Polish Refugees in Iran during World War II

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• Soviet authorities deported approximately 1.25 million Poles to many parts of the Soviet Union

• September 1, 1939, German forces invaded Poland and defeated the Polish Army

• branded as “socially dangerous” and as “anti-Soviet elements” were forcibly removed from their homes and deported in cattle cars to labor camps in Siberia and Kazakhstan

• In July 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet Union, forcing the Soviets to join forces with the Allies

• Sikorski-Mayski agreement, which invalidated many of the territorial conditions of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.

• new agreement ordered the reestablishment of the Polish state, amnesty for Polish prisoners of war in the Soviet Union, and finally, allowed for the formation of a Polish army on Soviet soil

• Because the Soviets were at war with Germany, there was little food or provisions available for the Polish Army. Thus, following the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran in 1941, the Soviets agreed to evacuate part of the Polish formation to Iran

• Despite these difficulties, Iranians openly received the Polish refugees, and the Iranian government facilitated their entry to the country and supplied them with provisions

• After spending several days in quarantine in warehouses near the port of Pahlevi, the refugees were sent to Tehran.

• Army personnel were first sent to training centers near Mosul and Kirkuk in Iraq. After training, most of the Polish soldiers joined Allied forces fighting in the Italian campaign.

• Because Iran could not permanently care for the large influx of refugees, other British-colonized countries began receiving Poles from Iran in the summer of 1942