Polonia and Polish emigration in Polish communist propaganda

Anna Reczyńska

pp. 91-99

in: Stanislav J. Kirschbaum (ed), Historical reflections on central Europe, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 1999

Abstract

From the moment there was a break in Polish-Soviet relations in April 1943, Polish Communists denied the Polish government-in-exile the right to represent Polish interests and also the right to return to Poland after the war.¹ However, the Communist authorities that came to power in Poland in mid-1944 had to work out a policy with regard to the great masses of refugees, the soldiers fighting in the west, and the Polonia (the term denotes Poles and people of Polish origin living abroad) circles created by the "old", pre-war, emigration. The latter backed the Polish government in London and collaborated with it during the war. Winning the support of at least part of the Polish community in exile gave the Polski Komitet Wyzwolenia Narodowego (Polish Committee of National Liberation), the first Polish Communist government, at least the weight of partial legitimisation. This chapter looks at how the Communist Polish government approached the issue of Polish emigration in the post-war years.