Polish experience at Kidugala

So, here I was at Kidugala, one of the places I spent my adventurous childhood in Benaland in today’s Njombe Region in the southern highlands of Bongoland.

It should be recalled, from my previous narratives of my recent sojourns, that I am presently on a pilgrimage to my roots in Tanilingwabati in the newly-established district of Wanging’ombe in the region.

And, being what I am, I have taken time to revisit some of my favourite childhood joints and that includes the Kidugala Lutheran Church, mission centre and village.

Actually, in the early 1960s, I spent a whole year there while in Primary School, Standard-II. The major lasting memories I have of the place include the fact that our then football pitch, naturally a most popular recreational place for young boys, was next to a river.

And there were several times when our tattered football would inadvertently be kicked into the river.

Naturally, we would dive into the chillingly cold water to retrieve the ball.

In due course - and, in our boyish wisdom - we decided to permanently place some boys in the river whenever we were playing ball on the pitch. Their sole mission? To retrieve the ball whenever it splashed into the cold water.

This time I was, however, disappointed to find that our historical pitch was no longer there. The authorities may be have decided to relocate the football pitch far from the river.

But then, during my time there, I gathered some interesting historical findings about Kidugala.

Apparently, Kidugala is a permanent home to some graves of hundreds of Polish refugees who were banished to the place during the 2nd World War (1939-45).

Actually it was one of the many Polish camps then located in East and Central Africa. The others in Bongoland were located in Morogoro, Ifunda (in Iringa), Kondoa-Irangi and Tengeru in Arusha, the last being the biggest in the country.

At one time, the camp in Tengeru was a safe haven for nearly 5,000 Poles who had been evacuated by the Polish army from places of their deportation in the-then Soviet Union.

Actually at the Kidugala cemetery centre I found, among others, an interesting note from one Clara Mackow, written on January 16, 2009. It read, “Hi! My father is Polish and (was) born in Kidugala. I am trying to get a new birth certificate - but (they) need to know where Kidugala is in Tanzania”.

Another note by one Lorenzo Togn penned on May 20, 2008 read, “I am trying to trace Dian Winkler, who is researching on Kidugala. My father Antonio, a settler in the area at the time, built the Kidugala Camp for the British authorities and was there when the refugees arrived.”

“My mother, Mrs. Grace Togni and Mr. Nico Panyayatopoulus settled the first refugees in the camp.”

Then there is a note from Diane Winkler herself who on February 23, 2005 wrote: “I am researching for a book about Polish nationals who were deported by Stalin in 1939 and after a long odyssey finally shipped to East Africa and lived in the fugitive camp of Kidugala in Tanzania.”

She adds, “I myself stayed in Kidugala from 1972 to 1974 as a child, and saw the Polish graves at the cemetery.”

Actually, the first transport of Polish refugees from the Soviet Union arrived at Tanga port on August 27, 1942. A total of 1,400 people arrived on board a ship and were transferred to Dar es Salaam before being sent to the different camps, including Kidugala. Then there followed more shipments into Bongoland.

The largest camp, Tengeru, had 947 houses. At the peak period, almost 5,000 Poles lived there.

As I sauntered along the greying stone-paved paths of Kidugala, I could not help imagining the area, many years ago, being home to hundreds of Polish men, women and children who had their own culture, life and education systems back home.

At the Kidugala settlement, 798 Poles lived near the-then deserted post-German Protestant mission. The mission is now the Lutheran Church centre which also runs a theological college, a seminary secondary school, a primary school and a health centre in the village.

And, of course, still there are the graves of the many Poles who died years ago at the refugee settlement.

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Danford Mpumilwa is a veteran journalist and communication expert based in Arusha