The Armenians Of Poland

The Armenians of Poland are very proud of their heritage. After all, they have been part of the Polish landscape for nearly 800 years, and despite assimila­tion, many still see themselves as Armenians or at least Poles of Armenian origin.

Historians differ on the date when the first Armenians began settling in what was once called Red Ruthenia which later became Poland. The difference, however, is only a matter of decades—between the middle of the 11th century and the early part of the 12th century.

But they all agree that the Armenians came as friends, often to help the region’s local Polish kings and rulers against foreign invaders.

One of the early recorded military missions dates to 1241, when a battalion of 40,000 Armenian officers and soldiers marched from the Crimean city of Kaffa, or Teodossia in present-day Crimea, to Kamieniec (Kamenets) to defend the region’s Armenian population against the Mongol invasion.

One wave after the other, Armenians came from the Crimea and later Armenia proper establishing viable communities in and around the city of Lvov, then part of Poland and today in the Ukraine.

The early immigrants included not only officers and soldiers, but also artisans, traders and builders who helped fortify the city which became their home away from home for many centuries to come.

Polish King Casimir, in a letter dated June 17, 1356, names the Armenians among his loyal subjects. Other historical documents indicate that the Armenians had their own church in Lvov in 1303 or even as early as 1183.

While Lvov is considered the main center of Armenian habitation in Poland, thousands of Armenians also settled in a number of smaller towns and villages in the region, including Vladimir, Lutsk, Tchichnov, and others.

By the mid-14th century the number of Armenians in Poland I had increased so much that the Armenian Apostolic Church in Armenia I found it necessary to I establish a separate Dioicese and sent Archbishop Krikor to Poland in 1346.

It was this core that continued to attract more immigrants over the years and new Armenian communities were established in Balta, Var, Berejni, Broti, Virmeni, Korodenka, Toupno, Zamosk, Bajkov, Stoutianitsa, Stanislaw, Dismenitsa and a score of other towns and cities.

There are no concrete details regarding the number of the early Armenian set-tiers, but the 200,000 figure often appears in the historical documents of the era.

The Polish kings and Dukes regarded the Armenians not only their loyal subjects, but at times an elite segment of the population, giving them special privileges—including self-rule.

Polish historians, describing the behavior of the Armenian immigrants, say “these people, who came to these lands carrying with them small bags of soil from their native land, soon became the salt of their adopted homeland. The credit for the luster of some Polish towns like Lvov and Kamenets goes to a great extent to the Armenians.”

In a letter addressed to the Polish Armenian community in 1410, Catholicos Hagop refers to his fellow Armenians as “My dear priests, barons, seniors, doctors, traders, land owners, farmers and artisans.”

Each segment of the Armenian population has played an important role in the life of the Polish nation, and yet, as a community never neglecting its own needs, establishing schools and helping its own poor and less fortunate members.

Over the years, Armenians gained prominence and prestige. According to records regarding the development of the city of Lvov, especially during the period between the 15th and the 18th centuries, the Armenians were single- handedly responsible for the gold and silver industry that flourished during that era.

Also famous were the Armenian businessmen, who over the years turned the region into a major trading center between east and west, selling European products in the east and importing such items as spices, Persian carpets and other goods into Europe.

Maybe it was this wealth and the special status in the Polish marketplace that gave the Armenians certain privileges, including a tax exemption and the right not only to get involved in foreign trade, but also in wide scale commercial activity within Poland as well.

During the 16th century, out of the 38 trading houses in Lvov, 22 belonged to Armenians. Later in the 17th century, all except two of Lvov’s trading houses were owned by Armenians who also maintained similar trading posts (offices) in Istanbul, Smyrna, Esfahan, Moscow, Amsterdam and other major cities.

Some were so rich, that on more than one occasion, they made major financial gifts to the Polish kings of the era. One anecdote speaks of an Armenian merchant by the name of Avedik Bematowicz who was approached by King Wladyslaw II (1632-1648) to lend him 100,000 Ducats, the currency of that period.

According to historians, Avedik asked the monarch if he wanted the specified sum to be given in gold, silver or copper coins. The reply was “in all three”, to which Avedik responded by giving the king 100,000 Ducats in gold and the same amount in both silver and copper.

It was this special relationship that paved the way for the Armenians to be granted an autonomous status in 1350, a privilege which gave them the right to establish their own courts of law and deal with their own community issues without interference from the Polish rulers.

Consisting of 12 elders chosen by the community, the courts exercised their authority, and had their own civil code which was approved by the Polish authorities, especially those in the city of Lvov and its surrounding towns and villages where the majority of the Armenians lived.

This special status continued until 1476, when one after the other of these privileges began diminishing until they were totally abolished in 1784. But this did not mean that the Armenians had lost all their clout.

Labor unions had already begun taking shape, which not only dealt with the welfare of their own members, but also established an Armenian bank to help the needy and poor in the community.

As much as the Armenians cared for their fellow-Armenians, they never neglected their obligations toward the host country, Poland. In 1444, Armenian volunteers joined their Polish “brothers” in fighting the Turkish forces.

Armenian volunteers were also involved in similar encounters during the Polish-Turkish war in 1621 and again in 1672, further strengthening the bond between the Pol­ish and Armenian people.

Already integrated into Polish society, Armenians were soon to be appoint­ed to key government positions. During the 15th century, an Armenian by the name of Hagop was sent on key diplomatic missions to Persia, Arabia and Tatarstan. Another Armenian by the name of Christapor Seropowicz was given the rank of ambassador. Yet others were given such royal titles as Duke and Prince.

Polish Armenian ties were so strong that in 1696 the ruling Polish monarch offered to send 35,000 soldiers to help the Armenians under Ottoman rule regain their independence.

But the stronger these ties became and the greater the trust between the Polish Armenians and the native Poles, so did the dangers of assimilation. Ethnic Armenian names began changing. Torosian became Torsowicz, and the traditional “ian” endings were soon replaced with the Polish “wicz”, which means the son of.

The Polish influence was soon to also make its way into the Armenian Apostolic church.

Despite the objections of the Armenian community, Deacon Nicholas (Nigol) Torosewicz, the 22-year-old son of a rich merchant, was elevated to the rank of Archbishop in 1627. He later initiated the Union with Rome and embraced Catholicism in 1635—thus renouncing all ties with Holy Etchmiadzin and paying homage to the Vatican.

For more than 20 years, the community resisted the move into Catholicism and thousands left Poland to start new communities in nearby countries like Bulgaria, Romania and Moldova.

The Armenians of Poland tried to oust Torosewicz by various means and take the Armenian Church away from him, but the battle was lost— mainly because of the rich Armenian merchant class whose financial interests were closely linked to the Polish Catholic society and leadership.

In 1664, the Vatican sent two Catholic monks who soon established a number of schools and seminaries to train new Armenian Catholic clergymen, and in effect spreading the Catholic faith within the community.

By 1820, the Armenians of Poland had lost most of their clout. Their numbers had decreased to such an extent, that only 100 families remained in Lvov and even less in some of the other towns and cities of the region.

The Polonization process was moving fast. One hundred years after the arrival in Lvov of the two Catholic monks from the Vatican, the Armenian language had disappeared almost completely from all official documents, while Grabar, the classical form of the Armenian language, was confined to the liturgy.

The final blow to the Armenian language came in the middle of the 19th century when the separate Armenian schools were closed. The process of the Polonization of the Armenians was complete.

But this did not destroy the community’s Armenian roots and heritage.

True, Armenians of Poland today do not speak the native tongue of their ancestors, but still call themselves Armenians or at least Poles of Armenian origin.

History may still repeat itself. As the continuous influx of new immigrants energized the Armenian settlers in the early years of the community, the arrival of tens of thousands of people from Armenia is rapidly changing the face of the Armenians of Poland today and the tide of total assimilation may soon be a thing of the past—another chapter of the 800-year-long history of one of Europe’s oldest Armenian communities.