Wangel Durlow, From Greece to Poland

• Main Author: Anna Kurpiel
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ośrodek "Pamięć i Przyszłość" - "Remembrance and Future" Centre 2012-10-01
• Series: Wrocławski Rocznik Historii Mówionej
• Subjects: aegean macedonians; greek civil war; oral history
• Online Access: https://wrhm.pl/wrhm/article/view/30/23

Wangel Durlow is one of 7.5 thousand Aegean Macedonians that came to Poland as a result of the Greek civil war. In his narration he mostly recounts events related to the war and mandatory resettlement from his hometown in Northern Greece seen from the child’s perspective – Mr. Durlow was 12 when he left Greece. His account provides us with information on daily life and customs of the Macedonians living in Greece, difficult beginning of his stay in Poland resulting from cultural and civilization differences between Poland and Greece as well as education and upbringing of Greek children in Poland. Despite pleas of his parents, who settled in Yugoslavia after the Greek civil war, he has not decided to leave Poland where he graduated from school and married a Polish woman. There is a long description of the first meeting with his parents which took place only after 16 years of separation. The account of travels to Yugoslavia again emphasizes cultural differences between Poland Macedonia, especially the relation of the wife of Mr. Durlow with his parents. In spite of the fact that the story of Wangel Durlow touches upon difficult and sometimes traumatic matters, he is recounting it with a sense of humor and has perspective towards it; he is emphasizing the influence of kind-hearted people – Polish teachers, his parents-in-law, who many times helped him to handle unfamiliar Polish reality.