Doolab Polish Cemetery: Time, Memory, and Forgotten Lives of War

Tucked away in Tehran, the Doolab Polish Cemetery stands as a quiet witness to history. Established in 1855 following the burial of Dr. Kloque, the French physician who served both Mohammad Shah and Naser al-Din Shah Qajar, the cemetery gradually became the final resting place for many Armenian families, shaping its present form.

During World War II, this historic site gained a new chapter: it became the resting place for Polish refugees and migrants, displaced by the ravages of war. Today, walking among its weathered tombstones, one can sense the echoes of stories rarely told—a poignant reminder of the shared history between Iran and Poland, of lives uprooted by conflict, and of memory preserved in silence.

This cemetery is more than stones and graves; it is a bridge between nations, a testimony to survival, and a place where the past quietly speaks to anyone willing to listen.