Theodore arrived in Istanbul around and spent the rest of his life there. Although very little documentary evidence about him survives, his life can to some extent be re-imagined through the evidence of other Polish exiles and the events that took place which he would have been a part of. Many of the Poles exiled in France from the revolt took up arms again in when a tide of Revolts swept across Europe, fighting in campaigns in Italy, Austria and Hungary.
We do not know for certain which Theodore joined, except that the vast majority of refugees who ended up in Turkey, were participants of the Hungarian Revolution.
Public domain. Although initially a refuge, for many Turkey became a permanent home due to its proximity to their main enemy, Russia, and potential further opportunities to make incursions to restore the state of Poland in the future. Ottoman government administration in Istanbul. Ottoman Cossacks at Shumla with Sadyk Pasha. In , Czajkowski was a key figure in securing the transfer of Polish refugees to Istanbul from the camp at Shumla in Bulgaria.
Theodore is not listed in the census of Polish refugees in Istanbul which was sent to the Sublime Porte in March 1 , so he probably arrived a little later. Arriving in the European part of the city, Theodore would have found himself living in a real melting pot of different nationalities, religions and cultures.
Their arrival marked a massive influx on the local Levantine population which was dominated by French and Italian communities. The number of exiles was estimated to be as high as in the s. However the Turks tended to see all Hungarians, Slavs, Dalmatians, Romanians and Poles etc as one homogeneous group so the actual number of Poles may have been much lower.
