Poland in South Africa

During World War II, as part of the so-called "Passport Action", the Ładoś Group, in consultation with the Polish government in London, implemented a secret plan to save Jews. Thanks to false passports of neutral countries, Polish diplomats in Switzerland and Jewish activists saved at least several hundred Jews from the Holocaust. Passports of Latin American countries, mainly Paraguay, El Salvador, Honduras, Bolivia, Peru and Haiti, protected their ghetto holders against deportation to German extermination camps. Their owners were directed to internment camps, where they had a better chance of survival and some of them lived to see the end of the war.

On October 22, 2022, the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Pretoria took part in the Diplomatic Fun Fair, which is regularly organized by the South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) in front of the Union Buildings, official seat of the South African government in Pretoria. This year's event was held under the banner of the African Union "Strengthening Resilience in Nutrition and Food Security on the African Continent".

In connection with the new polish act on passport documents and the launch of the Passport Document Register, from November 8 (from 14:00) until November 13, 2022, passport authorities will not be accepting passport applications.

On October 14, we celebrate the "National Education Day" in Poland, the holiday of all education workers both in the country and abroad.

The European Film Festival in South Africa goes hybrid for its 9th edition between 13 and 23 October 2022.

Ambassador Andrzej Kanthak met on Monday, 3 October 2022 with Ms Bathandwa Kwababa, founder of the South African NGO “The African Show - Coalition Institute” (TASCI), and a group of South African youth and their teacher, Ms Frida Hanyane, from a school in Olivenhoutbosch, a poor district of Pretoria.

On October 3, 2022, the Ambassador of the Republic of Poland Andrzej Kanthak received Dr. habil. Piotr Luliński, Deputy Dean of the Pharmaceutical Faculty of the Medical University of Warsaw, who visited South Africa in connection with the implementation of a research project financed by the National Research Foundation - a South African agency established to support scientific activities.

The Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Pretoria organized a conference on September 28, 2022 entitled: "How Russia’s War Will End - Lessons in Why Nations Succeed" with the participation of Dr. Greg Mills, director of the Brenthurst Foundation and a prominent South African analyst and publicist. The Ambassador of the Republic of Poland in Pretoria, Andrzej Kanthak, gave an introductory speech and opened the conference.

On Sunday, September 25, 2022, the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Pretoria, in cooperation with the Embassy of Ukraine in Pretoria, once again presented the exhibition "Mom, I don't want war". The exhibition was on display at the headquarters of the Greek Community in Pretoria as part of the celebrations commemorating the anniversary of Ukraine regaining independence.

A conference entitled "Enhancing Poland and South Africa’s cooperation for a sustainable future" was held in Johannesburg on September 22, 2022. The event was organized by the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Pretoria in cooperation with the South African NGO think tank - South African Institute of International Relations (SAIIA), the Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO), the Polish Institute of International Affairs (PISM) and the Witwatersrand University.