Remember Me: A Theatrical Examination of the Situation of Polish World War II Veterans
Date
2021-09-24
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Abstract
Four WWII Second Polish Army Corps ex-soldiers in the play Remember Me include 19-years-old Jakub, 23-years-old Józef, and 25-years-old Franciszek and Henryk. After the war, these ex-soldiers and former Allies fear severe punishment, even death, if they return to Poland under the pro-Soviet government. They join the Polish Resettlement Corps formed by Great Britain to help tens of thousands of former soldiers find a new place and make it their home. As a penalty for refusing to return, the Polish government deprives them of their citizenship. In November 1946, they meet by chance while boarding Sea Snipe, a ship taking hundreds of displaced Polish veterans from Italy to Canada to work for two years on farms. Each of the four ex-combatants holds a different outlook on life and has different reasons for embarking. Adversities encountered during their travels contribute to the forging of long-lasting ties between them.
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Anders Army war veterans in Canada; The Second Polish Army Corps veterans in Canada; WWII Polish veterans in Alberta, Canada; 1947 Polish Resettlement Corps; WWII and post-war Canadian Immigration Policies; Camp 133 for the German Prisoners of War, Lethbridge; Anders Army ex-servicemen and post-war farm labour program, Lethbridge, Alberta;
Citation
Jaworska, A. (2021). Remember Me: A Theatrical Examination of the Situation of Polish World War II Veterans (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.