Silesian-Texans’ Memories as Recorded in Autobiographical Accounts

Abstract

The paper discusses the significance of immigrants’ memory in exile as well as its influence on the new lifestyle people have to adjust to in unknown surroundings. The author concentrates on a group of Silesian-Texans who left their homeland in Upper Silesia in the 19th century and found their first settlement in Panna Maria, Texas, USA. That emigration was a challenge for those migrants, and they had to go through difficult cultural, social and economic changes in the remote area. However, they never wanted to forget about their Silesian home. That is why they tried to preserve contact with their Polish families in the form of letters, short notes and stories. This paper analyses the unique autobiographical accounts which were used as the correspondence between the old homeland and new homeland for Silesian migrants. They were written mainly in the forms of letters, but there could also be found diaries and stories which depict their life in the USA. Those autobiographical accounts are based on migrant reality, without distorting it, thus presenting the devotion towards Polish and American culture, religion and society. The author of this paper explores the most crucial aspects of life for Silesian migrants which shaped their identity in the USA on the basis of the preserved materials and interviews.