Polish Orphans of Tengeru by Taylor Lynne

Author:Taylor, Lynne [Taylor, Lynne]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: HIS000000, HIS012000
Publisher: Dundurn
Published: 2009-12-14T00:00:00+00:00

5 | Confrontation

With the British Government’s refusal of the Women’s Voluntary Services’ proposal, the Canadian proposal became the only likely solution for the orphans, although neither the IRO nor the Board of Governors knew that yet. Meanwhile, the IRO was increasing the pressure in Dar es Salaam to permit the children’s movement. By April 1, 1949, Curtis had heard from IRO Geneva that, while Canada was a definite possibility, it was not yet a probability. As no proposal was firm, contingency plans had to be made. All that was known at that point was that the episcopate was keen to have the children, but no one wanted to make assumptions. Curtis’ instructions were to stand firm and insist on the May 1 deadline for moving the children to Mombasa, and then Salerno. While he was willing to do everything possible to make it happen, Curtis was also skeptical of what he considered to be an optimistic deadline.

The opinion in Geneva was that the children would be in Salerno for about three months, and undergo a proper screening there. Most were expected to go to Canada, although nothing was certain. In Salerno, not only would the children be screened, but they would be taught about the new Poland, so that they could make an informed decision about whether to repatriate or not. The IRO would provide a comprehensive educational and cultural program.1 Of course, such long-term planning for the children suggested that they were going to be in Italy for a while, which ran contrary to the Board of Guardians’ wishes that they be resettled quickly. Too long a delay in Italy would only heighten the distress and suspicions in Tengeru, and IRO East Africa knew that. Curtis pressed his superiors to make every effort to get either Canada or the U.K. to approve the children. Brigadier Lush, of the Resettlement Division in Geneva, promised that he would communicate with both Canada and the U.K. in an effort to expedite the children’s reception.2

Meanwhile, the IRO informed the Secretariat in Tanganyika that, although everything was being done to facilitate the proposal for the children’s resettlement in Canada, the children were going to have to pass through Italy for a final tracing check for possible relatives “because of … international commitments,” a polite, if vague euphemism for the political realities of the IRO’s situation, and the anticipated protests that would erupt from Warsaw.3 The wish to do a final tracing check was not unusual. Whenever an unaccompanied child was discovered, the IRO’s procedure was the same. The child’s particulars were collected — their original home, names and addresses of any family members the children knew about, the children’s history, et cetera. This information was forwarded to the IRO’s International Tracing Service, who sought to track down any family members, their key objective being to reunite families. Until the tracing exercise was completed, the IRO was reluctant to let a child move. It only seemed proper to do one last tracing check before allowing any resettlement mission to speak with them.

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