The Problems of the Young Polish-Emigration Generation

Abstract

The author states that a typical trait of the present Polish emigration is that it makes a profile of the whole society as far as its social, professional, demographic, and territorial aspect is concerned. Its greater part, however, consists of young people or middle-aged persons. In the period of 1971 to 1988 there left Poland ca 75,000 thousand people and went to West Germany.

Polish emigration has acquired now a mass character and in some regions (Opolean Silesia) of the country the demographic and social-professional structure has been shaken. The opinions about Poles in different western countries ere shaped by the so-called tourists. They make the greatest part of emigrants who go abroad for a short time and very often stay there longer to earn money. Their existence is often uncertain when it comes to the right to stay in the given country, job, flat, the knowledge of the language, contact with their country, so they are subject to very serious stresses. Those stresses are increased by the fact that these people usually change their system of values on which their hitherto life was based. Quite naturally, financial problems are the most important here. Those people who live in transition camps waiting for the departure to other countries have to cope with an extremely difficult situation.

The young generation of emigrants is, at first, fascinated by their own cars, but then they feel lonely, alienated and very often professionaly degraded. It is a difficult problem to decide whether they should return or stay abroad. Young families adapt themselves and settle abroad easier than single persons.