My husband Kaz is of Polish origin. His mother is from south of Lwów (now Lviv, in Ukraine). She was deported to Kazakhstan by the Russians in 1940. Kaz and I lived in Krakow for two years in 1976-78, and we later lived with his mother in London from 1988 to 2000. While we were living with her I carried out interviews with her and other Polish women who had been deported, who lived near her in London. I made two audio slide shows about their experiences.

Audio Slide Shows

Publications

I have written two articles about their experiences, which I include here.

2012

‘Introduction’. Food and Foodways Vol 20 (Special Issue on Food, Migration and Memory, edited by Monica Janowski): 175-186.

‘Food, trauma and identity: memories of Polish forced migrants during the Second World War’. Food and Foodways Vol 20 (Special Issue on Food, Migration and Memory, edited by Monica Janowski): 326–349.

2000

‘Ethnicity is in the mind…food is on the table. The Christmas meal among the Kelabit of Sarawak and the Polish community in the UK.’ In T. Dekker, J. Helsloot and C. Wijers (eds), Roots and Rituals: Managing Ethnicity, pp. 485¬–498. Amsterdam: Het Spinhuis.