The Aid of the Polish Government-in-Exile to Jewish Refugees in Spain, 1943–1944, as Reflected in the Archive of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Refugees’ Correspondence with Ignacy Schwarzbart

The article discusses the relations between the Polish government-inexile in England and Polish Jewish refugees stranded in Spain in the years 1943– 1944. The study is based principally on previously unexamined correspondence between Jewish refugees in Spain and Ignacy Schwarzbart, the Jewish representative of the Polish National Council in London, which was preserved at the Yad Vashem Archives, and the records of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs that are accessible at the Hoover Institution. This article focuses on three thorny issues related to governmental assistance for Jewish refugees: the recognition of their Polish citizenship, the material relief provided to them, and their evacuation from Spain. Polish decision-makers responded to all problems reported by their Jewish compatriots. However, their actions often left Jewish refugees dissatisfied, and their attitudes were considered callous, unjust, and at times outright antisemitic. The author argues that, while some of the shortcomings can be attributed directly to the work of Polish officials in London, such as the bureaucratic sluggishness of some governmental agendas, others arose from wartime constraints that the Polish government was not entirely able to control or influence, such as the deficient communication with its representatives abroad and the inhospitable stance of the international community towards Jewish refugees. The article not only examines the Polish government’s attempts to address refugee matters in Spain, but also sheds light on the perspective of the Jewish subjects involved in the described events.