After 40 years, there’s still a touch of sadness in Felix Rohraffa’s voice as he describes the tumultuous days following the Polish government’s declaration of martial law on Dec. 13, 1981. 

Rohraffa was freshly out of university and working aboard a Polish trawler off the coast of B.C. when his captain broke the news. Rohraffa was shocked to learn of the scope of government action against strikers and protests led by the anti-communist Solidarity movement. 

With Christmas nearing, the ship docked in Vancouver at the old Pier B/C, site of the current Canada Place.

“Our captain held a meeting and said we couldn’t leave the ship,” said Rohraffa, now in his 60s and living in Vancouver.

“But a [colleague] I knew, who had Solidarity leanings, said he was going to be guarding the gangway and if anybody wanted to get off he would let them.”

Felix Rohraffa was a refugee sailor from 1981. (Global News screen image)

Rohraffa thought carefully about what to do. “I couldn’t sleep,” he said. The uncertainty haunted him for three long days and nights. As he tossed and turned in his bunk, he worried about his obligations at home, about losing his friends, and about the impact a defection would have on his family, especially his father and brother, both of whom worked in shipyards.

Then came zero hour. It was late afternoon of Dec. 23, already dark, and the ship was scheduled to sail at 5 p.m. – just 15 minutes away. That’s when Rohraffa decided to jump ship. 

In doing so, he joined scores of other Polish seaman who during those tumultuous weeks found not only refuge but new homes in B.C. 

They were warmly welcomed by an already-active Polish-Canadian community, by charitable agencies, and by the Catholic Church with which Poles had long been closely aligned.

In fact, the Archdiocese of Vancouver played an important role not only in assisting the defecting seamen but also in helping bring Polish refugees to B.C.

“The story is largely forgotten, even among Poles,” said Vancouver resident Michael Dembek, a St. Patrick’s parishioner who is president of the Polish Canadian Congress in B.C. “But I think it’s a story that needs to be told.”

The Polish-Canadian community marked the 40th anniversary of that extraordinary event with a Mass Dec. 12 at St. Casimir’s Church in Vancouver.

Flags of the Solidarity movement and the Polish Combatants’ Association were on display at St. Casimir’s at a Mass to mark the 40th anniversary of the declaration of martial law in Poland.

The flags of the Solidarity movement and the Polish Combatants’ Association were on display in the church, spiritual heart of Polish-Catholic community in the archdiocese. Deacon Richard Podgurski delivered a homily recounting the events of 1981 and 1982, describing the thousands of dissidents who were rounded up, and telling of the brave Catholic priests who not only sheltered those being hunted by authorities, but also administered the sacraments to striking workers in mines, shipyards, and factories. 

Following Mass, Dembek joined the Polish Consul General in Vancouver, Andrzej Mankowski, and the president of the Polish Veterans Association in B.C., Wojciech Lenartowicz, in laying flowers at the foot of a crucifix in front of the church in memory of the victims of Communism in Poland.

Celebrating the anniversaries is important, said Dembek, not just for the Polish community but for Canadians at large. “It represents a moment which we should all remember and celebrate, because it’s when everyone got together – different organizations that weren’t Polish, the Vancouver archdiocese, and, of course, Polish-Canadian groups. They saw people in need, and they helped.”

Dembek said in Poland “there were people being killed, people being terrorized, and everyone in B.C. wanted to help out. And here in Vancouver, when the sailors got onto the shore, we welcomed them in a very Christ-like manner. I think that’s worth noting.”

The Catholic response began within days of the first defections on the Vancouver waterfront. Special collections were held to help refugees and the seamen, most of whom jumped ship with little more than pocket change and a duffel bag with clothes and personal effects.

A letter from Archbishop James Carney announces aid for Polish refugees in 1982. (Archdiocese of Vancouver Archives)

By mid-January, at least 95 men had left the seven ships tied up along the Vancouver waterfront. Archbishop James Carney established the Archdiocesan Refugee Commission to assist Polish refugees in B.C. and abroad. Archdiocesan work continued for months to help refugees leave camps in Austria to resettle in B.C. (See “Archives” sidebar for details.) In the end, the archdiocese helped 150 Polish refugees settle in Canada, Dembek said.

Stefan Lejer was aboard a Polish trawler fishing off the coast of Alaska when martial law was imposed on Poland. He and his shipmates bided their time until the ship anchored six miles outside of Victoria. That’s when they decided to make their move.

Lejer and four others took a lifeboat and headed for Vancouver Island. “One of the guys, he knew how to get to Victoria and that’s how we did it,” he said in an interview. “It was a big decision because some of us had family” back home.

Victoria’s small Polish community helped the ship-jumpers, as did immigration authorities. Lejer, now 70, settled in Victoria, stayed in the fishing industry, married, raised a family, and found a faith home at Sacred Heart Parish, which holds a Polish-language Mass every Sunday at 11:30 a.m.

“It a very important part of my life,” he said. “We are there at least once a week. Sometimes, like when it’s Christmas or Easter ... it’s  good to be there.”

Rohraffa recalled that he did not know anyone in Vancouver or where to go when he jumped ship. “But I also knew there was a Polish community here,” and so he found his way to the Polish Community Centre in East Vancouver.

Polish Canadian Congress president Michael Dembek lays red flowers at a crucifix at St. Casimir’s in memory of those who fell to communism in Poland.

Hearing that several families were offering accommodation, he chose an English-speaking one so he could better learn the language. It was a wonderful experience, he said. “I became part of the family,” he said. “The couple had three small children, and I was an ‘uncle’ almost immediately.”

Rohraffa stayed with the family for five years, continued his education, and began building a career that led to a job with the Port of Vancouver. He eventually married and raised a family of his own.

St. Casimir’s has been his Catholic home since he set foot in Canada. In fact the day after he jumped ship he met a Polish man who took him to St. Casimir’s for midnight Mass on Christmas Eve.

“That was something unbelievable,” he said. “I’ll never forget it.”


Archdiocese’s helping hands, prayerful intentions

The Archdiocese of Vancouver was deeply involved in assisting Poles, both spiritually and materially, in their fight against communist oppression, even before the Polish government’s imposition of martial law on Dec. 13, 1981.

Documents from the archdiocese’s Archives Office show that Archbishop James F. Carney worked not only with priests at St. Casimir’s Parish in Vancouver, which was (and still is) the centre of the Polish-Catholic community in the archdiocese, but also with the Vatican’s nuncio in Ottawa and the Archbishop of Vienna in response to the turmoil in Poland.

Correspondence in 1982 between Archbishop Carney and the apostolic nuncio, with discussion of financial aid for Polish refugees. (Archdiocese of Vancouver Archives)


One of the earliest relevant documents, dated Jan. 6, 1981 (more than 11 months before martial law was declared), is a letter in which Archbishop Carney tells Father J. Szwarc of St. Casimir’s “how impressed” he was that the parish was able to organize, on short notice, a special “Mass for Peace” in Poland.

“The prayerfulness of the people, the liturgical music, the faith that was manifested at the Mass, was an inspiration to all of us who were present,” Archbishop Carney wrote.

Another letter shows that, on July 7, 1981, Father Szwarc asked Archbishop Carney for permission to hold a special collection for the “Polish Relief Fund—Food and Medicine,” established by the Canadian Polish Congress. “I wish to state that [the request] has validity and that the situation in Poland is very grave,” Father Szwarc wrote. A handwritten note at the bottom of the typed letter and dated “July 21/81” states that Archbishop Carney approved the request.

The need for financial assistance arose again just three weeks after the martial-law edict and the ensuing mass defection of Polish fishermen in Vancouver (see main story). In response, Archbishop Carney announced by press release and in a letter to all parish priests that his office had been in touch with the Archbishop of Vienna and had confirmed that 4,000 Poles at a refugee camp in Austria wished to emigrate to Canada. 

Archbishop Carney said he had established the Archdiocesan Refugee Commission to assist Polish refugee families and seamen. At the same time, he asked all parishes to take up a second collection on Feb. 14, 1982, to assist refugees and for emergency relief in Poland.

“We have all read our Lord’s words, ‘I assure you, as often as you neglected to do to one of the least of these, you neglected to do it to me,’” Archbishop Carney wrote. “In light of this gospel, I ask you to do all you can to assist these refugees who are seeking a new home in Canada.”

On Jan. 11 and again on Feb. 15, 1982, the archbishop sent letters to Archbishop Angelo Palmas, the apostolic nuncio in Ottawa, informing him of these developments and reporting that 123 sailors had found accommodation with families in the archdiocese. He also requested assistance reuniting the Polish fishermen, 90 per cent of whom were married, with their wives and families in Poland. 

“If it is possible that in some future discussion with the Polish government the Holy See could arrange some agreement that would allow these families to be free to leave Poland, obviously it would be helpful,” the archbishop wrote. “I think we will have to face serious pastoral problems unless reunification can be made possible.”

As made clear in an Aug. 30, 1982, letter to the Vienna office of Catholic relief agency Caritas, bureaucratic delays prevented even refugees already outside of Poland from timely immigration to Canada. In that letter, Father James R. McLeod, chairman of the Archdiocese Refugee Committee, noted that seven months had elapsed since preparations had begun to receive the refugees. But “still no refugees.”

Just two days later, however, Father McLeod sent a letter to an unnamed priest saying he had learned “some refugees” had finally arrived.

In the end, the committee was responsible for facilitating the entry into B.C. of 150 Polish refugees, as well as providing support for the defecting seamen, assistance for which the Polish-Canadian community remains thankful.

“The Catholic community in B.C. went out of their way to help, assist, and house many of these seamen, going to the extreme lengths of setting up relief and refugees funds for those in need,” Michael Dembek, president of the Canadian Polish Congress in B.C., said in an interview.

“On behalf of the Polish-Canadian diaspora in British Columbia, we are most grateful. As a Catholic I am grateful. And as a Polish Canadian, I am most grateful.” 


St. Casimir’s Parish at heart of Vancouver’s Polish-Catholic community

St. Casimir’s Parish in East Vancouver has been the heart of the Polish-Catholic community in the archdiocese since its founding in 1944, but Poles and their Catholic faith have a much longer history in the country.

Poland itself became predominately Catholic as long ago as the 13th century and the country today remains one of the most Catholic in the world, with at least 86 per cent of its 38.5-million citizens identifying with the faith. For many Poles, their cultural identity goes hand in prayerful hand with their Catholic faith.

Canadian historians say a fur merchant named Dominik Barcz was the first Polish immigrant to Canada. Born in Gdansk, Barcz arrived in what was to become Canada in 1752, settling in Montreal.

Deacon Richard Podgurski reads at the commemorative Mass at St. Casimir’s.

Major immigration to Canada from Poland began in the mid-19th century, with most settlers putting down roots in eastern Ontario. Poles established the town of Wilno, Ont., in 1858, naming it after the Polish city of Vilnius. They opened their first Catholic church, St. Stanislaus Kostka, in 1875.

The first wave of Polish immigrants to B.C. came not directly from Europe but from Japan. As reported by the Vancouver’s Polish Friendship ZGODA Society, “they had been serving with the Russian Armed Forces and taken prisoner by the Japanese in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904.” After their release they chose to travel to Canada rather than return to their homeland, which was occupied by Russia.

The Vancouver society was established in 1926 by seven friends who wanted to maintain their Polish heritage, preserve their Polish language, and help new Polish immigrants.

Canadian census returns show that more than 200,000 Poles were living in Canada by 1951, with a future 100,000 arriving over the next two decades. According to the 2016 census, 1.1 million Canadians claim full or partial Polish heritage – the 12th highest of any ethnic affiliation – 191,775 Canadians speak Polish as a mother tongue language.

The Polish-Canadian community points proudly to the fact that the first Polish-Canadian Roman Catholic bishop was Reverend Mathew Ustrzycki, appointed auxiliary bishop of the Hamilton in 1985.

St. Casimir’s in Vancouver is served by the Polish-born Fr. Dr. Tomasz Krzesik, OMI, who also travels to Maple Ridge once a month to say a Polish-language mass at St. Luke’s Parish.

St. Casimir’s parishioner Felix Rohraffa said in an interview that he would have felt adrift when he arrived in Vancouver in late 1981 were it not for St. Casimir’s. “I was going by bus, whenever I could, to Masses. I was going regularly,” he said, “And I’ve been there ever since.” 



MP celebrates Archdiocese of Vancouver’s refugee role

In a statement last month in the House of Commons, MP Tom Kmiec (Conservative— Calgary Shepard) paid tribute to the Archdiocese of Vancouver for its role in assisting Polish refugees who fled communist oppression in the early 1980s. 

Kmiec,  who was born in Gdansk, Poland, and has a long record of advocating for human rights and religious freedom, made the statement Dec. 13, the 40th anniversary of the communist government’s imposition of martial law in Poland.

MP Tom Kmiec paying tribute to the Archdiocese of Vancouver  in the House of Commons in December. (CPAC screen image)

Kmiec received a standing ovation and sustained applause for his statement. Here is the complete text: 

Madam Speaker, 40 years ago Polish communist leaders imposed martial law across Poland to crack down on the growing democratic trade union movement known as Solidarnosc. Military units would occupy cities; labour unionists would be jailed until 1986, and the families of Solidarity members would be persecuted and expelled.

My father was a member of Solidarnosc. A shipyard worker at the Lenin Shipyards, he would leave Poland in 1983 during martial law. That is how my family was eventually allowed to come to Canada in 1985.

Canadians responded to this Solidarity wave. The Roman Catholic diocese in Vancouver created the Polish emergency fund and a refugee fund. Hundreds of Polish sailors trawling the waters off the west coast would be welcomed by Canadians and allowed to stay. Canadians from coast to coast welcomed Poles in their homes, raised funds for them and marched in the streets in solidarity.

On this historic 40th anniversary, let us celebrate the indomitable will of freedom shown by Solidarity members and recognize the dehumanizing cruelty of Soviet communism.