Michael AvilaCommunity Voices is an interview series where Michael Avila and Ani Kanakaki speak to a range of folks from the voluntary and community sector in Northern Ireland about the work they’re doing to bring about positive change. The series, formally known as #AtsUsNai, is produced in partnership with AvilaMedia and funded by the Community Relations Council. Their latest interview is with Maciek Bator, founder of For Your Freedom & Ours. It took place before the UK government’s social distancing advice came into effect.
As many Poles and other migrants have experienced, Maciek came to Northern Ireland to meet the demands of an under-staffed labour market. While this was an advantageous venture for Maciek at the time, it was seen by some in the places where he lived and worked as taking jobs away from local people.
This experience never deterred Maciek and, instead of seeking retribution for his early struggles, he has sought reconciliation between locals and migrant communities – something most people in Northern Ireland can relate to, one way or another.
Maciek’s career would grow and take him into the community sector, where he would fast become a voice for the Polish community that was exploding in Northern Ireland at the time. Today Polish people make up the largest ethnic minority group in Northern Ireland.
A Modern Context
Migrating Poles largely settled in communities that were sometimes unwelcome and hostilities ensued. The first of these incidents began in 2006, when riots broke out between Poles and locals in The Village area of South Belfast.
A second event occurred on 28th March 2009, when riots broke out across Belfast in the aftermath of the Northern Ireland vs Poland football match. The rioting spread across south and central Belfast, while the PSNI deployed riot police and armed vehicles in order to prevent the escalation of violence.
Perhaps the culmination of this feud transpired in July 2012. Polish flags were burnt on bonfires across Belfast’s Eleventh Night celebrations, inciting and encouraging continued prejudicial attitudes and marginalisation of the Polish community.
Maciek was present at all of these events, in different capacities, calling for people to make amends.
His developing ability to impact communities and flourish in a country and tongue not native to him brought him to form his own social enterprise, For Your Freedom & Ours, in 2016, focusing on ‘shared history’ that unites rather than divides.
A ‘Shared History’
One of the most powerful example of our shared history can be found in the sacrifices that Polish Airmen made in Northern Ireland in the Second World War – something Maciek saw as a way of helping communities find common ground today.
Poland was one of few continuously occupied countries during and after the Second World War that fought courageously on the side of the Allies. Thousands of Airmen and other military personnel made their way to the UK in exile after Poland was taken by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. Soon, they would form their own independent Air Force alongside the RAF. Few are aware that the Poles were the most successful squadrons in the Battle of Britain, accounting for more aerial victories than any other RAF Squadrons.
Two of the squadrons were stationed in Northern Ireland during the war. Eighteen Airmen are laid to rest in graves across the country and have left a legacy here few are aware of. Maciek saw these facts as something people could find comradery with.
It’s important to remember that what happened to the Poles in the aftermath of the war somewhat mirrors the experience of many today. Integration was an issue then as it is now. Despite their immense sacrifices for the United Kingdom, they were not allowed to celebrate in London’s Victory Day Parade. While some of the Poles were allowed to remain in the UK, many were exiled.
They also couldn’t return to Poland, however, as they would now be seen as ‘Western sympathisers’ by the new Soviet-backed communist regime and either be taken prisoner or killed. Many of these Poles were stateless and would again have to find a way to survive in exile. While this is a stark reality, it mirrors the issues of integration today by migrant communities attempting to settle here.
For Your Freedom & Ours
2016 saw the launch of a ‘Shared History Campaign’ by For Your Freedom & Ours, working with grassroots community organisations to better understand and embed ‘shared history’ as a means to reconciliation between communities in opposition. The campaign has grown to over 700 graduates, who receive an Open College Network accreditation to continue using ‘shared history’ as a tool to transform their own communities.
FYFO runs its workshops, site visits, public lectures, exhibitions and crash site investigations from Northern Ireland to Poland, to bring further awareness of the influence of the Polish diaspora and build awareness of their sacrifices throughout history.
The success of the project was probably unforeseen even by Maciek himself, which has now impacted communities from the island of Ireland to Poland. He was officially recognised by Chatham House’s Belvedere Forum in March 2020 for being one of the UK and Poland’s leading examples of building cross-community relations.
Belfast now has three murals depicting the sacrifices of the Poles on behalf of Northern Ireland and the Allies in areas where tensions were originally the highest. Orange Halls Maciek has worked with now proudly fly the Polish flag during commemorations.
“We make it a point to assure people that this project is not about fostering feelings of guilt, but to ensure these situations do not reoccur – to anyone – in the future,” he says. “Integration isn’t a ‘one-way street’, it’s difficult for locals to adjust to the new realities as well. We simply want to ensure a shared and vibrant future for all of us,” he adds.”
Author Clare Mulley w/ the Ballynafeigh Cultural & Heritage Society
Reconciliation
Maciek is determined that the project doesn’t just benefit Poles and the communities they reside in unilaterally, but that it has a positive influence on reconciliation in general, which also helps Northern Ireland move forward in its own peace process.
He reflects on the impact the project: “What we’ve actually found through thorough evaluation is that centring on an ‘indirect’ reconciliatory process in a different cultural context has actually helped people move forward locally by embedding the concept of reconciliation as common practice, giving people a different perspective and more tools to help transform their communities positively.”
From economic migrant to social entrepreneur, I think we can all take ‘a page out of Maciek Bator’s book’, a lived account of reconciliation that’s still impacting communities, written by someone who now is more than happy to call Northern Ireland home.
AvilaMedia is a social enterprise running community and research projects across Northern Ireland. If you’re interested in being interviewed for the #AtsUsNai project, you can get in contact with AvilaMedia here.
