Cultural diversity in Poland has been greatly influenced by its geographical location, history, and interactions with other countries. Over the centuries this has fostered a blend of influences from neighboring countries and various ethnic groups. While the majority of the population is Polish, Poland is also home to notable minority communities such as Ukrainians, Belarusians, Germans, and Roma, each adding to the country’s diversity through their unique traditions, languages, and customs. However, Poland is not the only place where Poles can be found. With approximately 20 million Polish-born citizens and individuals of Polish descent living across the globe, it ranks among the largest and most widespread diasporas. Reasons for migration do vary and include, but are not limited to border shifts, voluntary and involuntary exile, as well as economic or political reasons. We do want to note that we will not be able to cover all communities in and outside of Poland in this section, but we hope to highlight the lives and accomplishments of some of the ones that you may be familiar with as well as some that you may be learning about for the first time.
Minorities in Poland
Ukrainians
The Polish government currently officially recognizes thirteen ethnic minorities. Among them, Armenians, Belarussians, Czechs, Lithuanians, Germans, Russians, Slovaks, and Ukrainians are associated with national communities in nearby European and Eurasian nation states. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the Ukrainian population residing in Poland has risen dramatically as refugees have relocated to the country. There are currently just under a million registered asylum seekers. Even before the outbreak of war, however, around a million Ukrainians, primarily economic migrants, already lived and worked in Poland. The numbers of ethnically Ukrainian Polish citizens prior to the economic transformations of the 21st century, however, was relatively low. The heightened visibility of Ukrainian culture (including Ukrainian language signage in major cities) in Poland is therefore a very new phenomenon.
Łemko
Łemko women from the village of Krościenek Wyżny (located in southeastern Poland) photographed in the interwar period. Photo sourced from the Polish National Digital Archive (3/1/0/12/298).
The Łemko minority (with a 2011 population of 9,641), is a subset of the Rusyn ethnic group, presents a complex historical case. Originally resident in what are now Polish/Ukrainian/Slovak mountainous border regions, the Łemkos, were forcibly relocated to Ukraine by Soviet authorities during WW2. After the war, they were one of many communities impacted by (again) forced relocations from Poland’s east (which was taken over by the USSR) to the ziemie odzyskane (reclaimed lands), that is, post-war Poland’s Western and Northern regions that were German lands before the war. These relocations impacted the cultural cohesion of the Łemko minority since the population was no longer centralized, but scattered in new, unfamiliar lands. By the 1980s, however, Łemko groups had organized and raised awareness. There are now schools in Poland that teach the Łemko language, which is also used in public life in areas inhabited by the Łemko (in the interwar period, schooling in Łemko regions was conducted entirely in Łemko). An open-air museum of Łemko Culture was also created in the Podkarpacie region, where the majority of Łemkos originally lived.
Romani
Poland is also home to a significant Romani population (as of the 2011 census, 16,725 Polish citizens identify as Romani, and around 20,000 use the Romani language). The first Romani (known as Romowie in Polish) arrivals in Polish territory were documented in the early 15th century, near Kraków. The Romani first arrived from the southern Carpathian regions of neighboring countries, but large influxes of Romani populations also arrived from 15th and 16th century Germany, after anti-Romani legislation pushed the group to flee east. The Romani situation in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was also difficult, as the Romani were expected to conform to local customs or faced banishment. In 1791, however, the sejm (parliament) issued an act that revoked previous anti-Romani legislation and allowed the Romani to live freely in the Commonwealth. The more progressive situation, however, was short lived, since the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was soon to be partitioned. During the interwar period, Romani national identity in Poland flourished and a succession of Romani kings was chosen to lead the group. WW2 would prove deadly for the European Romani, including Polish populations, as the group was targeted for genocidal extermination by the Nazis. Unfortunately, discriminatory treatment of this ethnic group extends into the postwar period (with enforced integration) and the postsocialist period.
Tatars
The Tatars (as of the 2011 census, 1,828 Polish citizens identify as Tatar) are in turn a Muslim Turkic group that began settling in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the late 14th century and moved to the Commonwealth’s southern reaches from Crimea. The Tatars (Tatarzy in Polish) were primarily members of the Mongolian Golden Horde who remained in the region after the Mongolian invasions of the 14th century. In the next centuries, various Tatar groups went on to inhabit the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in regions now located in Belarus and Ukraine. Relatively few members of this group found themselves in Poland after WW2. In contemporary Poland, the Tatar language is considered extinct, though some efforts have been made to resuscitate Tatar language use in recent years. Muslim religious organization, however, remain active among the Tatars.
Olgierd Najman-Mirza-Kryczyński, a Polish Tatar who was a social and cultural activist in the interwar period. A member of the Polish intelligentsia, he was killed by the notorious Soviet security agency, the People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs (known in Polish as NKWD) in 1941. Photo sourced from the Polish National Digital Archive (3/1/0/6/2336).
Jewish Communities in Poland
According to 2011 census data, around 7,500 people officially identify as Jewish in Poland today. Although the number of Poles with Jewish heritage is likely much higher, these numbers pale in comparison to the millions of Jews that once called Polish lands home.
Indeed, Jewish people first had contact with Polish territory some time around the 10th century, with more permanent settlements appearing in the 12th century. Persecuted in and expelled from other European lands, Jews were able to settle in Poland in general peace, guaranteed religious freedom, security, and relative autonomy by various Polish kings. Although they faced discrimination and sometimes violence from the Roman Catholic community around them, Jews would soon develop major centers of life in the region that would become an integral part of the Polish landscape.
Henryk Hochman’s Admission of Jews to Poland in the Middle Ages, a bas-relief that can be found in Kazimierz, Kraków. It depicts an angelic figure, wearing King Kazimierz III Wielki’s (Casimir III the Great; r. 1333-1370) crown, welcoming Jews to Poland. King Kazimierz encouraged Jews to settle in Poland, confirming and expanding their rights. Photo by Alicia Baca.
By the 16th century, Poland was the capital of Jewish culture, scholarship, and spirituality. This prosperity wouldn’t last—religious persecution would soon increase and the declining political situation in the Commonwealth caused lots of instability in the region. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth would, of course, find itself partitioned by Austria, Prussia, and Russia, much of its Jewish population now part of the Russian Empire, these communties’ rights severely restricted. But Jewish life continued to develop in the region and when Poland regained independence in 1918, around 8% of the population of the Second Republic was Jewish.
This population and its culture was nearly completely annihilated during the Holocaust, during which three million Polish Jews were murdered. Rounded up, forced into ghettos and concentration camps, killed in extermination camps or shot in streets, homes, or forests, ninety percent of the Jewish population of Poland was systematically destroyed by the Nazis and their collaborators. Post-war violence and discrimination, from the Kielce pogrom of 1946 to the so-called anti-Zionist campaign of 1968, reduced the number of Jewish people in Poland even further, as thousands fled the country in fear for their safety.
The memorial honoring the victims of Treblinka extermination camp, where hundreds of thousands of Jewish people were killed in gas chambers. Photo by Diana Sacilowski.
Since the collapse of Communism, however, a surge of interest in Jewish culture has appeared in Poland, occasioning a kind of Jewish “renaissance” or “return,” as some scholars call it. An explosion of memorials, commemorative events, museum exhibits, conferences, festivals, literature, art, etc., all dealing with Poland’s Jewish history, has emerged in recent decades, as many now embrace and celebrate Poland’s multi-ethnic, multi-religious past. In such an environment, more and more Poles are discovering Jewish roots or even choosing to convert to Judaism. While there never can be a true revival of exactly what once was, Jewish life has been revitalized to some extent in the country, once again helping to shape Polish culture and identity, as it had for a thousand years before.
The POLIN Museum in Warsaw is not only a product of Poland’s Jewish “revival,” but has also greatly contributed to it, teaching thousands of visitors about the history of Polish Jews. Photo by Diana Sacilowski.
The Polish Diaspora Abroad
Poles in the United States
A statue of Kazimierz Pułaski in Washington D.C. Photo by APK, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Poles have lived in the United States since before there was a United States. As noted in the history section, Kazimierz (Casimir) Pułaski and Tadeusz (Thaddeus) Kościuszko, even participated in the Revolutionary War, contributing to the fight for American independence. Today, those two figures stand as key symbols for Polish Americans—streets throughout the country bear their names, monuments have been built in various states to honor them, and landmarks and cultural institutions have been named after them. In 1929, Congress even declared October 11 to be “General Pulaski Memorial Day” and Polish-American parades are held in various cities (either in October or in March around his birthday) to honor not only his legacy, but to celebrate Polish-American heritage more generally.
The Kościuszko bridge in New York City. Photo by Edom31, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
This heritage, however, owes much of its identity not to those who came during the Colonial Era, but to the major wave of Polish immigration that occurred in the late 19th to early 20th centuries, during which approximately 1.5-2 million ethnic Poles settled in the United States (Daniels). A period of migration that has become known as za chlebem, or “for bread,” many of those who emigrated from partitioned Poland at this time were poor peasants in search of better economic opportunities. Settling primarily in the “rust belt,” i.e. in industrial hubs in the Northeast and Midwest like Pittsburgh, Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, and Buffalo, they took manual labor jobs in steel mills, mines, and slaughterhouses, often sending money to family back home. Many planned to return back to Poland, but most did not, settling in the United States permanently.
Two other, smaller waves of immigration of Poles to the U.S. occurred, after World War II and then again after the fall of Communism in 1989. Individuals of both waves gravitated towards cities like Chicago and New York, some taking on work in factories and construction, others taking on more white-collar roles. After Poland joined the European Union in 2004, immigration to the U.S. fell, most Poles choosing to emigrate to other European countries, if at all.
Despite this, Polonia, the name of the Polish American community, is flourishing, with around 8 million Americans claiming Polish heritage today. Museums and festivals honoring Polish culture can be found throughout the country, while various Polish traditions—such as foods like pierogi (filled dumplings), pączki (doughnuts), and kiełbasa (sausage)—have become fixtures of American life. Chicago continues to be a major hub of Polish American culture, as is the New York metropolitan area, but smaller communities exist throughout the United States. Given how important Roman Catholicism has been to Polish identity, Polish American populations are often centered around Roman Catholic churches, which offer Polish-language religious services. Other Polish businesses can usually be found in such neighborhoods, including stores, delis, restaurants, and butchers. Many of these communities also have access to Polish Saturday schools, where children can enroll to learn Polish language, history, and culture and keep their heritage alive.
A Polish deli in Maspeth, NY. It is located down the street from Holy Cross Roman Catholic Church, which offers services in Polish. There is also a K-12 Polish Saturday school around the corner. You’ll notice, too, that the street that the deli is located on is co-named Pope John Paul II Way, in honor of a man who many consider one of the most important Polish figures in history. Photo by Diana Sacilowski.
Poles of the Nordic Region
Aerial view of Reykjavik, Iceland from Hallgrimskirkja. Photo by Alicia Baca.
It should be noted that when we are talking about the Nordic region, we are not just covering Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, but Åland, the Faroe Islands, Finland, Greenland, and Iceland as well. In particular, Iceland has seen the greatest increase in Polish immigrants in recent history following the end of socialism. Many of the Poles who moved to Iceland did so for work opportunities and better pay in the building and fishing industries, albeit there is a pattern of circular migration where they will migrate to work and then return home. As of 2023, over 22,000 people of Polish descent make up Iceland’s immigrant population thus making them the largest non-Icelandic community and 5% of the overall population on the island.
While opportunities for work have been the most popular reason for moving to Iceland, Poles have also been influential figures in cultural exchange between the two nations. Composer Bohdan Wodiczko was one such individual and even received the Order of the Falcon for his contributions to Icelandic culture. Ewa Marcinek is another Polish-Icelander who has made contributions to literature and theater on the island. Her debut book Polishing Iceland (Ísland pólerað) is an autobiographical collection of stories, poems, memories, and observations of her life as an immigrant in Iceland. She is also one of the co-founders of the Reykjavik Ensemble which is Iceland’s first independent international theater company that gives artists a professional theatre platform where their works can be celebrated regardless of origin or native language.
Norway has also experienced a situation like that of Iceland with Poles also being their largest immigrant population. As of 2023 over 108,000 Poles live in Norway making up 2% of its overall population. However, Norway has been home for some much longer than Iceland. Poles began to move to Norway during the 19th century following the partitions of Poland. Sweden is also another country that has had a large Polish population with over 115,000 Poles living there. Several cultural organizations such as the Polish Institute and the Polish Cultural Association are active in the country.
Latin American Poles
Like the Nordic region Latin America has also seen a great influx of Polish immigrants over the course of its history. Since the 19th century many countries including Argentina and Mexico have been the home of Polish communities. Many immigrants wanted to seek new opportunities, adventure around the continent’s wilderness, or escape political oppression. Argentina currently has the largest number of Polish immigrants or people of Polish origin or descent in Latin America with a population of over 2,000,000. Polish immigration to Argentina began in the late 19th century, with a significant increase in the early 20th century. Poles migrated to Argentina to seek new economic opportunities and political asylum. The Polish community in Argentina established social groups, churches, and educational institutions to continue the legacy of their heritage, language, and customs.
‘Untitled’ by Bernice Kolko, photo: courtesy of Fundación Zúñiga Laborde A.C. (Mexico).
While cultural relations between Poland and Mexico date back to the times of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth the most recent wave of Polish immigration to Mexico dates to the early 20th century when many Poles, particularly Polish Jews, fled Europe. During World War II Mexico welcomed over 2,000 Polish refugees in 1943 who settled in the state of Guanajuato. It is estimated that around 3,500 Polish citizens were residing in Mexico during that period, and of that community, about 95% were Jewish. Following the war, a substantial number of these refugees chose to stay in Mexico, settling in different regions and adding to the country’s social, religious, and cultural diversity. One noteworthy individual is photographer Bernice Kolko who settled in Mexico during the 1950s. During her time there, she became a close friend of Frida Kahlo and documented the last moments of the artist’s life. Kolko also undertook a creative project of her own where she captured portraits that depicted Mexican women conducting their daily tasks amidst their fight for voting rights, which they finally achieved in 1953.
For further reading on this topic, visit the Introduction to Poland Resource Guide.