Ilford /Stover Park Camp / Polish Home

[jessica]

Can anyone help me? Has anyone got any information on the Ilford Park Polish Home in Devon? I noticed there was a fair bit of information on this website but i want to know more if possible. I have included my email so if anyone has any information please email me, it would be muchly appreciated.
Thanks alot.

[jessica]

Did not realise people could reply. If anyone had information could you please just reply as its easier than sending it to my email etc. Thanks.

[bogusiawoj]

Hello: I am researching post war Polish emigres in the UK and am planning to visit Ilford Park this summer (I have yet to ask their permission) in order to conduct some interviews. My godfather lived there until his death in the 1960s.
My parents met at Fairford camp in Glocs., where I spent the first five years of my life.

Here is some information about my work. If you know of anyone who would like to participate, please let me know.

April 2006

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am the daughter of two Poles who met at a Polish refugee camp in England in 1948. My parents eventually came to live in London, where I grew up, though I have now lived in Boston for the last 20 years. As well as being the child of two émigrés, I am a professional historian with a Doctorate in Social History. My research interests are focused on immigration history and I am now commencing a project on Post-World War II Polish émigrés in the USA and UK, focusing on the years 1939-50.

I would like to interview any Poles who left Poland either during, or shortly after the War, and did not return. I am specifically interested in finding: why people did not return, how they reestablished and maintained contact with their families and friends in Poland, the impact of censorship on these communications and how émigrés supported their families economically in the home country.

The interviews last about two hours, and can be conducted in either Polish or English (I am completely bi-lingual). They will be recorded, translated into English, and transcripts as well as the original recordings deposited with the Immigration History Research Center in Minnesota, as well as an archive in England. If you are willing to be interviewed, but would like to remain anonymous, I will of course honor your request. If you have any letters or diaries from these years that you would be willing to share with me, I would be very interested in seeing them.

We are living in yet another era when vast numbers of people are forced to call refugee camps ‘home’. Not only is it important that other researchers hear your story, but it is also vital that your experiences be preserved and shared with future generations so they work hard to promote world peace.

Dr. Bogusia Wojciechowska, tel. [phone], Email: [e-mail].
I hope to hear from you, and thank you.

This research is aided in part by the Polonia Aid Foundation Trust, London, England



Kwiecieñ, 2006r.

Szanowni Pañstwo:
Jestem córk¹ dwóch Polaków któ¿y siê spotkali w
Anglii w 1948r, w obozie uchodŸców. Moji rodzice ewentualnie zamieszkali w Londynie, gdzie sie wychowa³am. Mieszkam w Boston od 1986r.

Nie tylko jestem dzieckiem dwóch uchodŸców, ale te¿ mam Doktorat w Spo³ecznej Historii. Moje zainteresowania s¹ skupione na historii imigracji: teraz zaczynam projekt na temat polskich uchodŸców po Drugiej Wojnie Œwiatowej w latach 1939-50. Przeprowadzam wywiady z Polakami którzy opuœcili Polskê w tych latach. Chcê nagraæ uchodŸców wspomnienia skupjaj¹æ siê na tych tematach: dlaczego uchodŸcy nie wrócili do Polski, w jaki sposóbod znaleŸli swoje rodziny w Polsce, jak dali radê utrzymaæ z nimi kontakt. Jestem bardzo zainteresowana w badaniu wp³ywu cenzury na ten kontakt i jak uchodŸce popierali swoje rodziny w Kraju..
Wywiady bêd¹ przeprowadzone w Massachusetts, Illinois, New York i New Jersey, obojêtnie czy w jêzyku polskim czy angielskim.
Je¿eli Pañstwo opuœcili Polskê z wzglêdu na Wojnê, bym by³a bardzo wdziêczna gdyby Pañstwo siê zgodzili z mn¹ spotkaæ i nagraæ wywiad. Wywiady bêd¹ nagrane, przet³umaczone na jêzyk angielski, i kopie bêd¹ umieszczone w Centrum Badawczym Historij Imigracji na Uniwersytecie w Minnesota, i w archiwum w Anglii. Je¿eli rozmówcy bêd¹ chcieli zachowaæ anonimowoœæ, oczywiœcie Pañstwa proœby bêd¹ szanowane. Je¿eli Pañswto maj¹ wszelkie listy czy pamiêtniki z tych lat, bym by³a bardzo wdziêczna za okazjê aby je przegl¹dn¹æ.

Znów ¿yjemy w trudnych czasach z konfliktami które tworz¹ mnóstwo nowych uchodŸców. Pañstwa prze¿ycia I wspomnienia s¹ wa¿ne nie tylko dla studentów polskiej historii, ale te¿ dla przysz³ych pokoleñ aby starali siê o pokój na œwiecie.

Dr. Bogusia Wojciechowska, tel. [phone], Email: [e-mail].
Dziêkujê.

This research is aided in part by the Polonia Aid Foundation Trust, London, England

[emily]

Hello Jessica, Dr. Bogusia and all,
I am hoping to write my dissertation on patterns of identity formation and retention with reference to the community at Ilford Park. I am wondering if there are any members of this community who would be prepared to talk to me or provide me with any information to help me out with my research. Thank you very much! Emily.

[emily]

oops! email is [e-mail].