Polish immigrants are losing Polish heritage -- a goal?

This news story about an American violinist performing at a Polish prison got me to thinking. Polish Radio said: 'Rachel Barton Pine has got Polish blood in her veins.Her great-grandparents on her father’s side had emigrated to America from Poland in their teens.'

'As most people of that generation, they wanted their children to become true Americans and so they did not pass on any Polish traditions to them. I’d like to learn as much as possible about Polish culture during my first visit to Poland,' she told the Polish Press Agency.

Did you parents also want you to lose your Polish idenity?

very often

thats just echo of inferiority complex that so many people here have;
many Poles think that it is this 'polish heritag'e that is reason why living in Poland is hellish for so many. therefore they get rid of that when they can.

remember - Poland is peasant country which elites were exterminated, we will see this crap for many years

Not only Poland, how about present-day Russia? When it was under the Czars, Russia had prosperous bourgoisie, many Jewish, then came the Communists and flattened out the country, eliminating difference, i.e cultivated URBANE personality!

Here's the right sequence.

Thank you, Sascha old man! Knew we'd see eye to eye sooner rather than later:-))

Sadly though, whilst many Commis too were Jews, even more of the Czarist Russian bourgeoise belonged to the same background. Therefore, once again the Jews became their own worst enemies, fighting against one another, instead of together.

I'm Sasha. :) Sascha nemec.


Very few. I can think of only Lev Shestov who had some levers to impact Russian society but he did that in very Russian manner.

Of course it depends on what we count as bourgeoise. After 1905 things have drastically changed. Every single member of some Russian parties were Jewish. For the Russians it was payback time.

If you have any link to provide me more info about tsarist Jewish bourgeoise please share. As far as I know the Jews in Russia was doing good at least until they came to power.


Well at first they were really unite and made good number of NKVD members (as well as in the government). But as Stalin came the number of Jewish people on executive positions in the NKVD began to sink slowly. It namely dropped from 38% in 1934 to 5% in 1941.

The number of Jews perished in camps compared to that of the Russians and other nationalities inhabited the USSR is insignificant.

Seriously? That's what your parents tell you?

One thing about Poles, is that when they come to America they assimilate.

I read the title and I knew without looking who wrote it. Sure sign that I need to spend less time here. ;)

And yet, there are countlless Polish clubs, groups, dance ensembles, sporting associaton (including Polish Yacht Clubs in Chicago and Detroit), parishes, puiblications, websites, etc., etc. all over the USA. They are by and large populated and promoted by US-born Polonians who participate by choice, not becuase they don't speak English.