BellaOnline Forums Travel and Culture Polish Culture How to revitalize life of Polonia?

This is really a very interesting subject! Please, let us know what you think. Is it family roots which can unite Polonia? How to keep people interested in their roots?

I was just talking to Mark Kohan, main editor of Polish-American Journal. He told me that one lady, who was writing a lot to the Journal just passed away. They contacted the family and the family was not even interested to receive any copies of the journal since they do not have any interest in their own heritage or the culture of their ancestors.

Hi Jaga) I'm not surprised to the response you got from that lady. I think if your going to get any interest, your going to have to go thru mostly 1st and 2nd generation polish Americans.
As a third generation polish American, i think i can speak for most of them if i can be so presumptious. Most third generation Polish Americans wanted to be become Americans and mostly forget about their parents or grandparents attachment to the old world culture so to speak. They desperatly wanted to become what they thought of as Americans with no ties to their ancestors ties. I personely don't agree with that , but i think that is the reality.
I think you r best bet is to get 1st or 2nd generation Polish Americans to take over these institutions. I don't know if you have any children, but if you do, i would guess your grandchildren will have little or no interest in Polonia. I think in some ways its natural. Its called the melting pot.

General Mason,

I will go farther and say first generation immigrants wanted to forget the old country and become American. At the same time missing the old country dearly.

As second generation I am the one of four siblings with any interest beyond the casual in the European family or in maintaining ties to the European family. The next generation seems 99% uninterested. So I do what I do for myself and the people I share the experiences with. Perhaps what I write down will someday be of some interest to someone in the family.

Now if you were a Marine or ex-Marine we could address you, generally, as Mason Jar or General Mason. Where did the name come from, did you divorce Dixon?

Kai

I agree with both Masongeneral and Kai. My grandparents missed "the old country" but preferred America.

Their children (my parents) spoke Polish, but they wanted to be American. Still, I was brought up being told I should "marry a good Polish Catholic boy." I got one out of 3 correct <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> My father wanted to maintain ties with Europe, my mother preferred Hawaii and Florida.

My generation does not speak Polish, and we (I) often spend a lot of effort trying to reconstruct our ancestors lives in Europe. Sort of a half-and-half generation, I guess. But someday they might want to know, so I am writing everything down...

The next generation(s) are fully American. One niece thinks Poland would be an awesome place to go hiking, but most do not know anything about it.

As MG said, America is the melting pot...some of my nieces/nephews are only 1/4 or 1/8 Polish so it does not mean anything to them - they are Americans.

So, MG, how did you happen to spend a month in Poland? Tell us your story.

Nancy

I am not suprised by the lack of interest in Poland. I am a second generation American, one of 5 children and about 60 first cousins. I along with about 2 others are the only ones interested in our background. I came to this site because I am trying to trace how we came to America. I wish there was a way to develop more interest in family roots. They seem to teach everything else in school today how about a class in this
?? Judith

Dear Mason, Nancy and Kai,

thanks for your responces. I really hoped that such discussion is really important for us.
I am not sure that I can completely agree that the interest disappears with third generation!

I feel that... second generation is the one which needs to assimilate. They feel that their parents are different and they really want to be the part of the society they live in.
The next generations are already born as the firm citizens of the countries they live in. So, they do not feel different - some of them do not care about their family roots but some - are coming back just like Nancy did!

I wish, more people were interested in their roots, their family. I wish, Polish lobby was a bit more important in America!

Keep in mind that America is a "melding" pot of different cultures often characterized by integration under the bedsheet: e.g., my wife cousin's daughter (Jewish) married a man of Polish descent (Catholic). They want their children to decide, when grown, they may want to join.

Hello Judith,

Welcome to this forum, we are a chatty bunch and welcome a new voice! How is your genealogy research going (that is my main area of interest!)?

RE: schools - one of the lower grades - 6th, maybe? - usually has a unit on family history - my nieces and nephews use the information I have found in order to complete their assignments! But, I guess soccer is more important to them at the moment, just wait until they turn 50!

Nancy

Hi Nancy... My wife of 24 years came from Poland at the age of 16. When we married she was 18 and i was 27. two years ago we visited Poland ( me for the first time ). We spent a month there ( southeastern section ) I enjoyed the trip there very much to say the least. Met my inlaws for the first time. Great folks, although i speak no Polish. Unfortunetly, my kids, 18 and 19 speak no Polish. My wife became Americanized so quickly, she never got into teaching them the language. Something she now regrets. Americanazation is a strong force, which i think is good, however it forces a generation to sometimes forget it roots, which i think is sad to a certain extent.

Thanks for asking Nancy !!

MG, Thanks! Hope you stick around!


Jaga,

Can we have a map where people can indicate where in Poland their ancestors are from, or where they have visited? There seem to be a lot of us from the southeastern section, and I of course am curious for details...

Thanks,
Nancy