“After the war both Britain and America were very scared about the Polish people and my father couldn’t even cross into the States, even though he’d served with the RAF. ”
Interview with Anna Monk
August 29, 2012
Anna Monk talks to Jo Stanbridge about how her parents — a Scottish midwife and a Pole serving with the RAF — met during WWII.
After the war the Allies were so afraid of communism in Poland that they wouldn't allow the Poles who had fought for them to remain in Britain. Anna's parents and their families were offered a one-way ticket to anywhere in the world and they decided to emigrate to Brazil. After several years in Brazil, the family moved again, this time to Kingston, where Anna's mother found work at Hotel Dieu.
Anna shows a studio portrait of her parents, her brother and herself, taken in Brazil, as well as a passport photo of her father, Antoni Ircha, and her own childhood Brazilian passport.
Anna recommends this link for more information on Poles in the RAF during WWII.
