EMIGRATION HISTORY

Crossing borders in order to emigrate to England has in Poland long history, which comprises a huge period of time, starting from World War the second to nowadays , new trends.

            First really significant settlement of Polish citizens in Britain occurred in the immediate aftermath, and as a direct result of, the war.

            When Soviet Union and Germany  both invaded Poland in 1939, the waves of population movement and displacement had broken out. Civilians from western and central Poland were sent to labour camps in Germany, and on the eastern side were deported to Siberia by Soviet troops.

For hundreds of thousands of people, therefore, their first experience of crossing international borders was one of force, fear and violence. The Polish Resettlement Act allowed Polish servicemen to demob in Britain.

            By 1951 there were over 160,000 Polish refugees settled in Britain, but very few of these people had wanted to leave Poland permanently and live abroad. Political decisions had dictated where they were to live the rest of their lives.

            Polish narratives of war and displacement are stories of border crossing of multiple borders. In oral history interviews the crossing of borders is presented as a symbol of survival. With each new border another danger had been overcome.

            The development of the Cold War in Europe had a profound impact on border crossing between Britain and Poland for both settled new emigrants. The border crossing represented a new experience – the opportunity to traverse the political barriers.

If refugee border crossing were about survival, the narratives of those leaving communist Poland were about getting the better and overcoming corruption. The political situation i communist Poland was very difficult. Many people who left Poland those days remember in their narratives such events like: ” anyone could open the letters. Even when you phoned, they could listen. If you spoke about politics you could get in troubles”

Migration away from Poland took a new dimensions again after the collapse of the communist regime in 1989. This time it was easier to leave. While emigration was legal, however, Polish immigration in Britain was not necessarily so straight forward. Legal status in Britain rested on the extention of short-term visas, official work offers or marriage. The economic pain pushed hundreds of thousands of Poles to emigrate.

            Until the accession of Poland into European Union in 2004, the issue of east European workers in Western Europe especially could be overlooked..

Still prejudices about Eastern Europe dominated press discussion, with the polish plumber quickly becoming the symbol of all that was unpalatable about the new Eastern Europe.

Chip flights, internet connections had all led to the notion that these new migrants are actually commuters rather than settlers, hoping over , rather than crossing. The Polish migrants in their narratives are not overjoyed to have to be away from home, pushed away by high unemployment and the struggle of daily life. They admit to feeling lonely without the people they have left behind.

             The difference in treatment between EU and non-EU members on arrival in Britain is quite stark.

            Polish workers are again being signalled as a problem in certain part of the british press- they might be white Christians, but they are still ”other”, still characterised as coming from a place that is backward and corrupt.

The anglo polish society  is a non-political and non- religious organisation. It exists to promote friendship and understanding between British and Polish people and to spread among the British public accurate information relating to Poland.

The Anglo Polish Society takes up the tradition of literary association of The Friends of Poland initiated by the poet Thomas Campbell in 1832.

At the time, after the unsuccessful uprising against Russian domination, a large number of Polish refugees landed in this country. To assist them, and to foster sympathy for the Polish cause, Campbell decided to form the Polish Association. ( Thomas Campbell, born in Glasgow, the eighth son of Alexander Campbell, known from works like Coleridge, The pleasures of Hope – where he championed the cause of the Poles).

The Anglo Polish Societies came into being during the last months of 1939 and Spring of 1940 as concrete expressions of comradeship-in-arms. They helped people who settled in Britain to find their place in the community and do whatever they could to present to the British public the true interests and aspirations of the Polish nation under Sovjet domination.

Unfortunatelly the society doesn't have a webside yet, so it is impossible to go througout and join online. We dont know how many members there are all together in England and especially in Bristol, which organised the exhibition in Exeter in October this year.

There is much said about the wartime and the migration due to political reasons those days, but there is not sufficiently commented how it does  look like nowadays. Which problems do the Polish people face in order to gan better economic condition. They assimiliate only partially, often surrouned by other Polish who work physically and have only pure contact to other British but only those they work with or for.

Perhaps the prejudices and bad opinion in press about Easteuropean causes the distance among them who were forced by economic reasons to settle down in Britain.