Malcolm Rosholt Online Archives

Soroka pages 1-3

First, a general assessment of Polish immigration to this country is in order. How many Poles came to this country? According to the American census carried out in 1900, which included data related to the national origins of immigrants, there were 385,595 Poles in the United States.

Who were registered as Polish inhabitants? Only those who were born in the "old country." The children born in the United States or other countries outside Polish territory were not registered in that column. Polish inhabitants were only those persons from the "old country" who declared to the immigration authorities that they were born in Poland. Here I should add further explanation. During the times of partition when Poland did not exist on the map of Europe, some Poles who were born in Poland were registered as being born in Germany, Russia or Austria. Only those who positively insisted that they were Poles were reported as such. Also counted were those who did not use regional names such as Galicia, Prussia, Posen, Pomerania, but clearly insisted that they were Polish. In other words, only people who were clearly conscious of their Polish origin were included in those statistics.

The situation was not clear-cut. Let us keep in mind that Poland was not in existence when the immigration developed. Poland had been partitioned among Prussia, Russia and Austria in 1772 and again in 1793-1795. This subject will be discussed in detail later. In relation to this census of 1900, therefore, it is necessary to emphasize that only a small portion of Polish immigrants declared that they had been born in Poland and insisted on preserving this name despite the often-unfriendly immigration authorities. After all, the fact was that Poland did not exist, and it was difficult for American immigration officials to specify that some German, Russian or Austrian citizens should be listed as Poles. According to the census of 1900, children born in the United States of Polish parents were not counted as Polish inhabitants of this country. Were they Polish or not?

Before we continue this issue of how many Poles or Americans of Polish origin were in the United States by 1900, we should elaborate upon two additional questions: First, how does one acquire nationality? Second, what does the word "nationality" mean? Here are two principal means used to establish "nationality": 1) Through birth from either one or both parents. (In Ancient Rome this was called ius sanguinis - "the law of blood". The same term was incorporated into some modern codifications and corresponding vocabulary); 2) Through birth within a territory of a given state or nation. (This was called ius soli - "the law of the land" of a given territory). These two ways are usually combined. Laws regarding nationality in the United States are a combination; elements of ius sanguinis are combined with the elements of ius soli as a basis for acquiring American nationality.

What does the word "nationality" mean? In the United States, this word is synonymous with statehood and citizenship. The word "nation" is often used interchangeably with state or country. Professor Oskar Halecki, a historian of Eastern and Central Europe, has pointed out that these two notions are often in opposition or may overlap in Eastern and Central Europe. Even then they remain basically different. A nation is "a totality of inhabitants of a given territory speaking the same language, bound by the same common past and culture, having common political and economic interest" -- as a Polish dictionary explains. The state is a political organization of a nation.

Even such a definition helps us to understand that Poland, a community of people which existed as a nation and as an independent state for over 800 years did not disappear when other neighbor states partitioned it -- when Russia, Prussia and Austria divided the Polish state and absorbed its territory at the end of the 18th century. The Polish nation did not disappear. It sustained itself and struggled until it regained its independence as a state in 1918.

Members of the Polish nation frequently decided to emigrate from the Polish territory which from a legal point of view, was also a part of the territories of Russia, Prussia and Austria. While they may have had Russian, Prussian, German or Austrian citizenship, they did not cease to be members of that ancient national community of the Polish nation.

Upon arriving in the United States, they did not cease to be members of the Polish historical and cultural community, an ethnic group of people of Polish origin. Even if born in this country, they were of Polish origin and belonged to that Polish community of Americans which had some affinity with the Polish past--with Polish customs, culture, language, interest, family ties and concerns.

Of course, the data of 1900 needed correction. The figure of 385,595 included not more than one-fifth of the total number of inhabitants of Polish origin in the United States. We should, therefore, multiply 385,595 by 5 ¹, and we arrive at the figure of 1,902,370 - close to 2 million. We shall confirm this figure and others later in this course. As an additional point in assessing this issue, let’s note that by 1940 the Polish ethnic group in the United States was estimated to be 10 million. This number increased proportionately from 1940 and will be explained further in due time.

Not all people are conscious of their origin; not all care to know about it. Not all persons have the same attachment to Poland’s past or to the Poland of today; some have been completely assimilated into the "melting pot" of the United States.

This course has no ideological or national objectives other than a scholarly assessment of the issue. In this sense, we have to clarify two terms that we are going to use in the future--Americans of Polish origin, and Polonia in the United States. The first is a broader concept, whereas the second is a lesser notion related to those Americans of Polish origin who manifest their attachment to Polish culture and the Polish community in various organizational activities. They constitute a less significant number though they and their activities are worth studying.

In this general introductory outline of the issues we are going to study, let us establish that according to Dr. Leopold Caro ², Professor at Lwow University and known throughout Austria, from 1851 until 1918, 3,100,000 immigrants came to this country from the Poznan region, and Galicia or Little Poland. ³

According to the History of Poland  ⁴, during’ the period from 1870-1914, 2,600,000 left Polish territories for the United States; 200,000 went to other countries of North and South America; 400,000 went to Germany; 300,000 went to Russia; and 100,000 went to other European countries. In total, 3,600,000 from that country emigrated to the United States and other countries.

We do have publications that provide information about Polish immigrants in the United States ⁵ however, sometimes people are not aware of them.

Footnotes

1  Kruszka, Wackaw Rev., a Polish American author of many publications, proposed this estimate of Poles in the United States by 1900.

2.  Caro, Leopold, Imigracja i polityka imigracyjna, Poznan, 1914.

3.   Wloszczewski, Stefan, Polonia amerykauska; szkice historyczne i sociologiczne, Warazawa, LSW, 1971, p. 14.

4.  Gieysztor, Aleksander, et al, History of Poland, Warsaw, Polish Scientific Publishers, 1968, p. 585.

5.   Kruszka, Waclaw, Historia Polska w Ameryce, (A Polish History in America), Milwaukee, 1905, 2nd ed., 19?

6.  Haiman, Miecislaus - his various publications; Stefan Wloszczewski, Polonia Amerykanska; op cit.