The Polish diaspora refers to people of Polish origin who live outside Poland. The Polish diaspora is also known in modern Polish language as Polonia, which is the name for Poland in Latin and in many other Romance languages.
There are roughly 15 to 20 million people of Polish ancestry living outside Poland, making the Polish diaspora one of the largest in the world.[1] Reasons for this displacement vary from border shifts, to forced resettlement, to political or economic emigration. Major populations of Polish ancestry can be found in Germany, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, France, United Kingdom, Sweden, Ireland and many other European countries, the United States, Canada, Brazil and elsewhere in the Americas. Many Poles can also be found in most Asian, African and Australasian countries. There have also been some Poles in Antarctica, though these journeys have been expeditionary in nature.
A large proportion of the Polish citizens who migrated in the early 20th century were Polish Jews, and these also make up part of the Jewish diaspora. Poland was home to the world's largest Jewish population as late as 1938, a decade before the establishment of Israel. Over three million Polish Jews were killed in the Holocaust by Nazi Germany during World War II. Most survivors subsequently emigrated, since Poland was the only Eastern Bloc country to allow free Jewish aliyah to Israel upon its creation.[2][3] Many remaining Jews, including Stalinist hardliners and members of security apparatus,[4][5] left Poland during 1968 political crisis when the Polish communist party, pressured by Brezhnev, joined the Soviet "anti-Zionist" campaign triggered by the Six Day War.[6][7] In 1998, Poland's Jewish population was estimated at about 10,000–30,000.[8]
There are presently 396,000 Poles living in Belarus (according to the official 1999 census;[9] the estimates are higher according to various NGO organizations). They form the second largest ethnic minority in the country after Russians. The majority of Poles live in the western regions of Belarus (including 294,000 in the Grodno Region, Polish: Grodzieńszczyzna).
During the Second World War the Soviet Union forcibly resettled large numbers of Belarusian Poles to Russia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Few Belarusian Poles live in Siberia and the Russian Far East and some of those who managed to survive resettlement returned to Poland after 1956.
The Polish community in the Czech Republic is concentrated in Cieszyn Silesia (so-called Zaolzie), in the north-east of the country. It traces its origins to post-First World War border changes that partitioned the area between Poland and what was then Czechoslovakia, leaving many Poles on the Czech side of the border. The Polish population numbered 51,968 at the 2001 census.
It is estimated that around 40,000 Poles live in Denmark, the majority of them in Copenhagen.
Poles make up 0.2% of the population of the Faroe Islands (followed by Norwegians).[10] They mainly live in the capital of the islands, Tórshavn.
The history of the Polish community in Finland dates back to the early 19th century, when a number of Poles from the Russian-controlled part of the country settled there. In 1917, there were around 4,000 Poles in Finland, mostly soldiers of the Russian Imperial Army, and almost all returned to their homeland by 1921. Finland has never been a major destination for Polish immigrants, and currently around 3,000 Poles live there, most of whom are well-educated.[11] Around half of this population lives in Helsinki, and the biggest Polish organization there is the Polish Association, founded on April 3, 1917.
About one million people of Polish descent live in France, concentrated in the Nord-Pas de Calais region, in the metropolitan area of Lille and the coal-mining basin (Bassin Minier) around Lens and Valenciennes. Prominent members of the Polish community in France have included Frédéric Chopin, Adam Mickiewicz (temporarily), Rene Goscinny, Marie Curie, Raymond Kopa, Ludovic Obraniak, and Edward Gierek (who was raised there). Large numbers of Poles settled in France during the rule of Napoleon when 100,000 Poles fled Russian rule of Poland in the early 19th century. Many enlisted to fight in the French army. Another wave of Polish migration took place between the two World Wars, when many were hired as contract workers to work temporarily in France. Polish refugees also fled Nazi or Soviet occupation (1940s). There are estimates of 100,000 to 200,000 Poles living in Paris and many E.U. program guest workers in regions of the south (including the cities of Arles, Marseille and Perpignan).
The second largest Polonia in the world, and the largest in Europe, is the Polish minority in Germany. As many as three million people living in Germany may be of Polish descent. The main Polonia organization is Kongres Polonii Niemieckiej / Polnischer Kongress in Deutschland. Polish surnames are very common in Germany.
The Polish minority in Greece consists of over 50,000 Poles, most of whom are first-generation immigrants to the country. It should be noted however that there might be many more in this minority due to the fact that the Greek Orthodox Church administers Greek names for marriage and Christianizing. Statistics show that over 300,000 Poles visit Greece each year for tourism, especially during the summer months. Famous Poles in Greece who also have mixed Polish and Greek ethnicity include famous Polish singer Eleni Tzoka.[12]
The Polish minority in Hungary numbers around 10,000 and has a long history of over a thousand years. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth included large areas of Hungarian territories, and the Austrian-Hungarian empire (1867–1918) included the Polish region of Galicia. Polish-Hungarian ties are strong and positive, best described in the poem: Pole, Hungarian, two good friends about the fraternal sense of commonality of Polish and Hungarian cultures. Budapest is home to a large Polish community and there are also ethnic Poles in the northern part of the country bordering Slovakia and Ukraine. Most Polish-Hungarians are practising Roman Catholics, but many are members of the Uniate, Eastern (Polish-Carpathian or Carpato-Ukrainian) and Greek Catholic churches.
Polish minority in Iceland is a relatively new phenomenon, although it has for almost a decade been the largest minority. According to the official statistics, there are 9,146 people of Polish origin in Iceland, or about 2,9% of the population.[13] Many of them have acquired Icelandic citizenship. After the financial crisis, many Poles returned home, decreasing from 8,500 in 2008 to about 7,500 a year later.
After Poland joined the European Union in 2004, Ireland was one of three existing EU members to open its borders and welcome Polish workers as relatively cheap qualified labour (the others being the United Kingdom and Sweden). Ireland quickly became a key destination for young Poles seeking work outside the country. According to the 2011 Census, there are 122,585 Poles living in Ireland,[14] constituting the largest ethnic minority in the country.
The Polish minority in Italy numbers around 50,000. The majority of Polish residents are recently arrived immigrants in the late 20th century drawn to the stellar economy of Italy in need for imported labor. Large Polish immigrant sections/communities are found such as Rome, Milan, Venice, Naples and Palermo. Polish immigration to Italy might continue while the EU contract labor program between the two countries remains in place.
The Polish minority in Lithuania numbers 234,989 persons and, at 6.74% of the population of Lithuania, forms the largest ethnic minority in modern Lithuania. Poles are concentrated in the Vilnius region, and form the majority of population in Vilnius district municipality and Šalčininkai district municipality.
For more details on this topic, see Polish minority in the Netherlands.
Polish immigration to the Netherlands has steadily increased since Poland was admitted to the E.U., and now an estimated 135,000 Polish people live in the country. The majority of them are guest workers through the European Union contract labor program, as more Poles obtain employment in this country's light industrial jobs. The growing number of Polish nationals could double in the next decade depending on economic conditions in Poland. The majority of Polish people in the Netherlands are in The Hague (approximately 30.000) but Polish emigres long settled in Amsterdam and industrial towns or cities like Utrecht and Groningen. Polish immigrants arrived to find employment in the country in the 19th and 20th centuries. Belgium has approx. 70,000 Poles, Luxemburg almost 3,000.
Norway has recently experienced an influx of Polish migrant workers. According to the Polish Embassy in Oslo, around 20,000 Poles work in Norway, however, with the Poles working there illegally or temporarily the number can be much higher with about 150,000 people. Norway is not part of the European Union, however, but the Norwegian government has made it easier for Polish nationals to obtain employment contracts since 2004.
According to the 2002 census, 3,671 Poles live in Romania, mainly in the villages of the Suceava region (Polish: Suczawa). There are even three exclusively Polish villages: Nowy Sołoniec (Soloneţu Nou), Plesza (Pleşa) and Pojana Mikuli (Poiana Micului). Poles in Romania form an officially recognised national minority, having one seat in the Chamber of Deputies of Romania (currently held by Ghervazen Longher) and access to Polish elementary schools and cultural centres (known as "Polish Houses").
During the Second World War, the Soviet Union annexed large parts of Poland's former eastern territories of Kresy. Many Poles were expelled, but a significant number remained in what are now parts of Belarus, Ukraine and Lithuania. The Soviet authorities also forcibly resettled large numbers of Poles to Russia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. The following post-Soviet countries retain significant Polish minorities:
There is a small community of descendants of Silesian miners in Ostojićevo.[15]
According to the 2002 Slovakian census, there are 2,602 Poles living in Slovakia.[16] Compared to the Hungarian census of 1910, it is a significant decrease, as then there were 10,569 Polish-language speakers in the territory of present Slovakia.
The Polish minority in Spain numbers between 45,000 and 60,000.[17] Most of the Polish population consists of guest workers drawn into Spain's economic boom during the 1990s. Main sections of the Polish population are in Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, San Sebastian and Valencia. Polish minority in Spain is relatively young, 74% of Spanish Polonia is made of people between 20 and 49 years old.[17]
The Polish minority in Sweden has been estimated to be around 40,000 people. The majority of them are guest workers invited to Sweden since 1990 in contracts with the Swedish government. Most Polish residents live in Stockholm and the rest farther south towards the Baltic Sea. Historically, Poland and Sweden had some cultural exchange with each other and the Swedish Empire's occupation of the Polish Baltic Sea coast (Gdansk and Pomerania) in various times from the 13th to 18th centuries.
In 1842 Prince Adam Czartoryski founded a village of Adampol, for Polish immigrants who came to Turkey after the failed November Uprising. The village, still existing and now called Polonezkoy, is the main center of the small but historic Polish community in Turkey.[citation needed] The Polish minority in Turkey has been estimated to be around 4,000 people. However, Polish minority is higher than present Polish census in Turkey because of Turkified Poles after marriages with Turks. For example Leyla Gencer's mother was Atiye Çeyrekgil, was born as Alexandra Angela Minakovska and embraced to Islam after death of her husband.[18] Also, Nazım Hikmet Ran's mother, Ayşe Celile Hanım, were descended from Mustafa Celaleddin Pasha, was born as Konstantin Borzecki in 1826. He immigrated to Ottoman Empire after Greater Poland Uprising and embraced to Islam in 1848. He later became Ottoman General and died in 1876.[19]
According to the 2001 Ukrainian census, there were 144,130 Poles residing in the country. Poles began settling in the territory of present Ukraine in the 14th century, after Red Ruthenia had become part of the Kingdom of Poland. The number of Poles in Ukraine gradually increased over the centuries, but after World War II it drastically decreased as a result of Soviet mass deportation of the Poles in Ukraine to Siberia and other eastern regions of the USSR as well as a campaign of ethnic cleansing, carried out in the early 1940s by Ukrainian nationalists in western part of the country (see: Massacres of Poles in Volhynia). There was a Polish Autonomous District, located near Zhytomyr, created in 1926, but it was disbanded in 1935 and its Polish inhabitants were either murdered or deported to Kazakhstan. The majority of those who survived the war in Ukraine moved to the Former eastern territories of Germany after Poland was shifted to the West by the Allied Potsdam Agreement after World War II.
Polish people have travelled to the British Isles throughout the centuries for a variety of reasons. By 1016 Cnut the Great, of Danish-Polish descent had conquered England assisted by Polish troops. In the 16th century Polish travellers came as traders and diplomats. In the 18th century a small number of Polish Protestants arrived as religious refugees due to the Counter-Reformation in Poland[citation needed]. In the 19th century, due to the collapse of the November Uprising of 1831, many Polish fighters came to Britain in search of sanctuary.[citation needed]
However, it was only after the First World War that Poles settled in large numbers in London – many from the Prisoner of War camps in Alexandra Palace and Feltham. During the Second World War many Poles came to the United Kingdom as political émigrés and to join the Polish Army being recreated there. When the Second World War ended, a Communist government was installed in Poland. Many Poles felt betrayed by their wartime allies and were extremely reluctant to return home.[citation needed] Many soldiers refused to return to Poland, and around 200,000, after occupying resettlement camps, later settled in UK. The Polish Government in London was not dissolved until 1991, when a freely elected president took office in Warsaw.
Following Poland's entry into the European Union in May 2004, Poles gained the right to work in some other EU countries. While France and Germany put in place temporary controls to curb Eastern European migration, the United Kingdom (along with Sweden and the Republic of Ireland) did not impose restrictions. Many young Poles have come to work in UK since then. Estimates vary between 300,000 and 800,000 moving to the UK since May 2004.[20]
Estimates for the total number of people living in the UK and born in Poland, or of Polish descent vary significantly. The figure has been quoted as 600,000 (February 2007)[21] and "well over a million" (October 2007),[22] but more recently it is reported that the numbers are decreasing.[23] Other than London, Poles have settled in Manchester, Bolton and Bury in Greater Manchester and Chorley in Lancashire. There are also large concentrations in Bradford, Leeds, Coventry and Nottingham, as well as South Yorkshire, South Wales, Rugby, Banbury, Slough and Swindon.[citation needed]
The economic crisis in the UK and the growing economy in Poland reduced the economic incentive for Poles to migrate to the UK.[24] By the last quarter of 2008, approximately half of those that had come to the UK to work had returned home.[25]
The Pope John Paul II statue in
Toronto.
The United States and Canada were the major focus of Polish political and economic migration after 1850 and up until the fall of the Iron Curtain. Many North American Jews trace their ancestry to Poland, which was Europe's Jewish heartland before World War II. Some 3 million Polish Jews were killed in the Holocaust; however, there's a revival of contemporary Jewish life in the new democratic Poland.[26]
There are about 850,000 Polish Canadians. The population is widely dispersed across Canada. The first Polish immigrants came to Canada in the 19th century. One of the largest concentrations of Polish-Canadians is in the Roncesvalles area of Toronto. The area holds an annual Polish Festival, Canada's largest. The Canadian Polish Congress is an umbrella organization founded in 1944 by Polish-Canadians in Canada to coordinate the activities and to articulate the concerns of the Canadian Polish community on public policy issues.
There are around 10 million Americans of Polish descent. Chicago bills itself as the largest Polish city outside the Polish capital of Warsaw, and there are approximately 185,000 Polish speakers in the Chicago metropolitan area.[27] Chicago's Polish presence is felt in the large number of Polish-American organizations located here beginning with the Polish Museum of America, the Polish American Association, the Polish National Alliance and the Polish Highlander's Alliance of North America. Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Detroit, Grand Rapids, Buffalo, Brooklyn, Milwaukee, Baltimore and New Britain, Connecticut also have very large Polish populations. Older Polish Americans are rapidly migrating to the Southeast (Florida), Southwest (Arizona) and the West Coast (California), but also destinations for Polish immigrants from Poland in the 1990s. The only city to have official Dyngus Day celebrations inspired by the popular Polish Custom of Śmigus Dyngus is Buffalo. The major U.S. Polonia organization is the Polish American Congress.[28]
There has been political and economic migration of Poles to Latin America since the mid-19th century. The largest number went to Brazil, followed by Argentina and Chile.
In Argentina Poles are one of the most significant minorities, numbering around 500,000. The Parliament of Argentina has declared June 8 Polish Settlers' Day.
The number of people of Polish descent in Brazil is estimated at between 1 million and 5 million. Most Polish Brazilians are Catholic, with significant Jewish and non-religious minorities. The majority of them are concentrated in the South and Southeastern regions of Brazil, especially in the states of Paraná and Espírito Santo.
A small number of Poles came to Chile, with first of them coming during the Napoleonic wars. In early 20th century, there were around 300 Poles in Chile, but considered Germans. After World War II, around 1,500 Poles and 1,900 Polish Jews, mostly former soldiers, settled in Chile and in 1949 the Association of Poles in Chile was founded.[29] An estimate of 45,000 ethnic Poles live in Chile.[30] Most live in Santiago. One of the notable Polish Chileans is Ignacy Domeyko.[31]
During the times of Napoleon, 5000 Poles fighting in Polish Legions in the Napoleonic armies were sent to fight against the rebelling Haitians. Many of the Poles who were sent there felt it wrong to fight against the Haitians who were fighting for their freedom - just like the Poles in the Napoleonic armies - and some 400 Poles changed sides. After the war, the Haitian constitution stated that because the Poles switched sides and fought for their cause, all Poles could become Haitian citizens. Many of the Poles who were sent to Haiti stayed there. Most of their descendants live in Casale and Fond des Blancs in Haiti. They are very proud to be of Polish descent.
Folk dancers of Polish community from Mexico.
The first Polish immigrants to Mexico arrived in the late 19th century. During World War II, Mexico received thousands of refugees from Poland, primarily of Jewish origin, who settled in the states of Chihuahua, and Nuevo Leon.[32][33]
Polish immigration in Uruguay brought Poles to settle in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. An estimated 10,000 to 50,000 Polish descendants are thought to be in Uruguay. The majority of them reside in Montevideo, the capital. Often Poles came when the Prussian (now Germany) and Russian Empires ruled Poland, thus they were known as "Germans" and "Russians".
In addition to the countries mentioned above, Poles have settled in smaller numbers in Asia, Africa and Oceania as economic migrants or as part of Catholic missions.
The first Polish settlers arrived in South Australia in 1856. After World War II, large numbers of displaced persons migrated from Poland to Australia, including soldiers from the Polish Independent Carpathian Brigade (the "Rats of Tobruk").
There are now approximately 160,000 – 200,000 Polish Australians.
Israel has been a destination for Polish Jews ever since the country's foundation in 1948, as a result of the Holocaust and the high impact it had on Poland than any other European country. According to sources about the Israeli media, about 100,000 Polish-language news papers sold as of the year 2000.
In 1944, several hundred Polish children, survivors of forced resettlement of Poles to Soviet Siberia, and their caregivers were temporarily resettled at a refugee camp at Pahiatua, New Zealand. It was originally planned for the children to return to Poland after World War II ended, but they were eventually allowed to stay in New Zealand with the onset of the Cold War.[34]
According to the Council of Polonia in South Africa, some 25,000-30,000 Poles live there.[35] The Polish community in South Africa dates to World War II, when the South African government agreed to the settlement of 12,000 Polish soldiers as well as around 500 Polish orphans, survivors of forced resettlement of Poles to Soviet Siberia. More Poles came in the 1970s and 1980s, with several of them specialists, coming for contracts and deciding to stay there.
- ^ Michael Pieslak, Poles around the World (see: Polonia > statystyka)
- ^ Devorah Hakohen, Immigrants in turmoil: mass immigration to Israel and its repercussions... Syracuse University Press, 2003 - 325 pages. Page 70. ISBN 0-8156-2969-9
- ^ Aleksiun, Natalia. "Beriḥah". YIVO. http://www.yivoencyclopedia.org/printarticle.aspx?id=219. "Suggested reading: Arieh J. Kochavi, "Britain and the Jewish Exodus...," Polin 7 (1992): pp. 161–175"
- ^ Wilson Center, "New Evidence on Poland in the Early Cold War" By Andrzej Werblan (PDF)
- ^ (English) Tadeusz Piotrowski (1997). Poland's Holocaust: Ethnic Strife, Collaboration with Occupying Forces and Genocide.... McFarland & Company. pp. 58–64. ISBN 0-7864-0371-3. http://books.google.com/books?id=hC0-dk7vpM8C&pg=PA58&vq=:out+of+447%22&dq=after+war+communists+supported+Jews+1945+Poland&lr=&as_brr=3&source=gbs_search_s&cad=0.
- ^ Andrzej Friszke, "The March 1968 Protest Movement in Light of Ministry of Interior Reports to the Party Leadership," Intermarium 1:1 (1997, translated from Polish; originally published in Więź, March 1994).
- ^ Excel HSC modern history By Ronald E. Ringer. Page 390.
- ^ Encyclopedia of the Nations: Poland—Religions, available at Advameg, 2010 (bottom)
- ^ Union of Poles in Belarus
- ^ Demographics of the Faroe Islands
- ^ Polish Embassy in Helsinki
- ^ [1] The Warsaw Voice discusses Poles in Greece.
- ^ Statistics Iceland - Statistics » Population » Citizenship and country of birth
- ^ http://www.cso.ie/en/media/csoie/census/documents/census2011pdr/Census%202011%20Highlights%20Part%201.pdf
- ^ Potomci bosonogih rudara
- ^ The World of Polonia, Poles in Slovakia
- ^ a b The world of Polonia, Past and present of Polish community in Spain
- ^ http://tr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leyla_Gencer
- ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N%C3%A2z%C4%B1m_Hikmet
- ^ Special report: Finance for Poles in Britain. Jo Thornhill, Mail on Sunday, reports from Warsaw. November 4, 2007.
- ^ "The true number of Poles living in Britain", Daily Mail, 12th February 2007
- ^ "The arrival of the east European media", The Independent on Sunday, 22 October 2007
- ^ "Now Poles begin mass desertion of Britain as soaring prices send them home", Daily Mail, 16th February 2008
- ^ UK Poles return home. The Telegraph. February 21, 2009.
- ^ Packing up for home: Poles hit by UK's economic downturn, This is London, October 20, 2008
- ^ Ruth Ellen Gruber, Reaction to tragedy showcases changes in Polish-Jewish relations, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, April 20, 2010
- ^ The Polish Community in Metro Chicago:A Community Profile of Strengths and Needs, A Census 2000 Report, published by the Polish American Association June 2004, p. 18
- ^ See Stanley S. (1976). In Quest of a Cultural Identity: An Inquiry for the Polish Community. New York, New York: IUME, Teachers College, Columbia University. ISBN ERIC ED167674.
- ^ Poles in Chile
- ^ (Spanish) Relaciones entre Polonia y Chile. Pasado y presente, (ed.) Katarzyna Dembicz serie: Polonia y el Mundo Iberoamericano, CESLA, Warszawa, 2002
- ^ (Spanish) Polacos en Chile
- ^ Poles in Mexico
- ^ http://www2.esmas.com/noticierostelevisa/cultura/124704/polacos-mexico-exilio-olvidado
- ^ "Pahiatua Children"
- ^ [2]
