Polish Diaspora

Polish Diaspora abroad counts 15-20 mln people. Poles belong to the nationalities that have relatively high fraction of emigrants compared to the number of Poles that live in Poland (about 40 mln now, read more about it in the article: Poland - Basic Information - Facts - Statistics ). This is due to difficult Polish history, loss of independence, economical problems and due to the communism. The total numbers of Poles abroad are given in the article Polish Diaspora (Polonia) Worldwide .

Read more: Polish Emigration: Historical Review

This novel is based on stories Aloysius A. Lutz heard growing up in Dunkirk, New York, in the early 20th Century - stories he later told to his son, Richard.

The story's factual content reads like a documentary of ocean travel at the end of the 19th Century. The reader will become familiar with the details of traveling by sail in 1869 - the conditions of travel as well as the physical and emotional problems the passengers. The story is told mostly through the eyes of a newlywed couple, Paul Adamik and Jadwiga Wdowiak Adamik. At its beginning, she finds him, an obedient soldier in the Prussian army, intending to re-enlist, carry on his family's farming tradition, or accept an offer to become the caretaker of his German lieutenant's lands in occupied Poland. But she is a strong-willed fisherman's daughter from the Baltic coast, and she has different plans for him.

Read more: Jadwiga's Crossing - a Story of the Great Polish Migration: Book Review

I receive lots of email from people who are trying to find the location of the town or village in Poland where their ancestors came from. Sometimes people know the name of the settlement but it is misspelled, sometimes the name is correct but they do not know how to find the right search engine or website on the internet.

If you are not sure whether the spelling of the settlement is correct please post the message in our Polish Culture Forum so that we can help. It would also be very useful if you know the area of Poland where your ancestors came from, since some of the websites are easier to maneuver if you know the province but it is not necessary.

Read more: How to find the Family Nest: the Town or Village where your Family comes from

USA

According to the census 2000, American states with the largest numbers of Poles and Americans of Polish ancestry are New York (958,893), Illinois (946,241), Michigan (900,335), Pennsylvania (855,526), New Jersey (591,347), California (496,588), Wisconsin (481,779), Florida (430,138), Ohio (404,557), Massachusetts (349,998), Connecticut (278,010), Texas (234,861), Minnesota (222,997), Maryland (186,312), Indiana (164,587), Arizona (140,541), Virginia (112,658), Missouri (104,460) and Colorado (97,420). The city with the highest amount of Poles is Chicago - 1.8 millions. Chicago is the second largest "Polish" city in the world. Warsaw, Polish capital is the only city with more Polish residents. New York is on the second place with about 600,000 Polish American in metropolitan area and Detroit is the third with about a half of million. Click to the name of the town to access a link with more information about Polish immigrants.

Read more: Centers of Polish Immigration in the World: USA and Germany