Polish Refugees in Iran

During World War II thousands of Poles who had been sent to Siberia after the 1939 Soviet invasion of Poland managed to leave theSoviet Union with the Anders' Army. They ended up in Iran, India, Palestine, New Zealand, British Africa, as well as in Mexico.Almost half a century after World War II, in an abandoned, dust-filled storage shed beside an old photography studio in Esfahan, Iran, Parisa Damandan found a unique collection of stunning Diane Arbus-esque photographs shot by Abolqasem Jala that are reminders of war in general and World War II’s human displacement. Four years ago, these discoveries were revealed in a book titled The Children of Esfahan, published in Tehran. The images were studio photos of Polish refugee children who found haven in Iran as Germans and Russians laid waste to their homeland.