On July 30, 1941 Joseph Stalin signed an agreement with Winston Churchill, Anthony Eden, and the exiled Polish government to secure the release of Polish prisoners within the Soviet Union. Stalin would help the Polish government to form an army in order to help fight Hitler’s armies.
With the release of over 250,000 people, two great evacuations were held to help the citizens find safety in foreign lands. Many of the refugees found safety in Tehran, Iran. Critical assistance was provided by the Allied governments and the Iranian government in hopes of alleviating numerous diseases acquired by the refugees. Eventually, numerous Polish institutions of learning were established in order to serve over 3,000 students.
However, by the end of 1945, roughly 40,000 refugees were transferred from Iran to neighboring countries such as Lebanon and Palestine. While these camps were meant to be temporary quarters for the Polish refugees, most found that they could not return to Poland after the war.
