First contacts

Reliable source references to Poles in the Holy Land date only from the period of the Second Crusade (1147–1149) . Historians still disagree as to whether Władysław the Exile or Henry of Sandomierz took part in it . Regardless of the outcome of this dispute, the Piast rulers’ contact with the area of present-day Lebanon was most likely of an episodic nature – they merely travelled along the route to Jerusalem, perhaps making use of Lebanese ports and roads along the coast.

The first confirmed record of a Polish presence in Lebanon remains the visit by the Lithuanian magnate Mikołaj Krzysztof Radziwiłł ‘Sierotka’ (1549–1616). On his way to the Holy Land , he stopped in Tripoli and Baalbek, although he mentioned them only in passing in his account. Certainly, individual visitors from Poland appeared in Lebanon in the centuries that followed, but there is a lack of verified information on this subject.

It was not until the fall of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the subsequent waves of emigration that Poles began to visit Lebanon more frequently and systematically. In the mid-19th century , Henryk Rzewuski and Juliusz Słowacki arrived here . The latter, returning from Jerusalem, stayed from February to April 1837 at the Armenian Monastery of St Anthony in the village of Ghazir, where he wrote the first draft of the poem ‘Anhelli’ and began work on ‘The Father of the Plague-Stricken’; he also produced sketches and watercolours. He then travelled to Beirut, then to Tripoli, from where he sailed to Livorno.

Another important figure was Maksymilian Ryłło (1802–1848) — a charismatic Jesuit who , in September 1836, arrived in Lebanon on a mission to improve relations between Rome and the local Church. In 1837, Ryłło returned to Rome and, before the year was out, began seeking approval to establish a college in Beirut (he had also considered Aleppo). Despite Pope Gregory XVI’s initial scepticism, he obtained papal approval in 1839, and the school opened two years later. The Jesuit himself remained in Beirut from 1839 until 1841 or 1842. The institution was soon moved to Ghazir, where it operated until 1875, becoming the forerunner of Saint Joseph University .

Between 1860 and 1865, following the Druze massacres of the Maronites, the Ottoman sultan entrusted the protection of the local population to two regiments of dragoons, which were stationed in the Shouf Mountains in southern Lebanon. They were commanded by General Michał Czajkowski (1804–1886) – also known as Sadyk Pasha – and other officers of Polish descent. In turn, Sadyk’s son , General Muzaffer Pasha (Władysław Czajkowski, 1843–1907), served as governor of that province from 1902 to 1907.

As early as the 1930s, trade and migration links between Poland and the Levant had increased, and a growing number of Polish merchants, seamen and students were settling in Beirut. To provide them with legal and consular support and to develop economic and cultural cooperation, Polish consular agents began operating in Beirut in 1933, reporting to the consulate in Marseille. Towards the end of the decade – in the face of mounting international tensions and growing needs regarding support for the Polish community, including the coordination of humanitarian aid – this arrangement proved insufficient. Consequently, in 1939, an independent vice-consulate of the Republic of Poland was established in Beirut , which was soon elevated to the status of a consulate-general . As a result, Poland gained a permanent diplomatic mission in the Middle East, capable of responding swiftly to the needs of its citizens and the interests of the state.

In times of war and peace

Between 1942 and 1950, Lebanon took in nearly 6,000 Polish refugees – mainly soldiers of Anders’s Army and their families evacuated from the USSR. Initially, they were housed in a transit camp in Beirut, from where they were gradually directed to centres such as Ghazir, Baladoun, Ajaltoun, Roum, Beit-Chabab, Zouk-Mikael and Babdat.

To meet educational needs , the Polish Red Cross began its work as early as 1942 , and the Polish community established committees: Aid for Polish Children (Anna Miklasiewiczowa) and Aid for Poles (Monasterski and Kotużyński) . There were 15 educational and upbringing institutions in operation – ranging from primary schools, through lower secondary schools and upper secondary schools, to the Polish School of Painting and Drawing run by Professor Bolesław Baake . In Beirut, around 400 students continued their studies at Saint Joseph University, the American University of Beirut (which organised English language courses) and the ALBA Academy of Fine Arts.

Sanatoriums were in operation in Bhammes and Bhamdoun , and from 1941 onwards, programmes for Polish soldiers were broadcast on the Lebanese radio station Lewant . The refugees also established a library, and a Polish church was built in Ghazir.

Although most Polish war refugees had left Lebanon by 1951, around 200 people decided to stay, forming active communities and institutions.

In 1946, thanks to the efforts of the chaplain to the Polish refugees , Father Kamil Kantak, the Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs granted the Polish diaspora a plot of land in Beirut, on which the Polish War Cemetery was established .

An artistic enclave

Between 1942 and 1952, there was a thriving community of Polish artists in Beirut, associated with both Anders’ Army and civilian refugees. Among the 264 Poles studying at the capital’s three main universities during the 1945/46 academic year, there were around 21 students of the fine arts.

The first and largest exhibition of works by Polish artists took place in January 1944 at the St. Georges Hotel – over a hundred works (oil paintings, gouaches, drawings) in the Post-Impressionist style. Among the participants were both soldier-painters and artists not associated with the 2nd Corps, such as Józef Czapski (1896–1993) and Zygmunt Siedlanowski. Thanks to their high standard and understanding of French artistic traditions, the works were enthusiastically received by the French, English and Arabic press.

From 1943, the ALBA Academy of Fine Arts operated in Beirut, offering three faculties: architecture, music and art. Lecturers included, amongst others, the Lebanese portraitist César Gemayel (1898–1958), the German artist Grün (whose first name is unknown) and Professor Antoni Markowski (1878–1949) from Lviv. The academy’s curriculum was based on European artistic movements: Fauvism, Expressionism, Cubism and Surrealism; life drawing was also introduced and the printmaking studios were expanded. It was at ALBA that the most talented Polish students flourished, such as Stanisław Frenkiel (1918–2001), who later became renowned as a representative of New Expressionism in Great Britain, and Zygmunt “Sygililla” Mazur (1922–2001) , who settled in Canada after completing his studies.

At the same time, from 1947, Professor Bolesław Baake ran the Polish School of Painting and Drawing at the American University of Beirut, where, together with Mary Schneider (1900–1992), Jerzy Brodnicki (1907–1980) and Feliks Topolski (1907–1989), introduced, amongst other things, the study of the nude. Baake himself – the creator of the symbolic, allegorical painting ‘The Rose of Lebanon’ – remained in Lebanon until his death in 1963, and his pupils included, amongst others, Maria Strawińska (1914–1992) and Zygmunt Mazur. The school organised at least two exhibitions: in 1947, ‘L’Exposition des Jeunes Peintres Polonais au Liban’, and in 1948, ‘Exposition des Peintres Polonais de Beyrouth’.

Thanks to numerous exhibitions, favourable reviews and purchases by Lebanese museums and private collections, Polish art gained lasting recognition in Lebanon. Their encounter with Arab culture and the light of the Middle East opened up new perspectives for Polish artists, which many of them later developed whilst in exile – in Western Europe and North America. Although most returned to Poland after the war or emigrated further afield, the years spent in Beirut remained a significant chapter in their artistic biographies.

Contract workers

From the 1960s onwards, Lebanon became a destination for economic migration by highly qualified Poles – engineers, architects, doctors, nurses and scientists. The rapid development of infrastructure and tourism in Beirut and the seaside resorts attracted Polish design firms, construction companies and hospitals, which employed professionals from Poland under both state and private contracts. At the same time, the growing demand for teaching and medical staff meant that many teachers and healthcare workers took up positions lasting several years in Lebanese schools and clinics, taking advantage of better pay and employment conditions.

Polish studies in Lebanon

Słowacki’s travels and the monastery in Ghazir
From February to April 1837, Juliusz Słowacki stayed at the Monastery of St Anthony in Ghazir, where he wrote the poem ‘Anhelli’ as well as drawings and watercolours depicting the monastery (“Betcheszban”) and the views stretching out from it towards the mountains, Juniya Bay and the starry sky featuring the constellation of Orion. In 1946, Polish refugees erected a marble plaque there in three languages, and in 2002 the Museum of Literature opened its first permanent exhibition of memorabilia. In November 2022, a multimedia exhibition entitled ‘Słowacki in Lebanon’ was organised, showcasing the poet’s letters and excerpts from *Anhelli*; during the opening, students from Beirut’s universities presented the work’s spiritual message.

The Architecture of Karol Schayer
Between 1952 and 1959, the architect Karol Schayer designed modernist icons of the urban landscape in Beirut: the AUB Alumni Club (1952), the Horseshoe (Murr) Building (1957), the Carlton Hotel (1956), Dar Al Sayad (1954) and the Shell Building (1959). His designs combined functionalism with the aesthetics of the Polish avant-garde, shaping the landscape of Lebanon’s modern capital.
Further information can be found in a separate article .

The Polish War Cemetery in Beirut
The cemetery was established in 1946. Buried here are 137 Poles who came to Lebanon with Anders’ Army and subsequently made their lives in this country, including the aforementioned Professor Bolesław Baake and architect Karol Schayer (1900–1971). A commemorative plaque dedicated to Hanka Ordonówna, who died in Beirut in 1950, is set into one of the walls; her remains rested in this cemetery until 1990, when they were transferred to Powązki Cemetery in Warsaw. During the civil war of 1975–1990, the cemetery lay on the front line and was almost completely devastated. Reopened in 1991, it was damaged again in 2006. It has now been restored.
We cover cemeteries in a separate article and in the catalogue of war cemeteries .

Polish graves in British cemeteries ( Commonwealth War Graves Commission) in Beirut ( further information on the CCWGC website ) , Sidon ( further information on the CCWGC website ) and Tripoli ( Tripoli Victoria Naval Cemetery – 9 Polish gravestones from 1943 further information on the CCWGC website ) . A plaque commemorating Juliusz Słowacki at St Anthony’s Monastery (Ghazir, 1946; Arabic, Polish, French).

A plaque commemorating Polish refugees in the vestibule of St Joseph’s Church in Beirut.

Commemorative plaques honouring the work of Maksymilian Ryłło at St Joseph’s University in Beirut.