POLISH IMMIGRATION TO THE U.S.

by Julitta Grocholska

Copyright 1999--Julitta Grocholska and Anglopol Corporation

This is a scholarly work about Polish immigration by Julitta Grocholska, wife of Michal Grocholski, former Consul General of the Republic of Poland in Chicago. Although it focuses particularly on immigration from southern Poland to the Chicago metropolitan area, much of it is applicable to any place Poles have settled in America. Originally published by National-Louis University in Nowy Sacz, Poland, this is its first publication in the United States.

Bibliography and footnotes have been omitted for simplicity. A few words have been added for clarity to American readers. Grammatical changes were made, but the sense of the writing has not been altered.

Part 1

INTRODUCTION

When a visitor to Southern Poland, and especially Podhale, asks the priest in a village or in a small town "how many parishioners he has," the answer is: "so and so, but now half of them are in the U.S., mostly in Chicago." Certainly, in this statement there is a touch of exaggeration, because the emigration from other region is even higher; but, it is mostly to Western European countries (Germany) (Rocznik Statystyczny Wojewodztw, 1996). The proportion could vary according to a locality, but it means that Poland, as well as its Southern Region, is still an area of emigration and temporary staying abroad.

During the communist time, in the late '60s and '70s, the Polish government organized an annual competition among the towns and villages for the prize and title "Champion of Good Management." The winner, in addition to the title, obtained a certain amount of money, which gave him the funds for new investments. It created a real opportunity for local communities to take initiative and decide how to improve the living conditions, education, cultural life, etc.

The Nowy Sacz Region with its capital, Nowy Sacz, was several times a winner, as well as were other towns situated in Southern Poland. I remember my feelings, when I first visited this area. The spirit of good management and local initiative was visible even in the communist reality. This relative abundance and amelioration observed in many households had their origin in the local spirit, supported with foreign capital.

After the collapse of the communist regime in Poland and the transformation from planned to a market-oriented economy, many local initiatives have been undertaken. One of them is a business-management training agreement with National-Louis University from Chicago. A Higher School of Business, National Louis University (WSB-NLU) was founded in Nowy Sacz and started its activity on October 1, 1991, with a bachelor degree [licencjat] program. Now, it ranks at the top of the list of the best business colleges in the country. Its aspiration is to train young people, not only from Nowy Sacz region and other part of Poland, but also to educate students from other Central and Eastern European countries.

THREE WAVES OF POLISH IMMIGRATION TO THE U.S.

After the destruction of the Constitutional Monarchy in 1795, former Polish citizens found themselves in an alien world. Their involuntary subjection to the Partitioning Powers was bitterly resented, especially by the ruling nobility; but, it was a fact that none of them could change. The socioeconomic development of former Polish society became an integral part of the three Partitioners: Russia, Prussia and Austria.

This loss of independence created the situation that for most Poles, "Poland" as their country, became just an idea-a memory from the past, and a hope for the future. In short, in the world of the Polish spirit, it enabled men and women to live their lives in their own way in spite of the established order, and often in defiance of the law" (Davies 1990). These partitions and the disaster of the 1830 Uprising caused the Great Emigration to the Western European countries and to the overseas territories, among which the United States holds the primary position.

Emigration to the U.S. created the Polish ethnic community there, called American Polonia. Polonia was formed out of three giant waves of immigrants and smaller inflows between them. These waves are differentiated according to the reasons of emigration in different periods of Polish national history.

The aim of this article is to present in a short way the history and development of over 10 million Americans of Polish ancestry and Poles who came to the "New World" and contributed to the American multicultural mosaic. Special attention is given to Chicago and its vicinity as a place of destination for thousands of Polish immigrants, who through the decades created one of the largest Polonian concentrations there. All these issues are exposed on the framework of phenomenon of emigration and the U.S. government's policy in this matter. Some of the author's remarks are based on the questionnaires administered in an American public school.

FIRST WAVE OF IMMIGRANTS (1880-1930)

As America was transforming from an agricultural to an industrial and urban society, the need for manpower drastically increased. America opened its doors to all those who wanted to join its great experiment. In the big wave of immigrants mostly from Southern, Central and Eastern Europe were also Poles. Polish immigrants who came to the U.S. before 1890 were mostly from Prussian controlled areas in northwest Poland. Later on, the majority were the peasants from the overpopulated southern territories, and the unemployed workers from factories and mines.

The first big flow of Polish immigrants led by a Franciscan, Father Leopold Moczygemba, arrived in Texas in the 1850s. In 1854 they founded the Polish village of Panna Maria in Karnes county and one year later another village called Bandera. This group of immigrants consisted of 300 Upper Silesian peasants expecting to find a job on the huge cotton plantations. Panna Maria was the biggest pure Polish colony in Texas. Then, the following Polish villages were established: St. Hedwig (1856), Dobrowolski, Kosciusko, Cestochova (1873), Warsaw, Pulaski and others.

Afterwards, other Polish settlers were visible in other states. Father Franciszek Bolek in his publication (Bolek, 1930), mentioned 33 states where the towns and villages were settled by Poles; the greatest number in the State of Illinois (15 towns and villages and 2 counties). In Illinois was also situated one of the oldest Polish villages in the United States, Sandusky, in Alexander county. It was established in the 18th century by an American pioneer of Polish ancestry, Sadowski. [Editor's Note: The reference here may actually be to Sandusky, located in Ohio.] Most of these towns and villages have changed their names. So, nowadays it is difficult to recognize their Polish background. The number of Polish immigrants in the early 1860s was estimated at about 30,000; thirty years later at about 500,000.

At the beginning of 20th century, the peak decade of immigration were the years 1901-1910. At that time about 8.7 million people arrived in the United States. The culmination of this immigration was in the years of the great economic depression at the end of the 1920s, which affected most of the European countries and the United States, as well. These newcomers were highly motivated to go abroad. They searched for acceptable conditions to live and earn money.

Eighty percent of all Polish immigrants in that time were people from rural areas without any industrial experience. They usually obtained jobs as unskilled, low paid workers in various branches of industry. They founded many fraternal organizations, built churches, organized parochial school, published newspapers, etc. All these activities had similar goals: to offer first aid to new immigrants; to act as a protective shield against all sorts of abuses and discrimination; to make new immigrants feel more at home by sharing the same language and cultural heritage. But apart from these practical purposes, the overriding reason for the formation of most of the organizations was to maintain a national identity and to work for the restoration of a "Free Poland" (Zachariasiewicz, 1978).

Before the end of World War I, when Poland did not exist as an independent country, Polish immigrants were sometimes registered as Prussian, Austrian or Russian citizens. So, it was not easy to give an exact number of Polish immigrants in that time.

SECOND WAVE OF IMMIGRANTS (1939-1959)

The second wave of Polish immigrants arrived in the U.S. during and after World War II. Due to the Yalta conference resolutions, Poland lost its independence and became part of the Soviet Block. Therefore, after World War II, there were mostly political refugees rather than economic emigrants. The postwar political situation forced people to leave their homes, often against their will. Among these people were former soldiers who stayed abroad after the end of war; some of them were prisoners in the German camps, liberated by the Western army coalition. Other people had tragic experiences being taken to Siberia and Soviet camps there. Moreover, their family places, once belonging to the Eastern Provinces of Poland, were incorporated into Soviet Union because of the border changes. It is obvious that all these people were afraid to return to Poland.

Among political refugees were more specialists, army veterans, and young soldiers. In the beginning they stayed in Western Europe, and then decided to emigrate to the U.S., which they considered as a country of greater opportunities for them. A great number of these people obtained professional educations and knowledge of English in Western countries, which prepared them for professions and made their process of adaptation easier than their predecessors. It is estimated that approximately 250,000 Polish immigrants arrived in the U.S. after World War II.

THIRD WAVE OF IMMIGRANTS (1978-1990)

Under Communist regimes international mobility was discouraged and borders were sealed. The Polish government, as other governments in the Soviet block, tolerated work by teams of workers on contract jobs implemented by national companies in foreign countries. In the 1960s and 1970s the outflow of emigrants from Poland was continued. but on a small scale (Kosinski, 1994). The Communist government did not accept the phenomenon of emigration and very seldom gave a permit to leave the country. The great outflow started at the end of 1980s.

The years between 1978 and 1990 were the period of arrival of the third inflow of Polish immigrants to the United States called the "Solidarity Emigration." Those immigrants had a different background and orientation towards their homeland, the country of new settlement, and American Polonia. During these years the Solidarity union and democratic opposition developed. America's Polonia helped and supported the actions of the independence movement in Poland (Erdmans, 1994). These new realities changed and reoriented Polonia's activities, because the needs of the homeland had changed.

Former members of the Solidarity Union entered the United States under refugee quotas and as non-quota immigrants. These so-called political immigrants turned out [under the law] to be about 80% economic immigrants. Real political immigrants during Poland's martial law were estimated on 20% of the total emigration. They obtained only a permit to leave the country without the right to come back.

This cohort of Polish immigrants consisted of various people, who brought new ideas and new expectations to the U.S. A part of them had knowledge of English and relatively good educational backgrounds. Those newcomers integrated faster into a new life and new conditions, than their predecessors. Most of them were young and middle-aged people, who tried to be active in their professional lives. They also had a difficult beginning, but solved their problems faster. Those people, who represented a more elevated socioeconomic status, avoided the Polish community and attempted to integrate with American society. But after a few years of "acclimatization" they began to be more Polish oriented. It has been expressed in their participation in the existing professional Polish organizations (such as physicians, engineers, etc.), or they established new ones (e.g., the Jagiellonian University Graduates Association.) The most recent immigrants founded numerous new regional organizations, which attracted people arriving from the same part of Poland. It is a very interesting phenomenon, which can be interpreted as the sociological necessity to be "together" with compatriots in a "foreign world." It is a sort of manifestation of the strong ties with the so-called "small homeland."

Poles who arrived recently in the U.S. on a temporary basis without any special professional preparation have worked often as construction laborers or "contractors" if they are male; and in cleaning service if female. Many of them have only one desire: to earn money and go back to Poland.