Polish Immigration to the U.S. After WWI

Recent Immigrants from Poland Settled in Eastern Cities

Dec 5, 2009
Katharine Garstka

Polish Emigrant Boarding Ship - George G. Bain, Library of Congress

More than 9.5 million people in the United States claimed Polish ancestry on the 1990 census; 90 percent of those lived in cities.

Several large waves of immigrants from Poland before the First World War were responsible for the settlement of certain farming areas in the U.S., and they aided in the development of industries in Chicago and other northeastern cities. However, during and after the war, immigration to the U.S. slowed to a crawl.

Polish Emigration after the First World War

Immigration was impossible during war time, but after the war had concluded, a number of other reasons explain the lack of immigration. For one thing, for the first time since 1772, an independent Poland had been re-established. This new independence caused a significant number of Poles to stay in their homeland, since they no longer had to deal with occupying powers. Another cause of the lack of immigration into the U.S. was the restrictions place on immigration in general during this time.

Starting in 1921, the United States Congress began passing laws limiting the number of immigrants. A national-original quota system was instituted that year, in which the total number of immigrants from a specific country was limited. Originally 3% of those listed on the 1910 census, it was later revised to 2% of the population in 1890.These laws favored immigration from northern European nations. By 1929 there was an annual maximum of 150,000, with southern and eastern Europeans accounting for only 30%. The result of all these restrictions was to drastically reduce immigration into the U.S. from Poland and other eastern European countries.

Another factor in the 1930s was the Depression, which affected not only the U.S., but Europe, as well. With little money for passage to America, and no guarantee of finding work in the new land, there were fewer incentives to emigrate.

Still, some Poles did emigrate during those years. The U.S. accepted a number were dissidents and political refugees who were fleeing communism as well as poverty at home. And even though the number was significantly reduced, by 1930 Polish immigrants and their children had replaced Germans as the largest ethnic group in Chicago.

Polish Emigration after the Second World War

After World War II, Polish immigrants streamed into the United States once more. U.S. immigration regulations were amended; more than 190,000 Polish political exiles and displaced persons were admitted to the U.S. 1945 to 1969.

Between 1965 and 1990 about 178,000 Poles entered the U.S. as legal immigrants, with many others carrying nonimmigrant temporary visas. Many of these visitors obtained jobs and stayed. In the years following, immigrants from Poland left for both political and economic reasons.

What Does This Mean for Genealogists?

Hundreds of thousands of Poles who came to the U.S. after World War I and II were admitted using quotas. Depending on the time period and the legislation current at the time, they may have had to meet various conditions, such as claiming political refugee status, or proving that they had jobs, money, or family members already living in the United States.

Ellis Island

From 1899 to 1931, Ellis Island processed more than 1.5 million legal Polish immigrants; others arrived at other ports. Most of the more recent immigrants settled in eastern cities and towns, especially Chicago. Thus ship manifests and Ellis Island records are important sources for tracing these ancestors, as well as naturalization records and alien registration documents. The researcher should bear in mind that ship manifests may show a variety of spellings, both of first and last names, and that many people changed their own names shortly after arrival. (Immigration officials did not change names.) Consider, too, that during the many years in which Poland was an occupied territory, Polish names may have been recorded in their Russian, German, or Latin equivalents. A man named Jozef living in Russian-occupied Poland, for example, could have had his name written as Osip in official documents. The Polish name Zofia, when written in Latin records, would be Sophia.

Other Sources for Polish Genealogical Records

Other U.S. sources to search include World War II draft records, since aliens as well as citizens were required to register. Naturalization records, generally filed at local courthouses, can provide a wealth of information to the genealogist. While those records should still be available in many courthouses, they can also be ordered from the National Archives and Records Administration.

Although the majority of Poles who immigrated to the U.S. were Roman Catholics, they didn’t join established churches for very long. Shortly after arrival, they built Polish Catholic churches in every city and town where they settled. Polish church and cemetery records are thus valuable sources for Polish family history.