The Orzeł Biały Cemetery in Brazil

The cemetery, established in 1929, is reserved exclusively for the burial of those of Polish descent (the land belongs to the White Eagle Polish Association – Associação Polonesa de Águia Branca). To reach the cemetery, one must climb a high hill towering over the town of Águia Branca, from which there is a majestic view of the mysterious boulder-like mountains, known locally as ‘pedras’.

Conditions of colonisation

An organised colonisation campaign in this region was led by the Warsaw Colonisation Society, whose representatives concluded a settlement and colonisation agreement with the governor of the state of Espírito Santo in 1928. Under the terms of this agreement, the Polish company was granted a concession for 50,000 hectares of land in the municipality (an administrative and territorial unit) of Colatina. In return, it undertook to bring over and settle 1,800 Polish families within eight years. The Polish government granted permission for the colonisation on 27 February 1929.

On land belonging to the Colonisation Society, the settlements of Águia Branca (White Eagle) and Monte Claro (Jasna Góra) were established. Polish settlers also colonised areas several dozen kilometres from the centre – in the region of São Gabriel da Palha and Vila Valério. The Society intended to bring over only farming families, which was meant to guarantee the sustainability of the settlements.

The settlers themselves bore the exorbitant costs of the ocean crossing, amounting to: 1,000 zlotys per adult, 500 zlotys per child aged 5–10, and 250 zlotys per child aged 1–5. By way of comparison, it is worth bearing in mind that in the 1930s, the average monthly wage for an industrial worker was around 150 zł.

Upon arrival, each family was allocated a plot of 25 hectares. Families with more than six members of working age (aged 13–50) received 50 ha. The plot had to be paid for in cash or in instalments spread over six years. Families who behaved ‘exemplarily’ during the journey could count on a discount on the purchase price.

The settlers were allocated plots covered in virgin forest. Until their houses were built, they were allowed to live in barracks provided by the colony’s administration. They had an open credit facility at the society’s shop for food, seedlings, tools and all other necessities. The colony had its own set of rules setting out the settlers’ rights and obligations; some of these provisions imposed numerous restrictions on the settlers. Settlers were only permitted to grow crops specified by the administration; they were not allowed to leave their plots without authorisation, nor to engage professionally in trade or crafts (except for settler-craftsmen); the administration had the right of first refusal on crops and granted licences for the production of alcohol. The administration provided free medical care and basic medicines, and was also obliged to run a school and build a community centre with a reading room. Settlers who breached the regulations faced financial penalties and, as a last resort, expulsion of ‘the settler and his family from the colony’. After several years of operation, the Emigration Syndicate placed an advertisement for the colony in the Curitiba newspaper *Lud*:

‘The average settler’s holding comprises: a two-room Brazilian-style dwelling, a wooden house plastered with clay, roofed with shingles and fitted with a floor. 10 hectares of cleared forest, of which 7 hectares are under cultivation and 2 hectares are pasture. A coffee plantation comprising approximately 5,000 trees, half of which are bearing fruit; the plantation is constantly expanding, as coffee provides the best income. Livestock consists of 2 cows and a calf, 1 mule, 8 pigs and several dozen poultry. Some settlers own 20 ha of cleared forest, plantations comprising over 10,000 coffee bushes, 5 cows and 20 pigs. They process some of the produce themselves – they make flour and groats from cassava, and zapadura (brown sugar) and alcohol from sugar cane; they also have mills for maize and rice.”

Green Hell

The settlement, organised and well-structured in almost every aspect of life, never reached its planned scale and did not succeed. Among the obstacles were the outbreak of the Second World War and, above all, the hot climate prevailing in the region. Cultivating coffee trees in such conditions proved too arduous for many Polish peasants. By 1933, the Colonisation Society had managed to bring over a mere 300 families. Many of them fled the colony and made their way to Paraná, where the climate was milder.

‘After several months of struggling with poverty, destitution and disease, after squandering their last possessions, after the dismal sight of their crops, after all manner of misfortunes and setbacks, the Águia Branca colony in Espírito Santo appeared to me as grey, even black. I realised that I was not suited to this land, that I was a European who could not adapt to a different climate. I saw how European crops—cabbage, beetroot, carrots and potatoes—languished and, failing to reach maturity, died. Certain and convinced that the same fate awaited me and my whole family, I resolved, as far as possible, to flee from this green hell. This resolve took hold of me sometime during my four-month stay at the settlement, and after two months of illness […] I was joined by four more families, none of whom wanted to die in Espírito Santo’

– recalled one of the settlers in a diary entry submitted to a competition organised by the Institute of Social Economy in 1936.

The Orzeł Biały Cemetery

The most steadfast settlers remained on the site. Their descendants still live today on land that once belonged to the Colonisation Society. Many of them still remember their ancestors’ origins, whilst a few have even managed to preserve the Polish language. The Slavic roots of the town of Águia Branca are evidenced by the graves bearing Polish names at the Orzeł Biały Cemetery. One of these graves contains the remains of the colony’s administrator, Walery Kaszorowski, who died in 1952.

Within the cemetery stands a brick chapel dedicated to Our Lady of Jasna Góra, built thanks to the efforts of Fr Zygmunt Szwajkiewicz TChr (1916–2001), chaplain to the Polish community in Rio de Janeiro. Inside is a copy of the painting of Our Lady of Jasna Góra. Next to the chapel, two plaques have been set into the wall to commemorate successive anniversaries of Polish settlement. The plaque marking the fiftieth anniversary bears an inscription in Portuguese, which translates as:

“Fiftieth anniversary. Polish settlement in Espírito Santo. A tribute from the people of São Gabriel da Palha to Polish immigrants. São Gabriel da Palha – Águia Branca, 14 October 1979. Municipal Prefect Dario Martinelli”.

In the cemetery, amongst the graves, stands a brick cross commemorating the deceased settlers. On the plinth there is a plaque with an inscription in Portuguese, which translates as:

“In memory of their compatriots who died in Brazil, the Poles dedicate this monument. 1954”.