Events
Upcoming Events:
The Dolls We Left Behind: A Child's Wartime Journey from Poland to Persia on sale at POSK
Kresy Family Gathering
13:00 - 16:00
22 November 2025
4th Floor, POSK Club,
Hammersmith, London
The Kresy Family organisation are holding a book sale at POSK Polish Social and Cultural Centre. Copies of The Dolls we Left Behind: A Child’s Wartime Journey from Poland to Persia will be available.
To offer a glimpse into the book, we’ve created an audio extract that vividly captures the all too brief era of peace during the interwar years after the creation of the Second Polish Republic. This peace was brutally shattered by the Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939 and the deportation of over 1 million people to the penal colonies of Siberia.
Past Events
Book Launch at POSK on 25 October 2025
The book launch of The Dolls We Left Behind: A Child’s Wartime Journey from Poland to Persia was held at POSK (Polish Social and Cultural Centre) in London on Saturday 25 October. It was an unforgettable experience. Thanks to the Kresy Family organisation and to POSK for their support! You can watch the book launch presentation in the recording below.
Presented by author’s editor and family members, the book launch gave a vivid picture of life during the inter war years in the Kresy border town of Mołodeczno. Readings from the book traced the family’s arrest by NKVD militiamen, their deportation and survival in a Siberian penal colony. Richly illustrated with maps and photographs from the book, the presentation described the family’s eventual escape with others fleeing to join General Anders’ Army to safety in Persia.
Audience members also shared their own family histories of loss, endurance, and survival, highlighting the importance of keeping these memories of WWII, Soviet exile, and Polish wartime experiences alive.
Get in touch
Whether your family roots lie in the Kresy or your curiosity draws you to this haunting corner of European history, The Dolls We Left Behind invites you into a moving, first-hand account of endurance and hope. It’s a story too rarely heard in the West.
Please get in touch for more information or if you would like to share your own family experiences of deportation.