My Story: The Polish Community

The Polish parish of Our Lady of the Gate of Dawn was established just after the end of World War II in a resettlement camp at Doddington, near Crewe, in 1947. This was originally, a base for the American troops and after the departure of the Americans, Polish soldiers and their families were resettled there. These soldiers mainly belonged to the 5th Kresy Infantry Division, which was part of the second corps under the command of General Anders. "The residents of Doddington remember the orphans – war children who came to the camp in 1947. The Polish people nicknamed the American barracks “the barrels of laughter”. Two families were allocated accommodation in each of the barracks. The first parish priest was the chaplain of the Polish army who had the rank of major, Fr. Mieczysław Stasz, who, together with the inhabitants in one of the barracks, created a chapel dedicated to Our Lady of the Gate of Dawn. The image of Our Lady of the Gate of Dawn was carved out of soldiers' eagles and mess tins, and then hung in the central place of the altar. Today, this painting is in our chapel and is endowed with numerous votive offerings. Before the face of the Mother of the Gate of Dawn we entrust our concerns, offer our supplications and thanksgivings.

In the camp a nursery, kindergarten, school, kitchen, canteen and an infirmary were established where many of the Polish women were employed. English language, cooking, tailoring and other courses were also taught which were designed to help young people in finding employment.

The next parish priest in the camp was Fr. Władysław Puchalski. The inhabitants of the camp were aware that it was impossible and not safe to return to their family homes in Poland, because after World War II the borders of Poland were changed. In the Chapel, the camps inhabitants met for mass, prayers and listened to the word of Lord which helped to sooth the pain and longing for their lost homeland. In exile, they kept and cultivated their faith and Polish traditions which were very important to them. Deep interpersonal bonds were also formed, friendships that were a substitute for lost

families. It was the Church that became the backbone that guarded faith and moral principles among the displaced Polish families. Thanks to these principles and their righteous conduct, Poles were perceived, among the English community, as trustworthy and reliable working people. The Corpus Christi celebrations were very important for the inhabitants of the camp. All of the camp inhabitants attended Holy Mass, and then went in a solemn procession to the four altars. After Holy Mass, feasts and dances took place throughout the camp. These moments spent together are still remembered with sentiment by former residents of Doddington. In addition, all Polish church and state occasions, were celebrated. A Polish dance choir, and music groups were also founded, which added splendour to the celebrations. A thriving scout team which was also fondly remembered established. The camp in Doddington was visited by many distinguished guests, including General Anders in the 1950s, whose presence encouraged the soldiers together with their families, to adapt to life in a new country. A frequent guest of the camp was prelate priest Michalski, who was involved in the work of the Polish mission in London. In the mid-1950s, a new parish priest, Fr. Urbański, arrived at the camp, and was the first person to be in the possession of a car. Thanks to his mobility, he kept in contact with the numerous Polish communities scattered around the area.

Gradually over the years up to 1960, the camp slowly began to shrink as some of the inhabitants took advantage of the invitation to settle in other country’s Canada, USA, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, to name a few. Families also moved to nearby local towns, Crewe, Nantwich, etc trying to find work and thePolish children also started to attend local English schools. At the same time, other Polish refugees were beginning to settle in Crewe, their route to England was slightly different, these were Poles liberated from German concentration camps, forced labour camps, insurgents from Warsaw, airmen, paratroopers, soldiers and civilians liberated by the American army. There were also refugees from Poland who sought asylum fleeing from the new communist regime. It was for these refugees that at St. Mary's Church in Crewe there was a Mass celebrated by the Polish priest from Dodington camp in their native language. From 1958, the next Polish parish priest was Fr. Leonard Czapski, a former prisoner of the concentration camp in Dachau who tried to gather as many compatriots as possible to the Polish parish. In the face of a large number of believers, there was a need to rent the church permanently. Father Leonard Czapski arranged with the English parish priest at St Marys to have a mass said every Sunday in Polish at 12:45 which is still continuing up to this present day. However, there was still a lack of a

place where it would be possible to celebrate Polish traditions and culture, so it was decided to purchase a building which would be adapted to the needs of our Polish community. In order to achieve this goal, various artistic performances, refreshments, dances were organized, and all proceeds were used to purchase 71 West Street. The whole of the Polish community in Crewe took part in this goal of raising the finances to establish a centre dedicated to maintaining their Polish traditions.

The Polish Club was a subsidiary of the Polish parish who had a large hall which was used for occasional celebrations and various entertainments were organised for example Bingo, which were very popular at that time. The money raised by the club was used to pay off the loan for 71 West St and also helped in the upkeep of the parish. The Polish Club was registered as a charity unit as all the people who worked at the club were volunteers who donated all their earnings to the parish. When Fr. Czapski retired, Fr. Jerzy Januszkiewicz became the parish priest and after his retirement Father Leonard Czapski moved into his private house in Crewe. He was often a visitor at the Polish centre until he passed away in the 1980s, After the funeral, his body was transported back to Poland and he was buried in Warsaw.

The parish continued to flourish, as a circle of the Holy Rosary was formed who met regularly for prayers and the changing the mysteries of the Rosary. Altar servers actively participated in the Holy Mass. The children regularly attended school on Saturdays where religion was taught by the parish priest. A church choir accompanied by organic music with an active group of lectors always participated in religious services.

From 1982 to 1991 a Salesian missionary priest Fr. Teodor Bartnik who had just returned back from Brazil, became the new Polish parish priest. During his tenure a lot of renovation work in the hall and club was undertaken. The next parish priest, for only a couple months, was Fr. Stanislaw Cymbalist.

From November 1991 Fr. Józef Woźniak-TCH who was a member or for the order Society of Christ whose mission was to attend to the spiritual needs of Polish expatriates became the new polish Parish Priest in Crewe. During his time, various major renovations were carried out to the chapel, Sacristy and Priests accommodation on the first floor at 71 West Street. Members of the Polish community continued to decline as the first generation passed on and the second generation gradually were absorbed into the English community. The Polish parish occasionally during peregrinations hosted copies of the image of the divine mercy which visited all Polish parishes in England. For many years every Friday, after Holy Mass the Chaplet of Divine Mercy was said, therefore there was a need for an image of the Devine Mercy which was painted for our parish by a local artist of Polish origin. This painting was hung on the wall next to the tabernacle in our chapel on the first floor at 71 West St.

In 1997, the parish celebrated its 50th anniversary. At the solemn mass, a marble plaque was blessed and embedded in the wall of St. Mary's Church, commemorating this anniversary. After the Holy Mass, there were celebrations in the parish hall were the parish priest decorated meritorious parishioners for their services to the Polish community.

In 1999 Fr. Grzegorz Januszewski-TCH became the parish priest, the time for further renovations came. The windows in the entire building were gradually replaced, first downstairs in the club, then on the first floor, and the entrance door was also replaced. A new heating system was installed on the first floor. The parish experienced peregrinations of images: Our Lady of Kozielska, as well as a visit to the copy of the image of

Regularly, every year by a rented coach (as it was a tradition since the post-war times) there were pilgrimages to Holywell and Pantasaph and Hednesford near Cannock. The membership of the Polish Club has been gradually declining over the years, even the new migration of Poles from Poland in 2004 did not help, eventually collapsed and was declared bankrupt in 2006 with the parish being left with paying all the clubs’ debts. This greatly strained the parishes financial reserves. A couple of attempts were made to revive the club but to no avail.

This new migration of Poles in 2004 reversed the fortunes of the Polish Parish in Crewe which was at the point of closure. One Sunday mass was not sufficient to meet the needs of the Polish community and with the consent of the English parish, a second mass was celebrated every Saturday at 7:00 p.m.

In 2011, we had a new parish priest, Fr. Piotr Gardon – TCH, who came to us with great enthusiasm and personal commitment. Major updating, upgrading and renovation of the Priests apartment was undertaken and as the upstairs chapel was also too small for the increasing number of attendees for the daily Holy Mass the chapel was transferred downstairs. A general revival of the Polish parish continued with a new prayer group, a new church quire, alter servers and religious education. This revival continued and increased when a new priest Fr. Artur Stelmach took over in 2022. A complete renovation of the whole ground floor at 71 West St (which included the Chapel and parish hall). Further new groups have been formed with a lot of new participants taking part in the day-to-day life of the Polish Parish in Crewe.