For Our Freedom and Yours?: Grammars of Solidarity and Difference in the Encounter of Polish Refugees with British Colonial Rule in Africa

• In Event: Grammars of Liberation

Abstract

Against the backdrop of discussions about postcolonial readings of Poland’s position in the world, this paper will ask what happened when during the Second World War nearly twenty thousand Poles landed in British colonies in Africa. Did they follow a comparable trajectory and support the emerging African liberation movements? Or did they privilege the liberation of their home country from Nazi occupation and emphasize their commonality with the British allies?

Author

• Jochen Lingelbach, U of Bayreuth (Germany)