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The Association of Polish Refugees (ZPU)

The history of the organisation began immediately after the Second World War when many Poles were still in the western occupation zones of Germany. They were particularly made up of former concentration camp inmates, forced labourers and prisoners of war, colloquially known as DPs (Displaced Persons). Once they had regained their freedom they began to structure their social, institutional and political life. Since there was a vital need for a central organisation to represent all Polish interests, in 1946 it was decided to set up an association entitled Zjednoczenie Polskich Uchodźców w Niemczech (ZPU). The new organisation arose from a merger of smaller associations and was a kind of institutional representation, a Polish parliament in Germany. At the same time, however, its further work was influenced by various parties and groups, and this was marked by contentiousness, internal disputes and many crises. Ultimately, the association was unable to cope with the many conflicts of interest and consequently disintegrated. This condition prevailed until the beginning of the fifties.

The former headquarters of the ZPU in Velbert and the office of the central ZPU board of management. This is where Kazimierz Odrobny and Witold Szwabowicz lived. It was also the headquarters of the League of Ukrainian Refugees.

Łukasz Wolak, 2016

In addition, a strong social commitment evolved. Poles in hospitals and sanatoriums were searched for and given financial support. A large number of those who had lived under extremely difficult conditions could count on regular financial support. Another form of aid was for citizens of the People's Republic of Poland who needed medication that did not exist in Poland. All in all, compatriots in Poland were supported for more than twenty years. The funds came from the Aid Fund for the Victims of the Second World War, (Fundusz Pomocy Ofiarom II wojny światowej), which in turn received donations from the Catholic University of Lublin (Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski). All the work in this area was largely thanks to Witold Szwabowicz, who coordinated the activities from the late 1950s until his death in 1982.

When Kazimierz Odrobny took over the chairmanship, activists in Stronnictwo Narodowe (SN), the National Party, who exercised important functions in the association, began to make their voices heard. This remained so until the end of the seventies. During this time, the positions of the older SN generation were taken over by members of the PPS.

The work of the ZPU continued unchanged in the 1960s and 1970s. This involved major efforts to guarantee the work of the schools, the provision of social assistance for the needy and shaping social and cultural life. During this time the association's board never abandoned its loyalty to the exile government in London, but always remained under its control. At the same time Kazimierz Odrobny joined forces with the Central Committee for Former Political Prisoners in German Prisons and Concentration Camps in the Free World (Centralny Komitet b. Więźniów Politycznych Niemieckich Więzień i Obozów Koncentracyjnych w Wolnym Świecie) to continue his efforts to obtain German compensation for periods spent in concentration camps. This quickly became his most important concern. The cooperation of the ZPU with the lawyer Mieczysław Chmielewski, resulted in pensions and compensation from the Federal Republic of Germany and the fund managed by the High Commissioner for Refugees. To this end, the organisation collected questionnaires from those persons who were confident that their case would receive a positive outcome in the judicial compensation procedure. At the same time efforts were also made in this matter before the High Commissioner for Refugees in Bonn and Geneva. The significance of the problem and its global significance then led to the founding of an international organisation in the early 1960s, called the "Zentralverband für Ausländinge Flüchtlinge in der BRD" (ZAF - Central Association for Foreign Refugees in the Federal Republic of Germany). Kazimierz Odrobny initially took over the office of secretary before becoming chairman of the board. The organisation dealt mainly with compensation issues and was composed of representatives from Estonia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Ukraine and others. In the 1960s and 1970s it took over most of the compensation work from the ZPU. During these years, it was so to speak the “transmission belt” between the ZPU, the international refugee organisations, the German administration and the High Commissioner for Refugees. Besides the successes achieved by the ZAF, it was partly due to these activities that the government of the Federal Republic of Germany was able to arrange an overall compensation package. Kazimierz Odrobny also succeeded in reaching an agreement with the executive board of the German Federation of Trade Unions (DGB), which supported the federal compensation law, on the basis of which former prisoners in German concentration camps were entitled to social assistance. In 1969 the cooperation between the ZPU and the ZAF achieved its greatest success: the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees decided to set up a "major fund" (DM 45,000.000) and a "minor fund" (DM 3,000,000) for compensation payments.