The Exile History Review

Croats in Emigrant Organizations from Central and Eastern Europe during the First Half of the Cold War: International Peasant Union and Anti-Bolshevik Bloc of Nations

2024-12-02T15:59:05+01:00

Based on relevant literature, emigrant press and Croatian archival sources, the paper presents and compares the activities and the attitudes of Croatian political emigrants in organizations of emigrants from Central and Eastern Europe in the period of the first half of the Cold War from 1945 to the end of the 1960s. Two main groups were active within the Croatian political emigration at that time. One group was gathered around the leadership of the Croatian Peasant Party, the strongest Croatian pre-war party, while the other group was made up of former members of the Ustaša movement, the Nazi war ally. Members of both groups had to go into exile at the end of the Second World War as opponents of the new communist regime. By coming into exile, they very quickly began to connect with other political emigrants from the countries of Central and Eastern Europe on an anti-communist basis. The group gathered around the Croatian Peasant Party found its activities within the International Peasant Union and organizations sponsored by American Free Europe Committee, while the group close to the Ustaša movement found its platform for action in the Anti-Bolshevik Bloc of Nations. The aim of this paper is to contribute to a better understanding of the history of Central and Eastern Europe, especially the Cold War activities of political emigrants from that area, through the activities of Croatian emigrants within international emigrant organizations.

“The Goal and the Way” – the Polish Socialist Party (PPS) in Exile

2024-12-02T16:02:10+01:00

The article is devoted to the activity of the Polish Socialist Party (Polish abbreviation: PPS) in exile in the years 1945–1989. The political goals of the Polish emigration and the activities of the Polish Socialists are presented in this context. The differences in the strategy of the various political centers, as well as the possibilities of using the Socialist International (SI), including the Socialist Union of Central-Eastern Europe (SUCEE) for the “Polish cause” are also outlined. The point was to ensure that the problem of the countries behind the Iron Curtain did not disappear from the international agenda. The article presents the differing approaches of the main ideologues of the Polish socialist movement (Zygmunt Zaremba and Adam Ciołkosz) to the changes in Poland after 1956. The essence of the dispute at the time was the answer to the question of whether the Polish political system was subject to evolutionary transformation towards democracy, or whether the communist system was inherently undemocratic and therefore any changes were merely cosmetic. Both activists personified the argument – which gained most notoriety in the 1960s in the West – assuming a gradual convergence between capitalist and communist societies. Ultimately, history conceded the point to Ciołkosz, who said that “liberalisation of the communist dictatorship is impossible” and that the goal of socialists in exile is “its liquidation.”

Scouting in the USA in the Light of Socio-cultural Changes in the Polish Emigrant Community

2024-12-02T16:03:53+01:00

Scouting – at first, Polish scouting – appeared in the USA already before the First World War, mainly thanks to its founder, Andrzej Małkowski. Nevertheless, its heyday came in the interwar period, when the American-Polish community realized that it could become an effective tool for promoting Polish culture and interest in the land of their forefathers among Polish youth. After a pause caused by the Second World War, scouting activity resumed, but in a completely different form, i.e. as part of the post-war political and pro-independence emigration, which aimed to rebuild a sovereign Polish state, then in the Soviet sphere of influence. American scouting was then – as a US division – part of the Polish Scouting and Guiding Association (ZHP), which was temporarily active outside Poland and had its structures in several countries around the world. Politically and culturally oriented, and varied in form, the activities of post-war scouting have left a lasting mark in the USA. Among other things, it contributed to slowing down the assimilation of American Poles into the culture of their country of settlement and formed many outstanding social activists, such as leaders at various levels in the structures of the Polish American Congress. However, in the 21st century, it is facing more and more obstacles due to the decreasing number of Polish emigrants and the progressive assimilation of the younger generation of Poles into the culture of the country of settlement. The key process that determined the shape of the scouting movement in this country turned out to be the situation, structure, interests and values of the old and new emigration, as well as the evolution of its ideology and sense of national identity. Nevertheless, despite the difficulties, the ZHP USA continues to operate.

A “Clash of Definitions”? Polish Émigré Scholars and the Cold War Discourse of Western Civilization

2024-12-02T16:05:46+01:00

In the course of the twentieth century, the idea of “the West” as a community of shared cultural values acquired fundamental importance in international politics. What constitutes the identity of this community and how exactly its geographical scope should be defined has often been a matter of debate. This article examines how Polish scholars, who spent part of their academic careers in Cold War America and opposed the communist regime in their homeland, participated in such debates and how they imagined the relationship between Poland and “the West”. Focusing on three individual cases representing different generations of the émigré community, the article shows to what extent Polish émigré scholars’ ideas about the identity of “the West” were compatible with contemporary American discourse, how they were related to concepts of “modernization,” and how they evolved in the context of generational change.

Care for Civilian and Military Refugees in the South of France 1939–1940. Cooperation between the Polish Consulate in Marseille and the Polish Red Cross – Case Study

2024-12-02T16:09:02+01:00

The aim of this article is to present the care of civilian and military refugees in the years 1939–1940 with the cooperation of the Polish Consulate in Marseille and the Polish Red Cross (PCK). Providing assistance to refugees was one of the key elements of the work carried out by both the Consulate and the PCK. It required considerable flexibility and action on many levels. Until June 1940, most of the care work was carried out by the Consulate. It was only after the defeat of France and the establishment of the PCK delegation in Marseille that responsibilities were divided. The main concern was to raise funds, set up shelters and provide medical care. It would not have been possible to obtain shelters for refugees if it had not been for the cooperation of the Consulate and the PCK with the local authorities. Until June 1940, the attitude of the French authorities towards Polish refugees was more favorable than after the defeat of France. As of September 1940, the Consulate ceased to function and was replaced by the Polish Office (Biuro Polskie), which began cooperating with the PCK delegation in Marseille.

Antoni Herkulan Wróbel OFM (1934–2023)

2024-12-02T16:10:35+01:00

Preface

2024-12-16T10:50:02+01:00