You don’t need to have been born in Poland to be Polish. In fact, most of the members of the Polish diaspora around the globe – an estimated 20 million people – were born elsewhere, in countries as far and wide as the UK, US, Canada, Australia, South Africa, South America and the former USSR republics. It would be a real challenge to find a country with no Polish community at all and it’s fair to say that the mark Poles have left around the world has been overwhelmingly positive: who hasn’t heard of Kościuszko, Chopin, Puławski, Paderewski, Strzelecki or Skłodowska-Curie? Whilst many people might struggle with the pronunciation of their names, there should be no doubt in anyone’s mind that these Polish heroes are, well … Polish through and through.
The Polonia communities around the world are quite diverse, with people’s links to Poland often going back several generations. Take for example the Polish villages in Turkey, established by the Czartoryski family, where people speak a pure, antiquated version of Polish and hold onto the Polish culture, traditions and language in a way that makes this corner of the world frozen in time. There are also places in Brazil, Moldavia, Mongolia and the US, where – even after several generations – being Polish is still a meaningful, patriotic duty.
With the numerous waves of migration out of Poland, there are also those whose identities have blended in and disappeared into the dominant culture of their new home and there are those who only left Poland relatively recently, when the EU borders opened for people wanting to seek new opportunities. Many of them are young professionals, students or highly qualified tradespeople and for this cohort, a two-hour flight to Poland is easily conquered.
Whilst Poland has been focused on rebuilding its infrastructure, services and economy for decades now, the old, black and white image of Poland still lives on in some people’s minds. Today’s Poland is nothing like the post-war or the 1980s country displaced people and political refugees left behind. It’s a thriving economy, with a dynamic arts, culture and tech scene. Visually, Poland has also changed unrecognisably, as much effort has gone into preserving historical landmarks and developing new housing, shopping and office spaces across the country.
Is it any wonder that people want to reclaim their Polish citizenship in this climate of prosperity?
Poland has always had the law of blood in its legislation, ever since the first Act on Polish Citizenship was enacted in 1920. In most cases, to be able to reclaim your citizenship, you need to have only one direct Polish ancestor.
“I try not to judge people’s motivation for pursuing Polish citizenship through descent”, says Polaron’s founder, Eva Hussain. “Many of our clients start with very little knowledge about their Polish ancestors simply because they didn’t talk about it, either due to war-time trauma or efforts to integrate into their adopted country. Oftentimes, as displaced people, they had no documents and were too afraid to return to Poland, although they yearned for their motherland all of their lives. So we help our clients, the descendants of Poles, to reclaim their family’s past, not just citizenship. People we work with are very proud of their heritage. Many are young professionals, investors or early retirees, willing to contribute to Polish society, its culture and economy. Our research team searches high and low for evidence of ancestral links to Poland and documentation on which applications are based.”
Michael Grabowski, a Londoner whose grandparents were born in Kielce, says that going through the process of confirming his Polish citizenship through Polaron came with many unexpected benefits: “I’ve learned so much about my grandparents, especially my grandfather’s army service, something he just never talked about when he was still alive. I honestly had no idea he fought in the September 1939 campaign. My dad says he was a very humble and quiet man. Having this newfound knowledge makes me so proud of my heritage and I just regret that I never had the chance to hear it from him directly. I was only 2 when he died so all the information Polaron has acquired for me as part of the process brought me closer to him and my Polish roots in a way that is truly so special.”
Eva and her team at Polaron specialise in research focused on finding evidence of clients’ ancestral presence in Poland and submitting their applications to the Voivodeship Office, the processing body. “Because we guarantee the outcome of clients’ applications, we need to check each case very carefully to ensure eligibility. We essentially take all the pressure off people who may be time poor, not speak the language well or simply not be able to find relevant documentation.”
As Wanda Krol, another happy Polish citizen says, “The amount of paperwork we would need to organise was unsurmountable. I speak basic Polish but simply couldn’t progress my case on my own, even though we had my great grandmother’s Polish passport which we found in a draw by some miracle. I just hate dealing with bureaucrats and the language barrier was just too much for me. I must add here that having a Polish passport has been a blessing. Not only can I stay with my family in Poland for as long as I want to but my twin daughters are just about to start their master’s degrees, one in Sweden and one in Budapest. I think of our citizenship as the greatest gift my family could give me and my family. They left Poland with nothing and actually never went back, so I treat our citizenship with the respect and gratitude it truly deserves.”
Poles living in the UK, whether first generation or settled there decades ago, have found themselves in an unexpected and challenging position with Brexit.
Karolina Pollard, a mother of two and a part-time artist who came to the UK at the age of 14 explains: “I spent half of my life in Poland and certainly feel Polish, with all my family except for my siblings and parents still living in Poznań and Wrocław. But I was educated in London, married a Brit and had my children here so in a way I am more British than Polish. It feels strange now, with Brexit, to have to choose. We were settled here and it feels a bit like a rug was pulled from underneath us. My parents are engineers and have worked hard at establishing their careers here and have no intention of going back, now that they’re close to retirement. As for me, I am a bit torn and would probably go back but my partner is English and so are my children. Whilst they all speak some Polish – yes, including my husband – I think starting anew would be just so hard.”
Eva and her team at Polaron have worked with hundreds of people of Polish heritage in the UK. “Most of our clients are second, third or fourth generation British Poles but from time to time we take on cases of people who left Poland relatively recently, say in the 1980s. I find that many of them get a bit anxious about reclaiming their Polish citizenship. We help them overcome those barriers, whether emotional or bureaucratic.”
CS/BP
Polaron is holding a panel discussion on dual identity and citizenship on 15 October. To reserve your free spot, click here. Portal British Poles is a media patron of the event.
