Polonia in the Netherlands

Abstract

The mass influx of Poles to the Netherlands dates from 1908. The went there to seek job. At the end of the First World War there lived as many as ca 2000 newcomers from the Polish territory. A new wave of settlers arrived during the interwar years, settling mainly in Limburg, Amsterdam, Hague and Rotterdam. The number of Poles before the Second World War was ca 4000. After the war there arrived in the Netherlands mainly the demobilized Polish soldiers and refugees from Germany. In the 50s they numbered 10 000. The process of outflux of Poles from the Netherlands stopped as late as in the 80s. The Polish emigrants from the very beginning would set up their own trade unions and associations, social and cultural centres whose work was coordinated by the Alliance of Polish Societies (1930), which after the Second World War changed into the Union of Polish Catholic Societies. In the interwar period there was initiated the Polish periodical press and schooling. The Polish pastoral care has been working permanently in the Netherlands since 1928. The Polish Catholic Mission is established in four pastoral regions.