Sharing Stories: Polish Life In Our Valley

Sharing stories published life in our valley is brought to you by the members of WGBH in by the National and New England chapter of the question foundation proud to support the new GI wise local Polish heritage celebration. Central Connecticut State University. Start with a dream finish with a future

Polish National Credit Union providing convenient friendly services to our members for over 80 years old National Alliance providing strength through unity for over one hundred twenty years. It's important for me to live in a Polish community because I understand that my sense of self isn't just self generated but that I belong to something much bigger than myself and that thing comes to me through ancestors and I think comes to me through the church comes to me through the bigger context of things I could have invented or created my song in America a lot of people find that particular situation a person if you want to recreate yourself you want to be

somebody else. And traditional culture is not always easy to fit into either. But I also understand that it's much bigger smarter intelligent deeper than anything I could have ever thought up or be myself. The first major wave of Polish immigration was between 1890 and one thousand twenty. During this time approximately one and a half million Poles arrived reports in New York and Boston often carrying little more than what they wore on their backs. They were to leave their marks in many ways. They were mostly coming to the United States in search of work and because they came in search of work they ended up coming to places were cities that were rapidly industrializing Pennsylvania. Toledo Cleveland Detroit

Chicago including places like New Britain. Actually the first group of poles to immigrate to America and make their way to the Connecticut River Valley came in the mid eighteen hundreds. It was a relatively small group and many of them ended up on farms and places like Hatfield and Hadley Massachusetts. The great grandfather came to this area about a hundred years ago. The land back there was cheap in the soil. Hadley was so rich you could grow just about anything. My grandfather and father corn potatoes and I grew tired of vegetables and turned to dairy farms. I'm just trying to why fight so that you know my son can and maybe my

daughters even have a family business that can carry it on to the next generation after them. You are Polish without even thinking about it. It's an unconscious thing that is just sort of thin grained in many things that our parents do or have done just in farming. We're based on traditions from their parents based on traditions from their parents. At one time Poland was divided up by conquering countries there was no Poland and I think it's sort of forced them to become very determined about their heritage and it was important to pass on those traditions that they would never be forgotten. The second group that we might like to think of are those who came as a result of World War 2. And they came for different reasons than the earlier way that it was a much smaller group. But they had a large influence.

Poland during World War 2 is as a complicated and painful chapter and Polish history. Poland was invaded on the 1st of September 1939 by Germany and 16 days later on the 17th of the Soviet Union. Combat lasted in Poland for approximately six weeks and then the entire country was occupied after over five years of occupation. Poles found themselves with enormous population loss some estimates are as high as 20 percent of the entire population. Poland was annihilated the result of the occupation. The Jewish population of Poland was virtually exterminated by the non-Jewish population and the estimates of the number of killed run from 2 million to perhaps 3 million or even more which makes a proportion of the highest number of casualties of any country during the Second World War. In 1940 into 1941 undertook the wholesale deportation of large numbers of poles from the area there is a big pounding on the door.

What's going on and their rations are so they are a chef who ends up they put my father at the row with a gun. You know he couldn't move out this time and he gave us like 20 minute yes a pack that we are driving our land on the freeway slays my father behind it and I see that he's frozen and he jump out of the horse and he come he says I you are right there when we come to the station. I mean not become when they take us to the station. Then my aunt come and take my brother all the brother and sister with them. Then there are three left. Three of us and my mother and they took us to some when I was arrested by the KGB. We were three three Franciscans arrested but educate G.B.. I was sentenced for 10 years of hard labor. They say Geary and Forrest everybody used to go to work.

I was six years old I had to wash the floors wooden floors with a brash find myself something to eat go to the forest and pick something to eat and cook it. There were about three hundred fifty thousand children deported with your mothers. Many of them died. I suppose that almost half of the two hundred fifty thousand children died after almost two years of deportation and arrest and execution. The Poles and the Russians signed a pact which allowed many poles to leave who are still alive. Those who could fight join the Polish army while others traveled as refugees to other countries. When we were going home for billiards people were dying and when

somebody died and strange stuff this is built about how hard this was for my mother it was her child going to die I think it was such a system human suffering and that's why it's good to put the thought of don't think to emphasize Polish suffering would immediately raise the issue of what about American relations with Russia which is the cause of much of the suffering the United States was pledged to the notion that it must cooperate closely with the Soviet Union to win the war. Therefore raising the Polish issue complicated that relationship better not talk about Poland while the war continued in Europe. Many Polish families travel to refugee camps in various parts of the world where they soon found a better life. Father Lucian was in charge of more than 150 children in Africa. He stayed with this group until after the war

and helped to find new homes for many of them. Africa fascinated us all. I was young and kids were or so busy they were. They loved it. After this ordeal in the last year or so Africa was like a paradise for them. We thought that we will return to Poland after the war. We wanted to be in our homeland so we kept our traditions. After the war nobody wanted to go back to the coming years to Poland. Almost everybody lost someone in the concentration camp or in the exile as you weary of Yost. They took away our citizenship. As a punishment that disappointment was so great.

Now that I know when we came to England I was actually crushed because they said there is nothing. We have no place to go. We want our. Stateless you are not citizens of any country. The struggles and difficulties of Poland in modern times have been an enormously powerful emotional bond uniting polled worldwide to the public cause we used to be very patriotic when we came out and so patriotic. We always everything there was a coalition. If somebody said anything wrong about opponent we would just jump in and whimper my mother saying once that she learned more about being Polish and polish customs in church when she came to America than our pastor was very concerned with people maintaining that sense of powerlessness that you had to maintain the patriotism too because it had been taken.

Me love me don't. That's why we didn't want to go beg component because we did not like to come in his regime so hones here in America we have something common with Americans. We love freedom. Another way the polls express their heritage is through the church. One of the first things Poles did when they came to America was to form an organization to build a church. We had to build their own churches when we came to America because a lot of our own ethnic religious traditions were different because we had our own saints we had our own images we had our own icons that we weren't allowed to use a practice. So we built this whole public places a beautiful monument to guide it is interesting that it was done by poor working class people because they couldn't afford it. But they did it was really beautiful if you have to a terrible job to step into a

space like that. And son my God you know it was it's just the most unwelcome contradiction you can. Everything in a Polish community would focus on the church here and in Poland if there is no church. There is no community. The Poles are great at forming clubs. If you notice all the banners in church each of those banners represents a society. Any Polish community if there are five people in that community there are four clubs and a fifth one on the way. We also have a polar

spirituality that's family oriented and typical example would be the blessing of Easter for us. Certain foods are prepared for Easter dinner. We are blessed in the church so that the blessing of the church can continue into the family and into the celebration. The family has at home so the celebration goes from church to family to community one church icon that is particularly important both in Poland and the United States. He's our Lady of chance to have the Mother Mary also known as the Black Madonna. The original painting resides in Poland but many replicas live in churches museums and homes both in Poland and here in the United States with powerful about Our Lady of chance the hope is it's a sign of unified Poland. Typical Irish statue of Mary she's a blonde hair blue eyes and we have statues like that of Mary as well in Polish culture. But our national icon she is the dark woman you know holding a baby with cuts across her face. And I can only imagine what they would have

thought you know that these people are stranger than we could have even of thought can they even be Christian was born in Bristol. My parents emigrated from Poland. I went away to school in New York City. I lived there for a dozen years and then moved back here. I was doing different kind of work in school and my father was a parish council meeting and the pastor of my church wanted to have an icon of Our Lady of chance to have the painted. And my father just stood up and he said My son Mark is an artist in New York and he'll do it. And he called me up the next day to give me the good news and I was angry at him. I was like What do you do. Would you volunteer me to do this for. But it's also because I understood that it wasn't just art and that iconography is a special calling. You can't just paint it. And I did it I did it but you know I did it as just an artistic exercise because I was afraid. And I honestly had no idea what I was doing until I saw people praying with my work.

I understood that as an artist nothing I had ever done was as important or as beautiful as that I think and that I had a terrible responsibility to do that job correctly. To the Virgin Mary and also to the people who were praying in front of me and that I had to do that correctly. The Polish center at ELMS college in she could be Massachusetts is dedicated to preserving Polish art history and serves as an educational resource for Polish studies. These are close up the shop to cut off their crèches. But our mission is to preserve objects that represent the material called the culture of the Polish people that settled in New England to show how the culture from which the parents came also how it was maintained how Polish artisans continued you know their talents here in New England so things that were produced here in New England but were learned

abroad in Poland this is our future collection here. There are different kinds of Polish histories from different parts of Poland and Maiden different kinds of ways. Most all of them are made in the batik method. I mean always. Going around giving lectures like lectures and on Polish culture history that sort of thing. But this one year has been a long time with a very close family member in Poland who was in a in a death camp during World War 2. Remember one day getting up put 9 in the morning and sitting with her till nine in the evening at the at the table. Why she would come to her. Her tale of like three was in three different camps the last from the socialists and she was used for medical experiments and the like so I think that particular year. And when I came back. Rather emotional. And them. I got off to JFK. I got out of JFK.

Got into a bus and the first thing I heard from the bus driver was a Polack you OK. And it struck me crazy and I neatly got a headache and it lasted a week. Do you have for a full shilling and that's what I said. Well you know if if you have a headache and it's bothering you that much I do something about it or you don't. And I decided that the best. Only those to change attitudes among my fellow Americans is through legends and tales. GQ you have are your own. We own more than we do your other sons. That's a song of an immigrant he's saying that he's leaving everything that he loves behind. You know there are a lot of things that you don't necessarily put into an hour of police into a suitcase you can bring with you to your new country. You know you put these things where you can't put it in you know in a suitcase you put them in

your heart and you carry them over to you in your country and if you're lucky the way I was you have parents who brought these things at the hearth and passed them on to you. I'm certainly not going to tell people how they should maintain their heritage. But I think young people should be encouraged to read about Poland. Encourage your informant to spend time one to one basis with your grandparents 30 great grandparents are all girls alone so don't talk about what it was like being Polish-American in America or made of their own. And these kids are interested here in what is really a part of their history and don't talk about just the bad stuff. Talk about my full length. I think when my grandparents came here like in the early 90s hundreds Thank you no wait thank you. Well the one thing that they had in common with each other was abuse

it while they were in America. That was of course American folk music that they that they enjoyed back then. I think that's the one thing that they had Ahmet davutoğlu on. My first memories of pop music back in Chicago where I was born and raised. My parents would take us to picnics at that particular time. I remember the first time I heard a band playing a live band. I was a must have been 4 years old 3 4 years old in that area and I just something got into me and I wanted to dance it's like someone crank me up and my feet started going and I just broke three hours today to come here today and there was no chance of that home today. I will drive three hours to go out tonight. It's the music of course but it's the camaraderie. It's just a way of life and it's just something that we've always known and we want our children to understand the traditions and understand

what a nice thing it is to do one nice way to be around people who like him just enjoy the greatest happy music. There's no silver age demographic. There was it's a kid from these guys too. Their grandmother usually comes out with us. It's just like keeping any traditional life. This is who we are. This is how we came to be. These are our roots. And hey this is the polka. The Polonaise originated in Poland in 15th 73 and was once the dance of kings queens and other nobility. It became the Polish national dance in 1790. The tradition of the ball at which this dance is featured began in Springfield Massachusetts in 1955.

This is something that I can do and this is ways that I can express myself in my culture and my voter's reverence mates on my mother's side but we practice it and for other people to like be aware that we are Polish I mean there's not a lot of people that know about the Polish heritage I think it's really important that people are recognizing this is known as a bar where you're introduced to society. You know you're with your father and that kind of shows like your childhood your upbringing and then he presents you to an escort which kind of you know you're growing up you know presented and presented in front of society. I would like my daughter if I hadn't someday follow in our footsteps.

You know I tried to do the Pawnees because it's an experience and hopefully she'll learn English heritage in the polls most important in my life. And I tried to instill that belief in my children whether I've been successful or not. I don't know I have four children. And I have tried to have them all learn published from childhood that has been an enormous failure. Nonetheless one of my daughter's plans to spend the summer in Poland. My older daughter was a chance to help us when she was in Europe last year so perhaps I haven't failed as completely as I thought. After the collapse of communism I went back to Pullman and you see and they demanded to get me bedmate new citizenship and they got it. The fall of communism along with new immigration

laws brought a new wave of immigrants to the Connecticut River Valley. We had rates of immigration coming into the U.S. in the 1990s that were very similar to the rates coming in at the turn of the century. So it's often referred to these immigration waves as the bookends of the 20th century. So the first decade and then the last decade roughly a million immigrants coming in a year in use of illegal immigrants. The community thrives as a result of this of this new blood a new immigrant has different needs than a fourth generation Polish American ethic. The new immigrant needs to learn English. New immigrant needs to learn to find a job. The need to understand the American system. Third generation Polish American already knows this right. What is a third generation fourth generation Polish American. If they are in the Polish American community well they need to retain some of their Polish identity. So they need to learn Polish if they don't know it at the Polaski Middle School in New Britain Connecticut more than 500 children attend a

special program called Saturday school where they learn Polish history geography dance and most importantly the Polish language. In a school is five hundred twenty students twenty four creatures such as in my heart they are here with me in the next generation. That's what the song everyone should be proud of their heritage. When we came over from Poland in the early 60s it was a different type of atmosphere where people were really kind of pushed more towards assimilating into the American culture. Now we hear more and more about cultural diversity. I think if you are aware of where you come from and where your family comes from that you

appreciate everybody else's heritage a little more also. Christmas is celebrated on Christmas Eve both in Poland and here in the Connecticut River Valley. Family and friends offer good wishes for the new year and will usually end the evening with just at midnight mass. It's one of our most wonderful traditions. The Apartheid symbolizes not wiping the slate clean. When you forgive anything that's happened during the year and you start the year afresh with every member of the family and in your heart. And I'd like to read a traditional Polish of what that blessing as well. I wish you health I wish you well that passes you know with time

May your heart be as patient as the earth you love as warm as harvest gold. May your days before as the city is full and your nights as joyful as dancers may your arms be as welcoming as home. May your faith be in Paris enjoying its God's love your spirit as valiant as your heritage and may or so be as brave as your people. A new people asked. Sharing stories always life in our valley is brought to you by the members of WGBH by the National and New England chapter of the question foundation proud to support the local Polish heritage celebration. Central Connecticut State University start with a dream finish with a future Polish

National Credit Union providing convenient friendly services to our members for over 80 years old National Alliance providing strength through unity for over one hundred twenty years. No no no no no no no no. Yes yes. RAZ Yeah. Home. I love she hand I love love yeah yeah now I'll settle. Yeah man.