Monthly Archives: March 2014

A few of my favourite things V: a gift from ‘the Polish Teachers in Uniform’

My favourite item from all the collections I have worked with in the past 10 months is a beautiful album in the Moray House collection.  The album was made for Thomson by the ‘Polish Students in Uniform’.  This initiative was likely very similar to the Polish School of Medicine, set up in the University of Edinburgh during World War II with the aim of training Polish students and doctors in the armed forces (almost immediately, civilian students too were accepted).  Students were trained in Polish, and could obtain Polish degrees.

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Images from an album gifted to Thomson by the ‘Polish Students in Uniform’, Moray House archive (notice the ‘Scottish flowers’ on the left!)

The album itself is a beautiful object – the colours, the drawings, even the positioning of the photographs.  For me, however, what really makes this object wonderful is the informality of it, the spontaneous photographs and the witty captions combine to make it, in contrast to the formal staff and student photographs, a real snapshot of life at Moray House as the students knew it.

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A close up of Thomson from the album

Following German and Soviet occupation, hundreds of thousands of Polish people were deported from their home country – many of the students trained at the Polish School of Medicine would never return.  At such a time of sadness, upheaval, and uncertainty for the students, it is wonderful that, nonetheless, they took the time to thank Thomson for his kindness in such a thoughtful way.

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Staff and students at Moray House

It is likely that Thomson’s work with the ‘Polish Students in Uniform’ is the reason that, on the 13th June, 1944, he was awarded the declaration of the Third Class of the Order of Polonia Restituta.  The order was conferred by the President of the Polish republic in recognition of his services to Polish interests during the war.  The geneticist Francis Crew also had the award bestowed on him.

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Thomson’s certificate for the award – his cross has sadly not survived in the collection

Roughly translated, the Polonia Restituta is ‘Order of Rebirth of Poland‘.  It is generally awarded, and has been since 1921, for outstanding contributions to education, science, sport, culture, art, economics, national defence, social work, civil service or diplomacy.  The vast majority of those awarded are naturally given to Polish nationals.  Thomson’s award also came along with a letter from Anthony Eden (well, at least his secretary!) and an honorary membership card for the Association of Polish Teachers in Great Britain.

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Letter from Sir Anthony Eden confirming that King George has given his permission for Thomson to wear the cross

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Thomson’s honorary membership for the Association of Polish Teachers in Great Britain

Thomson has often proved an illusive character to those researching his history – in oral testimonies from those he worked with or who studied under he has in turn been described as reserved, friendly, quick tempered, even tempered, etc.!  But objects such as the photograph album, as well as the many letters sent to Thomson’s widow by his students, show that his students were very much at the heart of what he did.

With many thanks to Ela Wiklo for information about the Polonia Restituta.

‘The old conditions cannot continue, and some new form of political and economic existence must be found’

All of history seems to be contained in the letters of ordinary people living in extraordinary times.  We may know what backdrop will emerge, but there are seldom enough traces to discover the fate of the individual.  The following letter, sent by a Dr Friedrich M Urban of Brünn a short while after the Nuremberg rally of 1938 to Professor Godfrey Thomson, is a fascinating example:

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EUA IN1/ACU/G1/6/2/2, ‘Letter to Thomson from Dr Friedrich Urban’

It is not clear from Thomson’s papers how he knew Urban – quite possibly he had met him while studying in Strasburg, during which time he undertook a tour of Europe.

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All from Coll-1310/1/2/3, which contains photographs of Thomson’s European tour of 1909

Urban’s letter shows a great deal of affection for Thomson and his wife, referring to the kindness of the Thomsons to their girls.  Speaking to Thomson as an old friend, Urban thanks him for the suggestion of medicinal honey to help with his gallbladder, and reports on the method’s success!  But the mood in the letter quickly turns:

Much has happened since we met and took those pleasant walks in the parc [sic] of the Spielberg.  Our country was involved in a catastrophe which is bound to have the most serious consequences for its citizens.  The old conditions cannot continue and some new form of political and economic existence must be found.

The first consequence was that we had to separate from our children.  When we listened to Hitler’s speech at Nurenberg [sic] – for who did not? – we understood that he contemplated violent measures against our country.  We wished to have the girls out of the way and asked Mr and Mrs Sanderson and Dr Fernberger for hospitality for our children.  We got positive answers at once and managed to get the girls across the German frontiers.  It was in the nick of time, for three weeks later the frontiers were closed.

There is much about the letter that is perplexing – initially, I thought Urban might have been writing from Brunn in Austria, but for the addition of the umlaut (both Germany and Austria have regions called Spielberg to confuse matters further).  He could also have been writing from Brno in the Czech Republic, which does not seem an unlikely option considering Brno is home to Spielberg castle and was captured by Germany in 1939.  However, it does seem rather unlikely that Urban would use the German spelling of his town in that instance.

If we are to assume that Urban is writing from Germany, his phrase ‘our country was involved in a catastrophe’ is an interesting one.  The ‘catastrophe’ he refers to is likely the annexation of Austria by Germany, which took place earlier in the year.  It was a catastrophe caused by Germany’s actions rather than their involvement, but he makes a clear distinction between the activities of the Nazis in this instance and ‘our’ country, his country, refusing to identify one with the other.

Urban tells how the girls stayed in London with the Sandersons for a few weeks, before sailing to New York where they remained in the custody of the Fernbergers in Philadelphia.  He mentions how they are waiting for a letter describing the girls’ travels, but can’t hide quite how much they are missed:

We miss the girls tremendously, but inspite [sic] of this we thank God every day that they are not here and that we have friends who look after them. 

He talks about how life at Brunn will likely become ‘rather difficult’, and asks for Thomson’s help in finding teaching work in Britain. While he accepts that this may be impossible, and admits his chances of securing work in Britain are ‘very small’, Urban remains optimistic nonetheless – thankful even – that his daughters are safe, and his health good.  I can find no trace of Urban – whether he and his wife were ever reunited with their daughters remains a mystery.  For me, this serves to make the letter, which describes the plight of millions throughout Europe from the perspective of one individual to another, all the more touching.

 

If you have any information regarding Dr Urban, do please comment.