As a result of the arrangements made in 1942 between Gen. Władysław Sikorski and Manuel Avila Camacho, President of Mexico, the Mexican government offered to accept a group of Polish citizens who stayed at refugee camps in Persia and India following their evacuation from the Soviet Union.
On 13 May 1943, a group of Poles in the care of Polish consul Henryk Stebelski set off from Karachi for India on the English ship called "City of London". In Bombay, the refugees got on the American passenger ship "Hermitage", which, with stops in Australia and New Zealand, docked in the port of Los Angeles on 25 June 1943.
On 1 July, the first transport of Polish refugees arrived in Leon, where they were welcomed warmly. After playing anthems and giving speeches, the Poles were transported to the La Granja school, where they were to stay for several weeks until necessary works could be carried out in Santa Rosa to start living in the hacienda. It was not until the end of August that the entire group was moved to the yet incomplete settlement in Santa Rosa.
Another transport of Polish refugees arrived in Los Angeles on 24 October 1943, also on the board of "Hermitage". The Poles reached Santa Rosa on 2 November.
Both transports numbered 1,432 refugees in total. The first one consisted of 706 people, including 540 adults and 166 children. Most of them were women and girls – 518. Thirteen children were under the age of five. The second transport brought 726 people. This time, more children came - 408 in total - including many orphans. Two-thirds of them were women and girls.
The administration of the camp, which was in the hands of the Polish government, thanks to, among other things, material assistance and aid in kind from American charitable institutions, launched Santa Rosa Public General School on 16 August 1943. In 1944, it had 527 pupils, including 323 girls and 204 boys. The main school building also housed a kindergarten for a few dozen of the youngest children. In the late autumn of 1943, secondary school courses for the youth were launched. In 1944, 59 students attended them. The most important care facility in Santa Rosa was the General Władysław Sikorski Educational Centre. It housed 265 children who were left on their own without parental care. Polish nuns from the Congregation of the Sisters of Saint Felix of Cantalice from Chicago came to support the camp administration in providing care for the children. Father Józef Jarzębowski also played an important role in the organisation of educational life.
Cultural life in Santa Rosa flourished, mainly thanks to the combination of the involvement of local intelligentsia and funding from the United States. Among other things, the "Polak w Meksyku" newspaper (English: "A Pole in Mexico") was published, and amateur theatre groups were active.
The vast majority of Poles perceived their stay in Mexico as a temporary solution, hoping to return to their country quickly - as soon as the war was over. However, the new balance of power in Europe after the Second World War changed those plans. Despite Mexico's recognition of the communist Provisional Government of National Unity in Warsaw, President Camacho offered all refugees staying in the camp to remain in Mexico. However, only a dozen or so people, mostly women who married local bachelors, chose to stay in Mexico. By the time the camp was formally disbanded (16 May 1947), most of the refugees had gone to the USA, mainly to Chicago, where they founded the Poles of Santa Rosa club, sponsoring annual meetings and social events, while a few dozen ended up in Canada and England.
Interesting websites:
https://www.ushmm.org/online/hsv/source_view.php?SourceId=46382
https://zpe.gov.pl/a/dzieci-syberii---meksyk-i-kanada-odcinek-6/D150ok4xj
https://kresy-siberia.org/galerie-muzealne/polscy-uchodzcy-w-meksyku-1943-1947/?lang=pl
https://archiwum.pan.pl/images/wydawnictwa/Meksyk_internet_katalog_wystawy_Dzieci_Syberii.pdf