Tracing 700 Years of Armenian Heritage in Poland
Tracing 700 years of Armenian heritage in Poland Cemeteries, khachkars, churches and bakeries all point to the Armenian presence in Poland which stretches far back to medieval times. Though often overlooked, Armenian communities once played a vital role in trade, diplomacy and culture, traces of which remain in cities dotted around Poland. A new wave of Armenian migration is mixing with the ‘Old Polish Armenian’ communities, adding a fresh influence to the enduring legacy of Armenian heritage in Poland. If you want to glimpse a country's multicultural heritage, a cemetery is a good place to start. On a snowy winter's afternoon in Warsaw's Powązki Cemetery, I read scraps of evidence relating to Poland's ethnic compositions, links to empires, wars and border shifts. Dr Zahorowski (1802-1878) was born in Vilnius and died in Warsaw (all cities named are using the contemporary spelling - author’s note); Leopold Kronenberg (1812-1878) was a Jewish banker in the Russian partit...