At the height of the Cold War, Poland's freedom fighters were made welcome in Britain, listeners of Radio ORLA's London Bridge show heard this weekend.

Janusz Finder, who promotes Polish art in Britain, and was born in Beirut as his parents fled Stalin's tyranny in 1945, remembers as an adult how welcome Polish political dissidents were in 1981 when Martial Law was imposed.

"Poles were made welcome by British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. And there was a help system even for the Poles from Poles. Things like legal advice, advice on jobs," said Finder.

The services were available from a little office in POSK in London. Back then only a few tens of thousands of Poles arrived in Britain. It was possible to help them. It is in contrast to the 500,000 or more that arrived since 2004, which strained the system of support.

But Finder said that Poles are treated as well by Britons in 2004 as they were in 1981.

"That is something we will always remember Thatcher for. But we still had to support people in Poland. So we sent basic things to Poles in Poland from London. Things like oranges, toilet paper. It was a tough and anxious time," Finder said.