Polish Americans

In recent years diasporas and their political impact have become an important research issue in political science and international relations science. At the turn of the 21st century, diasporas gained the status of important actors with impact both on the global politics, interstate relations and directions of domestic policies. One of the diasporas which in the 1990s actively participated in the American political life were Polish-Americans, with the reason being the intense efforts undertaken by Poland in 1992 to join NATO. The purpose of this article is to present the activities of the Polish Diaspora in the US undertaken in favour of the accession of Poland to the North Atlantic Alliance, analysed however not in the factual (historical) approach, but against the background of the theory developed so far regarding the functioning of diasporas and ethnic groups in the US political system. The article has
been prepared with the use of the historical method, the comparative method and the behavioural method, the basis for its preparation was primarily literature on the subject, press materials, and source materials (letters, articles and publications) contained in the collection of documents after Jan Nowak- Jeziorański entitled Poland's road to NATO
(Wrocław 2006). The conducted analysis indicates that the merits of Polish Americans for Poland's membership in NATO are invaluable and should be considered one of the most important achievements of the Polish Diaspora for the country of origin. The activities undertaken in 1993-1999 by Polish Americans are the most important but at the same time unfortunately also the isolated manifestation of the involvement and organized influence of the Polish ethnic group on shaping the American politics.

Negatywny stereotyp Polaków i Amerykanów polskiego pochodzenia
zdominował amerykańskie produkcje filmowe od lat 50. aż po lata 90. XX wieku. Czy scenarzyści amerykańskich seriali telewizyjnych równie chętnie kreślą zabarwione stereotypowo postaci Amerykanów polskiego pochodzenia, ukazując potomków Polaków w Stanach Zjednoczonych jako zdegenerowanych wieśniaków, agresywnych pijaczków i, owszem, urodziwych, ale także mało inteligentnych robotników czy też coraz częściej odchodzi się od przedstawiania polsko-amerykańskiej grupy etnicznej jako prymitywnych podludzi? Odpowiadając na powyższe
pytanie autorka stara się ukazać, jaki obraz Amerykanek polskiego
pochodzenia wyłania się z amerykańskich seriali komediowych
na przykładzie Dwóch spłukanych dziewczyn i Rozpalić Cleveland, które zostały wyprodukowane na początku XXI wieku w Stanach Zjednoczonych.

Prawo ulicy z pewnością należy do najgłośniejszych produkcji telewizyjnych ostatnich lat. W licznych publikacjach na temat serialu
analizowano wpływ wielkich instytucji na życie jednostek, wiarygodne portrety głównych postaci i rolę przemocy w ich życiu, mniej uwagi poświęcając kwestiom etnicznym. Ponieważ w 2. sezonie Prawa ulicy pojawiają się reprezentanci Polonii amerykańskiej, celem artykułu jest pokazanie, jakimi wartościami kieruje się ta grupa etniczna, w jaki sposób próbuje walczyć z globalizacją i jak realizuje swoje amerykańskie marzenie.

During the immediate years after World War I American Jewish commentators from across the spectrum had begun viewing anti-Jewish enmity as an interrelated phenomenon that straddled the Atlantic. On the one hand, they often blamed the growing antisemitism in America on immigrant groups like Poles and Germans. On the other, they also saw the simultaneous rise of anti-Jewish hatred in Europe as linked to the circulation of American anti-Jewish literature by Ford and his ilk. Moreover, as antisemitism in America coincided with the fact that American troops fought alongside the White forces in Russia and Polish Americans were involved in anti-Jewish atrocities, Jewish observers increasingly cast Americans as part of a larger, antagonistic Gentile world.

This article appears in Christian Wiese and Cornelia Wilhelm (eds.), "American Jewry: Transcending the European Experience? "

This paper focused on the reaction of the Polish-American community, an ethnic community which numbered some 6 million during the war, to the handling of the Polish territorial issue and changes during World War II. What emerged were three Polish camps which lobbied Roosevelt regarding Poland. Within the Polish-American community, a small group of pro-leftist Poles grew and were quickly regarded as the group which most closely represented the interests of all Polish-Americans, particularly because they believed that the post-war Polish state had no authority to territory in the east, very similar to Stalin’s outlook of any post-war Polish state. However, in order to garner the support of Polish-American voters, Roosevelt continued to ensure Polish-Americans that Poland would emerge from the war ‘undiminished,’ which to them was the equivalent of the pre-war Polish state.

According to Andrzej Kapiszewski, Paul Wróbel, Hieronim Kubiak and other sociologists and historians, who have been researching the ethnic culture of Polish Americans living in the United States, Poles and their descendants fall victim to negative and abusive stereotyping. Some proof for the existence of the distorted images of Poles, Polish Americans or Americans of Polish descent is the existence of so-called Polish jokes, which not only present the Polish American minority group in a humiliating way but also reinforce negative stereotypes. Despite the fact that the aim of the present paper is not to analyse the formation of ethnic stereotypes but to look closely at the standard Polish American types utilized by American TV series, it is worth mentioning that the taproots of negative stereotypes of Polish Americans trace back to the 18th century when, as Andrzej Kapiszewski explains,“the long period of European immigration resulted in the division of immigrants into old and new ones.” 2 However, as Kapiszewski emphasizes, such a division reflected not only the immigrants’ date of arrival in the USA but also their social status. The first waves of Polish immigration to America consisted mainly of Polish peasants which, as a consequence, had a profound impact...

A Polish soul is attacked, humbled and seeks ways to rise again. Fr. Józef Dąbrowski (inspired by Blessed Mother Mary Angela Truszkowska) and St. John Paul II (inspired by Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska) in the process of humblings and rebirths,  spread Catholic Polish spirituality, culture and values around the world.  Dąbrowski and Truszkowska were both born in an enslaved 19th century Poland (that didn't legally exist from 1795-1918) yet repeatedly struggled and fought to be resurrected. The cornerstones made possible by Mother Truszkowska and Fr. Dąbrowski in the 1800s changed Poland and the Americas. The struggles and work begun by Saints Faustina and John Paul II in the 20th century, sparked the like-minded followers of Dąbrowski and Truszkowska, spreading The Divine Mercy and a resurrected Catholic/Polish spirituality around the globe. Historian Adam Michnik explains, “The avalanche changes course according to the stones over which it passes. And you want to be the stone that will change the course of events.” 
    Three of these four Poles are now saints or on the path to sainthood with October Feast Days: St. Faustina on October 5, Blessed Mary Angela on October 10 and St. John Paul II on October 22. Each of the four moved throughout their native lands, marking major milestones in Kraków. Each traveled frequently and founded or inspired the founding of new orders, institutions or movements that spread beyond Poland. Dąbrowski settled in America, in the region St John Paul II would call “the Heart of Polonia.” JPII became one of the longest serving popes in history, approving the sainthood causes of Blessed Truszkowska and St. Faustina. During his 1969 and 1976 visits to North American Polonia, St. John Paul II paid homage to Fr. Dąbrowski at his grave in Detroit, at the Felician-dominated parish in Hamtramck, at the Orchard Lake Schools Dąbrowski founded and in the rural Polonia, Wisconsin area where Dąbrowski and the Felicians first colonized in 1875.

Article examines conflicts between Polish and Jewish gangs in Chicago. The role played by the multi-ethnic, urban, industrial environment is examined and special attention is paid to the relationship between local gang conflicts and events on the national and international stage.

In American ethnic literature, food — apart from fulfilling a biological function — also has a cultural role. Cookery, which includes all activities related to preparing a meal, serving or consuming it, but also simply treating food as nourishment, is an expression of cultural belonging
and attachment to a particular ethnic group. A kind of culinary nostalgia is also observable in the prose of Leslie Pietrzyk and Anthony Bukoski, contemporary American writers with Polish roots.
The foods shown in the debut novel by Pietrzyk and selected stories by Bukoski serve as indicators of ethnicity, specific emotional bridges, thanks to which the characters can be transported to the times of their childhood, thus being defined anew and achieving a sense of rootedness
in a strange for them American land.

Polish people’s knowledge about the Polish diaspora in the United States is shaped by the messages of mass media. This knowledge is limited and incomplete. Access to academic texts for those who could be interested in the Polish diaspora in the United States is relatively limited, while the press usually discusses topics related to the diaspora only on the margin of important events, especially parliamentary and presidential elections in Poland, other events of political, sport, cultural character or celebrations marking historic anniversaries. But the community in question is not accurately represented by newspapers or films. First and foremost, the diaspora is very diverse, both culturally and materially, in terms of their education and attitude to American culture, while its political attitudes are not those with which a reader of Polish press and the audience of Polish TV channels and radio stations are familiar with. This book aims to analyse the activity of the Polish diaspora in the United States in terms of its politicality, including the conditions of such activity shaped by non political factors that affect political attitudes.
The book you hold is a result of a decade of research on the Polish diaspora in the United States carried out both in Poland and in the United States. As a part of this project, library research was carried out in the United States, including but not limited to the library of the Polish Museum of America in Chicago. The analyses and conclusions that followed are juxtaposed with direct observations considered by the present author to be one of the most important methods of academic research.

This article presents two previously unknown Soviet archival documents. The first deals with the visit of Fr. Stanislaw Orlemanski, a pro-Soviet Polish-American Catholic priest to Moscow and his meeting with Stalin. The second discusses the possible inclusion of Oscar Lange, a pro-Soviet Polish intellectual living and working in the United States into Poland's postwar, interim government. Both of these documents add historiography to the topic of the leftist Polish-Americans of World War II.

Alice Mikus and her younger sister Irene both displayed musical talents very early in life. Their hard-working Polish immigrant parents encouraged their interest in music and even saved enough money to provide them with formal lessons. While both daughters continue in music for the rest of their lives, Alice became a much sought after classical performer in the Greater Springfield area even before she married Dr. Stanley S. Stusick. Her solo career was only briefly interrupted by the birth of her two daughters Veleda and Mary-Alice. In fact, her eldest child Veleda was encouraged to play the harp even at two years old. By the time Alice's two daughters reached high school, the three Stusick had already been successfully performing as a trio at local events and venues.

Ministerstwo Spraw Zagranicznych Drugiej Rzeczypospolitej – środowisko pierwszych doświadczeń zawodowych Jana Karskiego (1933-1939) [Ministry of Foreign Affairs – the environment of Jan Karski’s first professional experience], [w:] Jan Karski. Misja kompletna, red. Iwona Hofman przy współpracy Kingi Smoleń, Lublin 2015, s. 127-157.

Jan Kozielewski began his probation in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1933, when he was 19 years old. Six years later, in early 1939 he became a full-time official of the Ministry. The environment and reality of MFA were – next to the study at the University of Jan Kazimierz and the military service – the factors shaping his personality. It was perhaps the most important factor because being employed there was his goal, and nothing so clearly characterizes one as his desires.
The moment when we leave our house, the dominant position of parental authority may be taken by people at work; superiors, eminent colleagues. Certainly the first job, with its atmosphere, system of values and rhythm of action plays a serious role in shaping one’s personality. Young Kozielewski learnt the ways of MFA job candidates very quickly. He held his first training at the consular offices, (in Romania and Germany – Poland’s ally and enemy). After this he was sent to the still important Polish Delegation at The League of Nations. From 1937 he continued his training at the Consulate General of Poland in London. The superiors were very satisfied with him and from the beginning of 1939 he became a full-time official of the Ministry. But interestingly, he was sent to the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (DK MSZ), and not to diplomacy, although he completed such studies. He became a close associate of Wiktor Tomir Drymmer (the head of consular service), and Apoloniusz Zarycha (Kozielewski’s immediate supervisor), both former officers of the Polish Army, who were dominating in this segment of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
To properly answer the question about the factors shaping Kozielewski at MFA, we need to characterize those parts of the department, where he worked. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was an office complex. DK MSZ (Consular Service of MFA) theoretically took care of Polish citizens abroad and trade promotion and activation. In practice and implicitly, it was also the main center of influence of Piłsudski’s followers on the Polish community. Since 1938 a program to increase the emigration of Jews from Poland was developed in the Department of Immigration Policy (where Kozielewski worked in the Settlement Agency). His employment at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs took place when the department was realizing the action of depriving Polish citizenship for people who were officially determined –to have not maintained contact with the country. This predominantly meant that passports were taken away from Polish Jews residing abroad. Perhaps the atmosphere of those months and close contact with Drymmer sensitized Kozielewski in this matter. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1939 was one of the smallest ministries, but without a doubt, an elite team of employees. It employed 530 people permanently and 762 temporarily.
The role played by Minister Józef Beck in national politics exceeded the mere position of the Minister of Foreign Affairs. He formed, along with President Mościcki and Marshal Rydz-Śmigły, the team that effectively ruled the country. However, Beck dealt with international politics, leaving the remaining issues to his subordinates, including the operation of the department. Director Drymmer was the key person in Warsaw headquarters and among the younger staff. He decided about employment and allotted tasks at a lower level. In addition he directed staff matters, and led the informal and secret group K.7 which coordinated sabotage actions abroad, mainly in the area of Czechoslovakia. The common and external ideas of the MFA probably differed from the reality which Kozielewski met.
(translated by Dagmara Grajczak)

The history of the eugenics movement in the United States is strictly interwoven<br> with the processes of immigration, assimilation and naturalization. Well<br> known are the attempts of American eugenicists (described widely by Alexandra<br> Minna Stern in Eugenic Nation: Faults and Frontiers of Better Breeding in Modern<br> America, published in 2005), who combined the Manifest Destiny doctrines of the<br> 1840s with the twentieth century medical and scientific vocabulary in order to improve<br> the genes of the American society. One of the results of the prevailing popularity<br> of the principles voiced by the followers of the movement, who belonged<br> to the country's dominant group, was the introduction of strict immigration laws<br> between 1891 and 1924. The eugenicists' preoccupation and obsession with unhealthy<br> and physically inferior immigrant bodies, which needed to be 'reshaped'<br> ...

Antoni Gronowicz, one of the most prolific and famous Polish American writers of his time, is seldom now read because of the controversies and legal issues that developed over his last two books, God’s Broker, a biography of John Paul II, and Garbo, a biography of the film actress.  Gronowicz did not have the access to these two figures that he pretended to have.  Instead, both books were seen to be almost entirely fictionalized.  This article on Gronowicz argues that despite this, there is value in taking another look at these two works and the writing about Poland that Gronowicz published for almost five decades.

Article contrasts how the American popular press viewed Polish peasants, both as immigrants to the USA and through travel literature and published accounts of travelers. American views of Polish immigrants were often informed by scientific racism and nativism but travel literature eschewed overt racism to view peasants as quaint and colorful.

EN: The text, written in Polish, refers to the American artist, sculptor - Korczak Ziółkowski. He created, among others a monumental work dedicated to one of the American Indian chiefs - Crazy Horse. This monument has been created for many years, the best by Korczak Ziółkowski, and now by his descendants. The text appeared in print in the magazine "Kultura i biznes" 2007.
PL: Tekst, napisany po polsku, dotyczy amerykańskiego artysty, rzeźbiarza - Korczka Ziółkowskiego. Stworzył on m.in. projekt monumentalnego dzieła poświęconego jednemu z wodzów amerykanskich Indian - Crazy Horse. Pomnik ten tworzony jest od wielu lat, najpier przez Korczaka Ziółkowskiego,a obecnie przez jego potomków. Tekst ukazał się drukiem w magazynie "Kultura i biznes" 2007.