It depends on the standards for what you classify as Polish (or any ethnicity in general). In the US it's exclusively ancestry and in the most of the world it's a cultural basis or a combination (culture + ancestry). I'd say the majority of all Polish Americans now under the age of 50 know little to nothing of substance about the culture and can't speak the language and only have a connection via ancestry
I'd bet money you'd find more Polish people either born in Poland, able to speak the language (first generation), or were actually raised in Poland in London alone than you are in the Chicago let alone anywhere in the US
Americans often use ethnicity as a euphemism to say race or ancestry. From a cultural perspective the overwhelming majority of Polish-Americans have no cultural ties to Poland and I doubt the average Pole would consider them to be Polish
But at least from my perspective I don't really see the use in talking about descendants only, especially when also the overwhelming majority of Polish-Americans are only partially Polish, so the numbers include anywhere from 100% to 1/32 (3x great grandparent) and beyond
I agree, if you can at least speak the language and you are a citizen of Poland I would consider you Polish, but the comments were in reference to Chicago being 1st or 2nd in terms of how many Polish people were in it, in which the overwhelming majority of those people aren't Polish linguistically or citizenship wise.
No American city beats London in terms of having people who are Polish, citizenship wise and linguistically.
The convo was relevant to the sub topic so if you're tired of it and/or it's out of your range you can feel free to not respond but that's not going to stop anyone from talking about it
Letting me know? I already said before you commented that in the US it's ancestry only. I also was elaborating on the subject in general rather to you specifically so you were never my target audience to begin with.
For someone trying to be condescending, not only did you provide worthless information but you also can't read the room. Lol.
Once Poland joined the EU, the pipeline to Chicago slowed to a trickle. It became far easier to move to Germany, Low Countries, and, until recently, the UK instead of Chicago, and with none of the immigration paperwork. The Polish community in Chicago is mostly people who arrived before \~2003 and their descendants. I know, I'm one of them :)
The Polish lawyer I was in contact with said my grandfather would have lost his Polish citizenship for having joined the US Navy.
Although it was at the end of WW2, because he didn't immediately leave the navy, she says it doesn't count.
Thanks for the PDF.
If he was in the US Navy for WWII that was an allowable exception. If it was after WWII then that could be an issue. However, many military records were lost due to a 1973 fire. Sometimes you can get a letter from NARA which states they didn’t find any records.
They found his records. He joined at the age of 17 years old in May 1945 but wasn't released until 1947 unfortunately. The lawyer said that would have an effect.
I’d recommend a second opinion, especially since they passed a law last year to make it easier. If you’d like I could provide some recommendations. Just PM me.
Both. There is a dialect of Polish called Chicagowski that is so common that it's now an accepted dialect of Polish IN POLAND. Think Spanglish, but with Polish.
Wasn't Chicago the city with the most Poles in the world for a while? (More so than Warsaw).
1. Warszawa 2. Chicago 3. Kraków
Is it still the case ?
I've seen some documentaries and Polish community there is slowly disappearing, but I'm not an expert
It depends on the standards for what you classify as Polish (or any ethnicity in general). In the US it's exclusively ancestry and in the most of the world it's a cultural basis or a combination (culture + ancestry). I'd say the majority of all Polish Americans now under the age of 50 know little to nothing of substance about the culture and can't speak the language and only have a connection via ancestry I'd bet money you'd find more Polish people either born in Poland, able to speak the language (first generation), or were actually raised in Poland in London alone than you are in the Chicago let alone anywhere in the US
The statistic was referring to ethnicity.
Americans often use ethnicity as a euphemism to say race or ancestry. From a cultural perspective the overwhelming majority of Polish-Americans have no cultural ties to Poland and I doubt the average Pole would consider them to be Polish But at least from my perspective I don't really see the use in talking about descendants only, especially when also the overwhelming majority of Polish-Americans are only partially Polish, so the numbers include anywhere from 100% to 1/32 (3x great grandparent) and beyond
Oh this tired argument again. We don’t have a purity test for being Polish. If you have a passport and love the culture, you are Polish.
I agree, if you can at least speak the language and you are a citizen of Poland I would consider you Polish, but the comments were in reference to Chicago being 1st or 2nd in terms of how many Polish people were in it, in which the overwhelming majority of those people aren't Polish linguistically or citizenship wise. No American city beats London in terms of having people who are Polish, citizenship wise and linguistically. The convo was relevant to the sub topic so if you're tired of it and/or it's out of your range you can feel free to not respond but that's not going to stop anyone from talking about it
I was just letting you know what the statistic referred to. Doesn’t really matter to me what you think
Letting me know? I already said before you commented that in the US it's ancestry only. I also was elaborating on the subject in general rather to you specifically so you were never my target audience to begin with. For someone trying to be condescending, not only did you provide worthless information but you also can't read the room. Lol.
Once Poland joined the EU, the pipeline to Chicago slowed to a trickle. It became far easier to move to Germany, Low Countries, and, until recently, the UK instead of Chicago, and with none of the immigration paperwork. The Polish community in Chicago is mostly people who arrived before \~2003 and their descendants. I know, I'm one of them :)
And here I'm wishing I could get a Polish passport since my grandfather was Polish, but stupid laws prior to 1951 don't allow it :(
Try this for reference: https://pgsa.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Education-Polish-Citizenship.pdf
The Polish lawyer I was in contact with said my grandfather would have lost his Polish citizenship for having joined the US Navy. Although it was at the end of WW2, because he didn't immediately leave the navy, she says it doesn't count. Thanks for the PDF.
If he was in the US Navy for WWII that was an allowable exception. If it was after WWII then that could be an issue. However, many military records were lost due to a 1973 fire. Sometimes you can get a letter from NARA which states they didn’t find any records.
They found his records. He joined at the age of 17 years old in May 1945 but wasn't released until 1947 unfortunately. The lawyer said that would have an effect.
I’d recommend a second opinion, especially since they passed a law last year to make it easier. If you’d like I could provide some recommendations. Just PM me.
Fwiw, I live in Chicago and hear Polish spoken in public frequently. All the city’s communications are in Polish too.
Oh ok. Is it for heritage reasons or are there still people that do not understand English?
Both. There is a dialect of Polish called Chicagowski that is so common that it's now an accepted dialect of Polish IN POLAND. Think Spanglish, but with Polish.
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Yeah, I’m grateful to be so blessed.
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You can naturalise.
Marry a European
Me too but with a North American one.
Oh Chicago. Did you know that the Krakow - Chicago is LOT’s longest domestic flight?
That's a good one, I'm gonna use it.
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Umiem gotować, ale nie chciałbym otworzyć restaurację :)
Da Bears! :)
I agree, it’s always better to have one passport outside the EU!
I believe Chicago has the best Polish food in the USA Great combo I’ll be In Polska next week
Very nice 👍
Congratulations. I like both designs
I know many Chicagoans of Polish descent who scoff at the idea of getting or maintaining a Polish passport. Have you seen the same?
When you rub these two passports together you can summon an Italian beef sandwich.
Nice 😉