Dating back to the Haitian Revolution, the Polish influence started in the town of Cazale. In 1802, Napoleon added a Polish legion of around 5,200 to the forces sent to Saint-Domingue to fight off the slave rebellion. However, the Poles were told that there was a revolt in Saint-Domingue; upon arrival the platoon soon discovered that what was actually going on in the colony was a rebellion of slaves fighting off their French masters for their freedom. During this time, there was a familiar situation going on back in their homeland as these Polish soldiers were fighting for their liberty from the occupying forces of Russia, Prussia and Austria that began in 1772. As hopeful as the Haitians, many Poles were seeking union amongst themselves to win back their freedom and independence by organizing an uprising. They made advances to ally with France and joined Napoleon's army, but were distinct as the Polish unit nonetheless. As a result, many Polish soldiers admired their enemy and decided to turn on the French army and join the Haitian slaves, and participated in the Haitian revolution of 1804. For their loyalty and support for overthrowing the French, the Poles acquired Haitian citizenship after Haiti gained its independence. Haiti's first head of stateJean-Jacques Dessalines called Polish people "the White Negroes of Europe", which was then regarded a great honour, as it meant brotherhood between Poles and Haitians. Many years later François Duvalier, the president of Haiti who was known for his black nationalist and Pan-African views, used the same concept of "European white negroes" while referring to Polish people and glorifying their patriotism. In the "Papa Doc" era, the small town of Cazale became a communist stronghold where many young intellectuals clashed with the dictator's regime. As a result of their political indifference, March 29, 1969 became known as the worst day for the people of Cazale as Duvalier's Tonton Macoute , built a barricade around Cazale, and murdered many young men. In 1983, Pope John Paul II visited Haiti. He mentioned how the Polish contributed to the slave rebellion leading to Haiti's independence. Several Haitian Poles were selected from the most populous Polish areas of Haiti by Duvalier to attend the various ceremonies planned for the Pope's visit. One of the most worshiped Polish religious symbols is the icon named the Black Madonna of Częstochowa which was absorbed by Haitian Voodoo as Erzulie, or Ezili Dantor. This image of black Virgin Mary holding the dark-skinned Infant Jesus that influenced the vision of one of the Haitan Loa spirits was originally brought to Haiti by the Polish soldiers who settled there and never returned to Poland. To this day, many Polish Haitians still live in Haiti and are of mixed racial origin, as some have blonde hair, light eyes, and other European features. Most settled in Cazale, La Vallée-de-Jacmel, Fond-des-Blancs, La Baleine, Port-Salut and Saint-Jean-du-Sud.
