The 11th South Africa-Poland Heritage Conference was held at the Johannesburg Holocaust and Genocide Centre on 24 November 2024. The theme for the conference was the 85th anniversary of Russia invading Poland as well as the 80th anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising. The conference highlighted the unexpected and deeply-rooted connections between South Africa and Poland. 

President of the Polish Association of Siberian Deportees in Southeast Africa, Stefan Szewczuk’s, presentation centred around the Polish children of Oudtshoorn as well as discussing the role his grandparents played in the Warsaw Uprising (1 August – 2 October 1944). 

Dr Pieter Möller presented on the bravery and courage of South African Air Force crews who delivered supplies to the Polish Home Army in Warsaw during the uprising despite significant losses. A former senior lecturer in the Department of History at North West University, he regaled the audience with anecdotal accounts of South African pilots and aircrew which brought a personal dimension to this history.

The next presentation focused on General Jan Smuts and his intricate connections to Europe and Poland in particular. Senior Lecturer at Sol Plaatje University, Dr Cobus Rademeyer, showed the pivotal role that Smuts played in getting the orphans to Oudtshoorn as well as the very close personal relationship he maintained with the children.

A History Masters student from the Department of Historical and Heritage Studies at UP, Jarryd Clark’s presentation took a multidisciplinary approach to Polish codebreaking and illustrated the under-represented history of the genius and ingenuity of the Polish codebreakers. 

After the presentation, the audience was treated to a preview of the museum’s latest exhibition which highlighted the stories of the German football players who played for FC Bayern Munich during and after the Second World War. 

Overall, the conference provided a moment of reflection on the sacrifice of the Polish people and provided a lens into the importance of human collaboration and tolerance in an increasingly polarised world.

The Poster from the Conference