The Polish Library POSK in London and the Institute of National Remembrance cordially invite you to the launch of the album entitled
“From an inhuman land to the land of the maharajas. Polish refugees from the USSR in India, 1942–1948”.
The event will be attended by: Marzena Kruk – Director of the Archives of the Institute of National Remembrance, and Anna Płońska – co-author of the album.

We invite you to the Reading Room of the Polish Library POSK
9 May 2026
Time: 4.00 pm

Free admission!

Thousands of Poles from the Eastern Borderlands lost their former lives, their hard-earned possessions, and sometimes even their families, in a single night in 1940 or 1941. They were forced to embark on an unwanted and painful journey eastwards – deep into the Soviet Union. Following the signing of the Sikorski–Mayski Agreement, some of the Poles deported to the USSR were sent to India. Their wartime experiences are presented in this album.
The publication is based primarily on documents and photographs that were transferred to the Archives of the Institute of National Remembrance in Warsaw as part of the ‘Archives Full of Memories’ project.
The authors sought to show not only the tragedy experienced by the book’s protagonists – those exiled to Siberia and Kazakhstan – but above all the immense kindness and support they received on the Indian subcontinent. In many cases, the decision was made to give a voice to the participants in the events described – numerous quotations enrich the narrative and serve as an important complement to it. The appendix presents selected profiles of well-known Poles who resided in India between 1942 and 1948.