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

My family is from the south, is anyone from around the town of "Jaslo"? I myself am a second generation Pole. My parents left Poland in the 80s. I am 16 and for a few years I was not very interested in my Polish heritage. After visiting in the summer of '03 I fell in love with Poland. As a second generation Pole, I speak the language (but I don't have the best use of grammar or too much of a vast knowledge), I can read the language, but in writing I am hopeless. I am quick to correct non-Poles when they refer to historical inaccuracies, Polish culture, or food (especially Kielbasa and Pierogi). I think a stronger Polonia could be formed if the younger generations weren't as ashamed of their heritage or if they truly tried to keep it.

Yes indeed, my family is from villages relatively near Jaslo! My paternal grandfather was from Olszyny, and my grandmother from Kozlowek. At one time they lived in Twierdza. My maternal grandparents were from Piatkowa, near Blazowa.

There are also relatives-of-relatives who still live in Jaslo.

I visited all these places in 2004 and thought they were really beautiful.

Welcome to the forum!

Nancy

One of the additional obstacles to unity in Polonia is the 100+ years of the immigration & the division of the different Poles who emigrated from Poland. It runs roughly:

Those 100 years ago fleeing from poverty & occasionally oppression.
Those after WW II fleeing from politics

Those from the 50's, 60's & later fleeing from communist politics.

Each of these generations tended to have different educational levels and cultural interests in Polish life and did not blend well with the previous emigrants. Of course I am applying what I have read and what generally applies to all of the East Central European countries.

Kai

Nancy,

wow, such a good idea for a map! The only map which I have available right now is the map of the world, there is also an option of the map of the USA only but not Poland. Maybe we should dig some genealogy sites for the map of Poland? I need to look around.

We could probably use a map of Poland to mark the sites where our ancestors come from but this map may not be detailed enough for people to take part in.

Kai, Mason, Husar, and all,

the problems which encounters Polish community is probably similar to other ethnic communities in the USA.

The truth is - the more the ethnic culture is similar to American cultures the easier and faster americanization is. I heard that Germans americanized so quickly that there is barely anybody to speak German even in the second generation. On the other hand, Mexicans keep their culture and language. Porto Ricean also - they also have a different skin color or face features which allowed them to be recognizable.

Irish kept longer their national identity in the US because of their catholicims which was not welcomed here. But now, they americanize very quickly.

Kai - you are right there are differences between different immigration groups because of their background also.

So, we shoulc broaden the subject probably more into different ethnic groups

Jaga,

There is much truth in the fact that some cultures adjust more quickly than others. I believe that the Mexicans and Puerto Ricans don't adjust as quickly or choose not to based on the fact that there are many others of similiar background or those that speak Spanish around them. They aren't "forced" to learn the language because so many things are written in both English and Spanish. Other ethnic groups, including the Poles don't always come into large Polish populations such as in New York, Connecticut, Illinois, and so on. English is a necessity to them.