Polish Memorial Unveiled

Chandler’s Ford Parish Council were proud to be part of the new Polish Memorial, recently unveiled at Hiltingbury Recreation Ground. The memorial commemorates the site of the former Polish Dependants’ Hostel Camp, which housed more than a thousand displaced civilians between 1946 and 1957.

The installation, designed by artist Janetka Platun, was launched by the Deputy Mayor of Eastleigh, Councillor Janice Asman. Art critic and historian Waldemar Januszczak, former Channel 4 editor-in-chief for the arts, addressed the event, which was attended by local residents, descendants of camp families, members of the Polish community from across the region and representatives of the Parish Council.

Located on Hiltingbury Recreation Ground, the artwork includes three elements: a Polish Silver Birch tree planted on the former camp site, a historical information board, and an illuminated neon sign affixed to the Hiltingbury Sports building. The glowing words — ‘There were people at Hiltingbury who had experienced these events’ — are drawn from Marion Sobieraj’s memoir The Story of the Polish Dependants’ Hostel Hiltingbury, and rendered in the handwriting of a Polish child who learned to read and write at the camp school.