Bruay-en-Artois
5 Photos
Sister Mary Leonette Schwientek, Sister Mary Eleutheria (Lou Marie) Pizon, and Sister Mary Valentia Kocur from Chicago were missioned to Bruay-en-Artois in 1956, a coal mining commune in northern France. Their mission was to run the school and catechize in the Polish language, among other tasks. Polish immigrants had lived and labored in the commune through two World Wars, and many could never go home to Poland. While grateful to their French hosts, they struggled to retain their faith and culture. In 1971 mission was transferred to the Province in Przemysl, Poland.
Sister Mary Leonette Schwientek, Sister Mary Eleutheria (Lou Marie) Pizon, and Sister Mary Valentia Kocur from Chicago were missioned to Bruay-en-Artois in 1956, a coal mining commune in northern France. Their mission was to run the school and catechize in the Polish language, among other tasks. Polish immigrants had lived and labored in the commune through two World Wars, and many could never go home to Poland. While grateful to their French hosts, they struggled to retain their faith and culture. In 1971 mission was transferred to the Province in Przemysl, Poland.
Pictured on board the ocean liner Îl-de-France are Sister Mary Valentia Kocur, Sister Mary Sanctoslaus, Sister Mary Clara (Buffalo), Sister Mary Eleutheria (Mary Lou) Pizon, and Sister Mary Leonette Schwientek, Felician Sisters missioned to Bruay-en-Artois, France in 1956.
Sister Mary Leonette Schwientek accepts flowers from girls in the Bruay-en-Artois commune in Northern France. Polish refugees had been allowed to settle in the Pas-de-Calais coalfields in the early 1900s to work in these coal mines that fueled Europe for centuries.
Sister Mary Leonette Schwientek poses with Polish children from the Bruay-en-Artois commune in Northern France. Her mission was to teach these children in the Polish language. Many, though Polish, were born in the commune.
Bruay-en-Artois is a coal mining commune in Northern France. The hills are slag heaps from decades of mining in the Pas-de-Calais, an area in France with a collection of mining communes. Generations of displaced Polish people, especially after WWII, were welcomed to live there as they brought with them centuries of expertise in resource extraction.
Polish refugees living in Bruay-en-Artois, France, pose for a photo with Sister Mary Valentia Kocur.
Details
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Date1956 - 1971
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TypePhoto Group
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Content TopicMother of Good Counsel Province - Chicago