diplomats, actors, and actresses, who had no chances for other employment in America.76 Hotels run by Poles in the Adirondacks and in Sea Cliff on Long Island served as other gathering places for the Polish elite of wartime New York.77
A particular brand of elitism, social self-sufficiency, and the belief that their sojourn in America soon would come to an end resulted in refugees having only limited contact with American Polonia. Gradually, refugees and Polish Americans came to know each other on several different levels. Concerns for the welfare of the refugees, Polonia’s humanitarian actions, and wartime political goals became the strongest catalysts for a closer relationship.
American Polonia and Polish Refugees during the War
As soon as the first news of the German attack on Poland reached the United States on September 1, 1939, Polish Americans manifested their support for the people of Poland. In a strong display of solidarity, Polonia organizations called for a united action on behalf of Poland. The Polish language press published a declaration, which proclaimed:
At this historic moment the Polish American Council calls all in whose veins Polish blood flows to mobilize their moral forces, to free all their spiritual powers, to focus their thoughts and will in one direction—the victory of Poland. All of Polonia in the United States, whose sons shed blood in the battle to regain independence, stands by the Homeland in this decisive struggle. We call all countrymen to unite their hearts and minds. We call all of Polonia to a great deed.78
Both the rhetoric and the spirit of the declaration signified a full return to the ideals of the exile mission in its familiar formulation from the turn of the century and the World War I years, when American Polonia claimed the cause of a free Poland as its most important objective. The call to unite and to sacrifice in the struggle for Poland revived the patriotism of Polish Americans and focused their attention on the cause of the homeland.
The response to the call was immediate, and the unification of efforts instantaneous. Rada Polonii Amerykańskiej (Polish American Council), a Polish-American charitable organization, underwent a quick reorganization in order to provide the homeland with humanitarian aid in the most effective way.79 The multitude of existing Polish-American organizations and parishes as well as the special relief committees that instantly sprang up in Polonia, comprised its ranks. At an extraordinary meeting on October 19, 1939, the Polish American Council, headed by Francis X. Świetlik, dean of the law school at Marquette University and censor of the Polish National Alliance, united all Polonia’s relief efforts under its auspices.80
Numerous demonstrations, public meetings, and solemn masses manifested American Polonia’s moral support for the Polish nation. At the conventions of several major fraternals in the fall of 1939, eloquent declarations of support and flaming manifestos entwined with spontaneous collections of donations and the formation of permanent administrative structures to coordinate humanitarian and political work. An important part of this undertaking focused on drawing the attention of the media and politicians to Poland’s plight and gaining the support of the American public and the government. For example, Polonia mobilized its members through a letter-writing campaign to support Franklin Roosevelt’s measures to assist the Allies, despite the official pronouncement of neutrality by the United States.81
Some initiatives spontaneously adopted at the outset of the war ended in failure. Collections for the Fundusz Obrony Narodowej (FON, or National Defense Fund) for Poland had to stop immediately after the American government announced its neutrality. Information centers, intended to disseminate news about the situation in Poland, turned out to be short lived for lack of organizational and financial support. Finally, efforts to recruit Polish Americans for a specially created military force patterned after Haller’s Army of World War I failed to receive enough support. Reflecting internal transformations within Polonia in the 1930s, the response to the idea of a new Polish-American legion in 1939 was weak.82
The neutrality pronouncement by the United States dictated the main focus of Polonia’s activities, which for years to come would concentrate on humanitarian aid. As Teofil A. Starzyński, president of the Polish Falcons (Sokół) fraternal, stated in September 1939, Polonia fully understood and accepted its position, but did not rule out the possibility of change in the future. “Poland does not need our blood yet,” his declaration read, “but when she calls for it, we will offer it willingly. Today we need rather financial aid and help in propagating the Polish question in the American public opinion. Such aid we must provide.”83 Rada, the American Red Cross, and countless local relief committees received an outpouring of donations from individuals, parishes, and organizations. In mid-October 1939 the PNA leadership gave the American Red Cross a check for $150,000 for relief work in Poland. The PNA and many other organizations announced a five-cent monthly tax on each member for the exclusive purpose of aid to Poland. The Polish Women’s Alliance, gathered at its national convention in September 1939, proclaimed that “the entire Polish Women’s Alliance in America and all its parts . . . turned into one, huge Relief Committee” and vowed to focus all its efforts on the work for Poland.84 In Chicago a group of Polish second-generation women, mostly recipients of stipends from the Kosciuszko Foundation, created Legion Młodych Polek (Legion of Young Polish Women) under the leadership of pianist Adelina Preyss. They systematically volunteered in the American Red Cross and carried out fund-raising activities. Within two weeks from the inception of the legion, its membership had grown to one hundred women.85
Most of the funds collected by the Polish-American community were at the disposal of Rada, which based its organization on a network of thirty-six regional districts. By the spring of 1940, its leaders announced that the organization had collected more than $500,000; by the end of the year, Rada was gathering approximately $60,000 per month.86 In the financial report prepared for the 1942 convention, Rada made accessible a detailed account of all the donations received between May 1, 1941, and September 30, 1942. Day after day, name after name, Rada documented the financial effort of the Polish population, whose individual donations ranged from one dollar to several thousand.87 All in all, between November 1, 1939, and September 30, 1942, Rada collected some $1,600,000.88
Cooperating closely with the American Red Cross and the New York-based Committee for Polish Relief, headed by former U.S. president Herbert Hoover, Rada worked to overcome difficulties of access to occupied Poland. Although it was impossible to deliver any assistance to the Soviet zone of occupation or to the Polish population deported to Siberia, some goods were shipped to the German-occupied areas of Poland until the spring of 1940. Rada also provided humanitarian aid to Polish civilian refugees in Romania, Hungary, Lithuania, France, Switzerland, and Britain, as well as to Polish soldiers and officers in German POW camps. After the outbreak of war between Germany and the Soviet Union, followed by Soviet entry into the Allied camp, Rada was able finally to reach Polish deportees in Russia. Assistance also was extended to the Anders Army and to refugees scattered in the Middle East, Africa, and India.89
After Pearl Harbor, Rada Polonii Amerykańskiej coordinated its activities with the national war effort. As Polish War Relief, Rada became a chartered member of the National War Fund, which after 1943 consolidated all fund drives.90 Despite difficulties, Rada managed to send Polish POWs in Germany approximately twelve thousand food packages a month.91 When the Allied invasion of Normandy disrupted delivery of the humanitarian aid in Europe, Rada focused on Polish refugees in different parts of the world, including Egypt, Kenya, Rhodesia, Uganda, Tanganyika, Palestine, and Mexico. Rada continued its activities after the war, becoming American Relief for Poland in 1946. According to Świetlik’s detailed report presented at Rada’s convention in Buffalo in December 1948, between October 1939 and October 1948, Rada had distributed the staggering total of $20 million in humanitarian aid.92
Throughout the war, Rada systematically informed Polonia of the plight of Polish refugees. Its publicity efforts were a continuation of a larger propaganda action coordinated by Community and War Chests
