Hela Moroz Photo Collection | polishexiles

Hela Moroz (nee Pateluch)

Family photos from pre-war Poland,

the Middle East, India and the UK

This is the earliest photograph I have of myself from my childhood in Poland. My parents with me as a baby in my mother’s arms and my sister Tekla, on the right. An aunt is on the left by my father (1928).	After my sister Anna’s wedding to Jósef Szeliga, not long before war broke out. (My mother is on the groom’s left and my father is next to the priest, who is next to my sister Anna, the bride.) The group is in front of our house.	Hela, brother Piotr and sister Tola in their new uniforms (Pahlevi).
Tola, our mother and me in Isfahan.	This is a photograph of the convent, pupils and teachers at Isfahan. This building was where the adults were housed; the children had their own section.	With the Polish Girl Guides in Isfahan. I am the girl with plaits, third from right, second main row, next to two female teachers.
At a meal at the convent in Isfahan. On the extreme left is one of the cooks while a teacher is next to her. Another cook is on the far right.	The memorial service after General Sikorski’s tragic death, Isfahan, where adult refugees stayed.	It was in Valivade that I came to know Sabina Marczewska, later ‘Swiatek’
My father and brother in their wartime uniforms	My father, with his medals, in Scotland.
In Scotland. I am on the right with my brother, mother and Tola before she emigrated to Canada.	Hela - ready to go to a Polish dance	I attended the first reunion of the Poles from India at the Ladbroke Grove Swimming Pool Hall, which proved to be a memorable day for me.
Rysiek went to the Polish Merchant Navy School in England in 1944	Rysiek Moroz at Polish Merchant Navy School_UK 1944_2	This is us together when the children were young. Barbara is the baby in my arms.
My younger son, Emil, joined the Royal Air Force, graduating from the RAF College, Cranwellin 1983	Left to right: Chris, Barbara and Emil, after my husband’s funeral.	Alicja Swiatek Christofides, with Hela in 2013. Alicja is the daughter of Hela’s friend from Valivade Polish Camp, Sabina Swiatek (née Marczewska), who greatly treasured their friendship.
Hela Moroz