I read your Jan. 24 story about Poland’s forgotten refugees with interest and gratitude.
Forty years ago, St. Francis Xavier Parish in Chinatown was one of the several parishes in the Archdiocese of Vancouver to sponsor a Polish family.
On Sept. 14, 1982, our pastor, Father Aloysius Lou, and the late Father Frederick Wong, together with interpreter Czeslaw Najeychor and me as host, went to Vancouver International Airport to pick up the Czudowski family.
Through the interpreter, we understood that after fleeing from Poland, the Czudowski family of three had gone through many months of unimaginable hurdles and uncertainties in several countries in Europe. They were relieved to have finally landed in Canada. However, it was obvious to us that they were still doubly concerned about their unknown future in Canada.
Prior to the Czudowskis’ arrival, St. Francis Xavier Parish had diligently arranged for parishioners to come to our residence in Port Moody to ensure accommodation and supplies were sufficiently comfortable for them.
In order to overcome the initial language barrier, Father Lou had invited the Catholic Polish community in St. Patrick’s Parish in Maple Ridge to arrange a welcoming team for the Czudowski. They regularly visited the family and introduced them to local events and functions. The wife Krystina was a music teacher by profession. She also loved cooking, and she and my wife alternated cooking for our families every other day, with occasional time off for visiting fast food restaurants.
As I was the principal at St. Augustine’s Elementary, I had endless support from the School Education Committee as well as staff and students in welcoming the son Eric into Grade 4. Eric loved soccer and other sports and soon felt at home and had little problem picking up the language and academics.
The father Edward was a technician in Poland. He was most worried about not being able to find a job to support the family. He had to be reminded once in a while that his priority was to learn English. Edward was so homesick that from day one his dream was to work hard and save money to make a trip back to Poland where he had left his aging parents and other family members behind.
A few years later, my wife and I were delighted to be invited to the Czudowskis for a reunion dinner. Krystina’s parents had come from Poland to visit them. The Czudowskis were told that the situation in Poland had vastly improved and that they should return home while they were still young. I accepted the news with mixed feelings. As a landed immigrant myself since 1974, I have shared Mr. Cuzdowski’s struggles with total compassion. There is no place like home in the world!
I often told my friends that the Czudowskis were like the three angels who visited Abraham and Sarah (Gen 18:1-15). After 12 years of marriage my wife and I were told by many medical specialists that we would never be able to have a child of our own. On the contrary, with God’s grace, our beautiful daughter was born in 1986. On her baptism day, our whole family attended the Mass in St. Joseph’s Church in Port Moody. The first reading was, coincidentally, about the three visitors to Abraham.
Anthony Chung is a parishioner at St. Patrick’s in Vancouver.
