At midcentury, two distinct Polish immigrant groups-those Polish Americans who were descendants of economic immigrants from the turn of the twentieth century and the Polish political refugees who chose exile after World War II and the communist takeover in Poland-faced an uneasy challenge to reconcile their concepts of responsibility toward the homeland. The new arrivals did not consider themselves simply as immigrants, but rather as members of the special category of political refugees. They defined their identity within the framework of the exile mission, an unwritten set of beliefs, goals,...
At midcentury, two distinct Polish immigrant groups-those Polish Americans who were descendants of economic immigrants from the turn of the twentieth ...