On 30 April 2022, the representatives of the Institute of National Remembrance took part in the opening of the renovated Polish cemetery in Rusape, where a Polish settlement was established in 1942.
The settlement was located near Nyanga National Park. It operated in the years 1942-1946. It was inhabited by approximately 700 Poles. The settlement was made up of 150 brick houses covered with roofing sheets. A unique chapel, consisting of three large traditionally styled thatched huts joined by cloisters, was located in the main square. The settlement had its own bathhouses with showers and bathtubs and laundry facilities. Three canteens provided residents with meals. The largest of them additionally housed a theatre hall. Clothes for the needs of the Polish inhabitants of Rusape were sewn in the tailor’s workshop. The Poles also ran a well-functioning pig farm. There was a primary school for younger children and a one-year Home Economics Training School for Girls. After graduating from primary school, the children went to secondary schools in other Polish centres. Girls usually attended Digglefold Middle School. There were Cub Scout and Scout organisations in the settlement of Rusape. There was also a small hospital.
The settlement was liquidated in 1946 and the inhabitants were transferred to Gatooma (today’s Kadoma). The houses abandoned by Poles are now used by the inhabitants of Rusape. The Polish cemetery has remained in Rusape until today. It was renovated in 2019 by the Centre for Documentation of Deportations, Expulsions and Resettlements, part of the Pedagogical University of Cracow and the Scouting Association of the Republic of Poland. The works were financed by the IPN.
The welcoming speech was delivered by Adam Siwek, the Director of the IPN Office for Commemorating the Struggle and Martyrdom. Father Piotr Pliszka (OFM Conv.), a Franciscan and the Director of the House of Reconciliation and Dialogue said a prayer during the ceremony at the cemetery and blessed the graves. After the introductory speech, the President of the Institute, Karol Nawrocki, Ph.D. and the Honorary Consul of the Republic of Poland in Harare, Krystyna Grabowska, Ph.D., took the floor. Chief Mucheni, representing the local population, also spoke during the ceremony. The history of the cemetery was recalled by Prof. Hubert Chudzio. The local population and Polish scouts took part in the event.
A map of the world showing Polish graves would make a great illustration of the19th- and 20th-century history of the Polish Nation. The tombs of our compatriots are scattered across continents – from the southern tip of Africa to freezing Iceland, from the Siberian wilderness to Australia. There,soldiers fighting for the independence of Poland, veterans who could not return to their own country under occupation, civilians fleeing Nazi terror and Soviet tyranny, and victims of totalitarian crimes are buried.
The Institute of National Remembrance is a Polish government agency that looks after these graves and keeps alive the memory of the people laid to rest in them. Today, we are remembering seven hundred or so Poles who found a safe haven in Rusape during their wartime odyssey. We stop before the graves of those whose journey to their homeland ended here, in the Republic of Zimbabwe, formerly Southern Rhodesia.
As we recall the tragic fate of Poles, who escaped the Soviet Union, a communist hell, we feel great pride and admiration for them and their perseverance, resourcefulness, and entrepreneurship. Wherever groups of Polish refugees settled, social and cultural life thrived. Despite their tragic experience, the loss of their loved ones, and being without a place of one’ own in a world torn by war, Poles regularly organised themselves in order to protect their children. There were more than 250 children in Rusape, and they were Poland’s future. Like in other Polish settlements in Africa, once their basic needs were satisfied, adults organised schools, theatres, day-care centres, and scouting troops for them. The silent heroes of those days were the guardians, who had very limited resources at their disposal and tried to provide the youngest – often orphans – with a normal life.
Today, Poland has become a place of refuge for over 2.5 million Ukrainians, mainly women and children, who are fleeing the horrors of war. Once again, hordes of invaders set out from Russia, pillaging, burning, and murdering. We are all familiar with the tragedy of losing one’s home and the drama of being exiled from one's homeland. Many Poles were unable to return home after the war to territories seized by the Soviet Union – they lived out their lives in exile, also heren Africa. We are very grateful to all thepeople who helped our compatriots – today we are able to pass on this good to others in need", said the IPN President during the unveiling of a plaque commemorating Poles at the cemetery in Rusape.
Chief Mucheni, representing the local population, also present at the ceremony, emphasised how significant remembrance and commemorating people and places assosiated with Polish history are for Poles, stressing at the same time that this should serve as an example for other nations and that this is a characteristic which Poles and Zimbabweans have in common. Without history, without the past, there is no future. "Remembrance and knowledge of our history shape our identity, they establish our system of values", he added.
On that day, the IPN Delegation also visited the Polish settlement known as "Little Poland" in Marandellas and a school for girls in the buildings of the former Polish refugee camp in Digglefold.
In connection with the 80th anniversary of the beginning of the journey of General Anders's army evacuated from the USSR, the Institute of National Remembrance prepared an international educational and commemorative project entitled “Trails of Hope. The Odyssey of Freedom”, which aims to commemorate the military effort of the Polish Armed Forces during World War II and the fate of civilians evacuated from the USSR with the Anders Army.
An important part of the project is the restoration of forgotten memorials located in different parts of the world, from Asia through the Middle East to sites, historic plaques and cemeteries in Europe, Africa and the Americas. We are planning to create new memorials in cooperation with local authorities. Together with the local communities, embassies, and the Polish diaspora, we are obtaining materials and testimonies related to the soldiers of the Polish Armed Forces and civilians successfully evacuated from the Soviet Union in 1942.