The Polish Social and Cultural Association ( pl, Polski Ośrodek Społeczno-Kulturalny; POSK) is a Polish cultural centre in west

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, England. It was funded by public subscription and founded in 1967, on the initiative of Polish engineer Roman Wajda, at 238–246 King Street,

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London ...

. The rationale was that during the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because t ...

, the Polish community in the United Kingdom was politically opposed to the Polish Communist authorities in its native country and could not otherwise avail itself of a continuous source of Polish history and culture and for potential future generations in

exile Exile is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons and peoples suf ...

. It replaced the venues of a number of distinct military, veterans and social associations and meeting places that had been scattered mainly across the

Royal Borough of Kensington The Metropolitan Borough of Kensington was a Metropolitan borough in the County of London from 1900 to 1965, which since 1901 was known as the Royal Borough of Kensington, following the death of Queen Victoria, in accordance with her wishes. His ...

in the aftermath of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. As Poles who had escaped the occupation of their country began to move westwards in

from the " bedsitter land" to which they were first confined, Wajda and his committee made precise calculations as to where such a facility would best serve the Polish community of the time. The proximity of the Polish "garrison" church, , St Andrew Bobola, in nearby

Shepherd's Bush Shepherd's Bush is a district of West London, England, within the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham west of Charing Cross, and identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan. Although primarily residential in character ...

, would have been a factor in alighting on King Street. POSK presents and promotes Polish culture and history to the British public. It houses the Polish Library in London, which was founded in 1942, and an art exhibition space. It puts on film screenings, theatrical productions and musical recitals, including opera. It has a jazz club with regular sessions. The 300 capacity theatre is fully equipped with audio loop and subtitle function. The theatre is available for hire by other community groups when not in use. POSK also houses a Polish cafe - Cafe Maya, a restaurant and Members bar. There is an independent Polish bookshop on the premises. Several Polish organizations are based at the centre, including: * The Federation of Poles in Great Britain – the largest Polish organisation in Britain which itself hosts a number of other organisations'', Zjednoczenie Polskie w Wielkiej Brytanii – ZPWB'' * '' Jozef Pilsudski Institute'' in London, ''Instytut Józefa Piłsudskiego'' * Polish University Abroad – PUNO * Polish Society of Arts and Sciences Abroad'', Polskie Towarzystwo Naukowe na Obczyźnie – PTNO'' * Polish Veterans Association, ''Stowarzyszenie Polskich Kombatantów'' – SPK * ''

Tydzień Polski ''Tydzień Polski'' is the successor title to the ''Dziennik Polski i Dziennik Żołnierza'' (English: "The Polish Daily and Soldier's Daily"), commonly known as ''Dziennik Polski'', ''The Polish Daily'', which was the first Polish language Dai ...

'', successor to ''Dziennik Polski'', "The Polish Daily", Britain's oldest Polish language newspaper. The original membership fee of £10 was raised in 2008 by the new President, Ewa Brzeska, it now stands at £60. On 26 June 2016 the front entrance of the centre was vandalised with graffiti. It was treated as a potential

hate crime A hate crime (also known as a bias-motivated crime or bias crime) is a prejudice-motivated crime which occurs when a perpetrator targets a victim because of their membership (or perceived membership) of a certain social group or racial demograph ...

by the

Metropolitan Police The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...

. It was seen by some as an expression of anti-Polish sentiment in the wake of the

Brexit referendum The United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, commonly referred to as the EU referendum or the Brexit referendum, took place on 23 June 2016 in the United Kingdom (UK) and Gibraltar to ask the electorate whether the country shoul ...

and cited as an expression of anti-immigration views targeting Poles and other EU nationals. No one has been charged with the offence and debate continued about whether the graffiti could be interpreted as ambiguous or whether there were other factors suggesting the motives behind the graffiti were not necessarily xenophobic.

References

External links

The POSK official website

The official website of The Federation of Poles in Great Britain

J Piłsudski Museum website

The Polskie Towarzystwo Naukowe na Obczyźnie website (in Polish)

The Stowarzyszenie Polskich Kombatantów website (in Polish)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Polish Social and Cultural Association Polish diaspora organizations Buildings and structures in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham 1967 establishments in the United Kingdom Cultural organisations based in London Poland–United Kingdom relations Polish-British culture

See also

References

External links