32 Polish motorcyclists, as part of a caravan of participants and support vehicles, covering a route of 5,000 kilometers, reached Isfahan – “the land of Polish children.”
A group of motorcyclists, participating in the “Motorcycle Rally of Poles” international tour, after passing through Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia, Bulgaria and Turkey, crossed the Iranian border at Bazargan point on Friday, May 2.
The motorcyclists, who began their journey on April 26 in Warsaw, were travelling the roads of Iran. Their route started from the northwestern cities of Iran and continued with a tour of Tabriz and its historical attractions.
“The Polish Friendship Rally” reached the port of Anzali on Sunday, May 4. After a brief stop in this northern port, the Poles visited a Polish cemetery, paying tribute to the dead buried there. On Monday, May 5, the group arrived in Tehran. After a tour of the capital’s sights and a visit to the Polish cemetery, the motorcyclists were seen off by local authorities toward beautiful Isfahan.
During their two-day stay in Isfahan, the group visited a Catholic church, the historic Sarim ad-Doule house, a French school – Isfahan University of Arts – and the Vank Church. The motorcyclists also took part in a ceremony commemorating the Poles who died in Isfahan in those years and were buried in the Armenian cemetery.
The last destination of the Polish motorcyclists in Iran was the beautiful city of Zanjan. The rally, after crossing Iranian roads and towns, left Iranian territory via the Razi border crossing, and then returned to Warsaw after a total of 11,000 kilometers.
The main purpose of this symbolic expedition was to commemorate the historic hospitality of the Iranian people during World War II, when 120,000 Polish refugees received a warm welcome from Iranians, as well as to pay tribute to General Anders, one of Poland’s wartime commanders. One Polish survivor described his arrival in Iran this way:
Tired from hard work, illness and hunger, barely resembling human beings, we got off the ships in the port of Pahlavi (Anzali). There, lined up in rows on the sand of the beach, we knelt to kiss the soil of Iran. There were thousands of us – we had escaped from Siberia and regained our freedom. We had reached our dream “Promised Land.”
The journey of the Polish motorcyclists is a unique event, highlighting the unbreakable historical ties between Iran and Poland. The good intentions of the Poles, expressing gratitude for the historic hospitality of the Iranian people, and the warm reception of the group by the Iranian people and authorities show the depth of the close relationship between the two countries.
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