wróć...“Regained identity: The 80th anniversary of the arrival of Polish children in Barcelona” – series of meetings
In 1946, thanks to the efforts of Polish diplomats, 125 children arrived in Barcelona. Behind this number lie the tragic stories of young Poles who, during the Second World War, passed through the hell of Nazi Germanisation centres. On the 80th anniversary of these events, the Museum of Polish Children – victims of totalitarianism, together with the Instituto Cervantes in Warsaw, invites you to a series of meetings presenting this extraordinary story.
For the children who reached Catalonia between April and October 1946, Spain became a safe haven for the next decade. Under the care of Polish staff, they learned the language, attended school and trained for future professions, slowly regaining the childhood that had been taken from them. Although most of them left for the United States after ten years, their story remains one of the most striking examples of Spain’s post‑war solidarity with Poland.
Upcoming event: “Faint echoes of the past”
We would like to invite you to the first meeting in the series which will focus on the mechanisms used to deprive children of their identity.
When: 4 March (Wednesday), 7 p.m.
Where: Instituto Cervantes in Warsaw, ul. Nowogrodzka 22
Admission: Free
Programme:
- Screening of “Stolen Identity”(directed by Katarzyna Pełka‑Wolsztajn) –
a documentary showing the fate of children subjected to Germanisation and the places where attempts were made to erase their Polish identity. - Lecture by Michał Hankiewicz: “Germanisation of Polish children during the Second World War” – an analysis of the Germanisation process, illustrated with accounts from specific witnesses.
- Lecture by Anna Dudek: “Dr Roman Hrabar – patron of stolen children” – a portrait of the man who devoted his life to finding abducted children and bringing them back to their homeland.