Polish Presidents in Exile 1939-90

According to the Polish constitution of April 1935, the legitimate presidents of Poland were those sworn in to serve under the terms of the constitution. Therefore throughout the German Nazi and Soviet Russian occupation, from 1939 until the first free elections in Poland in 1990, they resided first in Paris and later in London, serving as a focus for opposition to totalitarian rule. The last of the exiled presidents was Ryszard Kaczorowski, who died tragically in the Smolensk air disaster in 2010, while on his way to honor the victims of Soviet genocide in Katyn Forest. President Kaczorowski, like his predecessor Kazimierz Sabbatt, visited the Polish Centre in Leamington Spa.

Polish Presidents in Exile 1939-90

Memorial to the Polish Presidents killed in the Smolensk Air Disaster