Race on to save historic Polish club set up in Scotland by veterans after WWII

The Polish Club in Kirkcaldy, Fife, was opened in 1953 by Polish veterans who had settled in the town and raised money to buy a building to house it.
Polish Club Kirkcaldy

A petition has been launched to help save a Polish community club with a rich history dating back to its establishment by Polish WWII Veterans unable to return to Poland after the war.

The Polish Club in Kirkcaldy, Fife, was opened in 1953 by Polish veterans who had settled in the town and raised money to buy a building to house it.

One of the founding members of the Polish Club in Kirkcaldy, Zygmunt Jaworski, settled in Scotland after serving with the 1st Armoured Division commanded by General Stanisław Mączek and seeing action in the final phases of the Battle of Normandy. Renata Łopatowska

Due to their fight alongside the Allies in WWII, the Polish veterans were unable to return to their homeland because they would have faced persecution and been treated as spies by the new Communist regime.

One of the founding members of the Polish Club in Kirkcaldy, Zygmunt Jaworski, settled in Scotland after serving with the 1st Armoured Division commanded by General Stanisław Maczek and seeing action in the final phases of the Battle of Normandy.

Renata Łopatowska

Since opening, the club has been an important meeting place for the Polish community.Renata Łopatowska

After establishing the club, he spent much of his time there when not at work. Unable to return to his wife and daughter in Poland after the end of the war, his daughter Halina would only come to Scotland for the first time in 1976 to be reunited with him, by then married to a Scottish woman.

Halina would later set up home in Kirkcaldy and look after her father and his Scottish wife until their deaths. She also received the Silver Cross of Merit, presented to her by the Polish Consul General on behalf of the Polish President, for her dedication to the Polish Club in Kirkcaldy.

Halina received the Silver Cross of Merit, presented to her by the Polish Consul General on behalf of the Polish President, for her dedication to the Polish Club in Kirkcaldy.Halina Jaworska

Halina’ daughter and Jaworski’s granddaughter, Renata, also came to develop a strong connection to the club.

Making the journey from Poland to Kirkcaldy in 1974, even before her mother, she was taken to the club many times by her grandfather and was where she met her future husband.

Renata even ended up having her wedding reception at the club. She later set up a Polish school in the building and is now the vice-chairwoman.

Arriving in Kirkcaldy in 1974, Renata was taken to the club many times by her grandfather and was where she met her future husband, Zygmunt (pictured).Renata Łopatowska

“It’s a very dear place for us and holds many memories, so we really do hope we manage to save it”, Renata told TFN.

In 2023, the club they founded would be celebrating its 70th anniversary, but its future has been called into question after the ‘The Polish Ex-combatants Association in London’ the formal manager of the club, declared an intention to sell the building on the open market, prompting the Polish Association Kirkcaldy to launch a petition to try to save it.

Renata Łopatowska

The club has always been an important place for the Association of Polish Veterans.Renata Łopatowska

According to local newspaper ‘Fife Today’ there has been “overwhelming public support” for the campaign, including from local politicians.

Since opening, the club has continued to function as an important meeting place for the Polish community, in the first instance as a place for Polish Veterans and is still the residence of the Association of Polish Veterans, but also as an important centre of Polish community and cultural events and bringing the community together to commemorate important historical anniversaries.

Cultural events hosted by the club have included a highly attended talk with Ludwik Jaszczurk, one of the last few remaining veterans of the Battle of Monte Cassino in 1944.Renata Łopatowska

The club is also notable for its monument to the 1940 Katyń Massacre which saw the execution of 22,000 Polish soldiers and intelligentsia by the NKVD, which contains earth from the ground at Katyń and acts as an important binding place for the Polish community coming to mark the anniversary of the tragic events each year.

It also hosts a regular Polish Saturday School and runs a pub and kitchen serving Polish dinners and several regular music groups use the club for practice and performances.

Cultural events hosted by the club have included a highly attended talk with Ludwik Jaszczurk, one of the last few remaining veterans of the Battle of Monte Cassino in 1944.

Speaking to TFN, Ireneusz Beska from Polish Association Kirkcaldy said: “We have a small but vibrant and active community here at Polish Club Kirkcaldy and there is a lot of potential. This is not the first time that the Polish Ex-Combatant’s Association Foundation in London has attempted to sell the building.”

The Polish Association Kirkcaldy is hoping to get enough signatures to make use of the Government’s Community Right-to-Buy scheme which would give the Association first priority to buy the club by giving them time to raise funds for the purchase. The requirement is the collection of 1500 signatures from central Kirkcaldy.

The club is still in the same building as it was when opened 68 years ago.Polish Club Kirkcaldy

“Although we need 1,500 signatures from, Kirkcaldy to activate this legal priority to buy the club, we are trying to collect as many as possible from all over the UK and the world to prove that this place is important to people.”

The Association has so far collected a total of 2,770 signatures, 2,000 of which were collected in under two days after the petition launched.

To find out more visit Petycja w sprawie ratowania Polskiego Klubu w Kirkcaldy – Polish Association Kirkcaldy – Polska Wspólnota w Kirkcaldy (pakirkcaldy.co.uk)

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