation
Magdalena was born in 1984 in a small Polish town. After university, she decided to go to London to learn English. She planned to stay for six months, then return to study and become a translator.
In 2004 she was recruited by an au-pair agency, and placed with a family in Chingford. She felt accepted very quickly by the family and became friendly with other au pairs on the school run.
The six months came round, but Magdalena decided she didn’t want to return home. Instead she began studying and got a job for a company that makes educational games.
There are lots of Polish people in Chingford now, and lots of Polish shops, but she says it will never be like Poland. After 10 years, Magdalena feels Waltham Forest is her home. She misses her family, and thinks she may go back one day, but probably not until she retires.
Pawel Jagusiak – 1st generation
Growing up under communism, Pawel was enthralled with colourful programmes from football teams like Tottenham. It started an love at 10 years old that continues today.
When he was 10, Pawel’s brother Maciej started writing to English football clubs, requesting pictures. Tottenham wrote back with a programme. From there Pawel’s love grew, learning the players’ names and following every match. It was discovering he could listen to matches on the World Service that changed everything. For one, he realised he was pronouncing names wrong. He began listening every week and practicing his pronunciation of David Howells .
In 1998 he came over for his first game. After that he came back whenever he had the money. In 2006 he went to a match against Everton and stayed until the end of the season.
Today Pawel spends around six month in Poland and six month in Walthamstow each year. He mostly does construction jobs, spending every spare penny on Tottenham. Back in his family home in Poland he still has that first programme, along with the 1500 others he’s collected since.
Pawel says: “There’s no other reason to be here, it’s just Tottenham. Obviously I’m working here and I like it here, but I like England because of Tottenham.”
>> Listen to Pawel and his love of Spurs
Michal Hawrot –1st generation
Michal’s great-grandfather was shoe maker in a Polish village, which is now part of the Ukraine. Ukraninan nationalists killed his great-grandparents, but their sons weren’t at home. When they returned the villagers helped them escaped, but they were split up. The eldest (Michal’s grandfather) was captured by Germans, but later escaped and fought with the Russian-Polish army to Berlin; the middle brother disappeared; the youngest ended up in Britain.
In 2000 Michal’s grandfather became ill and wanted to go to England to visit his brother for what he knew was going to be the last time. Michal was his favourite grandson, so he took him along. At the time, Michal was studying law in Poland and not thinking about a life in Britain.
Michal finished his studies, but found it impossible to find work in Poland. A legal career was for the rich and well connected. He felt there was no future for him in Poland, so when a security company came recruiting for UK businesses, he went for an interview.
Michal was offered a job and boarded a bus with around 80 others. There was a lot of drinking on the coach, including the driver. Many fell asleep in Poland and woke up in London with a hangover.
In London there were more interviews, which they weren’t expecting. Half of the people who came over were rejected, but not on the basis of ability. They took the first 40 who came off the bus. Some of the ones that were kept couldn’t even speak English. It was completely random.
It soon became apparent this was not the job he was hoping for. They were being paid below minimum wage, and when they complained they were threatened with violence. The hostel they were put up in was awful. There was conflict with other migrant groups, who resented Polish people moving into the area. At one point there was a “battle” although it was over within five minutes.
Michal had left a fiancé back in Poland, who he hoped would eventually join him. He didn’t want her staying in the hostel so he began to look for another place. They found a room in a terraced house, but it was in terrible condition with windows that didn’t shut properly.
In February 2006 he started studying law again at London Metropolitan University. The security company wasn’t happy about him wanting to work less hours. He’d been working 10 hour + shifts, often leaving home around 8am and working past midnight. When he started university he was still working 48 – 60 hours a week, but he had three evenings off to study.
In 2006 Michal got married and finally was able to leave the security job when he was offered a position with a law firm. He got a one-bedroomed flat in an acceptable condition, and the following year his son was born. Then the credit crunch hit, and Michal was let go.
After eight months of unemployment, Michal got a job with the DWP as a job centre advisor. He worked there for many years, before finally finishing his degree and getting his current job as a para-legal with a property development company. In March 2012 they got shared ownership on a property of their own, which they love and Michal has now qualified as a Graduate Member of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives.
After nine years in England, Michal considers it his home. He doesn’t think he would return as it would be very difficult for his son, who is now seven. He also thinks people are friendlier in England. This doesn’t mean he hasn’t experienced prejudice. He had an English friend who wouldn’t speak to him after finding out Michal had a gun licence. He didn’t think migrants should be allowed to have guns.
>> LISTEN: Michal’s story of migration
Pawel Krok – 1st generation
Pawel left university in Poland in 2006. He was qualified to be a teacher, but thought he would take some time out, go to London and learn English. He arrived in Ealing, where he studied and worked as a lifeguard and gym instructor, while studying three days a week.
He became friendly with a local head teacher, who invited him to do some volunteer work at his school. He saw how the British education system worked, and he liked it. He decided to stay and find some work in a school in London.
It was around this time he met his wife Anna, who was working in a Special Educational Needs school in Tottenham. In 2008 they were married. In 2011 they decided to open their own school.
Anna used to work in a Polish Saturday school in Luton. She knew there was a need and demand for one in north London. They established connections with the Polish Church in Walthamstow and the local community. The first September they had 50 children sign up and it’s been growing ever since.
The school uses the Polish language as a gateway to learning about the culture, including music and arts. It also preserves the Polish language in the home, which is important for parents and extended family who don’t speak English.
Like many Poles, Pawel planned to go back, but never did. He’s happy here, with lots of friends. He feels at home here.
Pawel used to live at Hale Village in Tottenham, which is built on the site of the Lebus factory.
Father Krzysztof Chaim – 1st generation
Father Krzysztof is from south Poland. He belonged to a big parish and lots of young parishioners were going to England. The Bishops asked him to go too because they were “worried about the fate” of these young people.
He flew to England from Krakow. It was the first time he’d been on a plane and he came with one small suitcase. He arrived in Bradford, where he would spend the next three years.
In Bradford, he spent a lot of time with older Polish residents, many of whom came over during WW2. He was often visiting hospitals and care homes.
Bradford was something of a culture shock. There were “people from every country in the world”. Where he’s from in Poland there were only white people. It was the first time he met anyone from Africa and many other cultures.
He was asked to come to London when the previous priest decided to return to Poland. He came down with just clothes and his car. He lives in a hostel, so uses plates etc. from that kitchen.
Only around 10% of Polish community in London attend church, but those who attend, do so regularly. He believes these people have a strong faith. In Poland, people will go to church because it’s tradition; young people will go because their parents tell them too. Here they don’t have their parents’ influence, so they come because they’re devoted.
Father Krzysztof says: “If Polish people are here, I wish to be here.”
If Polish people returned to Poland Father Krzysztof would go back as well, but there are no signs of that happening. Every year there are more Polish children to prepare for First Communion and he thinks these children will stay for good. Although they attend the Polish Saturday school, he notices that they speak English with their friends during break times, and with their siblings.
Anna Krok – 1st generation
During WW2, Anna’s Great Uncle was one day playing out on the streets. A German solider kidnapped him, forcing him to join their army. He escaped and joined the British forces. After the war ended he settled in Britain. He’d lost contact with the family for many years, but eventually they were reunited. When Anna came to visit him, it was the first time she’d been to England.
Anna immediately fell in love with Britain and a few years later decided to come back to study English. She returned to Poland briefly to finish her studies, but afterwards came back to England and got a job in a Polish school in Luton. Later she was offered a job at a SEN school in Tottenham. The first day was very hard, and she came home and cried. Friends convinced her to stay to the end of the week, and said if she still didn’t like it she could quit. She ended up staying for eight years.
Anna and her husband Pawel wanted to do something for the Polish children in the area, so decided to open a Polish Saturday School. Anna heads up the teaching side of things. They teach children, but also educate parents about English culture to help them integrate into the local community.
Poland still feels like home, but the UK feels like home too. In England they have the social life and Poland has the family life. Anna doesn’t want to lose her Polish roots and wants to promote them, but she wants to be open, tolerant and respectful to others too.
>> LISTEN: Anna talks about her Great Uncle and how she fell in love with England
Gabriela Smolinska Poffley –1st generation
Gaba was born in Krakow in 1975 and first came to England in 1997. She was 21 and had fallen in love with an English man. He’d been studying in Poland, and the trip was originally intended as a holiday to visit his family. Eighteen years later she’s still here.
In the beginning it was very difficult. She hadn’t planned anything and she didn’t speak much English. She only had her partner’s friends and she was only able to join in conversations at a superficial level at first. It was very isolating. Also, the place they were staying in Manor House was gloomy, and the only work she could find was as a cleaner.
It was her cousin who suggested she move into childcare, which she tried and enjoyed more. It was during this time that she started doing some part time courses, including in stained glass. Eventually she got a job with a stained glass studio, making windows for residential properties, mainly in Victorian and Edwardian designs.
The stained glass work quickly got boring, so she decided to set up her own business making fused stained glass. She got a part time job with a Roma support group to help finance it. It proved difficult to do both, and eventually the stained glass was dropped.
Gaba’s family are from the eastern part of Poland, what is now Ukraine, so the food they ate at home was different from traditional Polish food. In addition, her husband is vegetarian, and the Polish diet is very meat heavy. They do adapt some Polish dishes though, so does sometimes shop at the Polish groceries. She particularly likes to use Polish mayonnaise, which she says is very different to the English one. At Christmas they have a big Christmas eve dinner, which is a Polish tradition. This is important to her. Sometimes they will then also have an English Christmas Day dinner with her husband’s family.
Gaba’s husband likes to move around, so they’ve talked about leaving the UK, but she doesn’t think they would go back to Poland. She’s spent most of her adult life here, so doesn’t feel she’d know how things worked over there any more. She thinks it would be nice to be a little closer to family, especially now they have a child. She thinks she doesn’t necessarily belong anywhere, but she likes the flexibility of not feeling tied down to any particular place.
She believes coming to a different country helped to open up her mind, appreciate different cultures and respect that people think in different ways. It’s been an enriching experience.
Cindy White* – 1st generation
Cindy was born near Warsaw in 1969. When she was five her parents moved to Krakow. After finishing school she studied maths at university. Once she’d graduated, she got a job in a high school as a maths teacher. She eventually married and had two children. They moved to a small town and opened a language school together.
For the next five years she felt very lonely and unhappy. She found it difficult to make friends and missed city life. She also didn’t like running her own business. She never had any spare time and she was no longer teaching, which she missed. She wanted to leave, but her husband refused. Eventually she couldn’t stand it any longer. She couldn’t face another ten years in the same place, so left her family and came to the UK alone.
One of the reasons she decided to come to the UK was because she heard there was a shortage of maths teachers. She got a job in Tottenham, and found a place to live in Walthamstow.
She works as a supply teacher, so some of the schools are great, but others are not so great. Some of the behaviour of the children is challenging. She’s currently working with children who have been excluded from other schools and she’s struggling. “I feel like a babysitter not a teacher.”
She wants to stay in the UK until next summer, but she doesn’t know what to do after that. She’s thinking of going to Qatar or UEA. She doesn’t see herself going back to Poland. Most of the good jobs in Poland are taken by “relatives”. She often felt like an outsider. She doesn’t feel that here. She likes the freedom of opportunities – there is always something you can do.
*Not her real name
Artur Taborski – 1st generation
Growing up gay in Poland was difficult for Artur. It was just after the fall of Communism, and people had a very old fashioned mentality. You couldn’t easily be out, and finding a partner was difficult.
In 1994 he was 18 and came to the UK for two weeks on holiday. He experienced the gay scene in Soho and decided he didn’t want to go back. His family was very scared of him being so far away, but they understood why he wanted to do it and supported him in that choice.
He got a student visa, but he wasn’t allowed to work, which was difficult, because he needed to work to survive. He ended up working illegally, which eventually lead to him being deported. It was the worst experience of his life.
He spent the next 10 years playing around with visas to enable him to stay in the UK. In 2004, when Poland joined the EU, it changed everything. Finally he was able to live and plan his life. This year he is marrying his long term partner in Walthamstow.
>> WATCH: Artur’s story on being gay on Poland and his struggle to live in Britain
