June 1946 — Last Matura/Baccalaureate graduation ceremony. On the flag of “People's“ Poland, the eagle has lost its royal crown (Association Mémoire du lycée polonais - Polish High School Memorial Association).

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Closure

Charpters

1. Before
2. Origins
3. The participants
4. Daily life
5. ”A school unlike any other”
6. Fighting
7. Twilight
8. The aftermath
9. Today

The final days left a troubling impression. Should the founding patriotic values be preserved or should a new “popular” Poland be built? The school closed its doors in a sombre atmosphere.

Life continued, to the rhythm of classes and songs, and relations with the inhabitants of Villard were better than ever. The French and Polish communities shed their blood together. There is now only one France, free and fighting.

The last days of the school left a troubling impression. Should you return home, whether or not you agreed with the new structures in place, or start a new life here or elsewhere? Students and teachers were divided. Wrona’s presence is oppressive and his power is significant. Portraits of the new leaders were placed on the walls of the school; the eagle representing the Polish state had lost its royal crown, symbolising its sovereignty.

In a sombre atmosphere, the decision was made to transfer the school to Paris. It returned to the premises in Rue Lamandé, with an annex in the suburbs, in Houilles, which prepared students for the Baccalaureate.

The end of the 1945-1946 school year and the presentation of diplomas were the occasion for some very carefully organized ceremonies. On 26 June 1946, the doors closed permanently. Lubicz-Zaleski tried to create a teaching structure in the Oise region that would embrace the spirit of Villard, but without success. The days of the Cyprian Norwid Polish High School were over…

7.3.1 “Contacts with the French were strengthened.”

After the war, President de Gaulle visiting Villard-de-Lans

—Tadeusz Łepkowski, student. A Polish free school in occupied France (2012), based on Wolna szkoła polska w okupowanej francji (1990).

Contacts with the French grew stronger and more frequent, with the shared trials of the summer of 1944 undoubtedly bringing the two communities closer together. The fight and the common sacrifice counted above all for the French and the Poles, but also, for the latter, the fact that the issue of two Frances, Vichy France and Free France, had been resolved and that they were now dealing only with Republican France, under the emblem of the Cross of Lorraine. However, many were bitter that, while France was regaining its status as a great power, Poland, having just been liberated from German occupation, was losing its sovereignty by being forcibly attached to the Stalinist empire.

7.3.2 “The situation became extremely complex with the arrival of Wrona.”

1946 — Departure - to what destination? (Association Mémoire du lycée polonais - Polish High School Memorial Association).

—Kazimierz Kundegórski, student. Our school, 2017.

The beginning of the 1945-1946 school year saw many grandiose ceremonies. The atmosphere was wonderful, full of patriotism and enthusiasm. Everyone – teachers and students alike – was experiencing a sense of release after the horrors of war and occupation. I still did not really know what I wanted to do or if I would go back to Poland, I was unaware of what was really happening there. The atmosphere at school was just as I had dreamed it would be. After Christmas, the mood changed. We had just realised that there would be no free Poland, that it would be under Soviet influence. The school was subjected to increasing propaganda and political pressure.

The situation became extremely complex with the arrival of Stefan Wrona. A “Knowledge about Poland” course was introduced, with comrade Wrona personally in charge. Full of propaganda and hatred, these courses slandered everything that we remembered as positive in pre-war Poland and that we revered. Groups formed to understand what was happening, especially in Poland. We wanted a just Poland for everyone, that was democratic but independent.

Not surprisingly, Wrona ‘s activities found partial support among students with immigrant backgrounds. Their parents had been forced to leave pre-war Poland for economic reasons, due to lack of work and income. Wrona knew how to take advantage of this.

I think most of our teachers were aware of our reluctance to accept the changes that were being imposed on us and of the climate that was developing. All of this deeply saddened them, the situation was so hopeless.

7.3.3 “Deep-seated opposition divided the school community.”

June 1946 - The fourth-year junior high school class and its teachers Tadeuz, Kupkiewicz, Nowakowski, Polaczek, Malbos, Berger, Mul, Komar and Wasiak (Association Mémoire du lycée polonais - Polish High School Memorial Association).

—Tadeusz Łepkowski, student A Polish free school in occupied France (2012), based on Wolna szkoła polska w okupowanej francji (1990).

In May-June 1946, shortly before the end of the very last year of the Villard high school ‘s existence, deep-seated and sometimes dramatic opposition divided the school community. A number of teachers, some of whom, like Zofia Łukasiewicz, were far from sympathetic to the new regime, decided to return home, as did Berger and his wife, Steffen and others at the end of the school year. Some students also returned to Poland with their parents. But most of them, especially the high school students, were unsure of what to do and postponed making a decision. A few of them approved of the country ‘s new direction, or even supported it.

Many young people, especially those from disadvantaged social backgrounds, wanted to continue their studies at the high school, in Villard or, as was increasingly being mentioned as a possibility, in Paris. The management of the Polish Red Cross in France, the Polish embassy in Paris and the Warsaw education authorities had been discussing the future of the school since the beginning of the year.

It was decided to maintain a secondary school for the children of migrant workers, but to locate it in Paris or in the north of France, where they were concentrated. Baccalaureate preparation courses were organised in Houilles, in Seine-et-Oise, under the direction of Michał Dusza, and the final decision was taken to transfer the school to Paris, and not to keep its name. In administrative, political and educational terms, the new school was intended to be a continuation of the Villard school – or rather the Villard of the last year, when the school was under the control of the “Warsaw” Red Cross and the Ministry of Education of the People ‘s Republic of Poland.

7.3.4 “Polish Villard now belonged to history.”

June 1946 — Last graduation ceremony (Association Mémoire du lycée polonais - Polish High School Memorial Association).

—Tadeusz Łepkowski, student. A free Polish school in occupied France (2012), based on Wolna szkoła polska w okupowanej francji (1990).

The authorities wanted to make a big event of the ceremony to mark the end of the school year and award the baccalaureate diplomas. On 23 June 1946, Abbé Mróż solemnly celebrated the last “Polish mass” in Villard’s church, after which flowers were laid on the graves of the students killed in the Vercors. Then, at the Hôtel du Parc, the diplomas were presented to the nineteen new baccalaureate holders, who waited for two hours in the rain for Colonel Marian Naszkowski, military attaché to the embassy of the Republic of Poland in Paris, and his wife. Also present were: Irena Domańska, President of the Polish Red Cross in France, the engineer Birecki, member of the Polish Red Cross board, Mr Stec, responsible for educational matters at the embassy, and Mr Guzowski, President of the Grenoble section of the National Council of Poles in France. “We wish the graduates of the Polish high school in Villard-de-Lans every success on the path of their future lives. This path leads to Poland” , read the article in Gazeta Polska. But this last wish was not fulfilled in all cases.

On 26 June 1946, the Cyprian Norwid high school closed its doors. Teachers were notified of the termination of their contracts, with effect from 30 June. Polish Villard now belonged to history. In 1946-1947, the Polish Red Cross organised and financed the restoration of the buildings and compensated their owners.

7.2The Moscow Eye

Dispersion7.4