Exiles and the Homeland: The State of Research

Abstract

The goal of this article is to outline the current state of historical research on interactions between Polish exiles, who after the end of the World War II decided not to return to Poland, now governed by communists and shifted a hundred miles westward, and Kraj (Homeland) as well as to point out directions for further research in this field. When referring to emigracja (exiles), I do not mean all Polish postwar migrants but only the minority of them who were politically active. As a consequence, the concept does not embrace entire emigre communities in particular countries of settlement. Instead, I adopt a relatively large definition of “political exiles” that includes not only, obviously, groups and organizations engaged in political activities related directly to the homeland, including the president and the government in exile; opposition political councils and committees; political parties active in exile; and the influential monthly magazine Kultura, edited by Jerzy Giedroyc in Paris or the Polish Section of Radio Free Europe (RFE). The concept also comprises emigre institutions and circles, which concentrated their activities mainly on internal affairs of the exile, for example, social organizations (especially veterans); the “pro-Homeland” (prokrajowy) initiatives; newspapers and publishing houses in exile; organizations providing material support for the Homeland as well as doing research on Homeland affairs. The concept of a “Homeland,” written always with a capital letter, was created by Polish emigres when Poland was occupied during World War II. From the beginning, the concept included Poles living in Poland or Polish society, resisting Nazi and communist oppression, but not structures of the state that existed abroad.