The Case of the Second Polish Corps in World War Two and the Re-Settlement of Its Veterans in Alberta

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2014-09-30 Diaspora, Identity and the Canadian Media: The Case of the Second Polish Corps in World War Two and the Re-settlement of its Veterans in Alberta

Jaworska, Aldona

Jaworska, A. (2014). Diaspora, Identity and the Canadian Media: The Case of the Second Polish Corps in World War Two and the Re-settlement of its Veterans in Alberta (Unpublished master's thesis). University of Calgary, Calgary, AB. doi:10.11575/PRISM/25702 http://hdl.handle.net/11023/1866 master thesis

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Diaspora, Identity and the Canadian Media:

The Case of the Second Polish Corps in World War Two and the Re-settlement of its Veterans in

Alberta

Aldona Jaworska B.A.

A THESIS

SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES

IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE

DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS

GRADUATE PROGRAM IN COMMUNICATION AND CULTURE

CALGARY, ALBERTA

SEPTEMBER, 2014

ABSTRACT

In the few recent decades, the issue of identity formation has spurred major debates among scholars of various academic backgrounds and specializations, who examined the identity formation of individuals and groups. This thesis explores the process of identity formation in

Polish ex-servicemen who chose to reside in Calgary after they fulfilled a two-year long farm work contract in Canada during the early post-WWII years. It examines how Canadian immigration policies and Canadian media impacted the treatment and the portrayal of the Polish ex-servicemen, and it compares their treatment with the portrayal of the returning Canadian veterans. This comparison of the two groups highlights the factors that went into the Polish veterans’ identity formation in this period.

Based on a sample of newspaper articles printed in Canada and in Calgary, and interviews conducted with the Polish ex-servicemen, who chose to reside in Calgary after they fulfilled their contract of working on farms, the study examines the differences between media portrayal and self-portrayal in this group The study also examines the role of government policies as a factor in media representation of Polish veterans and how these policies influenced their place in

Canadian society. The lingering results of this negative treatment and portrayal indicate the power of such factors to influence identity formation in this group right into the 21st century.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my deep gratitude to Professor George Melnyk, my research supervisor, for his guidance, encouragement, engagement and valuable advice, for providing useful critique of this research work, and for his assistance in keeping my progress on schedule. His willingness to give his time so generously has been very much appreciated.

My grateful thanks are also extended to the participants of this research to whom I would like to

express my sincere gratitude for graciously sharing their life stories with me. Throughout the

research for this project, I was a privy to artifacts that hold great value to the participants and are

of historical significance. These participants invited me to their homes and allowed me to hear

stories, see original pictures, and handle memorabilia collected while participating in historical

battles and world events. I am truly privileged that I had the opportunity to hear stories of

individuals who participated in significant world events, such as the Battle for Monte Cassino

that took place 70 years ago January 17, 1944 – May 18, 1944.

I would like to thank The University of Calgary Conjoint Faculties Research Ethics Board,

especially the Chair Dr. Christopher R. Sears, for approving the human subject research (ID

REB13-0981) that allowed me to conduct research involving the Polish ex-servicemen living in

Calgary.

I would like to thank the members of the examination committee Dr. Lorry Felske from the

Department of Communication and Culture and Dr. Florentine Strzelczyk from the Department of Germanic, Slavic and East Asian Studies for their involvement in this project.

In addition, I would like to thank Dr. Lorry Felske for his early support of my research as a senior undergraduate student when I worked on a community-based project involving the WWII

iii

Polish veterans in Calgary. This work resulted in a community event when posters of life stories of Polish veterans were put on display in the Polish Canadian Cultural Centre in Calgary, 3015-

15 St. NE, Calgary, Alberta on December 4, 2011. This event was a prelude to the celebration of the 65th anniversary of the formation of the Polish Combatants Association Brunch # 18 in

Calgary. I would like to thank Mr. Jan Kraska, the president of the Polish Combatants

Association Branch #18 in Calgary, for help, support and assistance in making this community- based project possible. Moreover, I would like to thank Mr. Krzysztof Barański from the Polish

Cultural Center for his initiative, help, and hospitality while hosting the display of life stories of the Polish WWII veterans. Additionally, I would like to thank Mrs. Wiesława Potocka for her support when scanning and cataloging photographs I used to prepare the posters and the presentation about the Polish veterans. Furthermore, I would like to thank Mr. Zygmunt Potocki, the Honorary Consul of the Republic of Poland in Calgary for his support and interest in this project. Despite a big snowfall the night before, this event brought together many Polish veterans, their family members, guests, and members of the Polish community in Calgary. They took this meeting as an opportunity to talk about their involvement in the WWII events. Their dedication and sacrifices inspired me to do conduct further research involving the Polish veterans in Calgary that led me to writing this thesis.

I would like to thank my entire family in Canada and in Europe, in particular my husband

Wiesław Jaworski, my children Adam Jaworski, Michał Jaworski, and Natalia Jaworska for their unwavering encouragement to continue working on these projects and for the support, they have given me during the time of my graduate study and research.

DEDICATION

This thesis is dedicated to all Polish ex-servicemen who served in the Second

Polish Army Corps and came to Alberta to work on farms as part of the 1947

Polish Resettlement Act.

TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ...... ii Acknowledgements ...... iii Dedication ...... v Table of Contents ...... vi Chapter 1: Introduction ...... 1 1.1 Origins of the Research Project ...... 3 1.2 A Brief History of the Anders Army ...... 6 1.3 Theoretical Frameworks: Critical Discourse Analysis, Identity Formation, Positioning Theory, and Ethnicity...... 10 Chapter 2: Theory and Literature Review ...... 14 2.1 Theories of Ethnicity...... 15 2.1.1 Ethnic identity in Canada in the post-World War Two period ...... 18 2.1.2 Diaspora ...... 21 2.2 Theories of Discourse and Media ...... 24 2.2.1Discourse Analysis...... 26 2.2.2 Narrative Analysis ...... 30 2.2.3 Positioning Theory ...... 31 2.3 Conclusion ...... 37 Chapter 3: Methodology: introduction ...... 39 3.1 Research Design: Semi-structured, In-depth Interviews …………………………....40 3.2 Research Design: Source Documents and Historical Research……………………...44 Chapter 4: Historical context of identity formation of Polish veterans in Canada ...49 4.1 Canadian Immigration Policies after WWII ...... 51 4.2 A Brief History of the Anders Army and its Portrayal during WW II and Afterwards: From Allies to Supplicants ...... 57 4.3 Polish War Veteran Settlement ...... 73 4.4 Canadian Veterans after WWII ...... 76

Chapter 5: Empirical Data Analysis: An Analysis of Polish War Veterans’ Interviews and Memoirs ...... 81 5.1 Portrayal and Identity Formation of Individuals, Ethnic Group, and Polish Diaspora 83 5.1.1 How Polish participation in WWII and its relationship to Canada impacts Polish veteran identity ...... 83 5.1.1.1 Polish citizens and deportation under Soviet occupation after 1939 ...... 84 5.1.1.2 The role of Polish patriotism...... 92 5.1.1.3 Joining the Anders’ Polish Army ...... 95 5.1.1.4 The Battle for Monte Cassino and loyalty to an independent and democratic Poland ...... 99 5.1.1.5 Joining the Polish Resettlement Corps in Great Britain and working on Alberta farms ...... 109 5.1.2 A Summary of the Polish veterans’ experience in Canada and the role of the Polish community ...... 126 5.1.3 Interviews and memoirs as forms of identity formation ...... 140 5.1.3.1 Memoirs ...... 140 5.1.3.2 Władyslaw (Walter) Niewiński...... 141 5.1.3.3 Anatol (Tony) Nieumierzycki ...... 142 5.1.3.4 Zbigniew (Leo) Rogowski ...... 142 5.1.3.5 Stefan Koselak ...... 144 5.1.3.6 The long-term impact ...... 145 Chapter 6: Conclusion ...... 149 References ...... 167

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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

This thesis focuses on a group of Polish ex-servicemen who came to Alberta after WWII.

These war veterans, members of the Second (II) Polish Army Corps under the command of

General Lieutenant Władyslaw Anders, fought on the side of the Allies during WWII, where

they fought in such battles as Monte Cassino. They came to Canada as part of the Polish

Resettlement Corps formed in Great Britain to assist the tens of thousands of Polish soldiers

during the process of demobilization.

Until 1944, the Canadian media portrayed the II Polish Army Corps soldiers, many of whom had participated in the military actions of 1939, as heroes who stood against the enemy’s overwhelming military attacks, and described them as brave, determined, and not afraid to face the enemy under disastrous circumstances. However, the message changed after the 1944 Yalta

Conference when a new political makeup of Europe was decided. These brought changes in how the II Polish Army Corps soldiers and General Anders were portrayed by the Canadian media, and upon their arrival in Canada, the ex-servicemen were seen primarily as farmworkers and displaced persons not as war veterans.

My case study will also compare the treatment and portrayal of returning Canadian

veterans with these Polish veterans as a way of exploring the nature of ethnic identity in the

postwar period. In particular, I will answer the following five research questions.

1. How did Canadian immigration policies influence the settlement and identity formation of

the WWII Polish veterans and combatants and what was the socio-political basis for these

policies?

2. How did the Canadian and Calgary media portray the WWII Polish servicemen and veterans,

and what relationship did this portrayal have on government policy and the lives of those

resettled?

3. What does the treatment of the WWII Polish ex-servicemen say about Canadian government

policies and Canadian social values during the post-war era?

4. How did the veterans’ experience in WWII contribute to their sense of self-identity and how

did their experience in Canada contribute to their sense of ethnicity?

5. What was the role of Calgary’s Polish community in the re-settlement and identity formation

of Polish veterans?

The research will explore the impact on the identity of the ex-servicemen who chose to reside in Calgary after they fulfilled their obligations of a two-year long work contract that required them to work on farms in Canada during the early post-WWII years. The research will study the influence of diaspora on identity formation, and it will examine how displacement contributed to the construction of social identity for these veterans. The research will examine how political and public events and discourses influenced ex-servicemen’s relationship to and involvement in the local and ethnic communities in Calgary and in Alberta.

Furthermore, my research will examine how Canadian newspapers, presented the II

Polish Army Corps led by General Lieutenant Władyslaw Anders and its ex-servicemen during the 1940s. In particular, the research will examine newspaper coverage in Canada from the time 2

of the formation of the II Polish Army Corps in 1941 in the U.S.S.R. until the late 1940s, when a

group of ex-servicemen from the Polish Resettlement Corps arrived in Canada. I will also

explore how the War Measures Act affected Canadian newspapers and how this influenced the

portrayal of the II Polish Army Corps fighting on the side of the Allies. In particular, my

research will compare how Canadian media portrayed the Polish troops and General Anders

before the 1945 Yalta Conference with their portrayal after the Yalta conference concluded. I

will analyze how this political shift affected ex-servicemen’s identity formation upon arrival in

Canada and later on.

1.1 Origins of the Research Project

My interest in the topic began in 2011 when I organized an exhibit to commemorate the

65th anniversary of the formation of the Polish Combatants Association (SPK) in Canada, Branch

#18 in Calgary. The Polish Combatants Association in Canada was formed in Italy, on October

3rd 1946 (Polish Combatants Association Branch #18 Calgary, 2011), and Branch # 18 of this

organization was formed on November 11, 1947 in Calgary. During WWII, some members of

the SPK in Calgary served in the II Polish Army Corps, also known as the Anders’ Army that

was part of the Allied war effort, while others fought in clandestine organizations in occupied

Poland, and some participated in the 1944 Warsaw Uprising. Many lost their Polish citizenship

when they joined the Polish Resettlement Corps formed in 1946 in Great Britain and refused to

go back to a Poland ruled by a pro-Soviet government.

The exhibit took place on December 4, 2011 in the Polish Canadian Cultural Centre at

3015-15 St. NE, Calgary and it was open to the members of the SPK, guests of the Polish

Canadian Cultural Centre, and to the public. For the first time, stories of veterans, participants of

this project, such as Józef Bogucki, Jan Ferensowicz, Frank Hyciek, and Marta Mańkowska nee

Jezierska, Honorata Mikosz nee Tarczyńska, Anatol Nieumierzycki, Władysław Niewiński, and

Anastazja Sokołowska nee Smal were presented in English and put on display.

The exhibit was inspired by an interview I conducted on October 5, 2011 with Mr.

Władysław Niewiński, a 93-year-old Polish veteran of World War II who joined the Anders’

Army and participated in the January 17 – May 18, 1944 battle of Monte Cassino during which

he was wounded twice. Mr. Niewiński explained that the reason he chose Canada as a country to

which he wanted to immigrate after the war was that before the war, when he was still in Poland,

he saw sacks filled with good quality wheat flour and these sacks had stamps indicating that they

came from Canada. During this interview Niewiński provided in-depth information about his

life story as a detainee in the Soviet Gulag, as a soldier in the Anders’ Army, as well as his

involvement in building the Polish community in Calgary. Niewiński talked in detail about a

close-knit group of Polish veterans and combatants actively involved in the activities of the

Association from the time of its inception. After hearing his story, I decided to look for other

veterans in order to create an exhibit about them. Information about this project was placed on

the SPK’s website and in the Polish Church weekly bulletin. It was also announced during the

Polish TV weekly program in Calgary and placed on the Polish website “Ploty” (Eng. Gossip),

for which a short promotional video clip was produced. The Polish community responded to this

initiative with enthusiasm and interest.

All interviews with the Polish veterans were conducted in Polish. Janina Aniolczyk, a member of SPK, shared with me some of the material about veterans written in Polish. The

exhibit was created in English to allow the wider community access to it. The posters that I

created for this exhibit continue to be put on public display during important celebrations of the

Polish Combatants Association. During the research phase, I had a unique opportunity to access

artifacts veterans still have in their possession. These include pieces of liturgical garment found

in the obliterated Monastery of Monte Cassino after the battle was over; an original military

blanket and the military uniforms worn by the Polish veterans during the time they served in the

II Polish Army Corps or in the Canadian Navy; original military documents such as pamphlets

urging the Polish soldiers to return to Poland; documents from the time they were Prisoners of

War (POWs); as well as artifacts from the 1944 Warsaw Uprising. Having access to WWII

artifacts of historical significance had a personal impact on me as a Polish immigrant who left

Poland in 1988 when the pro-Soviet government was still in power. I am also a descendant of the

postwar generation raised and educated in the postwar pro-Soviet Poland. I came to Canada as a

refugee in 1990. Despite the wide generation gap that exists between me and the veterans whom

I have met and interviewed, as well as polarized political systems in which we were born, raised,

and educated, being born a Pole created a strong connection that allowed me to research and

create this project. I feel privileged and indebted that the Polish ex-servicemen, veterans, and combatants shared their stories with me.

Information that I collected during interviews indicated that the life stories of the Polish veterans are directly linked to important historical events of WWII that involved Poland, Great

Britain, and Canada. I was motivated to pursue this research not only to fill the gap that exists in our knowledge about these people and related events, but also to allow members of the Polish community in Calgary an opportunity to reconnect with their history. In particular, I was

interested in the relationship between media representations of a particular social group, government policy toward and statements about this group, and how they shaped identity formation within the group.

While conducting my research I observed that the events of war influenced not only the lives of the WWII Polish veterans who immigrated to Canada and their families but also had long-lasting, inter-, and multi-generational implications that could still be felt by the members of the Polish community in Calgary. These findings convinced me to pursue further studies of this subject to provide a better understanding of these events and their consequences and allow the healing process to begin. The urgency of working on this case study lies in the fact that many of these veterans have passed away and there are few left alive who can share their stories with us.

I believe that it is important to collect and research war veterans’ firsthand accounts to preserve their stories for future generations because our experience and our stories become part of our personal and collective heritage. We have to maintain our relationship with the past in order to move forward to the future. This thesis is a contribution to the field of Canadian Studies because it deals with the experiences of a specific sub-section (WW2 veterans) of a particular ethnic group (Polish) in Alberta. It also contributes to Communication Studies through its analysis of the role of media in creating identity for specific groups.

1.2 A Brief History of the Anders Army

The II Polish Army Corps existed from 1941 until the end of 1945, under the command of Lieutenant- General Władyslaw Anders. The army consisted of thousands of Poles who refused to be forcefully drafted into the Red Army after the U.S.S.R. invaded Poland under the

Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact1. Those opposed to taking on Soviet citizenship were imprisoned in

Siberia. The situation of the Polish prisoners of war in the U.S.S.R. changed after Hitler’s army

invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941. Shortly after, in August 1941, a military agreement

between the official Polish government in exile in London and the U.S.S.R. was signed, and an

amnesty was declared freeing Polish POWs detained in Siberia. Furthermore, the agreement

enabled the formation of a Polish army on the territory of the U.S.S.R, and General Władyslaw

Anders was put in charge of this mission (Anders, 1949). In 1942, his army was allowed to cross

to Iran, where it came under British military control. Eventually it became the fourth largest

Allied army.

One of the pivotal political events during WWII, that influenced the distribution of

political power in Europe, was the Yalta (Argonaut, or the Crimea) Conference that took place in

February 1945 in Yalta, during which the order of post-WWII Europe was decided by representatives of the Soviet Union, Great Britain, and the United States (Argonaut Conference

January - February 1945, 1945). By the time the Yalta Conference took place, the Soviet Red

Army had liberated the eastern part of Poland and Stalin sponsored the newly formed Polish

government and installed it in Warsaw (Brzezinski, 1984; Argonaut Conference January -

February 1945, 1945). During the conference proceedings, the new borders of Poland were

declared, and the Polish Provisional Government of National Unity was recognized as the new

government in power (Yale Law School, 2008). This decision resulted in de-recognition of the

1 The Red Army invasion of Poland took place on September 17, 1939 7

Polish government in exile in London that had resided there since 1940, and acted as the official

Polish government throughout WWII (Stachura, 2004).

The II Polish Army Corps, since its inception, had reported to the official Polish government in exile in London, thus, the political change brought about by the Yalta Conference directly affected its situation (Anders, 1949). Until the end of 1945, 112,000 II Polish Army

Corps soldiers were stationed in Italy and when the war was over their individual cases were dealt with by the British military authority (Anders, 1949). Under the new political

circumstances, the vast majority of the servicemen decided to stay in exile rather than return to

Poland under Soviet influence (Stachura, 2004), and they opted to join the newly formed Polish

Resettlement Corps in Great Britain. On September 4, 1946, The Times reported that based on

the 1920 Polish citizenship law, Polish soldiers who elect to join the Polish Resettlement Corps

would have their Polish citizenship revoked. The ex-servicemen were given a one-week

deadline to return to Poland where they were told they would be given a chance to rehabilitate.

Fearing persecution and imprisonment, they opted to stay in exile, and joined the Polish

Resettlement Corps. As a result, the Polish ex-servicemen had their Polish citizenship taken away from them, by the Polish government in place.

During the 1943-1945 Italian Campaign, the British Eight Army was made of XIII British

Corps, First Canadian Corps, Polish Corps, and the Army Reserve (Ellis, 1984; McInnis, 1945).

McInnis (1960) reported that the Canadian First Division was part of the British Eight Army

after its relocation to Sicily and then went to Italy in 1943, where it stayed until 1945 (p. 485).

The II Polish Army Corps joined the Italian Campaign starting in December of 1943 (Ellis,

1984) and stayed in Italy as part of the British Armed forces until the end of 1945. The Eight

British Army was put in charge of the Cassino sector (McInnis, 1945). Hence, during the

Italian campaign, integrated Polish and Canadian troops, unified under the command of the

British General Harold Alexander, were fighting against the enemy on this same line of offence.

McInnis (1945) described that these troops made of various nationalities supporting the Allied

armed forces as being merged into “a single coherent fighting machine”.

After the war, until the end of 1945, 112,000 II Polish Army Corps soldiers were

stationed in Italy where their individual cases were dealt with by the British authority (Anders,

1949). In 1946, the British House of Commons introduced the 1947 Polish Resettlement Act,

which included the Dominion of Canada, and intended to find a settlement for “250,000 Polish

ex-service men and women,” who fought under British command (Polish Resettlement Act,

1947.io & ii GEO. 6. CH. 19. n.d.; Patalas 2003; Sword, 1986). Moreover, this Act also dealt

with the issue of displaced persons and former prisoners-of-war who refused to go back to

Poland that was under the political influence of the Soviet Union. It offered assistance in finding employment, obtaining education, or immigrating to Commonwealth countries. From 1946 until

1948, based on this Act, Canada accepted 4,527 Polish Resettlement Corps members under the condition that they must work on farms for the duration of two years before being granted a

Landed Immigrant status. According to data from the Department of Labour, Alberta accepted

715 Polish ex-servicemen as farm labourers (Thornton, 1989; Kelley & Trebilcock, 1998).

It was reported that over 7,000 men applied to participate in this program, and the strict

selection process aimed at excluding those who were married, and those who did not have

agricultural experience (Patalas, 2003). Based on the Canadian-British agreement the selection

process was handled by “a Canadian interdepartmental commission” which reviewed over 7,000

applications and those rejected from the program were denied on medical grounds (23 percent); security reasons (31 percent); and failing a brief test of agricultural knowledge (46 percent)

(Patalas, 2003). Only after meeting the criteria set by the program were the ex-servicemen accepted as 'qualified agriculturalists' workers and granted landed-immigrant status (Kelley &

Trebilcock, 1998). On the day of their departure to Canada, the servicemen received their military discharge documents, indicating that their military service with the Polish Forces took place under the British Command.

1.3 Theoretical Frameworks: Critical Discourse Analysis, Identity Formation, Positioning

Theory, and Ethnicity

The following brief discussion of theories used in this thesis is a preliminary overview.

To analyze varieties of texts I have used the Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) method based on the work of Fairclough, Mulderrig, and Wodak (2011), who have recognized “the semiotic dimensions of power” and “the relationship between language and society“ where they argued discourses are formed (p. 357). I have used the CDA method to analyze the texts of the newspaper articles, the transcripts of interviews with the ex-servicemen, and the texts from memoirs written by the ex-servicemen who came to Calgary after the war. Fairclough et al.

(2011) have pointed to such key-figures as Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, and the Frankfurt

School as those thinkers who influenced the formation of their theory and method. The authors have stated that CDA is related to the theory of Gramsci who saw that the power of dissemination of ideology is not only placed in “its coercive force but also in ‘hegemony’” reflected in how the majority accepts and incorporates these practices into daily life and, by

doing so, these practices are being perpetuated in society (p. 360). In addition, they used the theory of Althusser that “positions people as social subjects” (p. 360). Furthermore, they have pointed that the development of CDA was influenced by the work of Michel Foucault for whom

“discourses are knowledge systems of the human sciences” and these systems contribute to the formation of power in society (p. 361). Because of Fairclough et al.’s approach to studying of discourse formation in a social setting, I decided to use CDA as the theory and the method to analyze a variety of texts from newspaper articles printed in Canada about the WWII Polish ex- servicemen who came to Canada after the war.

To examine the issue of identity, I also have used the work of Stuart Hall (2000) and his argument based on the work of Foucault that identity needs to be explored through the lens of “a theory of discursive practice” (p. 16). Hall has argued that “identities are constructed within, not outside, discourse” and he stressed the importance of understanding identity formation as a product of “specific historical and institutional sites within specific discursive formations and practices, by specific enunciative strategies.” (p. 17). Hall’s argument is in concert with the

CDA theory and method by Fairclough et al. (2011) who took “the 'discourse-historical approach'” to the formation of discourses (p. 364). Since the identity of Polish ex-servicemen was influenced by the existing historical and institutional discursive practices, Hall’s theory of identity formation is instrumental in finding further understanding how their identity as soldiers, immigrants, and members of an ethnic group in Canada was affected by these factors.

Furthermore, I have examined the theory of how diasporas form and transform over time as discussed by Butler (2001) to examine how the identity formation of individuals is linked to migration.

Moreover, I have used the theoretical framework of Positioning Theory presented by

Harre and Langenhove (1991), Davies and Harre (1990), and Howie and Peters (1996) as a theory for examination of social practices when using Discourse Analysis method. I have used the varieties of positioning introduced in the Positioning Theory to provide answers to questions about the social construction of selfhood and identity formation in discourse in relation to the individuals and the group studied. Rom Harre (Paterson, 2005), a social psychologist with background in engineering and mathematics, and in philosophy and anthropology, has introduced the term ‘ethogeny’ which he explained as seeing “the utterances and their meanings as perceived by participants in that social world, as encapsulated through discourse” (p. para. 3).

Davies and Harre (1990) have develop “the notion of ‘positioning’ as a contribution to the understanding of personhood” (p. 46) and Harre and Langenhove (1991) have developed this approach “as a dynamic alternative to the more static concept of role” (p. 393). After examining

Harre’s approach to personhood formation in discourse, I argue that my finding about the identity formation of the ex-servicemen indicate that the Positioning Theory appears to be a theory that constitutes a model reflecting a discursive approach of identity creation in action and this theory offers an understanding of the issue of identity in relation to the individuals and the group studied.

Because I was dealing with the memories, attitudes, and personalities of live subjects in this study, I needed analytical tools for understanding personal narratives, while my examination of media documents and their language required a critical discourse analysis. There has been a great deal written on the ethnic subject in Canada and popular discourse on difference and this

has helped me understand how Polish veterans were received, understood, and portrayed to the

Canadian public. The impact of this discourse on their self-identity forms the core of this study.

My research involves a group of Polish ex-servicemen who came to Canada in 1946 as

part of the Polish Resettlement Corps. During WWII, these ex-servicemen served in the Polish

Second Army Corps and were involved in the 1944 – 1945 Italian Campaign. This research examines how factors such as participation in world events affected their identity formation.

Moreover, it looks into the media portrayal of the Polish soldiers and veterans and how this affected the Canadian immigration policies used as criteria to select those Polish veterans who joined the Polish Resettlement Corps formed in Great Britain and did not want to return to

Poland under the influence of the Soviet Union. Those Polish ex-servicemen allowed coming to

Canada after the war had to work on farms on a two-year contracts replacing the German POWs

who returned to Europe.

Moreover, my research examines how working on farms in Alberta affected the ex-

servicemen identity formation. In addition, I examine how the existence of the Polish diaspora

in Calgary contributed to the identity formation of the Polish ex-servicemen who sought contacts

with it. Furthermore, I examine the portrayal of the Polish ex-servicemen by the Canadian media and its long-term effect on the Polish diaspora in Calgary.

CHAPTER 2: THEORY AND LITERATURE REVIEW

In my research, I explore the relationships between individuals and groups of people of

ethnic background with the dominant groups in society in the context of the Canadian post-war setting. Thus, the following overview focuses on exploring theories and literature that take sociological perspective on ethnicity. This literature review looked into the major sociological theories that defined the notion of ethnicity including the work of sociologists who examined the early roots of ethnicity, into the work of Talcott Parsons who examined common traits of members of an ethnic group, and Siniša Malešević, a sociologist who examined classical sociological theory and ethnicity. In addition, it includes theories on ethnic identity in Canada in the post-World War Two period. Since the diasporic experience of Polish war veterans in post-

WW2 Alberta is at the centre of this study, I explore the theory of diaspora concerning

characteristics of individuals of ethnic background, their relation to their homeland and to the

dominant society, in which they live, and how these characteristics influenced the formation of

their individual and group biographies. Moreover, since my study relates to media portrayal of

the ex-servicemen, discourse analysis in the context of media portrayal, and narrative analysis applied to a variety of texts is central to my thesis. Furthermore, I explore positioning theory in regard to the variety of texts such as interviews conducted with the ex-servicemen, narratives,

and memoirs, which they created in response to their representation by Canadian media of the

day.

2.1 Theories of Ethnicity

The sociologist C. Wright Mills (1959) stated that there is a correlation between what an individual experiences and socio-historical events happening in the world that surrounds such an individual, thereby linking the personal sphere and the public sphere. He defined the link as sociological imagination. Mills used the approach of personal biography and public sphere to help understand how personal issues relate to or are distinct from the public sphere. Mills was working in the context of a common sociological term-- “ethnicity.” The person with an “ethnic” identity was someone which society considered as an outsider to the dominant national identity.

The case study of the Polish ex-servicemen focuses on the events of war and its aftermath, and it concentrates on how world events affected the formation of ex-servicemen’s biographies within a complex and dynamic socio-political theatre of war and its aftermath. Taking Mills’ approach, the examination of the effects of events of war and post-war on the ex-servicemen needs to be viewed through the lens of the sociological structure present at the time these events took place.

Thus, Mills’ approach serves as a tool for exploration how such relationships affect individuals, groups, and society.

The term “ethnicity” started to be used in the 1940s when W. Lloyd Warner and Paul S.

Lunt coined this term in their 1941 publication The Social Life of a Modern Community to differentiate between the term “race” used by the growing fascist movement. They defined

“ethnicity” as a general category where “age, sex, religion, and class” were seen as parallel

(Sollors, 1996). Talcott Parsons (1975), a Harvard University sociologist, pointed out that the term ‘race’ had been used in nineteen and the early twentieth century when race was mostly identified with ethnicity and nationality (p. 55). The term “ethnicity” made its earliest

appearance in the 1961 Webster’s third new international dictionary (Glazer & Moynihan,

1975). The Oxford Dictionary of Sociology (2009) defined ethnicity as referring to:

Individuals who consider themselves, or are considered by others, to share common characteristics that differentiate them from the other collectives in a society, and from which they develop their distinctive cultural behaviour, form an ethnic group.

Talcott Parsons (1902 – 1979) (1975), defined ethnicity as “a primary focus of group identity”, and he has argued that such a group is comprised of persons who are sharing characteristics, acquired at birth, that are distinct and common among them and based on that, within this group, members form ties of “solidarity and the loyalties” (pp. 53-54). Furthermore,

Parsons has stated that the factors that played a role in cultural and ethnic group identity formation were, most importantly, the use of common language, common national origin, and practicing the same religion (pp. 55-56). Moreover, Parsons argued that the distinctiveness of the ethnic group that influences the ethnic identity formation relates to the group members’ common history and that, in such a group, the individuals are defined as members by applying the criteria of “what they are” (p. 56). This in turn, he reasoned, shows that members of an ethnic group are linked to their ancestral roots, hence, ethnicity is a characteristic that binds members of an ethnic group together by forming “transgenerational type of group” and the membership in such a group is exclusive because an individual had to be born into it (p. 57).

Siniša Malešević (2004), a sociologist interested in ethnicity and nationalism, states that the term ethnicity differs in Anglo-American tradition where it refers to “minority groups within a larger society of the nation-state”, and in Europe ethnicity is understood from the perspective of “nationhood defined historically by descent or territory” (p. 1). Moreover, Malešević argues that the years of colonialism, the changes that took place during the mid-twentieth century post- 16

colonialism, as well as the fall of the communism, which brought more ethnic-based conflicts,

added to the complexity of this term.

Karl Emil Maximilian "Max" Weber (1864-1920), a German sociologist, is one of the

founders of modern sociology. He defined an ethnic group as a group of people with common

roots, customs, common memories, and these people could share common physical traits.

Accordingly, members of an ethnic group do not have to have common blood ties, but it is

necessary that they share belief in a similar ancestry (Malešević, 2004). Malešević (2004) states that Weber pointed that even though these beliefs are important to reaffirm the existence of common ancestral ties, such a group would not exist without a political or social trigger required for such an action (p. 25). Culturally defined practices and customs used by an ethnic group to share, distribute, and to teach the next generation about the customs and beliefs shared by such a group contribute to the formation of a status group where membership is limited to those who share common roots. Furthermore, Malešević (2004) points to Weber’s argument that belonging to a status group allows its members to feel a “sense of dignity” (p. 25). Malešević further argues that Weber saw social closure occurring when resources or benefits available are limited causing that the “out-group” –the dominant group-- exploits its position of dominance, and the “in-group” —the ethnic group— resolves to strengthening of ties among its members (p.

26).

Donald L. Horowitz (1975) defines membership in an ethnic group as a form of social interaction that takes place between a self-identifying individual who sees himself or herself as a member of such a group and how the members of the group define such an individual (p. 113).

He further argues that the ethnic identity can change over time and this relates to the changes of

ethnic groups’ boundaries, which, in turn, influence the shared identity of the member of an ethnic group (pp. 113-114). Horowitz identified that processes such as assimilation, amalgamation, differentiation, division, and proliferation are outcomes of changes taking place over time and affecting the boundaries between an ethnic group and the dominant groups in society. Horowitz argues that there are two outcomes of assimilation; one is called amalgamation which takes place when a new form of fussed larger group is created and this group has a new set of customs; the second type of assimilation he defines as incorporation where identities merge and one of the group identity becomes dominant and the other group loses its identity (p. 115). He also defines differentiation as another form of change caused by the changes to the group boundaries where ethnic groups can either undergo division resulting into splitting into smaller groups and proliferation when a new group emerges (p. 115). He further argues that amalgamation and division “tend to involve a multiplication of identities rather than a mere exchange of one identity for another”, in such case the new identity is superimposed and the old identity forms another layer and such identities never fuse together

(pp. 138-139). Immigration produces diasporic communities in which ethnic identity has to be negotiated within the group and with the wider society. The evolution of ethnic consciousness and definition in Canada in the post-WW2 period had a direct impact on the Polish war veterans who were re-settled in this country.

2.1.1 Ethnic identity in Canada in the post-World War Two period

John Porter (1965), a sociologist, has discussed the issues of relation of ethnic groups and the society as well as power in the context of Canada. He pointed that immigrants coming to

Canada were expected to s into the social structure already in place, and the economic position of immigrants was tied to the structure of social strata in which ethnic groups had been positioned.

Furthermore, the socio-economic position of immigrants was determined by the socio-economic position of the related ethnic group that had already resided in Canada (p. 60). Porter based his argument on the 1957 work of David C Corbett’s Canada’s Immigration Policy, who stated that between 1946 and 1951 almost half of the immigrants who came to Canada worked in agriculture (pp. 39-40), reflecting Canada’s long lasting preference for immigrants to take on the farm relating jobs (p. 41). Porter referred to the notion of “entrance status” (p. 68) when, over a longer period of time, a less desirable ethnic group was fitted into a lower level of social and economic position brought about by expectation that these immigrants would take on a lower level occupations and would be subjected to assimilation rules set up by the dominant, also called “charter”, group in Canadian society (p. 64). Furthermore, Porter has stated that the socio- economic position and opportunities for upward social mobility of members of these ethnic groups affected not only the first generation but the second or the third generation already born in Canada. These groups included Ukrainians, Poles, Fins, and Czechoslovaks (pp. 69-70).

Porter noted the difference between “behavioural assimilation”, which he defined as the level of engagement of the ethnic group in the culture of the society at large, and “structural assimilation” which he defined as a process in place that defines and implements the position of immigrants in society (p. 72). Potter argued that, over time, “structural assimilation” is followed by

“behavioural assimilation” (p. 72).

The issue of ethnic groups in Canada became more complex at the start of the Second

World War that created allies and enemies in Canada. Ivana Caccia (2010) concentrated on

government policies relating to ethnic minorities in Canada during the war. She argues that

Deputy Minister of Justice J.F. MacNeill, communicated to Prime Minister King in 1939 his concerns that those residing in Canada with background other than British or French might potentially pose a threat to Canada’s security if the adaptation process to Canadian life and society was left unregulated. (p. 38). Furthermore, MacNeill pointed that immigrants rely on their ethnic newspapers as a source of information, highlighting their lack of knowledge of

English or French, further emphasizing the immigrants being seen as outsiders or “others” (p.

38). Caccia argues that war further highlights the “otherness” and puts in place boundaries between us seen as the dominant majority and them seen as the ethnic minorities (p. 41).

Moreover, Caccia argues that diversity in Canada was attributed not only to the language spoken by an ethnic group but to other cultural differences such as religions, folklore, dress, food, and traditional practices (p. 45), thus further extending the perception of “otherness”. When articles written by immigrants or about immigrants were published in Canadian newspapers their names were anglicized to disguise their ethnic roots since such names were seen as exotic and

“unpronounceable” (pp. 9, 124). Patrias (2012) notes that despite the shortage of skilled labour qualified workers from Alberta whose names indicated that they were of “Slavic” descent were not hired in Ontario upon their prospective employers learning their names (p. 4). In my research, I found examples of Anglicization of names in articles printed in Canadian newspapers that featured stories about the WWII Polish veterans who came to Canada. It was this negative context that greeted the Polish veterans when they came to Canada.

2.1.2 Diaspora

While ethnicity as a sociological term has lost favour in the postmodern period, the term

“diaspora” has come to replace it. The main reason for this is the latter term’s sense of neutrality

and equality. Ethnicity, in contrast, always carried with it a sense of subordination and

inequality. Martin Baumann (2010) states that the term diaspora means “to scatter, spread,

disperse, be separated” (p. 20). Stephane Dufoix (2003) argues that until the 1970s, the meaning

of diaspora had a religious connotation and referred to religious groups of people who were

physically scattered (p. 1). William Safran (1991) a political scientist, notes that nowadays the

meaning of diaspora has changed and has been seen as “diaspora community” that includes

“expatriates, expellees, political refugees, alien residents, immigrants, and ethnic and racial

minorities” (p. 83). Safran argues that the term diaspora should include those or their ancestors

who:

1) have been dispersed from a specific original "center" to two or more "peripheral," or foreign, regions; 2) they retain a collective memory, vision, or myth about their original homeland—its physical location, history, and achievements; 3) they believe that they are not—and perhaps cannot be—fully accepted by their host society and therefore feel partly alienated and insulated from it; 4) they regard their ancestral homeland as their true, ideal home and as the place to which they or their descendants would (or should) eventually return; 5) they believe that they should, collectively, be committed to the maintenance or restoration of their original homeland and to its safety and prosperity; and 6) they continue to relate, personally or vicariously, to that homeland in one way or another, and their ethnocommunal consciousness and solidarity are importantly defined by the existence of such a relationship. (pp. 83-84)

Based on this description provided by Safran, it could be argued that those who had to flee

Poland during the years of WWII “could be considered members of a genuine diaspora” (pp. 84- 21

85) since the Poles thought about themselves as part of a “Polish problem” (p. 87). The

diasporic experience of Polish war veterans in post-WW2 Alberta and which factors determined that experience is the core of this study.

Besides the term “diaspora” there is also the concept of “transnationality’ that is currently being used (Tölölyan, 1996) to reflect the changes caused by the process of globalization.

Transnationality is a relatively new term that refers to characteristics of large group of migrants where individuals who belong to transnational communities form networks in communities to which they belong. Sheffer (2006) has argued that those belonging to transnational communities have links to “multiple interlocking social networks” involving different communities (p. 124).

The sociological theories of ethnicity and diaspora that I have discussed in this chapter reflect the situation of the Polish ex-servicemen who came to Canada after the war. Mills’ (1959) argument could be applied to veterans’ individual biographies collected for this research.

According to Mills’ argument, their biographies could be seen as examples of how the public sphere that included media, state policy, public discourse, and personal interactions with the public sphere influenced their personal sphere. The Polish ex-service men were seen as members of a distinct ethnic group upon their arrival in Canada. Their national origin was seen as a common characteristic of being outsiders and so, 1) influenced their actions in this new setting,

2) how the Canadian institutions treated them before their arrival and after, and 3) how the society at large treated them. Their treatment reflected the changes taking place in Canadian society that started looking at the immigrants beyond differences such as their race.

Furthermore, I argue that the notion of solidarity and loyalty, as defined by Parsons

(1975), is visible in the veterans’ narratives. Moreover, cultural factors such as the use of

common language, common national origins, and practicing this same religion prove that the

group of the Polish ex-servicemen saw themselves as a distinct community. The interviews

confirm that these ex-servicemen encouraged and maintained the use of common language,

sharing information on common national origins and practicing same religion. The Polish ex-

servicemen can also be seen within the scope of such characteristics as assimilation,

amalgamation, incorporation, and differentiation as forms of their relationship they formed with

the dominant Canadian society.

The role of the Canadian media in fostering an “ethnic” identity is evident in a November

21, 1946 Windsor Daily Star (1946) article titled “Poles Here Are Asked To Register”. The title

refers to the Polish soldiers as Poles highlighting that the Polish soldiers shared common

characteristics and they belong to a larger group of Poles, including those already in Canada. In

the article, the group of WWII Polish veterans is defined as Polish nationals destined to work on

farms. By describing the WWII Polish soldiers as sharing the common characteristics of

belonging to an ethnic group, and defining them as non- Canadians required to register with

authorities, the article pointed how they differ from the Canadian society at large.

The Calgary Herald on November 26, 1946 (1946) published an article titled “Polish

Soldiers Happy to Start New Life on Canadian Farms” which illustrates that non-Canadian

nationality was the focus of their identity. Taking the approach of Caccia (2010), who argues that war further highlights the “otherness” and puts in place boundaries between us seen as the

dominant majority and them seen as the ethnic minorities (p. 41), the description of the Polish

veterans by this title defined such boundaries of exclusion and introduced them to the public as

“others”. Parsons’ use of “solidarity and the loyalties” as definitions of ethnicity (pp. 53-54) are present in the article that states that they arrived in Calgary to start “a new life in a new country”, and their new jobs will “eventually lead them to Canadian citizenship”. The article refers to their common “experience in Russian concentration camps and under Russian rule at the beginning of the war before they were released to serve in General Anders’ Polish army”. This information is meant to underline the sense of the Polish war veteran as the other. The newspaper article points to the issue of language barrier causing difficulties in communication with the members of the provincial government department of agriculture, and their employers and the need to use the help of an interpreter in order to communicate with the veterans. The social interaction between the soldiers and those greeting them in Calgary was further made visible when the article described that the Polish soldiers “used universal sign language” to answer a question “Do [they] hope to marry a Canadian girl and stay in Canada?” Cumulatively, these characteristics align the

Polish war veterans experience with scholarly theories of ethnicity and diaspora. They also point out the importance of media in creating public discourse around a particular group and its identity.

2.2 Theories of Discourse and Media

In my research, I examine the newspaper articles printed during and after the World War

Two that relate to the case of the Polish ex-servicemen who came to Canada as part of the

Resettlement contract. Since discourse is a central part of our life and individuals use the texts to communicate ideas and thoughts, I took Tonkiss’ (2012) approach that “Discourse Analysis is a

method of studying the use of language in social context” (p. 405). Thus, I used the approach of

Discourse Analysis (DA) as a theory and a method of inquiry to analyze how the media constructed the ex-servicemen identity. In the following analysis I look into DA theory and method proposed by Norman Fairclough (1992) in which he took an approach of combining the social aspect of creation of discourse and the language used during this process. Moreover, I discuss Ruth Wodak’s (2011) approach to DA who coined the term “discourse-historical”, and the approach of Teun A. Van Dijk et al. (1997), who looked into the relation between the dominant society and an ethnic minority and the formation of discourse. These approaches of discourse analysis allow conducting analysis of spoken and written texts in addition to examining the relation of discursive practices and social interaction. Since some of the newspaper articles about the ex-servicemen point to social interactions between them and the media, the theory of DA is a tool of choice to explore how Polish veterans’ identity was constructed by the texts in the newspaper articles.

Moreover, in this case study, I analyze the texts from the conducted interviews and memoirs written by the ex-servicemen. Hence, in addition to using DA to study the texts, I use

Narrative Analysis (NA) as a tool to analyze oral stories and to explore how narratives are pieced together using cultural and linguistic resources to tell the story. The following analysis of theories looks into the Narrative Analysis as a theory and method of inquiry when analysing oral accounts. Since the stories of ex-servicemen relate to them as individuals and as members of larger groups in order to analyze the texts, besides using DA and NA methods, I took an interdisciplinary approach that involves linguistics, social psychology, and sociological approaches of DA and NA.

Since many of the ex-servicemen did not have access to the Canadian newspapers at that

time when articles about them were printed, they were not aware of how they were portrayed by

them. However, their interaction with Canadians formed by the media offered them clues of how

they were perceived. The interviews and memoirs contain not only their stories but also illustrate

their reaction to how they felt they were viewed by Canadians. In order to understand their

position, I use the Positioning Theory devised to understand the issue of personhood. This

analysis provides an overview of the Positioning Theory developed by Harre and Langenhove

(1991) and Harre and Davies (1990).

2.2.1Discourse Analysis

Norman Fairclough (1992) defines “discourse” as extended samples of either spoken or

written language“, and as “the situational context of language use” (p. 3). Fairclough presents a

discourse analysis theory (DA) that combines the social aspect of creation of discourse with how

language is used in social settings, in which, interactions influence how discourse is created. This

method of discourse analysis draws “together language analysis and social theory” (p. 4). Philips

and Jorgensen (2002) argue that this approach would allow for analysis of discursive practices

that result in forming and creating of texts and how such texts “are produced (created) and

consumed (received and interpreted)”. Discourse practices present in texts create “the social

world, including social identities, and social relations” (p. 61).

Fairclough (1992) argues that DA recognizes the need for multidimensional analysis and this approach can be applied to the production, distribution, and consumption of the text (p.

232), and he points to three ways of examining of discourse by conducting “analysis of

discourse as text, as discourse practice, and as social practice” (p. 198). Accordingly, assessment

of discourse focuses on “relation of discursive and social change” on ”property of texts related to

social practice”, and “discursive events as instances of social practice” (p. 8). This method, also,

uses the “multifunctional approach” of seeing text as “representing reality, enacting social

relations and establishing identities.” (pp. 7-8). In his view, the role of DA is to uncover the

relationships between “discursive, social and cultural changes” that are “not transparent” to those

involved (p. 9).

Drawing on Fairclough’s approach to DA, Phillips and Jorgensen (2002) have argued that to accommodate complex ways of discourse practices, the use of a variety of approaches is required (p. 73). Fairclough (1992) called this approach “interdiscursivity.” (p. 232). Phillips and Jorgensen (2002) explained that interdiscursivity is characterised by the occurrence of

“different discourses and genres [...] articulated in a communicative event” (p. 73). Since there

is always a historical component of earlier textuality for any text, the discourse-historical

approach (DHA) by Wodak argues that “discourse is always connected to other discourses

which were produced earlier, as well as those which are produced synchronically and

subsequently” (Fairclough, Mulderrig, & Wodak, 2011, p. 364).

In Fairclough’s (1992) view, the role of DA is to uncover the relationships between

“discursive, social and cultural changes” that are “not transparent” to those involved (p. 9). He

further states that this approach to DA of the text is required because the production of the text is

linked to social and cultural practices that influence the text and parallel to that, the text of

different genre that discourse produces influences the manifestation of the social practice present

in that text.

Phillips and Jorgensen (2002), have pointed out that when two “different discourses and

genres are articulated in a communicative event” (p. 73), they could be seen as a form of

establishing a power relation or “social structure” (p. 65). Fairclough (1992) draws attention to

“the diverse features that go towards constructing of ‘self’ or social identities” (p. 235). These

“social identities or ‘selves’ associated with specific domains and institutions are redefined and

reconstructed.”, through different texts. Fairclough saw the construction of ‘self’ and ethos as “a very important discursive aspect of cultural and social change” (p. 137). Phillips and Jorgensen

(2002) have affirmed Fairclough’s statement that, “discourse is an important form of social practice which both reproduces and changes knowledge, identities and social relations including power relations” (p. 65). Public discourse about group identity is a key parameter of media in

Canadian society and one that aims to frame public consciousness. How Canadians were to respond to the Polish war veterans was guided by the media’s reporting.

Similarly, to Caccia’s (2010) point that ethnic minorities in Canada were seen as “others” by the dominant society during and after the war, Teun A. Van Dijk et al. (1997) have stated that the relation between the dominant society and an ethnic minority often results in the members of an ethnic minority group being perceived as ‘different’. The authors have argued that this takes place because of the difference in the language use, adherence to different values, or norms (p.

144). Moreover, the authors have argued that legitimization of such relationship is especially visible when there is unequal access to various resources or unequal power distribution between such groups. Teun A. Van Dijk et al. have also defined a list of preferred topics discussed by

the media as well as these topics being present in political discourse through which the ethnic

minorities are seen by the dominant society, and they include “immigration, crime, cultural

differences, and deviance, discrimination and socioeconomic problems” (p. 168). Focus on such topics by the media further highlights seeing the members of an ethnic group as “others”.

Norman Fairclough (1992) concentrated on the discourse analysis of spoken or written texts, as a method that could be used for studies of social and cultural change (p. 37). Working in the framework of the social theory of discourse, Fairclough has argued that ”discourse contributes […] to the construction of what are variously referred to as ’social identities’” and it contributes to how social subjects are positioned in society, as well as to their social relationships (p. 64). Fairclough has further argued that the discursive formation of society stems from social practices including economic, political, cultural, and ideological and it is rooted in existing social structures (p. 66). In this context, Fairclough, drawing on the Gramsci’s concept of hegemony, saw political practice as the highest category where discourses are formed and for which ideologies are used as practices to naturalize particular power expressions and relations (p. 67). He argued that these practices could take place on various levels of societal strata and institutions in society such as law, education, or labour unions (p. 92). Fairclough pointed out that discursive practices contribute to power relations “in societies characterized by relations of domination on the basis of class, gender, cultural group” (p. 91). Hence, the formation of groups whose members are seen as “others” or different by society is seen as a major contribution to how discursive practices form and influence power relationship between such groups.

2.2.2 Narrative Analysis

In addition to Discourse Analysis in the study of texts, this thesis uses Narrative Analysis in understanding oral stories. Catherine Kohler Riessman, (2008), a sociologist, has considered the primary unit of analysis to be the narrative (p. 91). She approached examining and analysis of the story by looking how a narrative was pieced together using cultural and linguistic resources to tell the story and to make it appear to a listener as an authentic and credible story (p. 2). In order to ensure that an analyst is in fact examining a story, Arthur W. Frank (2012), also a sociologist, has pointed to the difference between stories and technical accounts that might resemble a story arguing that, “stories are driven by character” which he called “’Actor’” whose

“disposition will cause most or all of their actions” (p. 41). Charles Tilly (2002), a sociologist, stated, “stories do provide viable explanations of social processes” and “the principal responsibility of social interpreters is the construction of superior standard stories” that contain information about social processes that took place in the past, and were witnessed or experienced by those telling their stories (p. 10). As argued by Tilly, stories provide information about the identity of individuals and offer common identities that could be recognized and shared by others, and, as such, allow forming common relationship among groups of people (p. 10). Tilly has argued that the common characteristics contributing to the formation of relationships include

“relations, boundaries, and stories” shared by a group (p. 12). Thus, the identity of an individual is linked to individual’s relation to others which is expressed in a social setting in which this individual exists (p. 12). Tilly has stated that stories contribute to defining boundaries of social settings in which an individual operates, thus stories contribute to the formation of individuals and groups’ identities (p. 12). Thus, it could be argued that narratives that are shared to “retain

collective memory, vision, or myths about the original homelands” contribute to the formation of

diaspora communities as defined by Safran (1991, pp. 83-84).

Catherine Kohler Riessman, (1993) asks “Why was the story told that way?” linking the

telling of the story to telling “about experience” that could be interpreted (p. 2). Kohler

Riessman (2008) has argued that the main elements that would allow a researcher to find an

answer to this question point to “a summary of the narrative”; to “orientation” that provides

information on time and place; to “complicating action” that describes actions that took place;

and to “evaluation” containing “narrative’s commentary” (p. 92). Often, an individual who is about to tell a story would start with a common introduction ‘let me tell you a story’. However, if such an introduction does not take place, the story unfolds casually. Riessman (1993), advised to

look for “casual sequence to locate the turning point that signals a break between ideal and real”.

She referred to occurrences of “the cultural script and counternarrative” that indicate that an

unconventional story is about to be told, and these are the points in the story that illustrate that

unique reality are being described in a form of a story (p. 30).

2.2.3 Positioning Theory

Besides Discourse Analysis and Narrative Analysis, this study uses Positioning Theory to analyze its data. Harre and Langenhove (1991) have argued, that conversations are the places

where social acts are taking place and “societal icons are generated and reproduced“ (p. 394).

Rom Harre, whose background is in philosophy and anthropology, is known for the concept of

“‘ethogeny’” which he explains as “the utterances and their meanings as perceived by

participants in that social world, as encapsulated through discourse (Paterson, 2005).

Furthermore, Harre has been seen as instrumental “in developing the notion of Positioning

Theory as the basis of a new social psychology” (Howie & Peters, 1996, p. 51). Davies and

Harre (1990) have stated, “the notion of ‘positioning’ they developed contributes to the understanding of personhood” (p. 46). Harre and Langenhove (1991) have affirmed that this approach was developed “as a dynamic alternative to the more static concept of role” (p. 396) previously used. Howie and Peters (1996) have seen the development and the use of the

Positioning Theory (PT) as relevant “particularly in application to evaluation theory” (p. 51) when researchers look into identity formation in action. Moreover, Harre and Langenhove

(1991) argued that accounts in which stories are told provide information on biographical events and the social world, which include discursive practices that generated and reproduced societal icons (p. 394). One of such societal icons is a military uniform that symbolizes ones’ involvement in a military or serving in an army. Wearing a military uniform informs the public about the rank, the kind of military unit, and about individual’s engagement and belonging.

There are strict laws and regulations on how a military uniform has to be treated and a privilege of wearing such a uniform is granted to members of the military only. An individual wearing a military uniform has to follow rules for behaviours and has to obey military courtesy specific to the army in which one is enlisted. Since this study discusses both the identity formation of the

Polish veterans in Canada by the media and the government (public discourse) and by the veterans themselves (private and social discourse), positioning theory indicates that both processes were dynamic, rather than static or fixed.

In their Positioning Theory, Harre and Davies (1990) explain how individuals position themselves and others when these individuals tell stories. One of the major components that

contribute to positioning, are the words and metaphors used by the speaker that are instrumental

in creating mental associations with positioning of self and of involved individuals (p. 48). In

addition, the authors have defined that “the way one talks” also plays a role in positioning of self

and of other individuals to self and to others. The authors have highlighted that the ways one talks should not be dismissed as unimportant, but rather, it should be seen as powerful ways of invoking images (p. 48) taking place during the process of storytelling or conversation, hence, influencing the positioning of self or others. Furthermore, Harre and Davies have recognized that the occasion, which is used to tell a story or conduct a conversation, should be examined as being part of “one’s attitude to the other speakers”. Such an occasion should be examined for the presence of the “availability of alternative discourses” (p. 49). Harre and Davies also pointed that even if the participants know their positions in the stories previously shared, these stories might change and invoke a new power relationship resulting in a shift in positioning of self or others (p.

49). Consequently, they see conversations and narratives as describing fragments of lives (p.

49), and positioning of self and others as playing an active role in identity formation of individuals involved in a conversation or storytelling that takes place in discursive practices.

Since the WWII Polish veterans have not had a chance to share their WWII and immigration related stories with society, stories about them were presented from an outside perspective namely by the media. My use of the Positioning Theory in this research allowed the veterans to tell their stories, describe their lives as soldiers, veterans, and farm workers, and, ultimately, illustrate how they position themselves to the events of WWII and how they construct their identities, which are quite different from Canadian media stories of the period. These differences

are a direct response to the way they were treated and/or perceived by the dominant society that

kept affirming their “otherness”.

Harre and Langenhove (1991), in their Positioning Theory, introduced a notion of the

“first and second order positioning” when they referred to how individuals perceive themselves

and others within the moral fabric and within the context of a story (p. 396). The authors have

argued that when a conversation takes place, two different outcomes are possible. They called

the first outcome as the first order positioning, also referred to as performative positioning, in

which an individual accepts the story line (p. 397). The authors have called the second outcome

as the second order positioning, also referred to as reflexive positioning, when an individual

questions or challenges the first order positioning, either, in the same conversation or in another

conversation that takes place later (pp. 396-397). Harre and Langenhove have also defined the third order positioning, also called accountive positioning, in which individuals challenge the first conversation when they talk about the talk that took place previously (p. 397). In their theory, the authors offered an additional perspective when “discursive practices in which acts of positioning of the first kind become a topic or target” and they explain that “for someone to refuse a positioning laid on him by someone’s discursive practice is to act relative to that original act of positioning” (p. 399). I will be using these orders of positioning in my understanding of the information given to me by the veterans.

Harre and Langenhove (1991) have argued that, “positioning is a discursive practice” that involves “simultaneously positioning” of an individual in relation to others (p. 398). In addition, they argued that when “people are positioned or position themselves, this will always include both a moral and a personal positioning” referring to the roles people take on or occupy when

they are associated with specific social institutions or when they hold a specific position in

society (p. 398), for example as being part of military. The authors argued that, depending on

how well such a role is defined in society, the ratio would favour either personal or moral order

associated with the held position. Harre and Langenhove’s Theory of Positioning accounts for a

possible change due to the reassignment of roles, and they have argued that such reassignment

would likely cause “shift from moral to personal positioning” (p. 397). This change would result

in a need to “bring a story that accounts for the ‘deviance’ of what was expected from

[individuals] in terms of roles” (p. 397) Harre and Langenhove have argued that for an

individual to fully appear as a person, “human beings must display both a personal identity and a

social identity” (p. 400). The authors defined “referring to one’s biography … and by referring

to personal experiences that one has had” as forms of “explaining personal behavior” (p. 400).

This personal behavior of self-positioning is also linked to an expression of “one’s powers and one’s rights to exercise them”, and illustrates how individuals use positioning as discursive practices in identity formation through “displays of agency, self-consciousness and autobiography” (p. 400). In this, Harre and Langenhove referred to the works of Jones and

Pittman who defined “five categories of self-presentation” in stories such as “ingratiation, intimidation, self-promotion, exempflication and supplication” (p. 400). Since some of the ex- servicemen engaged in writing their autobiographies, it could be argued that they displayed agency to construct and reconstruct their identity through discourse by acting independently from social forces and social structures that were put on them upon their arrival in Canada.

This research not only uses Positioning Theory as defined by Harre and Langenhove

(1991) as a theory to analyze the collected data, but I, as a researcher, play an active role in this

research and as a participant of this theory. In this light, the information collected from the

WWII Polish veterans could be defined in several ways. Since this is the first time the veterans shared their stories, as part of an academic research, it should be seen as the first order positioning or performative positioning in which they describe how they perceive themselves and others within the moral fabric and in the context of the story of a group of WWII Polish soldiers who came to Canada after the war. However, due to the complexity of this case study, their stories can also be seen as the second order positioning, also referred as reflexive positioning in reference to their reaction when they have learned that upon their arrival in Canada articles about them were written in Canadian newspapers. At the time of their arrival, shortly after, or in some cases until I informed them that this took place in the past, the veterans were not aware of this taking place or were not able to read the articles themselves, either because they did not have access to media such as the newspapers, or they did not have the ability to read in English.

Because of these limitations, the veterans were not able to act in any way, including either accepting how stories about them were told or rejecting them. Their voices were not heard at all.

Therefore, this research that collected the stories of the WWII Polish veterans can also be viewed as second order positioning because it allows the listener/hearer to respond to the primary account and even the third order positioning, called accountive positioning, when individuals question or challenge the first instance when their story was told by the newspaper articles.

As a researcher, I was also taking an active part when they were telling their story and I was placed according to the positioning theory in an active role, first, when I was collecting veterans’ stories, second, when I was researching their stories to ensure that they reflect the

historic facts, and third, when I was writing this thesis. In the first order positioning, I was

positioned as an individual who was hearing, collecting, and reacting to their stories as part of a

research. In the second order positioning, I was using research methods and theories to pose

questions, analyze, and synthetize veterans’ stories to unravel them in accordance to socio-

historical and political scenario of the 1940s and 1950s. This research was also part of the third

order positioning referred as accountive positioning, when, as a researcher, I was challenging how the WWII Polish veterans were portrayed by the Canadian newspapers upon their arrival.

All these aspects made me an integral part of this research and placed me in all three orders of positioning theory as defined by Harre and Langenhove (1991).

2.3 Conclusion

My thesis examines both written and oral narratives. Jerome Bruner has stated that “the

main reason to be interested in studying narratives is because narrative is a basic human way of

making sense of the world.” (Griffin & May, 2012, p. 443). To understand the Polish veterans’

experience after WW II in Canada properly, the Polish veterans’ narratives need to be examined

in relation to Canadian government and Canadian media narratives. Both kinds of narratives

require the application of discourse and narrative analysis theories. These theories allow the

researcher to better understand her own role, the impact of discourse on the veterans, and the

social history that resulted. By using sociological theories of ethnicity and diaspora,

communication theories of discourse and narrative analysis, as well as social psychology’s

positioning theory this study is able to present a multidisciplinary approach to its subject, which

is suited to Canadian Studies as an interdisciplinary field.

I determined that the adoption of the theoretical framework of discourse analysis as proposed by Fairclough, Mulderrig, and Wodak (2011) about “the semiotic dimensions of power” and “the relationship between language and society“ where they argued discourses are formed (p. 357) provided answers to questions about the social construction of identity formation in discourse in relation to the group studied. The discourse-historical approach

(DHA) developed by Wodak in which “discourse is always connected to other discourses which were produced earlier, as well as those which are produced synchronically and subsequently” (p.

364) allows for combining of this theory with narrative analysis to gain a better understanding of identity formation in discourse. This combination of methods allowed for analysis of the variety of the text involved in this study. I argue that the flexibility of the approach of discourse analysis method, and the multiple advantages of using such a method yielded answers to questions on how their identity was constructed by newspaper articles, and then through their own narratives.

In the context of my research, narrative analysis could be used as an investigative method of inquiry to study and analyze the narratives as a source of information on the cultural and social contents. Furthermore, the use of narrative analysis method helps to determine and understand the purposes that motivated the ex-servicemen to tell stories, as advised by Bamberg

(2012) to understand why they wrote their memoirs, and engaged in narratives. Furthermore, I believe that combining the narrative analysis methods proposed by Bamberg with Kohler

Riessman’s approach to narratives will offer a better understanding of narratives, especially in cases when a presented identity is contested. Hence, the ability to combine two approaches to analyze discourse, illustrates the flexibility of the use of these methods.

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY: INTRODUCTION

The focal point of this research required that I obtain a first-hand account of the

experience of those who participated in the Polish Resettlement Corps, immigrated to Canada

after WWII, and worked on farms as part of their contract. In some cases, I interviewed close

family members since not many ex-servicemen are still alive. Because each participant of the

Resettlement program had a unique experience and perspective on the war and post-war events, I

conducted face-to-face, intensive, semi-structured, and in-depth interviews to collect unique data

that provide participants’ perspective on the past events as well as their opinion on their portrayal

by the media. Moreover, to understand the historical underpinning of the events that took place,

it was of utmost importance to study historical, policy making, and scholarly sources that relate

to these events. This multi-faceted approach was dictated by the need to analyze the case of the

Polish ex-servicemen from the perspective of the time these events took place. The methodologies used for this case study are closely linked to the theories selected to analyze the

collected data such as DA that seeks answers to questions about the social construction of

identity formation in discourse in relation to the group studied. Moreover, the use of NA as a

suitable methodological approach to seek answers to research questions relating to identity

formation required that ex-servicemen share their stories using narratives or memoirs. In

addition, the use of Positioning Theory called for input from the participants of this study since

their voice and opinion were not heard before and their opinion, emotions, and interactions with

individuals from the same ethnic group and with other ethnic and mainstream groups are an

integral part of this study. The following is an overview of the methods used for this study.

3.1 Research Design: Semi-structured, In-depth Interviews

The most important source of research material was provided by conducting semi- structured, in-depth interviews with Calgary Polish war veterans and their survivors. The criteria for selection included, 1) service in the Second Polish Army Corps during the war, 2) the use of the Polish Resettlement Act as a vehicle to come to Canada, and 3) fulfillment of the mandatory two-year long contract of working on farms 4) and being a resident of Calgary.

To collect data I conducted intensive semi-structured in-depth interviews reflecting the models developed by scholars (Atkinson, 2012; Corbetta, 2003; Silverman, 2006; Patton, 1987).

The interview methodology and questions were approved by the Conjoined Faculties Ethics

Research Board at the University of Calgary. The interviews were the primary research vehicle to answer my research questions concerning the role of ethnic and immigrant identity on the participants. The challenge of working on this project was in finding the people who participated in WWII and who were still alive and able to share their stories since few had survived into their late eighties or nineties. As a result, in some cases, I conducted interviews with the widows or with the surviving children of those Polish veterans who participated in the Resettlement

Program. I conducted face-to-face interviews. During those meetings, I was given memoirs written by the veterans, and saw the physical artefacts such as military uniforms, war medals, and original military and immigration documents. In addition, I was given access to photographs taken during and after the war. These source documents and artifacts provided me with information about the participants' experiences as soldiers, stateless people, war veterans, farm workers, and immigrants. During the interviews, I also learned about their emotions, opinions, and interactions with individuals from the same ethnic group and with other ethnic and

mainstream groups involved in the integration process these Polish war veterans went through after their arrival in Canada. In total, I conducted interviews with five participants, which form the basis of this study.

In addition to factual information about their life stories, I was able to learn about their motivations and expectations as individuals and members of an ethnic group. I adopted the research method proposed by Corbetta (2003), who saw collecting data using qualitative interview approach as an approach of a researcher “to identify with the subject studied and thereby to see the world through their eyes” (p. 264), thus, I concentrated on participants’ perspective of the events. This perspective allows the researcher to more fully appreciate the psychological impact of events, policies, and programs on the subjects.

Open-ended interviews, as Silverman (2006) argued, are used when collecting data that relate to “a life history” (p. 110). Silverman further stated that such interviews allow for the collection of “rich data” and require “active listening” on the part of the interviewer (p. 110).

However, where Silverman saw strengths of conducting open-ended interviews, Patton (1987) observed, that one of the weaknesses of this method is that such interviews required a substantial amount of time to be committed to interviewing and listening to participants’ stories when collecting information about the case studied (p. 110). Despite the substantial investment of time required to conduct interviews, it was important for me to collect as much information as possible.

Silverman (2006) further argued that it is important for an interviewer to gain and maintain trust and “establish rapport” while conducting interviews (p. 110). Considering that recalling the events of war and talking about them might be difficult for some, it was important

for me to create an atmosphere of comfort and openness during the interviews. The questions

that I asked the participants referred to difficult and challenging years of WWII, and included the years of their lives when they were prisoners, soldiers, farmworkers, and new immigrants. This required, on my part, a certain level of cultural sensitivity, the ability to understand participants’ mother tongue, and, additionally, it required a certain level of historical and political awareness.

Being born and educated in Poland helped me in establishing and maintaining this rapport throughout the course of my study. My cultural awareness brought about by living in Poland and in Canada, which are two culturally distinctively different countries, helped me understand the perspective presented by the interviewees. During the interviews, I used an initial set of prepared questions, for which participants produced their answers, as a guide to ask more individually tailored questions. This approach led to informal interviews during which participants told their life stories that pertain to the time of war and the years after the war.

Silverman (2006) has argued that one of the strengths of the qualitative research method is that they provide the researcher with information on events that took place in the past to allow reconnect with that period instead of relying on comments about these events (p. 113). Thus, the

interviews conducted provided me with the firsthand accounts, personal observations of the war

events, and testimonies about the Polish veterans’ first years in Canada.

Moreover, talking with the veterans allowed me to put individual faces to stories documented in historical books and reported in newspaper articles. With millions of people affected by the events of WWII, during which so many unknown soldiers perished, the interviews allowed the veterans’ life stories to surface and to connect these stories with human faces. Hence, the interviews conducted provided me with the opportunity to learn what these

people thought about the events they lived through. Interviewing these people allowed me for a

rare opportunity to ask questions on how they felt about the events that took place in the past and

how they feel about these events now. In addition, I was able to find out if their perspective on

these events was affected by the passing time.

Michael Patton (2013), who was involved in social research at the University of

Minnesota, argues that qualitative research allows for an explorative approach. Patton (1987)

further argued that such approach defined as depth interviews is a suitable method for case

studies where, instead of constraining the researchers to the use of specific categories, this

approach allows for unbounded exploration of such a case without putting specific strains on its

boundaries. For my case study it was important to take the approach described by Patton, who

saw conducting such interviews as “an important source of qualitative data”, especially vital,

because these interviews should be “providing a holistic understanding of the interviewee’s point

of view” (p. 108). Furthermore, Patton argued that depth interviews allow for uncovering details

hidden from the immediate view and, based on these insights, would allow forming follow up

questions that otherwise would not be asked (p. 108). He argued that depth interviews allow for

creating a perspective that comes from within and these attributes were unique to the individual

telling the story. Hence, the interviews conducted provided me with access to people’s thoughts

and opinions on the events they lived through. Interviewing these people allowed me to ask

questions on how they felt about the events that took place in the past and how they feel about

these events now. In addition, I was able to find out if their perspective on these events was affected by the passing time.

All interviews aimed at giving the interviewee the opportunity to express their point of view and their position on issues pertaining to the time of war and their first years in Canada, and to allow them to expand their story and concentrate on the most important issues that related to the time when they were soldiers and young veterans. Following the argument of exploring the events through the eyes of participants of such events presented by Corbetta (2003), this approach was important for me to take since each participant, despite some common aspects of their life story, had different experience and saw the world from own individual perspective.

Corbetta saw this approach as an important aspect of collecting data using the qualitative interview method to ensure that the voice of the participants dominates instead of being rigidly boxed into the predetermined set of questions and answers. Corbetta further argued that when people tell their life story, they also show “what makes them human” (p. 123). Thus, this research can be seen as a contribution aimed at strengthening of the roots of the Polish community in Calgary, and as reconnecting this community with its history as well as illustrating the underexplored human factor entangled in the events of war. Oftentimes, the interviewees’ immediate family did not know much of the details of the life story of the Polish veterans and what they went through, and this once again proved how important my approach of qualitative interviews was to collect these stories, which otherwise would be lost.

3.2 Research Design: Source Documents and Historical Research

This case study required a historical understanding of events that took place during and after WWII. The perspectives of the interviewees were insufficient of themselves to understand the phenomenon. It was crucial for developing a scholarly answer to my research questions that

I read the scholarly literature on the period under discussion, both about WWII and its aftermath,

and about the nature of Canadian domestic and foreign policy in the context of the Cold War.

Thus, for background information as well as for validation of information on the war events

presented by the interviewees, I used secondary source material, namely the historical works

written by those who participated in the events of the war or written by researchers who used

factual and archival material as a source of information for their books. Gidley (2012) stated that

this approach of combined methods of data collection and validation is defined as a form of

methodological triangulation. Furthermore, Denzin (2009), who specializes in research on

sociological theory and methods, and who defined triangulation as the approach of using

multiple methods of inquiry advocated the use of combined methodologies in research involving

social studies. Denzin further argued that triangulation could take place on the level of methods used to collect the data, and on the level of data analysis. In addition, Richardson & Adams St.

Pierre (2005) argued that the use of triangulation could be seen as an alternative to validation.

Therefore, the approach of triangulation of data and methods allowed me to employ multiple

points of inquiry needed to grasp the knowledge about this case and, as pointed by Denzin

(2009), avoid the possibility of “biases that stem from single methodologies” (p. 300).

My study constitutes a triangulation rather than a multiple methodological approach and

each of the research methods I use such as interviews, scholarly sources, and government

documents, and media accounts are meant to provide checks and balances to each of the methods

and to provide different perspectives on the same issue.

The use of triangulation allowed for looking back at how the institutions that are part of

contemporary social and political life today worked in the past, and this could illustrate the

changes that took place over time. Gidley (2012) defined this approach of the use of

triangulation as “the genealogy of ideas” (p. 268). The use of triangulation in research that

involves historic works and official governmental documents extended my understanding of the

data collected during the interviews as well as the data collected from the newspaper articles

printed after the war. Gidley has argued that the use of triangulation is an important factor for

studying human societies, and highlighted that case studies have to be studied within the time

frame, place, and with a connection to history when such cases took place to ensure that they are

not studied in isolation form such factors. Furthermore, Gidley argued that resorting to

triangulation allowed to “provide access to marginalized voices and allow communities to reconnect to their histories” (p. 268). Since the research relates to a marginalized group of people and their life stories are linked to historical events of WWII, I use this method to allow the community to reconnect with their past and learn more about the historical events that took place.

The connection between historical events and the social construction of life of the Polish ex-servicemen throughout the war and post-war years was enhanced by my use of primary source materials such as newspapers articles printed in the newspapers in the war affected

Dominion of Canada and in the United Kingdom. Thyer (2001) argues that historians see such documents as important sources of information on political, social, and economical situation in which historical events were embedded. In order to learn about the overall level of social welfare of Polish POWs, soldiers, stateless people, and immigrants, it was important for me to examine these aspects to determine how these circumstances influenced the lives of the Polish veterans, first in Europe and later on in Canada. Since this study also involves an analysis of

media representations of the war veterans at the time of their resettlement this research used primary newspaper sources and secondary historical works that provided information for this study and reinforced each other in addition to the data from interviews with veterans.

The primary source of historical information for this study, other than the information and opinions offered by the interviewees, came from the articles printed in the Canadian newspapers during and after the war. These articles not only presented the opinion of the editorial boards of those newspapers on the war and post-war political events, but also shaped the opinions of Canadians. Hence, such texts are seen by historians as important source of information on political, social, and economic situation in which historical events were embedded (Thyer, 2001). Moreover, examining such documents reflects the existence of political shifts that took place and how such changes were presented to the Canadian public.

Since there are no other historical sources that concentrate on the history of the Polish veterans who came to Alberta, the data from the newspaper articles serve as supportive documents which allow tracing the time-line of events relating to the arrival of the Polish veterans to Canada, as well as how the Polish veterans were presented to the public.

Secondary historical works that I researched relate to the case of the Polish veterans in

Canada concentrate on the war events that took place from the time of the invasion of Poland by the German Army and later on by the Soviet Union Army in 1939 until the end of WWII. These secondary sources provide information on the events of war, events affecting political global situation of Europe and other parts of the world. These sources serve as a supportive material allowing understanding the phenomenon reported during the interviews with the veterans.

Without combining of these three views, it would be difficult to present the stories of veterans as sufficient for developing a scholarly answer to my research questions.

CHAPTER 4: HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF IDENTITY FORMATION OF POLISH

VETERANS IN CANADA

This chapter provides a historical context in which the identity of the Polish veterans

resettled to Canada was formed. Section 4.1 addresses Canadian immigration policy that was

one of the pivotal catalysts that impacted the prospect of the Polish veterans in Canada and

influenced the conditions under which the Polish ex-servicemen were accepted as immigrants to

Canada. During the war, Canada was not accepting many new immigrants, and after the war,

Canada was experiencing economic demands to bring more skilled labour into the country. As

well, Canada was pressured into dealing with the issue of refugees and displaced persons in

Europe. Changes to the immigration policy introduced during the post-war years reflected these

changes and impacted the situation of the group of 4,527 Polish ex-servicemen accepted under the Resettlement Program to come to Canada in 1946.

In order to understand the situation of the Polish ex-servicemen who came to Canada after the war, Section 4.2 provides a brief history of the Anders Army and its portrayal during

WWII and afterwards. The Second Polish Army Corps under the command of General Anders participated in military operations led by the Eight British Army fighting on the Eastern Front.

In 1943, after relocating to Italy, as part of the Eight British Army, the Canadian First Army was involved in a military operation to break the German defense fortification known as the Gustav line. The Second Polish Army Corps and the Canadian First Army were involved in this operation and fought on the opposite ends of the Gustav line. Both armies were supporting the efforts of the Allies. The II Polish Army Corps was fighting for Monte Cassino and the Canadian

First Army fought in the battle of Ortona. Moreover, Section 4.2 of this thesis deals with how

the II Polish Army Corps soldiers and its General Władyslaw Anders were presented in Canadian newspapers before the February 1945 Yalta Conference and after this conference concluded. It also provides a brief history of this political event and how this pivotal for the political situation of Europe event influenced the situation of the Polish Army fighting on the side of the Allies.

This chapter also provides historical background on how Canadian and British institutions in place responsible for information dissemination and censorship in Canada and in

Great Britain influenced how information about the war was presented to the Canadian public.

Section 4.3 deals with issues of Polish war veteran settlement that enabled the Polish ex- servicemen to come to Canada. The 1947 Polish Resettlement Act was introduced by the British

House of Commons to deal with over 250,000 Polish Armed Forces that fought on the side of the

Allies who after the war decided not to return to Poland. Moreover, Section 4.3 provides an overview of this Act and how this Act affected the situation of the Polish ex-servicemen who immigrated to Canada after the war when they found themselves at the crossroad of socio- political and economic junction involving Great Britain and the Dominion of Canada.

Since the Polish ex-servicemen, who came to Canada, served as part of the Eight British

Army during the war and participated in military operations that also involved the First Canadian

Army, Section 4.4 offers an overview of Canadian legislation, such as the Veterans Charter, set to address the needs of the Canadian WWII veterans returning from serving overseas. Moreover,

Section 4.4 provides an overview of the opportunities created for the returning Canadian veterans to ensure that they return to civilian life and resume their pre-war employment. It also discusses the principles and values associated with the treatment of the Canadian WWII veterans.

4.1 Canadian Immigration Policies after WWII

Ninette Kelly and Michael J. Trebilcock (2010) researched the major legislative immigration and citizenship acts in Canada, including the 1940s, when Canadian immigration policies were set to disallow admittance of a larger number of immigrants. Their study of the period indicated that the number of immigrants to Canada was lowest in 1943, and the reasons for the decline ranged from immigrants not being able to meet the financial requirements and conditions in place to be considered for admittance; immigration offices were closed in Europe and immigration restrictions were put in place. Kelly & Trebilcock argue that from the late 1930s until 1940s, Canadian immigration policies did not change and this was tied to the war. Knowles

(1997), whose research also concentrated on Canadian immigration policies, has pointed to the restrictive approach of the Canadian government that characterized the time of WWII, lasted for approximately two years after the war. At that time, Canada’s economy was adjusting to the post-war production requirements of industry in addition to changes taking place in how

Canadian government viewed refugees and displaced persons in Europe. Also, at that time, the

Canadian government became more involved in supporting international organizations involved in bringing relief to counties affected by the war.

Kelly & Trebilcock (2010) have stated that in 1945, the United Nation was created and it was instrumental in starting of the United Nation Relief and Rehabilitation Administration

(UNRRA) program intended to bring help to countries affected by the war, and Canada was an active participant of this relief program (pp. 311-312). After the war, the Canadian economy improved significantly, and Canadian immigration policies introduced from 1946 until 1962 were meant to accommodate the growing needs for labour required by the economy (p. 311). In

1947, Prime Minster King pointed that “admission was a privilege, [and] immigrants were to be viewed in terms of their potential contribution to the economy; and immigration was not to change the fundamental demographic character of the community” (p. 312). Knowles (1997) stated that the idea of selective admission to Canada and adhering to selective immigration policy supported by the government was met with a criticism from the Senate Standing

Committee on Immigration and Labour that was recommending revising the Immigration Act and policies in place to deal with the post-war problems of displaced persons in Europe as well as to bring to Canada qualified labour force that could be employed in agriculture and industry.

In addition to the internal pressure to change immigration policies, the British government requested that Canada assist in a resettlement of a group of Polish veterans from the Anders’

Army who refused to be repatriated to Poland under the Soviet Union influence. Anticipating the shortage of agricultural workers in the coming years, the Canadian government allowed for an admission of over 3,000 Polish veterans under the condition that they will sign a contract requiring them to work on farms.

On September 23, 1946, The Calgary Herald (The Calgary Herald, 1946) reported,

“Alberta’s share of the 4,000 former Polish soldiers will be 450. All men have farm experience, are single and under 35 years of age” The article further states that their wages will be no less than $45 a month. As pointed by Thornton, the farm wages paid to the Polish soldiers in August

1946 were $30 below the average for farm workers at that time in Canada2 further pointing out

2 Thornton cites after "William Boleslaus Makowski in 1967 produced a notable work on the History and Integration of Poles in Canada. He pointed out that the average wage paid to a farmhand in Ontario at the time had been $65" (Thornton, 1989, p. 243).

discriminatory undertone of remuneration involving the ex-servicemen. Since “The Poles had

been offered approximately the same wages as the German prisoners of war”3 they felt offended

by such treatment (Thornton, 1989, p. 243). In addition to the issue of low wages, further

assimilation problems were caused by work clothing4 given to the Poles since “the Canadian

authorities provided agricultural clothes that had been intended for German prisoners, or in some

cases had been used by them” (Thornton, 1989, p. 243). Thus confusion and misunderstanding

caused by this situation was not surprising and “some Canadians seeing Poles in 'uniform' often

confused them with the previous German prisoners who had worked on the farms during the

war.” (Thornton, 1989, p. 243). Taking into consideration conditions under which these ex-

servicemen participated in the two-year long farm service, they felt more like prisoners of war

than like immigrants.

King’s idea of privilege and of a static demographic character to Canadian identity is

something that had a negative impact on Polish veterans in terms of job opportunities, self-

image, and social status in Canada. The immigrant was viewed as un-Canadian. There is a

contradiction between fostering assimilation and focussing on difference.

In 1946, Canada introduced the Canadian Citizenship Act that replaced the older British

subject status (Kelley & Trebilcock, 2010). In 1952, a new Canadian Immigration Act, stating

the requirements that the immigrants had to meet in order to be accepted to Canada, was passed.

Kelley & Trebilcock (2010) stated that until 1962 this new Act focused on bringing immigrants

3 As stated by Thornton (1989) “farmers would have had to pay $1.75 per day to the Germans” (p. 243).

4 The Polish ex-service men employed on the farms had to “give up good British army great-coats in exchange for a clothing allowance of $41.25; the British authorities had demanded that the great-coats be shipped back to the United Kingdom.” (Thornton, 1989, pp. 243-244).

from Western European countries and some Commonwealth countries and the country of origin of potential immigrants as the criteria played a role in acceptance or rejection of application, especially concerning security when immigrants were suspected of holding communist sympathise (p. 315). After that year, the focus was on skills, education and training as the major criteria. During the drafting phase of the new Canadian Immigration Act, many organizations were consulted and Kelley & Trebilcock point to the new reaction of the labour movement in

Canada on the matter of increased immigration. Until 1946 unions opposed the increased number of immigrants out of fear that this would affect the number of jobs in Canada, would increase unemployment, and would lower wages. However, in the case of post-war immigration, organized labour in Canada did not oppose this move but rather approved it as a way of raising the international position of Canada. In addition, Canadian business pushed for increased immigration because of the shortage of skilled labour.

In May of 1947, under the pressure to deal with the issue of displaced persons in Europe, the government of Mackenzie King introduced changes to immigration policy that allowed an increase in the number of new immigrants and the number of new immigrants depended, as King described, on the “absorptive capacity” that was not specified (Knowles, 1997, p. 163). The new immigrants, under this amendment to immigration policies, were to alleviate labour shortage, and as Mackenzie King argued “the racial and national balance of immigration would be regulated so as not to alter the fundamental character of the Canadian population” (p. 163). This change resulted in Canada’s new approach to the refugee and displaced persons issue, and recognizing this as Canada’s moral obligation to deal with the post-war crisis. Knowles has argued that in a long term, this was the first step in relaxing immigration policies and introducing

new categories of immigration such as sponsor and non-sponsor, which resulted in bringing more

immigrants to Canada in the coming years. As a result, in 1947, the Canadian Department of

Labour sent teams of immigration officers to Europe to camps of displaced persons to help deal

with selecting immigrants. The preferences were set to select able-bodied refugees, which John

Holmes, who worked for Canada's Department of External Affairs (Egerton, 1983, p. 222) described as "like good beef cattle, with a preference for strong young men who could do manual labour and would not be encumbered by aging relatives" (Knowles, 1997, p. 165). During this process the officer screened the immigrants accessing how useful they will be for the Canadian economy, but also looked at the ethnic background as a central criterion in the selection process, giving preferences to those whose political views were against Communist ideology and against the Cold War, deeming as undesirable those leaning towards left wing politics (Knowles, 1997, p. 165).

In 1950, the Department of Citizenship and Immigration was created. As a result of the formation of this department a greater number of immigrants were accepted to Canada under the following conditions “any European who could 'satisfy the Minister that he is suitable, having regard to the climatic, social, educational, labour and other conditions or requirements of

Canada” (Kelley & Trebilcock, 2010, p. 323).

In 1952, the Immigration Act came into force and simplified the process of bringing new immigrants to Canada. However, the major difference of this act was that categories such as nationality, ethnicity, occupation, or lifestyle were not allowed to be used as ground and categories for exclusion. Moreover, in order to help immigrants to come to Canada a system of loan was established to assist with the cost of transportation. In some cases when immigrants

had sponsors in Canada, from 1954 until 1957 there were exceptions allowing waving of

immigration regulations in place for people with such illnesses as tuberculosis (Knowles, 1997,

pp. 170-171). Under the relaxed immigration policies, following the 1948 Israeli-Arab war,

Canada accepted a group of eighty-eight refugees from Palestine in 1955, and in 1956-57,

accepted 40,000 Hungarian refugees who fled Hungry after the 1956 Hungarian uprising was

squashed by the Russian invasion (pp. 172-174).

I argue that taking into consideration the changes that took place in Canada in relation to

its immigration policies as described by Knowles (1997), WWII Polish veterans would have

fared differently under the 1952 legislation. Not only were there additional immigration offices

would have been set up to deal with the influx of refugees, as in the case of the 1956-57

Hungarian refugees fleeing to Austria, but also the Canadian public reaction to the crisis

managed to influence the Canadian government to speed up the admission process and extend

the open-door policy to accept the refugees. The Hungarian refugees, who were mostly young

people, were offered participation in the government sponsored assistance program upon their

arrival to Canada, contrary to strict requirement set for the Polish veterans to work on farms with

limited access to education and social contact. The case of Hungarian refugees illustrates the way

the Canadian government reacted to their situation providing them with a free passage to

Canada, shelter, food, and if necessary with medical attention, upon their arrival. They were

offered to continue studies at the Canadian universities and those who already had university

education were offered positions in such educational institution as the University of British

Columbia. The case of Hungarian refugees illustrated a new and more positive attitude towards

refugees in Canada when comparing with the attitude towards refugee and displaced persons in

Canada in the 1940s that represented the old and negative attitude towards refugees. One of the

main factors in this new attitude was the Cold War and the anti-communist ideology of the

Canadian government. In the mid-1940s the Cold War was just beginning and the recent allied status of the Soviet Union played a significant role in the attitude toward Polish war veterans.

Many of the WWII Polish veterans who came to Canada after the war obtained their education when serving in the Polish Resettlement Corps in Great Britain and in Italy as part of the Polish Resettlement Act. Also, when the Polish veterans were serving in the Anders’ Army during the war, they learned new skills such as driving and operating heavy equipment, machinery, and trucks, or setting up telecommunication lines and operating complex telecommunication equipment. Had the Polish veterans given the opportunity to work in their learned professions they would be valuable and productive workers in Canada, and would adapt to the Canadian culture much faster than when they were put into isolation while living on

Canadian farms removed from the main stream society. It needs to be noted that many of them after fulfilling the two year contract of working on farms went on to work in their learned profession.

4.2 A Brief History of the Anders Army and its Portrayal during WW II and Afterwards:

From Allies to Supplicants

In order to understand the situation of the WWII Polish veterans in Canada a brief history of their role in WWII needs to be presented.

The Second Polish Army Corps under the command of General Władysław Anders was

made of thousands of Poles who refused to be forcefully drafted into the Red Army after the

Soviet Union invaded Poland in 1939. On September 26, 1941, an article about General Anders

appeared in the Ottawa Citizen describing him as a former Russian prisoner and a hero “of Polish

war” who was wounded several times (Randall, 1941). This article represents a trend in

Canadian newspapers illustrating how the General and the Polish troops were portrayed at that

time with examples of such articles dating to the beginning of 1945. Such articles presenting a

positive discourse of the Polish soldiers include the August 20, 1943 article titled Battle-Tested

Men in New Polish Army (The Leader Post Regina, 1943), and the June 4, 1943 article Polish

Legion, Too Seeks Blow at Hitler printed by The Leader-Post Regina (Sikorski, 1943, p. 16).

The discourse of the Polish soldiers as brave and determined was presented, as described by

Wodak, as discourse-historical when “discourse is always connected to other discourses which were produced earlier” (Fairclough, Mulderrig, & Wodak, 2011, p. 364). The articles reflected this positive discourse of the Polish soldiers describing their participation in military actions at the beginning of the war and the media continued this approach after the Polish volunteers joined the newly formed army. Even though, in the past, these soldiers were inadequately equipped, they stood against enemy’s overwhelming military attacks and destroyed their tanks and equipment. In these newspaper articles, they were presented as brave, determined, and not afraid to face the enemy even under disastrous circumstances.

Polish and Canadian joint involvement in military operations during WWII included major operations of the Italian offensive. General Anders (1949) has stated that in August of

1944, the Canadian and Polish armies were involved in the joined military operations in the so called Gothic Line where the Second Polish Army Corps was designated to “drive the enemy over the river Metauro” and “to prepare the Metauro positions for the I Canadian and V British

Army Corps in readiness for an attack to be made” (p. 206). This operation further illustrates the

joined military involvement of the Second Polish Army Corps and the First Canadian Army

against the common enemy. Gen. Anders has stated that the three armies involved in the attack

on the Gothic line included “the II Polish Army Corps next to the sea, the I Canadian Army

Corps in the middle, and the V British Army Corps on the left (western) flank” and the task

assigned to the II Polish Army Corps was to “reach the line of the river Foglia in the sector

between the Canadian Corps and the sea” (p. 214). The joint effort and military skills of the

Canadian and the Polish armies allowed the Canadian Army to make a great advancement

through a minefield successfully reaching the enemies’ positions, circling them, and eventually

linking with the positions of the II Polish Army Corps. The battle for the Gothic Line ended on

September 1, 1944 and British General Sir Oliver Leese stated that the II Polish Army Corps

made “a notable contribution to the common cause on the battlefields of Italy” (pp. 216-217).

However, the implications of the 1945 Yalta Conference were still to make its mark on the lives

of the II Polish Army Corps soldiers.

In February 1945, the Yalta Conference5, also known as the Argonaut Conference, was held by representatives of the Soviet Union, Great Britain, and the United States (Argonaut

Conference January - February 1945, 1945). At this conference, the interests of the Dominions

were represented by British officials (Stewart, 2008, p. 151). During the Yalta meeting,

The Big Three6 settled the issue of [...] Poland’s government and frontiers. The three leaders issued a Declaration on Liberated Europe in which they committed themselves to free elections and

5 Yalta conference took place between 4 – 11 February 1945 and involved Russia, represented by Stalin, Great Britain, represented by Churchill, and the United States, represented by Roosevelt. 6 The Big Three refers to Stalin, Churchill, and Roosevelt. 59

democratic governments in the countries freed from Nazis. (Argonaut Conference January - February 1945, 1945, p. 3)

By the time the Yalta Conference took place, the Soviet Army had liberated part of Poland and

Stalin sponsored the newly formed Polish government and installed it on the liberated territory

(Brzezinski, 1984). During the conference proceedings, the new state borders of Poland were

declared and the Polish Provisional Government of National Unity was recognized as the new government in power (Yale Law School, 2008). Furthermore, the declaration agreed upon at this conference required that a democratic election be held in Poland by stating,

This Polish Provisional Government of National Unity shall be pledged to the holding of free and unfettered elections as soon as possible on the basis of universal suffrage and secret ballot. In these elections all democratic and anti-Nazi parties shall have the right to take part and to put forward candidates. (Yale Law School, 2008)

The decision of the Big Three to recognize the Polish Provisional Government of National Unity

at the Yalta Conference resulted in de-recognition of the Polish government in exile in London that had its headquarter there since 1940 and acted as the official Polish government throughout

WWII (Stachura, 2004, p. 12). This political change affected the situation of 250,000 Polish ex-

servicemen including 112,000 ex-servicemen from the II Polish Corps stationing in Italy. Under these circumstances, the servicemen decided to stay in exile rather than return to Poland under

Soviet rule (Stachura, 2004). When their hopes for a free and independent Poland faded away and they realized that a new war between the Western Powers and the Soviet Union would not take place, these ex-servicemen started looking for a place where they would begin civilian life making their exile a permanent situation (Stewart, 2008). Based on the 1947 Polish Resettlement

Act7, an agreement between the Canadian and the British governments, Canada accepted 4,527

Polish Resettlement Corps8 who stationed in Italy and Great Britain (Kelley & Trebilcock, 1998;

Patalas, 2003).

When on July 6, 1945, “the British government announced the withdrawal of its

recognition from the exiled Polish government in London” this move complicated the situation

of the II Polish Corps in Britain further and they felt betrayed and “disappointed with the Great

Power decision regarding Eastern Europe” (Sword, 1986). Furthermore, the situation in Great

Britain was becoming more complex by “fears of unemployment and economic catastrophe”

(Stadulis, 1952) caused by the need to deal with the resettlement of 150,000 Polish Corps9

(Sword, 1986).

As reported by The Times on September 4, 1946, in addition to the uncertain future, the

Polish Corps stationed in Great Britain and in Italy had to deal with the prospect of losing Polish

citizenship caused by joining of the Polish Resettlement Corps. The Times reported that based on

the 1920 Polish citizenship law, Polish soldiers who elect to join the Polish Resettlement Corps

will have their citizenship revoked10. Soldiers from the Anders’ Army were considered

7 The 1946-47 (40) Polish Resettlement Bill as discussed in the British Parliament led to the Polish Resettlement Act, 1947.io & ii GEO. 6. CH. 19 (Polish Resettlement Act, 1947.io & ii GEO. 6. CH. 19., 1947). 8 Swords (1986). states that “The Polish Resettlement Corps (PRC) was intended to be essentially a transitional arrangement designed to help those Polish troops who felt unable to return to Poland, to resettle in civilian life” (p. 371). 9 As stated by Sword (1986) “Foreign Office officials at the time estimated that the predicted influx of Poles would increase the alien population of Britain by 70 per cent, and with dependents it might well rise to over 150 per cent” (p. 368).

10 “The Polish law on citizenship passed in 1920 reads: ‘Polish citizenship is lost by the acceptance of a public office or through entering into the military service of a foreign country without the consent of the Polish Government.’” (The Times, 1946). The 1946 article in The Times described the situation of the Polish soldiers discharged from the Anders Army and stationing in Great Britain as complicated because in order to train them for 61

displaced persons for whom the British Government needed to find civilian work “either in Great

Britain or in suitable openings overseas as soon as possible” as stated by The Times on October

10, 1946 (The Times, 1946). However, the soldiers from the II Polish Corps by joining the

Polish Resettlement Corps, designed to help find employment or receive further training, were considered by the Polish government as being involved in a military service of a foreign country giving grounds to have the Polish citizenship revoked as stated by The Times on September 4,

1946 (The Times, 1946). The II Polish Army Corps of General Anders11 were made of

thousands of Poles who refused to be forcefully drafted into the Red Army after the Soviet Union

invaded Poland on September 17, 1939 and who were consequently imprisoned in Gulags in

Siberia. Thus revoking of their Polish citizenship caused bitter feelings and was seen as a blow to

their military honour12.

When WWII began, it became very important for Great Britain to disseminate

information in a controlled manner with the intent that this information will be accessed not only

throughout the Empire, and its Allies, but also by the enemies (Jackson, 2006). The aim was to

civilian duties they had to be placed under military law in order to effectively deal with large number of Polish solders affected by this situation. The legal situation was even more complex for those who refused to return to Poland and refused to join the Polish Corps.

11 As pointed out by Thornton (1997), “Władyslaw Anders takes credit for suggesting to General Sikorski that all Polish soldiers in the Soviet Union should not be incorporated within the Soviet Army, but should be established separately as a Polish Army in the Middle East “ (p. 126).

12 Their military honours with which they took on participation in such battles as Monte Cassino is reflected "As an inscription at the Polish military cemetery at Monte Cassino poignantly records. We Polish soldiers: For our freedom and yours Have given our souls to God Our bodies to the soil of Italy And our hearts to Poland." (Thornton, 1997, p. 129).

control what kind of information was released to ensure that only desired information is delivered. To achieve this, several government agencies were created such as the Ministry of

Information’s Empire Division and Empire Information Service Newspapers seen throughout the

British Empire as the most influential in the information distribution process (p. 33).

Jackson (2006) stated that in addition, organizations such as “BBC’s Empire Service as well as the British Overseas Wireless Service and regional newspapers and radio stations throughout the Empire” became involved in this process. These organizations served the public in Great Britain, as well as the British and Allied soldiers serving in the army placed on a variety of fronts. However, Canadians increasingly saw themselves not as a British colony but rather as an independent country, thus the beginning of WWII brought increased activities in the media that were intended to strengthen the ties between Great Britain and the Dominions. This was

”reinforced by wartime propaganda, both that produced in Canada by Canadian Broadcasting

Corporation (CBC) radio and the National Film Board and the radio reports and newsreels imported from Britain” (Buckner, 2012).

Mark Bourrie (2010), a historian, states that “for the sake of the war effort, the press had to keep military secrets” (p. 10) and until 1942, the press gallery in the Parliament was an exclusive place and journalists who were allowed to the gallery press were expected to follow a set in place code of conduct to prevent them from spreading stories about politicians to avoid any embarrassing situations (p. 19). According to Bourrie (2011), Canadian journalists were compliant with the rules of censorship and the system in place was designed primarily to “keep military secrets out of enemy hands, and to prevent civilian morale from breaking down.” (p.

10). The censorship of press was based on the principles of the War Measures Act13 and “was the

most draconian media-control mechanism among the Allied countries” (p. 11). Wilfrid Eggleston

was a Canadian journalist and the chief censor for Canada from 1942 until 1944 and his

approach to censorship of the press was seen as dictatorship (Dictionary of Literary Biography,

2005-2006). Fulgence Charpentier who joined the Parliamentary Press Gallery in 1920, was

also, “the chief French-language newspaper and magazine censor and, during the closing months

of the war, headed the entire Directorate of Censorship, which put him in charge of mail

openings and phone taps” (p. 18).

Mark Bourrie (2011) argues that most of the censors wanted the bad news to be

included in newspapers to control the population by keeping it in a state of controlled fear. Since delivering of news was highly politicised, people such as Eggleston argued that the public could not make informed decisions in such situations and that could lead to more problems. Eggleston used the example of the French government that in 1940 severely suppressed access to information through censorship that resulted in the French public being disoriented about the real situation on the war front and learning the truth about it when the German army invaded France

(p. 12). At that time, in Canada, the censorship laws used were created during WWI and there was no “constitutional protection for the press.” (p. 16).The close relationship between government and the media during WWII was a factor that influenced the situation of the Polish war veterans immediately after the war.

13Bourrie (2011) states that “Beginning in 1904, Canada was brought into the British plans for the control of news from naval bases at Halifax and Esquimalt, British Columbia. The British kept control over Canadian censorship until 1915 “ (p. 21). At that time, “Anyone who transmitted information “with respect to the movement or any disposition of the armed forces of His Majesty or His Majesty’s Allies” was guilty under the War Measures Act.” (Bourrie, 2010, p. 22). The War Measures Act was still in place during WWII (Bourrie, 2010, p. 33). 64

After 1945, the portrayal of the II Polish Army Corps and its General Władysław Anders, by the Canadian media, had changed from describing Anders as a war hero in 1941 to focusing on the general and the Polish servicemen causing an international problem by not accepting the decision made at the Yalta Conference that resulted in de-recognition of the Polish government in exile in London. From its inception in 1941, the II Polish Army Corps was under the command of the Polish government in exile in London, and the outcome of the Yalta Conference had not only changed the situation of the troops that reported to this government but it also changed the geo-political makeup of Europe.

On February 16, 1945, the Toronto Daily Stars printed an article titled Pole Boys in Italy veto Big 3Ruling (Toronto Daily Star, 1945) that quotes General Anders as opposed to the outcome of the Yalta Conference, and criticising the practices that took place there describing them as undemocratic. General Anders, in his statement, lent his unwavering support to the

Polish government in exile in London. Even though the Toronto Daily Star article provided some details of Anders’ official statement, written in a matter of fact language, the title of the article frames his position differently, and indicates that his official protest could be seen as immature, reactionary, and trivial, and indicating that General Anders and the troops under his command are becoming a problem. Consequently, his protest was portrayed as unimportant, meaningless, and soon to be dismissed. The media portrayal used the title of an article to negatively frame the Polish troops in Italy by referring to them as Pole Boys in Italy.

Such portrayal had further consequences and related to how the Polish soldiers were seen later on by Canadian society because this article represents a change of discourse about the

Polish soldiers. Fairclough, Mulderrig, and Wodak (2011), have recognized that there is “the

semiotic dimensions of power” and words used are expression of power relation that results in

the formation of discourse in society (p. 357). Hence, the article by the Toronto Daily Star is an

example of a shift of power relation that brought the change to discourse of the Polish soldiers

and General Anders. In this new discourse, the Polish soldiers are presented as disgruntled,

renegade, and unwilling to accept the new post-war world order.

Moreover, this example illustrates Wodak’s discourse-historical approach to the formation of discourse where “discourse is always connected to other discourses which were produced earlier, as well as those which are produced synchronically and subsequently”

(Fairclough, Mulderrig, & Wodak, 2011, p. 364). Since the article does not mention the Polish troop’s involvement in the war efforts in the Italian military campaign, and them fighting alongside the Canadian soldiers supporting the Allies during one of the most difficult and lengthy battle of Monte Cassino, the Polish servicemen are being separated from the previous discourse of soldiers fighting for freedom. Instead, a new discourse of the Polish servicemen is being formed in which they are portrayed as unwilling to “recognize the Big Three’s solution of

the Polish Problem” (Toronto Daily Star, 1945) when referring to the new Polish borders and the

new government. The troops are described as the second biggest Polish army and this implies

that they themselves might become part of the “Polish Problem” referring to the anticipated

future problems they might pose. Since in 1945 there were other similar in tone articles about

the Polish troops that followed, it could be argued that this was the formation of a new discourse

of how the II Polish Army Corps servicemen and their general were portrayed by the Canadian

media. Later on, newspaper articles that concentrated on Polish soldiers coming to Canada to

work on farms started to appear in Canadian media.

In an article by Hardy (1946) titled Plan Make Poles Good Canadians printed on

November 13, 1946 by The Edmonton Journal the author discusses the plans in place for “the

handling in Canada of the Polish soldiers who are coming to take over jobs on Canadian farms”.

Hardy reported that the 300 “‘so-called “London Poles”’ were scheduled to arrive in Lethbridge,

Alberta on November 16, 1946. These plans were intended to “make them into Canadians in the

quickest possible time” (p. 12). The author, by referring to the II Polish Army Corps ex-

servicemen as the “so-called ‘London Poles’”, builds on the previous negative discourse of these

ex-servicemen that refers to the protest of General Anders when he opposed the outcome of the

Yalta conference. The Polish soldiers were portrayed as causing problems and were seen as the

opposition to the new post-war order of Europe.

Hardy brought forward the issue of propaganda spreading among the ex-servicemen that

related to their stay in Canada that most likely drew negative attention to the Polish ex-

servicemen and stated:

Some propaganda has been spread among the so-called London Poles, indicating they are to be the nucleus of an army to fight the Russians in a couple of years, and therefore this is the only place for the army to wait, in the meantime. The Canadian government intends to knock that theory into a cocked hat. The Poles are coming here to become good Canadians. (p. 12)

This comment carried a serious allegations pointing to the Polish ex-servicemen wanting to start

a new international military conflict in a near future and they intend to use the time in Canada to

prepare for it. Once again drawing on Wodak’s argument that “discourse is always connected to

other discourses which were produced earlier, as well as those which are produced

synchronically and subsequently” (Fairclough, Mulderrig, & Wodak, 2011, p. 364) this

illustrates that the previous negative discourse of Polish ex-servicemen presenting them as 67

problematic are brought to fore and continued. With the World War Two just finished, and

taking into consideration the damage it caused around the world, no one in Canada was

interested in taking part in another military conflict. Hence, portraying the Polish ex-servicemen as potential warmongers and troublemakers had an impact on their treatment and reception in

Canada. This opinion about the ex-servicemen presented by Canadian media would be sufficient to justify putting them on farms where they had limited access to Polish organizations and other

Poles who came to Canada earlier. Hence this illustrates “the semiotic dimensions of power” and “the relationship between language and society“ where discourses are formed as argued by

Fairclough et al. (2011, p. 357).

Moreover, the article is written using ambiguous language that could cause misunderstanding and form an inaccurate image of the Polish soldiers who were coming to work on farms in Lethbridge. This ambiguity further added to discourse formation of the Polish ex- servicemen in Canada and this could be noticed in the following phrase “‘London Poles’ who fought with the Canadians in Italy”. The possible formation of a new and negative discourse of the Polish ex-servicemen lies in the ambiguity of the language used. The etymology of the word

“with” suggests that it means “1) denoting opposition, 2) denoting accompaniment or addition”

(Hoad T. F., 2003). Hence, the use of such ambiguous language without providing further details could suggest that the Polish soldiers were the enemies against whom the Canadian soldiers fought in Italy, and the Polish servicemen were not part of the Allied armed forces fighting alongside the Canadian troops in Italy. Hence, the Polish ex-servicemen could be seen as siding with the German aggressor during the war illustrating “the semiotic dimension of power” as presented by Fairclough, Mulderrig, and Wodak (2011). Moreover, perhaps this practice of the

media was linked to Bourrie’s (2011) argument that most of the censors wanted the bad news to be included in newspapers to control the population by keeping it in a state of controlled fear. If such was the case then in this situation the Polish ex-servicemen and the Canadian public were subjected to this practice.

Moreover, the following statement by Hardy (1946) about the Polish soldiers coming to

Canada also illustrates “the semiotic dimension of power” described by Fairclough, Mulderrig, and Wodak (2011) as contributing to discourse formation:

Plans have been completed for the handling in Canada of the Polish soldiers who are coming to take over jobs on Canadian farms. (p. 12)

This might suggest that the Polish soldiers were taking over the jobs which were performed by others and those vacating the farm jobs will become jobless. It needs to be noted that one of the reasons that there was a shortage of farm labourers in Canada, after the war ended, was that during the later years of war the farm jobs were performed by the German POWs, who, after the war was over were returning to Europe. Once again, because of the lack of clarity and the ambiguous presentation of the labour situation on Canadian farms the Polish ex-servicemen were portrayed through an unclear and negative association as being part of problem not a solution to it. The overall tone of this part of the article suggests a negative connotation; it implies that the ex-servicemen will take the jobs that others need; it shows a lack of trust and acceptance of them; and it shows that there is an existing distance to them.

The Polish ex-servicemen are seen by the dominant majority as problematic “others” as described by Caccia (2010) who argues that the “otherness” is further highlighted by war events

(p. 41). Moreover, the Polish ex-servicemen became part of power relation as described by

Fairclough (1992) who pointed out that discursive practices contribute to power relations “in

societies characterized by relations of domination on the basis of class, gender, cultural group”

(p. 91). How media presented the issue of Polish ex-servicemen as “others” contributed to the

formation of discourse of ex-servicemen as undeserving of being seen as veterans, but rather

they should be seen as those who can potentially pose a danger to the public. Thus, their case

needed to be dealt with swiftly. This is especially visible in the wording such as “the handling in

Canada of the Polish soldiers” (Hardy, 1946, p. 12). The use of the term “handling”, which

means “feel with the hands” (Hoad T. W., 1996), suggests that the Polish soldiers were referred to us something and not as someone and this implies an impersonal approach and illustrates a sense of separation by removing the human characteristics associated with them. Hence, this suggests the pre-existence of a distance and illustrates treating the arriving soldiers as the

“others” even before they arrived in Canada. This could be seen, as Parsons (1975) explained, as

the distinctiveness of the ethnic group that relates to the group members’ common history and

that, in such a group, the individuals are defined as members by applying the criteria of “what

they are” (p. 56). In this case, they were to be seen and defined as farm labour only and not as

war veterans. Hence, this kind of portrayal by the media defined their position in society prior to

their arrival and formulated the discourse of Polish ex-servicemen and farm help.

Hardy’s (1946) article also addressed the plans how to deal with the soldiers in order to

integrate them into Canadian society. The author wrote:

There is what might be called a five point plan for handling them: 1) Teach them English, 2) Offer education facilities, 3) Provide entertainment, 4) Encourage them to mix with Canadians, 5) Go slow in forming Polish societies. (p. 12)

It appears that the main point of this plan for these men was to learn English to help with integration into Canadian society. Yet, sending them to work on farms in isolation from society with limited contact with others was rather an ineffective way to learn a new language. During the interviews I conducted, the ex-servicemen commented on their own feelings of isolation from society when they were working on farms for an extended period. In some cases, they were left alone for months to look after the farm when the farmer went away to work as hired hands on farms in the United States. In order to prove the authenticity of the oral stories told by the ex- servicemen I used the Narrative Analysis approach proposed by Riesman (2008), who argued that using cultural and linguistic resources to tell the story allows to piece together such stories and see them as authentic and credible. For that I used the approach proposed by Frank (2012) who advised to analyze if a story was driven by the “Actor”, as the main participant of the story since this further added to the credibility of the story recounted by some of the Polish ex- servicemen when they were left alone in isolation for an extended time.

Moreover, according to the newspaper article, it was also believed that the entertainment was required for the soldiers as a form of administering of counseling “so these men are not going to brood or espouse nationalistic causes in company with other Poles” as it was later stated in the article. This suggests that there was a denial of the presence of any form of difficulties when dealing with stress an individual could experience after being exposed to atrocities of war and providing them with the entertainment was the only counselling available and needed. Some of the surviving ex-servicemen reported how challenging it was for them to deal with the past events, which we now recognize as the posttraumatic stress disorder. Some reported that they experienced suicidal thoughts. Once again, I used the approach proposed by Frank (2012) to

differentiate that these were authentic stories told by their participants since they placed themselves as the “Actors” within those stories further proving authenticity of their stories.

It could be argued that the last point Hardy listed “Go slow in forming Polish societies” reflected society’s approach to assimilation by obligatory separation from the ethnic roots, which did not allow the soldiers to take their own stand on this issue. It was expected of them that they assimilate quickly and take on the values and beliefs of the Canadian society. Hardy added that based on the experience with other ethnic groups “Block segregation” was needed because:

In the past, authorities say it has been found that among Canadians of foreign birth much of the trouble develops when, not understanding English, and having no place to go, they crowd into Polish halls, and Polish societies. Such societies are considered all right, if the Poles have been in Canada some time and have developed a sense of balance. (p. 12)

Hardy (1946) cited an unnamed official who explained a need to prevent potential future problems the Polish ex-servicemen might have by not thinking about such problems “But we do not want these newcomers brooding over Poland’s troubles, we want them to become Canadians and to forget all European’s troubles.” (p. 12). Moreover, the author illustrates how there has been a tradition of dealing with assimilation of immigrants into Canadian society before through the acceptance and incorporation of practices of dissemination of power in society and this proven practice will be carried on when dealing with the Polish ex-servicemen. The assimilation expected was as described by Potter (1965) first the “structural assimilation” followed by

“behavioural assimilation” (p. 72). The author supported taking this approach by referring to authorities that took steps to deal with the issue of assimilation of immigrants in the past, and the dominant groups in society accepting and incorporating these practices of dissemination of power in society as described by Fairclough et al. (2011) when referring to hegemony by 72

Gramsci of power distribution in society. Assimilation by separation fortified by identity issues

caused by imposing a strict approach towards the Polish ex-servicemen did not provide the desired results of labourers staying on farms beyond their two-year long contracts and making them forget about their homeland. Not satisfied with their working conditions and their treatment on the farms, many wanted to change their jobs or work for another farmer. However, they had to work on farms for two years before being able to find another job.

4.3 Polish War Veteran Settlement

Isaac (1954) has stated that 240,154 Polish troops “had been through the hands of the

British Government” referring to the Polish forces who served and fought under the British command during the war (p. 171). The criteria of the 1947 Polish Resettlement Act were applied mostly to the Poles who were in the Anders’ army. Isaac argued that the purpose of this act was

“to effect as speedily as possible the orderly disbandment of the Polish Armed Forces in this country, or resettlement in civilian live here, according to the individual wishes of the members of those Forces” (p. 171). Moreover, “their status was decided by the Polish Resettlement Act of

1947 in accordance with the Government’s promise that Poles who fought with the British forces should be assisted if they wished to settle with their families outside Poland” (p. 171). According to Isaac who took data from Report of the Assistance Board for the year ended 31st December

1947, 114,037 of Poles joined the Resettlement Corps and most of them were “consisted mainly of General Anders’s army which was by the end of the war in Italy and thus under British command” (p. 171). Isaac has stated that until 1951 immigrants who came to Canada were not given any financial assistance from the Federal Funds, since Canada “did not take advantage

after the war of the provisions for joint assistance of British emigration under the Empire

Settlement Act.” (p. 114). An adult immigrant to Canada had to pay more for the passage to

Canada than those who emigrated to Australia. Isaac further stated that lack of financial assistance for immigrants caused that the number of those looking to immigrate to Canada declined until 1951 when Canada introduced an assistant passage loan plan.

Thornton (1989) has stated that the main purpose for Canada accepting the Polish ex- servicemen was that Canada was “looking for replacements for German prisoners of war who had been working in the sugar beets fields of Ontario” (p. 235). Hence, Canada accepted “2,876 ex-servicemen of the Second Polish Corps in 1946 from Italy” and later accepted 1,651 ex- servicemen from Great Britain (p. 235). The reason why these ex-servicemen were accepted was the need for farm workers in Canada. Thornton further argued that Canada’s response was to get maximum economic gain by bringing those people there rather than getting involved in the humanitarian response to the crisis overseas. Under this agreement between the Polish ex- servicemen and the Canadian government, they were not classified as displaced persons (p. 236).

Furthermore, only after fulfilling the requirements of working for two years on farms, were the

Polish ex-servicemen granted landed immigrant status. In some cases, transfers between farms were allowed after fulfilling one year of work. Also, in some cases, the ex-servicemen reported poor treatment and poor accommodation conditions while living and working on the farms, in addition to being not paid or being underpaid for their work.

Since Canada approached Polish ex-servicemen as part of an economic scheme, Thornton provided information on Canada’s cost of bringing of the Polish ex-servicemen. It amounted to

$5.54 for clothing for each individual; the transportation cost from Halifax to individual

provinces to which the ex-servicemen were assigned amounted to $125,000 for the first 2,876

Poles who came from Italy in addition to $20,000 of transportation to individual farms. This cost

was incurred by the provincial Department of Agriculture and the federal Department of Labour.

The cost of advertisement to inform the farmers about a possibility to employ the ex-servicemen amounted to $1,000 each in the Maritimes, Quebec and the Pacific in addition to $3,000 for

Ontario and the Prairies (p. 240). Based on the data from the Department of Labour on

September 1948, out of 4,527 ex-servicemen, 91 were missing, 14 were deceased, 12 were

hospitalized in mental institutions, 18 were hospitalized, 16 were in Brandon Sanatorium, and

4,081 were employed on farms (p. 241). Thornton reported that the cost of hospitalization of ex-

servicemen was $107,332, and the British government covered half of it. Thornton summarised

the feasibility and effectiveness of this program and stated, “With regard to the short- and long-

term contributions the Poles made to agriculture, the scheme was a failure” (p. 236).

The ex-servicemen were paid on average $65 but most of them received $45 in wages.

The working conditions added to assimilation problems since

Some veterans felt that they had been treated as German POWs, particularly when working 16 hours a day, and sometimes Sundays. Problems were further emphasized in complaints from the Polish ex-servicemen which included that they had been separated from other Polish-Canadians and, in some cases, their own relatives. (Thornton, 1989, p. 243)

Some of the Polish ex-servicemen interviewed for this research reported that they were separated

from their friends upon their arrival in Halifax after they were asked to point who their friends

are.

Thornton who examined the program from the perspective of benefits for Canada saw the

program as a failure considering that “when the farm contracts were completed, 97 per cent of 75

the Polish ex-servicemen moved to the towns and cities.” (pp. 235, 244). Thornton also stated that the assimilation program did not work since some Canadians did not recognize the difference between the German uniforms and the uniforms worn by the Poles and mistook them for Germans or enemy aliens. Thornton has argued that the approach Canada took to the treatment of the Polish ex-servicemen illustrated Canada’s desire to appear as a sovereign nation able to form her own foreign policies. He further argued that Canada did as much as possible for the Polish ex-servicemen, who amounted to two percent of the total number of ex-servicemen that Great Britain had to deal with, taking into consideration her own situation after the war.

Thornton stated that international opinion about Canada was affected by Canada’s approach to the issue of humanitarian help, especially when Canada opted not to participate in bringing over those who were freed from concentration camps where they were incarcerated during the war.

Instead, Canada used the case of the Polish ex-servicemen as an example of involvement in alleviating the refugee problem in Europe and thus fulfilling her duty.

4.4 Canadian Veterans after WWII

Under the legislation on reintegration of veterans to civilian life, Canadian veterans returning from the fronts of WWII were encouraged to resume their pre-war employment

(Government of Canada, 2011). Ives (1998) has stated that “The Veterans Charter” was introduced as a result of Canada’s participation in WWII, and to avoid the issues that Canadian

WWI veterans experienced upon their return. The Veterans Charter dealt with the two main issues that addressed the veterans of WWII, namely “the compensation principle” and “the principle of recognition for service” (p. 85). Ives has pointed that several acts were put in place

to deal with “the principle of recognition”; legislation was put in place to deal with compensation; to deal with life insurance; to provide physical rehabilitation; to deal with situation when rehabilitation was not possible; and legislation were put in place to establish entitlement and eligibility (pp. 85-85). Ives cited the Minister of Veterans Affairs from 1944 until 1948, Ian A. Mackenzie, who informed the Canadian public that the Veterans Charter was created “in the same high spirit of service which inspired Canadians to fulfill their obligations to the crucible of war” (p. 86).

The return to civilian life of the Canadian veterans was the highest priority of the

Canadian government. Other acts that followed included such legislation as the Veterans

Rehabilitation Acts to provide veterans with the opportunity to gain education. Furthermore, the

Veterans’ Land Act was introduced as well as the Veterans’ Business and Professional Loans

Act aiming at assisting Canadian WWII veterans in establishing themselves in business, trades, and professions. Moreover, the Canadian government re-established the Civil Employment Acts that assisted veterans in re-establishing their employment by introducing “veterans preference” in relation to civil service jobs (p. 86). These laws were put in place to assist Canadian veterans who were returning from war to reintegrate into civilian life or start a new career if they wished to do so. Canadian war veterans were treated in a humane and dignified manner with numerous possibilities for new careers and re-integration into Canadian society. In contrast, the Polish war veterans felt that were treated poorly, more like prisoners than allies. They had no career choices for two years and were often worked inhumanely on farms. These differences influenced their identity in Canada. For Canadian war veterans there was honour and help; for Polish war veterans there was shame and humiliation.

In December 1946, The Calgary Herald printed articles and information about help and assistance available to the Canadian WWII veterans, about options how to alleviate the shortage of housing for veterans, as well as about the future of veterans’ families. On December 14,

1946, the newspaper placed an advertisement containing information about training organized by the joined effort of the Department of Lands and Mines and the Department of Veterans Affairs and Canadian Vocational Training that offered courses in practical forestry for returning veterans. Single men age 21 - 28 were offered vocational training that offered employment as

Assistant Forest Rangers. The qualified veterans were offered “usual training allowance” while attending the program (The Calgary Herald, 1946, p. 11).

Veterans who attended colleges and universities were also offered allowances allowing them to continue their study. The article DVA 'Hopes to Pay' Vets' Allowances printed on

December 14, 1946 informed veterans who attended the universities in Alberta that the

Department of Veterans’ Affairs would make every effort to have their cheques “made out for the full month of December” since some “worried that they might not receive their allowance for the holiday period” (The Calgary Herald, 1946, p. 3). This illustrates the level of assistance and care given to the Canadian veterans.

Other issue that was of importance to the Canadian veterans and to the Canadian government was the case of several hundred brides that the Canadian veterans wanted to bring from overseas. On December 10, 1946, The Calgary Herald printed an article Gov’t Turning

Cupid and Santa for Vets assuring the veterans that

Giving a hand to Cupid, the Canadian immigration department is ironing out a few rough spots in the course of true love for several hundred overseas fighters of the Second Great War. (The Calgary Herald, 1946, p. 1) 78

The article further stated that the government “may even play a role of Santa Clause by bringing

over European fiancées of the former servicemen in time for Christmas season marriages“. In

order to deal with bureaucracy and to facilitate this ‘virtually impossible” undertaking, special

immigration offices in Holland and Belgium where set up “where many Canadians found future

wives while fighting through those countries“. The article assured the public that the new system

in place was set to deal with this issue and it was expected to work fast. It was stated that

Canadian visas for brides would be issued immediately upon passing civil and medical

examination. The article cites one of the Canadian servicemen saying “There must be around a

thousand other fellows in the same position [..] and this will certainly be good news for them”.

This article illustrates that the Canadian veterans and their futures wives were given a

preferential treatment by the Canadian Immigration offices to speed up the arrival of war brides.

With thousands of new marriages expected to take place within a short time, there was a

pressing need for more housing available. The newly-wed experienced problems finding a home since there were not many rental properties available and building of a dwelling was often stalled by the lack of building material. On December 14, 1946, The Calgary Herald printed an advertisement of the Calgary Construction Industry declaring that the construction industry in

Calgary “unites to aid veterans’ housing” (The Calgary Herald, 1946, p. 12). Driven by a desire to help the Canadian veterans who could not finish building of their houses due to the shortage of the building material all branches of Calgary’s construction industry, the local House Builders’

Association and the Priorities Advisory Committee untied their efforts to help the veterans.

Three Dominion Government Departments, the Provincial Government and the City of Calgary

further supported this initiative. This initiative was intended to complete at least 300 homes in

Calgary.

These articles illustrate the initiatives taken by the community, the involvement of different levels of government, and the private industry in helping the Canadian veterans obtain education, find a suitable employment, build a house, and start a family.

The support and recognition given to Canadian war veterans was well-deserved.

Applying such high standards of integration to allied soldiers like the Poles would have resulted

in a completely different experience for the Polish war veterans. They would have been

integrated more speedily and received the recognition they deserved for their sacrifice in the war.

The evidence of a severe double-standard in their treatment versus that of the Canadian vets was

a sign of the divisions being perpetuated in Canadian society and the status of ethnic minorities.

CHAPTER 5: EMPIRICAL DATA ANALYSIS: AN ANALYSIS OF POLISH WAR

VETERANS’ INTERVIEWS AND MEMOIRS

Besides examining media portrayals and government policy, my case study examines how Polish ex-servicemen portray themselves. I used the data collected during the semi- structured and open-ended interviews that I conducted with the Polish ex-servicemen. In addition

I used data from memoirs that some of the ex-servicemen wrote. This data is meant as a comparison with their portrayal by the Canadian newspapers discussed above.

Taking the approach of the sociologist C. Wright Mills (1959) who stated that there is a correlation between what an individual experiences and what kind of socio-historical events are

happening in the world that surrounds such an individual, I developed a set of initial questions to

explore this correlation. The first part comprised general survey questions intended to determine

biographical information concerning military roles and situations during World War II, and that

individual’s status and situation upon arrival to Canada. In the second part, the questions dealt

with the opinions of individuals about the application process prior to coming to Canada, and

information on their perception of Canada and its policies at that time. In the third part, I

included questions that related to the Polish Combatants Association in Calgary that was formed

on November 11, 1947. In addition, I included questions about their access to newspapers in

Canada and how the ex-servicemen felt about the portrayal of the WWII Polish veterans by the

Canadian media.

The research indicated that multiple factors influenced the identity formation of the

Polish ex-servicemen who came to Canada after the war. This led me to examine three factors

which I hypothesized influenced the identity formation of the Polish ex-servicemen, namely:

their participation in the socio-historical world events of WW II; how the socio-political

situation in Canada affected them; and the role of memoirs and interviews in identity

formation and expression.

My first hypothesis looked into how the world events affected the formation of ex-

servicemen’s biographies and their identities within a complex socio-political situation like

World War II and its various representations. The second hypothesis relates to ethnic group

identity formation and to the dynamic relationship of an ethnic group to the larger society in the

context of Canada in the1940s. For this, I took the approach of Talcott Parsons (1975), who has

stated that ethnicity is “a primary focus of group identity”, and argued that such a group is

comprised of persons who share characteristics acquired at birth that are distinct and common

among them so that members form ties of “solidarity and the loyalties” (pp. 53-54). In addition,

their distinctiveness defines them as “what they are” (p. 56). Furthermore, I argue that in the

case of the Polish ex-servicemen the existence of certain political and social triggers, as defined by Weber (Malešević, 2004), had its roots in political consequences which contributed to their identify formation. Moreover, this hypothesis also relates to John Porter’s notion (1965) that the

relation of ethnic groups and society was determined by an expectation that immigrants fit into

the social structure in a place in which that ethnic group had been positioned by the dominant

society. I argue that ethnic group identity also contributed to ex-servicemen’s portrayal of

themselves in interviews and in memoirs and their portrayal in newspaper articles printed in

Canada.

My third hypothesis relates to the Positioning Theory defined by Harre and Langenhove

(1991), who explain how individuals position themselves and others when these individuals tell

their stories. Since in many cases this is the first time the Polish ex-servicemen shared their stories, I argue that the interviews conducted with and the information collected from the memoirs written by the Polish ex-servicemen offer insight into their identity. Hence, I argue that they position themselves within the first order positioning, as defined by Harre and Langenhove,

when they formulate the discourse of the Polish ex-servicemen identity. Since the WWII Polish

veterans have not had a chance to share their WWII and immigration related stories with society,

their stories were originally presented from an outside perspective by the media. This research

allowed the veterans to tell their stories, describe their lives as soldiers, veterans, and farm

workers, and, ultimately, to illustrate how they position themselves to the events of WWII and

construct their identities, which are quite different from Canadian media stories of the period.

5.1 Portrayal and Identity Formation of Individuals, Ethnic Group, and Polish Diaspora

5.1.1 How Polish participation in WWII and its relationship to Canada impacts Polish veteran

identity

In this section I examine how participation in the socio-historical world events by the ex-

servicemen impacted their identity formation in Canada. Hall (2000) argues that “identities are

constructed within, not outside, discourse” and he stresses the importance of understanding

identity formation as a product of “specific historical and institutional sites within specific

discursive formations and practices, by specific enunciative strategies.” (p. 17). During the

interviews, the research participants provided information that indicated that their life stories are

directly linked to important historical events of WWII that involved Poland, Great Britain, and

Canada. There are five specific historical experiences that the veterans felt were fundamental to their identity formation, which will be discussed in Sections 5.1.1.1 to 5.1.1.5. I have summarized their accounts in each of the five categories. Section 5.1.1 deals with the following categories as factors contributing to identity formation of the Polish ex-servicemen; deportation under Soviet occupation after 1939; the role of Polish patriotism in identity formation of those imprisoned in the Soviet gulags; military enlistment in the Polish Army; the Battle for Monte

Cassino and the role of loyalty to an independent and democratic Poland; how joining the Polish

Resettlement Corps in Great Britain and working on farms in Alberta influenced identity formation of the ex-servicemen.

5.1.1.1 Polish citizens and deportation under Soviet occupation after 1939

The research participants who served in the II Polish Army Corps that supported the

Allies during the war provided information about the forceful resettlement to the territory of the

USSR after the Soviet Union invaded Poland on September 17, 1939.

Anatol Nieumierzycki (A. Nieumierzycki, personal communication, February, 10, 2014) was born in 1923 in Moczul, township Horsk, County Stolin, province Polesie. Nieumierzycki’s

(Anatol Nieumierzycki, e-mail message to author, June 13, 2014) father was a military settler who moved to this region after World War I. Nieumierzycki recalled that while visiting his grandfather with his brother and staying there overnight they had been awakened in the middle of the night by two soldiers from the Red Army who executed the order of a mandatory resettlement of the Polish population. Nieumierzycki (age 17) was deported with his mother and his siblings to a labour camp in Northern Wołogda on February 10, 1940. At the time of this

forced resettlement, Nieumierzycki’s father was imprisoned in Pińsk, a town in Belarus, in the

Polesia region. He was arrested shortly after the Russian Army annexed the Polish territory on

September 17, 1939 (Nieumierzycki, 2008).

While telling the story of the forceful resettlement, Nieumierzycki stated that since the deportation was a sudden development causing a lot of uncertainty he was concerned about the wellbeing of his mother who was left by herself to take care of her young children. At that time they lived in Davidgródek and they were instructed by the Red Army soldiers to pack food and necessary belongings to prepare for a long journey to Siberia. Nieumierzycki, despite his young age, kept his composure and with the help of his brother and following the instructions given by the Red Army soldier, he was able to pack and prepare for the hasty resettlement. All settlers from this region, the forest workers and their families who worked for the government were resettled to Siberia. Nieumierzycki stated that “We had no idea where they were taking us” and reported that during this journey by a freight train, many people died of exhaustion, starvation, and illnesses. Bodies of those who died were left behind and were either unloaded beside the railroad tracks or at railway stations. On the way to Siberia, while fetching buckets of hot water for the entire family Nieumierzycki was reunited with his Father, who had escaped from prison and went to look for his family (Anatol Nieumierzycki, unpublished memoir, 2010). After a long journey, the Nieumierzycki’s family and the entire transport arrived in Wołogodzka Oblaść from where they were taken on sleds to an internment camp located in the deep Siberian tundra.

It took them three days to travel the distance of 140 kilometres through deep snow and thick forest to a place called Uczastok Kolbasz. They were housed in barracks built for and by the previous detainees in 1932. Nieumierzycki stated “I can imagine that at that time they had worst

conditions than ours because they were brought to uninhabited wilderness”. Nieumierzycki’s

family spent almost two years of hardship there and working in the surrounding forests doing

heavy labour.

Władyslaw Niewiński (1918 – 2012), (W. Niewiński, personal communication, October

5, 2011) was born in 1918 in Bielsk Podlaski, in Podlaskie Voivodeship, Poland to a family of

five children living off a small piece of land in Malinówka. Soon after the annexation of Polish

territory by the USSR on September 17, 1939, “Russia announced in the newspapers that Poles

who live on the eastern territories become Russian citizens and all young Poles born in 1917 and

1918 are called to obligatory military service” (Władyslaw Niewiński, unpublished memoir,

2012). Niewiński, who was of conscription age, was drafted into the USSR’s military service

on 30 April 1941 and was ordered to report to the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs

USSR, (NKVD, Ludowy Komisariat Spraw Wewnętrznych ZSRR) in Bielsk Podlaski. There, he was registered by the military, had his head shaved, and commanded to pack necessary belongings, “pożegnał sie z Rodziną” meaning “to say goodbye to Family” and report for a swift departure that evening. He joined a group of 400 other army recruits who were already waiting on the railroad station. Among them were Poles, Jews, Byelorussians, Russians, and

Lithuanians. They traveled by freight train to a military training camp. On June 22, 1941, when

Germany attacked the Soviet Union, Niewiński and other detainees were ordered to move to

Gorky, Russia (Nizhny Novgorod) where a selection process took place in which they were pressured to take on Soviet Union citizenship and join the Red Army. Niewiński, and majority of the Polish detainees, refused. Thus, they were disarmed and transported to Moscow and later on, a group of 500 detainees were transported by freight train to a Gulag in Chelyabinsk, Siberia

(Czelabińsk, Swierdłowsk, Syberia). Conditions in the detention camp located in a remote

location in Siberia were physically harsh with temperatures dropping to minus 62-degree Celsius during winter. Thousands of soldiers lived in large military tents each containing seventy military folding beds. Detained soldiers were kept in complete isolation with no contacts with the outside world making living conditions even harder. While in Gulag in Siberia, Niewiński worked in grueling conditions laying railroad tracks.

Zbigniew Rogowski, was born in 1927 in Gródek Jagielloński, township Mszana, province Lwów, Poland (Z. Rogowski, personal communication, December 9, 2013). His father was in the Polish Cavalry from 1914 until 1925 and from 1926 until 1939, he was a police officer. In October 1939, his father was deported and in November1939 Rogowski, his mother, and his three sisters were deported to Karakol in the province of Kazakhstan. Rogowski celebrated his 12th birthday on the train. In Karakol there were no houses available and they lived

in a dugout eight feet deep and about 27 yards long covered with branches that served as a home

for ten families. There was no access to water and the food amounted to a loaf of bread for all of

the people in the dugout. During the winter, they melted the snow that covered the roof made

of tree branches. The authorities announced that they will be living there until spring. His

younger sister passed away there. During the winter, Rogowski worked in a nearby restaurant to

provide food for his family, and he begged for food by the local bakery. During the summer, he

worked for the farmers milking cows and goats, and worked on the fields for the state run

agricultural kolkhoz to feed his mother and two sisters.

Since Stefan Koselak (1921 – 1960) passed away at the age of 39, I conducted interviews

with his wife Ewa Koselak and with his daughter Chris Fisher. Koselak was born in 1921 in

Brzustów, township Opoczna, province Kielce. Koselak was 18 years old when he was arrested on September 25, 1939 and from October 16, 1939 until the amnesty was declared he was detained in Równe-Lwów (Indeks represjonowanych przez organa Radzieckie). Ewa Koselak said that his family described her husband as a religious young man who went to church. Not much is known about Koselak’s life before he joined the II Polish Army Corps since, as his wife stated, “Mąż nic nie mówił na temat przeszłości. Ludzie nie mówili bo było przykro, bardzo mało rozmawiali” “Husband said nothing about the past. People did not talk, because it was sad, they talked very little” (E. Koselak, personal communication, September 8, 2013). Koselak’s wife reported that her husband was ill while in Russia where he suffered pneumonia due to a hardship and difficult conditions there, causing his health to deteriorate. Chris Fisher, the daughter of Stefan Koselak was ten years old when her father passed away in 1960 and she did not know much about her father. In the past fifteen years, realizing that the people who knew her father from the time when he was in the military are getting older, she started talking with them to learn more about her father. Information that Fisher has about her father is mostly from those who served with him. Since Koselak did not want to share stories about his war experience, it could be argued that a decade and a half after the war appears as that not enough time had passed to discuss these issues with others and that the emotional weight of those experiences was still great. Fisher said that when she was a young child all the people she knew who served in the military during the war did not talk about their experiences.

The ex-servicemen told their stories from the time when they lived in Poland. In order to ensure that these stories are seen by the audience as authentic and credible the ex-servicemen used such resources as dates, names of institutions, and the names of geographical places to

further support authenticity of their stories. Data about their birthdays, the composition of their

families, and the professions of their parents add to the credibility of their stories since the

official documents, personal photographs, and memoirs written in the past provide adequate

support. Kohler Riessman (2008) saw such elements supporting a story as important since they

represent cultural and linguistic resources available to those telling the story.

The stories of Nieumierzycki, Niewiński, Rogowski, and the story told on behalf of

Koselak indicate that all of them experienced the forceful displacement of the Polish population

from the territory annexed by the USSR’s authority after the September 1939 attack of the Red

Army on the eastern territory of Poland. Nieumierzycki, Niewiński, Rogowski approached story

telling from a chronological perspective and their individual actions are interlaced with

methodological information on dates when important events took place and they talked about the

places where they were. They reported traveling for several weeks in freight cars over long

distances and being detained in labour camps located in Siberia and Kazakhstan. They all had to

perform heavy labour and they and their families underwent severe hardship, hunger, and

depravation of necessities of life.

As argued by Tilly (2002) “stories do provide viable explanations of social processes”

and provide information on what took place in the past, as well as about experiences those telling

a story went through at that time (p. 10). Since the accounts involve a central character, defined

by Frank (2012) as “Actor” (p. 41), stories told by the ex-servicemen make themselves or their immediate family members as central figures. Therefore, by retelling their stories that involved them and their families and supporting these stories using cultural resources they related their

participation in wider processes that many experienced and related their observations about these processes.

Harre and Davies (1990) argue that one of the reasons to tell a story is to present the audience with a description of fragments of lives and this approach could be seen at the level of individual stories collected for this research. In these stories, the storytellers concentrate on telling their individual experiences and through that they also provide information on how they self-identity. Moreover, Fairclough saw the construction of ‘self’ as “a very important discursive aspect of cultural and social change” (Fairclough, 1992, p. 137). Hence, the stories of forced deportation told by individuals illustrate the changes in power relations between countries, ethnic groups, and individuals and their attempt to illustrate how they define themselves when they were experiencing these changes and how they construct their identity within the deportation experience.

They started telling stories by describing how their regular life was before the deportation took place and they proceed to describe what had happened after that. Since these stories of displacement were traumatic for them, they resorted to the use of powerful images, which influence the positioning of self or others, during the story telling (Davies & Harre, 1990, p. 48).

These powerful images included accounts of being woken up in the middle of the night and forced to pack their belongings, or being drafted into the military of the invader. Also, they presented images of traveling for a long time by freight trains, and witnessing many people die of exhaustion, starvation, and illnesses and their bodies being disposed by the railroad tracks or at railway stations. They also used such images to illustrate hunger when as children they were forced to beg for food in order to survive. These powerful images invoked in the memory of the

participants and shared with the audience illustrate the traumatic experiences they went through caused by larger political changes. However, the reports offered by the family of Koselak about his reluctance to share his stories with others also illustrate the high level of trauma he experienced that was associated with such stories. This is visible in the comment of Ewa Koselak

“Husband said nothing about the past. People did not talk, because it was sad, they talked very little”. It could be seen that this approach was not limited to Koselak only but it was more common among all people who experienced the events of deportation and war.

Moreover, stories provide information about the identity of individuals and offer common identities that could be recognized and shared by others , and, as such, allow forming common relationship among groups of people as defined by Tilly (2002, p. 10). In their stories, they presented themselves as survivors of these war events, and this created a common identity shared by members of the group of Polish ex-servicemen deported to Siberia. Hall (2000) argues that

“identities of individuals are constructed within the discourse” and he stresses the importance of understanding identity formation as a product of “specific historical and institutional sites within specific discursive formations and practices, by specific enunciative strategies.” (p. 17). Thus, the identity of ex-servicemen was formed within a discourse of deportees, detainees, and later on of survivors of the deportation. Their “specific enunciative strategies”, defined by Hall as contributing to identity formation, related to their focus on their own and their family’s survival of the Siberian labour camps. The emphasis in this period is on family ties, obligations, and suffering.

The examples of ancestral or familial identity could be seen during the interviews and in the ex-servicemen memoirs when they expressed their concern for their families. Rogowski and

Nieumierzycki expressed their concerns for their families in a more direct way by providing for

their families during the time of hardship, while Niewiński, who was drafted into the enemy

military, used a different way of expression when he wrote in his memoir that he “pożegnał sie z

Rodziną” meaning he “said goodbye to the Family”. By using the uppercase Niewiński

highlighted the respect he had for his family and how much he valued his family. Similarly,

Nieumierzycki, in his memoir, used the uppercase to highlight the significance of the moment

when he was reunited with his “Ojciec” (Father) and to illustrate his respect. It could be argued

that this approach also exemplifies the “enunciative strategies” of constructing their identity

within the discourse of familial identity. Despite the challenges, they adhered to their core values

and this illustrates that they present their identity as individuals of high familial values and

morals.

5.1.1.2 The role of Polish patriotism

Beside talking and writing about the need for utter survival during the forceful

resettlement to the Soviet Union, Nieumierzycki, Niewiński, Rogowski all talked about their

unwavering faith in Poland becoming a free and independent country. Despite difficulties and

challenges, this faith kept them willing to work hard and it helped them survive the labour camps.

Nieumierzycki stated that from the early childhood, he was destined to be a soldier and until 1939, just a few weeks before the war started, he attended a military school for youth in

Lubawa. When Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June of 1941, Nieumierzycki said that at

first they could not believe this information. However, the signing of the pact known as the

Sikorski-Majski agreement (Bhattacharjee, 2012, p. 23) which resulted in the signing of a military agreement between Poland and the USSR on August 14, 1941brought back his faith that

“Będziemy tworzyć Polską Armie” “ We will create a Polish Army”. This brought increased activity among the interned who started to build sleds and looked for supplies to embark on the journey.

Similarly, Niewiński believed in a free and independent Poland. While in detention in

Chelyabinsk, Siberia, he repeated to his fellow soldiers that “Polska będzie i wrócimy do swojej

Ojczyzny” “Poland will be, and we will return to our Homeland”. His strong resolve to maintain the sense of Polish nationality caused him trouble with the Soviet guards who threatened him with a pistol and warned of impeding fatal consequences if he continued talking with other Poles about a free and independent Poland.

In 1942, Rogowski was not yet 15 years old. He stated that when he has heard that Stalin had declared an amnesty and that those Poles incarcerated in Siberia and in Kazakhstan were free to join the army, he asked his mother for permission to join the Army Cadets. For several days, he traveled by himself hungry and almost shoeless and arrived in Tashkent where he joined the

Cadets and underwent a brief military training after which he was transferred to Iran as part of the Polish Cadets. Rogowski’s father participated in WWI where he served in the cavalry.

Rogowski revealed that his dream was to be like his father before the war started. This indicates that the values of patriotism and serving one’s country were passed from the previous generation to the next. Rogowski said: “Ja myślałem że ja bedę w wojsku 20 lat i ja wyjdę, pójde do policji i bedę jak mój ojciec policjantem.” “ I thought that I will be in the military for 20 years

and after I leave the military, I will become a policeman like my father” (Z. Rogowski, personal

communication, November 25, 2013).

Ewa Koselak (Ewa Koselak, personal communication, September 2013) remembers that

her husband Stanisław liked being a soldier very much and recalls that she was told that he

wanted to join the military from his early childhood. Koselak suffered from malaria before being

transferred to Italy, but despite the illness he transferred to Italy. His patriotism could be seen in

his actions remembered by his daughter who stated that Koselak wanted her to join the Polish

Combatants Association as a way to show support for the organization.

The first phase of deportation from the territory of Poland annexed by the Soviet Union

in 1939 took place on February 10, 1940 and the first deported people of Polish ancestry were

military settlers, police officers, forest rangers, and soon after, the deportations included security

officers, government officers and their families (Ciesielski, 2007, p. 85). Nieumierzycki,

Niewiński, Rogowski, and Koselak were ethnic Poles and that was the ground for the deportation

to Siberia and Kazakhstan. Parsons (1975) saw ethnicity as “a primary focus of group identity”,

and he has argued that such a group is comprised of persons who share characteristics, acquired at birth, that are distinct and common among them and based on that, within this group, members form ties of “solidarity and the loyalties” (pp. 53-54). The military conflict of 1939 brought to the fore the ethnic divisions and further highlighted these differences in the annexed territory.

At the time of deportation, not only the individual ethnic identity of Poles was emphasised but also, as Parsons (1975) argued, the distinctiveness of this ethnic group was influenced by the group members’ common history and that, in such a group, the individuals are defined as members by applying the criteria of “what they are” (p. 56). Their identity included their ethnic

origins; that they shared a common pre-WWII history; shared a common history of deportation; and later that they survived labour camps and Gulags in Siberia. Moreover, their identity formation also drew on transgenerational values of patriotism shared by the individual members of the ethnic group in relation to their fathers who served in military, police, or were military settlers. All these factors contributed to the feelings of patriotism present among the Poles detained in Siberia and Kazakhstan.

The comment “We will create a Polish Army” is an example of an utterance in which there are encapsulated discourses of patriotism, which illustrates how the political change that allowed forming the army influenced their identity transforming from detainees to perspective soldiers of the Polish army. Their stories illustrate their participation in grater social movement before and during the war that reignited their patriotism. Moreover, the way Nieumierzycki,

Niewiński, Rogowski, and the family of Stefan Koselak presented their relation with the military through ancestral roots indicates that their multigenerational identity contributed to their desire to join the Polish army as soon as they learned about its creation.

5.1.1.3 Joining the Anders’ Polish Army

All participants of this research joined the so-called Anders’ Army voluntarily answering the call to form the Polish army on the territory of the USSR as a result of the Sikorski- Majski agreement of 1941.

Nieumierzycki reported enlistment in the Polish forces on May 22, 1942. For

Nieumierzycki and his family the journey to the place of “obiecanej siedziby Polskiej Armii” “a promised headquarter of the Polish Army” was long and difficult during which they had to travel

through snow and deserted places to the closest railroad station. After a few weeks of travel in

empty cargo trains, they reached Kirow where the family, unable to continue, parted with

Nieumierzycki who, despite battling a serious illness, continued his journey. After getting

treatment from a Soviet doctor, he continued a very long journey in search of the army. He was

enlisted in the army and assigned to a communication division.

Niewiński was in a heavy labour battalion until February 1942. Conditions in the detention camp in a remote location in Siberia were physically harsh. While in the labour battalion in Siberia, Niewiński worked in grueling conditions laying railroad tracks. He was held

there with other Poles excluded from fighting on the Soviet-German war front because of their

patriotic outlook towards Poland. After the agreement between Sikorski - Majski in 1941 was signed they were freed from the labour camp and transported to the Polish army formed on the territory of the USSR. On February 5th 1942, after several weeks of a long journey of walking

and riding freight trains, experiencing hunger and exhaustion they reached the station called

Czepak where they saw Polish officers in British uniforms. Upon arrival, they received British

uniforms with Polish insignia, medical care, and basic military training. While in the transition

camp, Niewiński witnessed the burials of many newly recruited soldiers and civilians who

weakened by inadequate sanitary conditions, malnutrition, and exhaustion died of typhus and

dysentery. Later on, Niewiński was assigned to the Eight Division’s Heavy Artillery for which

they got new uniforms but did not get weapons. Niewiński stayed in the military camp until

April 5th, 1942. He reported that after spending several months in the Soviet labour camp he was

especially happy to see Polish military uniforms with Polish eagles pinned onto them. He kept

his uniform, brought it to Canada, and had it in his personal collection. The military uniform

with a Polish eagle gave him a sense of national pride and belonging, and he saw it as part of his heritage. For Niewiński the military uniform represented taking on the identity of a soldier and at the same time belonging to the Polish ethnic group, since the army was created outside of the territory of Poland. When in Persia, he was involved in a joint effort of British and Polish military units that flew to the territory of the Soviet Union to organize transports of Polish families to be taken from the territory of the Soviet Union to Teheran and to be moved to the

British Colonies around the world. In this case, his role was to help the Polish ethnic community deported to Siberia and Kazakhstan. In his memoir, he kept a list of those he assisted in this journey. This mission of resettlement of large groups of Poles who were starving in the detention camps lasted until the Yalta Conference when the Polish government in exile in London was de- recognized and the Soviet government severed the diplomatic ties with it.

Zbigniew Rogowski joined the Polish Armed Forces under British command in Italy on

February 15, 1944 as a private and served in the 1944-1946 Italian Campaign until he was discharged on November 20, 1946 upon his emigration to Canada. He took an active part in the military operation in Italy from March 11, 1944 until May 2, 1945 (Zbigniew Rogowski, Army

Records). When serving in the Cadets in Haifa, Palestine in 1943, Rogowski wanted to join the

Polish Army. In November 1943, Rogowski had his 16th birthday that month. General Anders inspected the Polish Cadets and, according to Rogowski, said “Niektórzy z was możecie się zapisać do wojska bo jesteście za starzy na junaków” “Some of you can sign up to the military because you are too old to be in cadets”. When Anders called for volunteers to step out from the line, Rogowski volunteered. He recalls that “A ja myśle tak mam 16 lat, bo ja tylko co zaczął 16 lat” “I think that I am 16 years old, because I just started my 16th year”. Rogowski said “I ja nie

walczył żeby medale dostać. Ja walczył za ojczyznę bo ją kochał” “I did not fight to get medals.

I fought for my country because I loved my country” (Z. Rogowski, personal communication,

September 17, 2013). Despite his youth, Rogowski was motivated by his patriotism and unwavering resolve to fight for his country. He participated in the Battle for Monte Cassino known to be the longest battle of WWII.

Stefan Koselak joined the Anders’ Army on September 2, 1941 in Trockoje, USSR and was transferred to Iraq where he underwent medical treatment to nurse him back to health. In

1943, he received training to operate military trucks and later served in 6th Lwowski Armed

Regiment and operated a military tank in the rank of St. Pancerny (Senior Trooper).

Different paths led Nieumierzycki, Niewiński, Rogowski, and Koselak to join the II

Polish Army Corps. All of them displayed a strong resolve to join the newly formed Polish army on the territory of the Soviet Union since all of them identified themselves as soldiers ready to take up the arms despite their young age, ailing health and challenges they had to overcome to reach the location of the army recruitment office. Based on Max Weber’s approach to ethnicity, as discussed by Malešević (2004), the trigger to join the Polish army was not only rooted in their ethnic ties to their homeland, that Weber argued would not be a sufficient reason to undertake such a step, but also the dominant trigger was the socio-political circumstance of their situation.

Those socio-political triggers were, first, that Poland was invaded at the beginning of the war and the second trigger was their deportation to Siberia or Kazakhstan. Malešević (2004) cites Weber who had argued that “it is primarily the political community, no matter how artificially organized that inspires the belief in common ethnicity” and ethnicity is “a presumed identity” (p. 25).

Moreover, the stories about joining the Anders army illustrate that at that time, their

identity started to transform. Soon after they joined the army, they presented themselves within

the discourse of solders that assisted the other Poles to move out of the Soviet Union, as in the

case of Niewiński, or as fighters for freedom, as in the case of Rogowski who presented himself

as someone who fought for a greater cause. The socio-political triggers they experienced contributed to their identity transformation and their narratives illustrate this. Their motivations led them to change from a cadet to a soldier, from a detainee to a soldier specialising in telecommunication, and from a detainee in a heavy labour camp to a member of military involved in the international rescue operations, or from a detainee to a tank operator.

5.1.1.4 The Battle for Monte Cassino and loyalty to an independent and democratic Poland

Nieumierzycki served in the Army Signal Corps as a sergeant from May 22, 1942 until

November 20, 1946 when he immigrated to Canada. He was demobilized in Predappio, Italy on

October 4, 1946. During the Italian Campaign, Nieumierzycki’s communication company was assigned to the artillery and this company had a duty to connect the artillery’s headquarters with the regiments. Their duty was to provide radio contact, which was more dangerous because of the possibility of the radio stations being detected by the enemy and destroyed. They also provided telephone contact for which they had to lay down telephone lines and set up telephone stations. During the Italian Campaign, Nieumierzycki was also cooperating with the Americans and Canadians and he got to know Canadian soldiers serving there. Nieumierzycki was awarded the Medal of Armed Forces, the 1939-1945 Star, Italy Star, Cross of Monte Cassino #41142 and received a certificate stating that he fulfilled his duty towards Poland by serving with the Polish

Armed Forces during the Second World War, a document signed by General Władysław Anders

on November 11, 1945.

Nieumierzycki sees the military medals he was awarded and the letter signed by General

Anders as the highest form of recognition for his involvement in the military campaign. He

recognizes his involvement in providing radio and telephone telecommunication as an important

and dangerous mission, and he presents himself as someone involved the military operations.

Between 1943 and 1944, the Polish II Corps in which Niewiński served, moved to Italy

and the troops were directly involved in the Battle for Monte Cassino where they fought in the

first line of attack. At that time, Niewiński was a Master Corporal (Plutonowy) and participated

in two attacks on Monte Cassino where he was driving a tank providing support for the

Carpathian Infantry Division. During the two attacks, in which his division took part, he was

wounded twice and the most severely while fighting in a tank, where he was badly burned after

his tank caught fire after being attacked by the enemy using phosphorus bombs. Niewiński

managed to leave the tank but the four other soldiers were killed there. Niewiński wrote in his

memoir “Zolnierz z Polski walczył o wolność swojej Ojczyzny z przysięgą Bóg, Honor i

Ojczyzna. Ja osobiście byłem ranny, na skałach gór część swojej krwi tam zostawił [sic]”

“Soldier from Poland fought for freedom of Homeland with oath ‘God, Honor, and Homeland’. I

personally was wounded, on the rocks of the mountain and I left part of my blood there”.

Niewiński for his military service was awarded the General Service Cross – Monte Cassino Bar with two Wound Stripes for his involvement during the Battle of Monte Cassino; the Polish

Army Medal – Medal of Merit – Issued to all Polish veterans for their battles abroad; the

Siberian Cross for detention in Siberia; the 1939 – 1945 Star Medal - issued by the British

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government; the 1942 – 1943 Africa Star with Bar – Issued by the British government; the

Defense of Britain Medal – issued by the British government; the 1939 – 1945 War Medal –

Issued by the British government. Moreover, Niewiński was the recipient of the bronze, silver

and gold medals issued by the Polish Combatants Association.

The accounts describing the time when the ex-servicemen served in the II Polish Army

Corps during the 1944-1945 Italian Campaign come from a variety of sources that include texts from memoirs, interviews, and narratives. Since these sources provide information on how the ex-servicemen presented themselves I needed to use a combination of methods that include DA and “the notion of ‘positioning’” seen by Davies and Harre (1990) as a contribution to the understanding of personhood” (p. 46). These texts indicate that the ex-servicemen positioned themselves within discursive events which, as defined by Harre and Langenhove (1991, p. 398), could be seen as discursive practices that not only contributed to the formation of a discourse but also involve their” moral and a personal positioning” to such discourses. For example,

Niewiński stated “Soldier from Poland fought for freedom of Homeland with oath ‘God, Honor, and Homeland’. I personally was wounded, on the rocks of the mountain and I left part of my blood there”. Niewiński presented his public image of a soldier bound by an oath to fulfill his duty, but also he presented his personal and moral position when he referred to being wounded while fighting and leaving his blood on the battlefield, describing the moral obligations and the personal sacrifices and illustrating human and his personal cost of the war.

Zbigniew Rogowski served as the private and participated in the Italian Campaign from

March 11, 1944 until May 2, 1945 and was honorably discharged on November 20, 1946. He was awarded a Polish Army Medal, the Cross of Monte Cassino and British 1935-45 Star, and

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the Italy Star. In February 1944, after being transported to Napoli with three hundred troops,

Rogowski volunteered with two others to fight in the battle for Monte Cassino and was given

two weeks of military training. He was transported by a truck to a place about 10 kilometres

from Monte Cassino and had to walk to reach the military position through a 6- inch deep mud.

He had to pass by bodies of soldiers killed during the previous attacks. He was assigned to the

Third Company that took up a position in the trenches at the very top of the mountain. Upon his

arrival, Rogowski reported to the company’s captain. Rogowski described this meeting:

Ja melduje się do kapitana. Zbigniew Rogowski melduje się do trzeciej kompanii. A on mówi, jaki stary jesteś. A ja mówię mam 16 lat i 3 miesiące. 16 lat i 3 miesiace. On się popatrzył i mówi “ Ah młodziaki, młodziaki”. Ja się popatrzył na tego kapitana a on też młody byl. 24 lata albo 26 lat. Ja mówie, co 9 lat starszy odemnie. [sic]

I reported to the captain. Zbigniew Rogowski reports to the third company. He says to me. How old are you. I said 16 years and three months. 16 years and three months. He looked at me and said “Ah, youth, youth.” I looked at the captain. He was young too, 24 or 26 years. I say what, nine years older than me.

The accounts presented by the ex-servicemen are stories that provide information on biographical events and the social world which include discursive practices that generated and reproduced societal icons, as defined by Harre and Langenhove (1991, p. 394) and the ex- servicemen used the interviews to illustrate how they perceive themselves. According to Harre and Langenhove they used the performativity positioning in which they presented their story how they accepted it and how they wanted to be seen by others (p. 397). They created or recreated iconic images, such as walking in a 6-inch deep mud passing by the bodies of dead soldiers to reach the trenches, to illustrate how the ex-servicemen positioned themselves within the public 102

discourse of soldiers and how they illustrated their personal and moral position in relation to this

discourse. Harre and Langenhove saw “microsocial events” present in stories that describe

institutions as contributors to the creating of societal icons (p. 394). An example of an icon

creation could be seen in Rogowski’s account when he reported for his military duty on Monte

Cassino and talks about his young age, which he defined using years and months in order to

appear older and thus more suitable for the military service illustrating the moral obligation he

felt he had to fulfill. Furthermore, Rogowski, at the same time, defined the military as an

institution that allowed such young people to serve in dangerous military operations, most likely,

because it desperately needed new recruits to join the ranks. In turn, this speaks to the severity

of losses endured by the military during the Battle for Monte Cassino.

In Rogowski’s account, the captain also engaged in a discursive practice when he reflected on Rogowski’s young age when he commented “Ah, youth, youth.” and positioned himself within the discursive practice of icon generation and reproduction when commenting on the very young men joining the military. Rogowski’s reaction to the captain’s comment illustrates that, as defined by Harre and Langenhove (1991), he “simultaneously positioned (p.

398) himself to the captain’s comment within the fabric of his moral obligation thinking of himself as not much younger than the captain, even though there was a big age difference between them. Thus, through the social act of moral responsibility he measured himself with the captain and presented himself as ready to serve on a battlefield. Since Rogowski never told this story before, his account of reporting to his military duty on Monte Cassino exemplifies the first order positioning as defined by Harre and Langenhove that “refers to the way persons locate

themselves and others within an essential moral space using several categories and story-line” (p.

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396). In the case of Rogowski, the main purpose of positioning himself within the events of war was to express his public identity as a soldier and his personal identity as a very young man commitment to the cause despite the high personal cost of trauma experienced on the battlefield.

During the battle, Rogowski served as a guard and spent two and a half months in the trenches dug out in the mountain. There were many soldiers like him and they provided support to the infantry during the time of attacks. They were under constant attack of German snipers and artillery, sometime shells from Allied artillery reached their positions and positions around them.

They had to have the supplies of water and food delivered at night and if the mules used for this were spooked or killed they had to wait much longer for their supplies. However, despite the hardship, Rogowski stated:

Ja walczył za ojczyzne która kochał. Ja myslałem moje zycie jest dla ojczyzny ja po to dał moje zycie na line. Ja robił to co mi był order oficerski. Starszy plutonowy albo sierżant dawał ordery i ja to musiał robić. Ja był zadowolony że napisali honorable discharge. Oni byli zadowolone i ja był zadowolony. [sic]

I fought for the homeland that I loved. I thought that my life is for my homeland and this is why I put my life on the line. I did what the officer ordered. Platoon leaders or sergeants gave orders and I had to do it. I was glad that they wrote honorable discharge. They were glad and I was glad.

Rogowski stated that his resolve to fight at Monte Cassino came from the values of patriotism and the love for his homeland and he portrays himself as ready to put his life on the line when fighting for his homeland. He was obedient and followed orders of his superiors. He drew deep satisfaction from the fact that after the war he was honorably discharged from the army and found this mutual satisfaction of the army for the military service he provided and his

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satisfaction to be of great importance and value. Moreover, Rogowski described some coping mechanisms that allowed him to survive a long battle:

I ja sam był zawsze. To na ścianie to ja sobie rachował bagnetem ile dni byłem. Roman litery. Wyszło 5 to ja dał V – Victoria. To 5 dni było. 10 dni to byl Romański X. I tak było napisane XX. Blisko 2 i pół miesiąca na tej górze. I jedngo razu nie było co jeść,ja głodny był. Ja musiał iść do tych co byli zabite oni mieli czekoladę w kieszeniach co myśmy dostali na rezerwę. I jak nie będziesz jadł 2 -3 dni to zjesz jedną kostkę i to będzie tobie na cały dzień. [sic]

I was always by myself. On the wall, I counted with my bayonet how many days I was there. Roman letters. When it was five, I put V – Victory. It was five days, ten days it was X and then it was XX. Almost two and a half months on this mountain. Once, there was nothing to eat. I was hungry. I had to go to those who were killed. They had chocolate in their pockets. We were getting this as a reserve. If you do not eat for 2 – 3 days and you eat a piece of chocolate, it will be for the entire day.

Rogowski presents himself as someone committed to the cause of fighting for freedom despite a colossal human cost involved. The II Polish Army Corps soldiers kept guard on the mountain for the American troops to attack the German position where their soldiers were hiding in the monastery on top of the mountain. Rogowski said that he was not afraid but also he was careful not to lose his life. “Ciężko być bohaterem, musisz myśleć i słuchać” “It is hard to be a hero.

You have to think and listen”. He was always aware of the possibility of losing life “Blisko było

śmierci” “Death was close by”. He reported that two or three times he was very close to being killed. Since he grew up in a religious family and society, it could be argued that he attributes his survival to his religious beliefs.

To, to było tak, że wojsko to jest ciężkie wojskowe życie. To jest ciężkie. Ja się nauczył jak to behave myself. Jak to robić, jak to żyć. Jak szczur, zyje jak szczur. [sic] 105

The military life is hard. It is hard. I taught myself how to behave. How to do, how to live. Like a rat, I lived the life of a rat.

Rogowski reported that on May 17 – 18 there was a second artillery attack of the Allied armed

forces. He also reported that because the attack took a very long time they ran out of water and

had to drink their own urine to quench their thirst. After this attack, the Polish troops were the

first who entered the monastery. The attack was so fierce that the entire mountain was on fire and

Rogowski reported that only about 50 or 60 soldiers from the Third Company to which

Rogowski was assigned survived.

Rogowski, despite his young age, inexperience, and the lack of adequate military training served on the most dangerous front line of the offensive of the Battle for Monte Cassino. His motivation was his unwavering commitment to his homeland and to freedom. Despite that he constantly faced death and witnessed many soldiers from his company being killed by a mortar fire, artillery, and enemy snipers, he never left his post because of his commitment to fight for freedom. When Rogowski was ill, the medic in a nearby station situated in one of the holes in the mountain provided first aid and he went back to his post. Soldiers who died close to him during the attack asked him “Zbyszek pamiętaj mnie, powiedział mój kolega, który był postrzelony koło serca, po tym on umarł. Ludzie prosili, nie zapomnij o mnie.” “Zbyszek, remember me, said my colleague, who was shot close to his heart, and after that he died. People asked, do not forget me.” Rogowski is not presenting himself as a hero but rather as someone who survived the longest battle of WWII, someone who provided counselling to those dying on the battlefield, and as someone who listened to his superior officer who told him how to live through such a hard

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time. At the same time, he was afraid and he was not afraid. He believed that his survival

depended on closely following orders.

Narrative analysis offers understanding of the stories of individuals from a broader

perspective and as argued by Tilly (2002) stories provide information about the identity of

individuals and offer common identities that could be recognized and shared by others, and, as

such, allow forming a common relationship among groups of people (p. 10). In his narrative,

Rogowski invokes powerful images of his comrades dying on the battlefield saying “Zbyszek,

remember me, said my colleague, who was shot close to his heart, and after that he died”. He

also described the ultimate sacrifice of others through his suffering when:

Once, there was nothing to eat. I was hungry. I had to go to those who were killed. They had chocolate in their pockets. We were getting this as a reserve. If you do not eat for 2 – 3 days and you eat a piece of chocolate, it will be for the entire day.

Thus, Rogowski uses his narrative to tell the stories of others. By presenting his identity of a

solder on the battlefield who struggled through two and a half months of life in trenches, he also

formulates the identity of those who did not survive this battle and are not able to tell their

stories. He also says that there is nothing glorious about the suffering, the war, and the dying on

a battlefield when summarising his life then as “I lived the life of a rat”. Thus, he provides a

collective voice and formulates a collective identity. Tilly (2002) defined this as “relations,

boundaries, and stories” shared by a group and the identity of an individual from that group is

linked to and it expresses the identity of other individuals that belong to this group. Because their

identity is an expression of the social setting in which these individuals exist.

Stefan Koselak served in the 4th Armoured Regiment also known as (Scorpiony)

Scorpions and was awarded the Monte Cassino Cross #29294, the Medal of the II Polish Army 107

Corps #101552, and the Medal of the 4th Armoured Regiment #467, The Star for War 1939 –

1945, The Africa Star, and the Italy Star #280/III. Koselak participated in the last offensive to liberate Bologna, Italy. As part of the tank regiment, he also participated in fighting to break the

Goth Line and fought for Monte Fortino in 1944. Koselak’s tank commander Jurek

Matykiewicz described him as “bohaterski strzelec z Monte Cassino” “a heroic shooter from

Monte Cassino” (S. Koselak, Memoir). Koselak was wounded during the battle for Monte

Cassino. Since there is not much information about Koselak, his memoir, the testimony of his tank commander and his medals speak about his involvement in the Italian Campaign. Ewa

Koselak reported that her husband shared his war stories with other ex-servicemen who came to

Alberta, but he never wanted to talk with her about them because he did not want her to worry about the things from the past since his health was also deteriorating. He saw these stories to be shared with other ex-servicemen only.

Thus, examples of positioning present in the accounts of the Polish ex-servicemen when

they tell stories of their involvement in the military actions represent the first order of positioning

of their identity formation. In their accounts, the ex-servicemen presented themselves as soldiers

who were directly involved in the battle for Monte Cassino. They survived difficult and

dangerous times under a direct attack of snipers and artillery and they faced harsh conditions of a

battlefield and were ready to give their lives for the cause. They highlight that that they were

honorably discharged from the army after they fulfilled their duties. Since these stories were not

shared with the public and the media before, the portrayal of them by the Canadian media when

they arrived in Canada to work on the farms, was not based on their personal accounts of their

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experiences on the battlefields when they saw themselves as patriotic soldiers. Thus, the media portrayal of the Polish ex-servicemen differs from their accounts.

5.1.1.5 Joining the Polish Resettlement Corps in Great Britain and working on Alberta farms

The II Polish Army Corps, since its inception, reported to the official Polish government in exile in London. Thus, the political change brought about by the Yalta Conference when

Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill defined the new borders of Poland and the Polish government in exile was de-recognized directly affected the situation of the Polish troops fighting on the side of the Allies (Anders, 1949). Under the new political circumstances, the vast majority of the servicemen decided to stay in exile rather than return to Poland under Soviet influence (Stachura,

2004), and they opted to join the newly formed Polish Resettlement Corps in Great Britain.

Those who joined the Polish Resettlement Corps would have their Polish citizenship revoked.

Nieumierzycki wrote in his memoir that “Po WW2 powrotu do Polski nie mieliśmy. Mogliśmy wracać z powrotem (to znaczy) na Syberię” “After WWII, we could not go back to Poland. We could return (back) to Siberia”. Not wanting to go back to Poland liberated by the joined efforts of the Red Army and the First Polish Army, Nieumierzycki decided to join the 1947 Polish

Resettlement program with other former soldiers from the Second Corps and he moved to

Canada. Niewiński stated that

Do Polski nie mógł wrócić, Polski nie było, myśleli że wrócą z bronią i sztandarami ale nie udało się. Ale tam jest komunizm my nie walczyliśmy o taką Polskę tylko o wolną demokratyczną. [sic]

I could not return to Poland. There was no Poland. We thought we will come back with our weapons and with our banners, but it did

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not work out. There is communism there but we did not fight for such a Poland, but for a free and democratic one.

Similarly, Rogowski stated “w roku 1946 oni mówią ze nie wolno nam jechać do Polski.

Możesz jechać do Anglii albo do Kanady” “in 1946 they say we are not allowed to go back to

Poland. You can go to England or to Canada”. Also, Koselak’s daughter reported that her father

was afraid to return to Poland after the war because of the repression and a prospect of

imprisonment since those who returned to Poland were not heard from.

Some of the soldiers from the Second Polish Army Corps had a better understanding of

why they did not want to or could not return to Poland pointing to their disapproval of the new

geo-political situation in Poland after the changes introduced at the Yalta Conference. Some of

them just followed the overall atmosphere of disapproval common among the members of the II

Polish Army Corps stationing in Italy and decided not to return.

In order to be qualified to participate in the Resettlement Corps that enabled the Polish ex-servicemen to come to Canada they had to be single, of good health and they had to undergo a qualification test that would determine if they were familiar with farm work including knowing the basic types of grains.

To qualify for the participation in the Polish Resettlement Corps, all the Polish ex- servicemen who applied had to fill an application that was examined by the Canadian officers.

On December 9, 1946 Koselak signed the agreement to work on farms in Canada. The document indicates that he joined (Wojsko Stałe, Polski Korpus Przysposobienia w Wojsku Jego

Królewskiej Mości) the Polish Resettlement Corps of the Military that serves His Majesty the

King. The declaration contained a statement that if the information provided is not true he could

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be held responsible under criminal law, that he is single, that he is a qualified farmer and that he

will serve for two years to fulfill his duty as required. This document indicates that the Polish ex-

servicemen treated their membership in the Polish Resettlement Corps as part of their military

service and the agreement they signed could be compared with their military duty.

Nieumierzycki stated that, as others, he had to take a test to determine if he qualifies to participate in the program and he was shown different types of grains. Nieumierzycki passed the test. Since he was single, and of good health, he was accepted into the program.

Niewiński stated that he also had to undergo a practical test to determine if his qualifications are sufficient to be accepted into the program. He was asked to demonstrate if he knew how to milk a cow and if he knew how to plow a field to prepare it for sowing. Based on the aptitude test, Niewiński was accepted into the program.

Rogowski, who also applied to resettle to Canada, underwent a test to determine his qualifications. Since he worked the fields while in the USSR, he was familiar with the seeds such as wheat, barley, and oat and he knew how to plow a field using a wooden plow and horses.

Since there is no account of Koselak’s qualification process, only documents that were in

his collection indicate that he took part in this program. On August 15, 1949, the Department of

Labour Canada issued a document signed by the Minister of Labour #4565 certifying, “Polish

Veteran Stefan Koselak has discharged the undertaking made with the government of Canada to

remain in specified employment for a fixed period of time upon admission to Canada.” Only

after fulfilling their obligations, the Polish ex-servicemen were granted the Landed Immigrant

status.

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The accounts of the ex-servicemen describe how their decision to join the Polish

Resettlement Corps implicated their national status and led them to become stateless. Their new identity was created within the discourse of their ethnic identity of the “Polish Problem”. Hence, long-term this was also a contributing factor in the formation of the diasporic experience and identity, as described by Safran (1991). These Polish war veterans from the II Polish Army

Corps were bound by their identity as stateless people of common ethnic origin, and experiencing the common issue of identity transformation from soldiers and war veterans to unskilled farm workers. Thus, the public sphere that Mills (1959) saw as media, state policy, and public discourse, and the ex-servicemen’s personal interactions influenced their personal sphere.

Their new identity transition and formation could be seen in their accounts in utterances such as

“I could not return to Poland. There was no Poland”, meaning they could not go back to Poland they envisioned they were fighting for, or “We could not go back to Poland. We could return

(back) to Siberia”. As defined by Harre (2013), the ex-servicemen’s perception of their identity was in the process of transition and they started seeing the social world through the discourse in which they were now being defined. This in turn influenced their identity creation described by the Positioning Theory as identity creation in action when they transitioned from their identity as soldiers to the new identity within the discourse of farm labourers as presented by Harre and

Langenhove (1991, p. 396) in Positioning Theory used for evaluation of their identity formation.

Nieumierzycki stated “Myśmy przyjechali nie jako emigranci tylko rolnicy” “We came over here not as immigrants but as farmers”. In November 1946, Nieumierzycki came from

Napoli, Italy to Halifax with other ex-servicemen and after a brief assessment by the immigration officers he was transferred by CP Rail to Lethbridge, Alberta. On the way to Lethbridge, he

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recalls that the train stopped at several stations and he witnessed some people protesting against

them coming to Canada.

To wiecznie się spotykali z reporterami ale to przeważnie mało było jakiś przyjacielskich tych interview. Nawet jakieś protesty niektórzy robili że jakiś sprowadzają tutaj wojaków. [sic]

There were meetings with reporters, but for the most part, there were little of friendly interviews. Some even protested that they bring soldiers in here.

Nieumierzycki reports that he did not pay attention to those protests reasoning that he signed a two-year contract with the government and he is going to perform it. His attitude towards the protests followed a military approach illustrating that he viewed signing of the contract as part of his military service.

Upon arrival in Lethbridge he was housed in a quarters that were used to house German prisoners-of-war and he met some of them who decided to stay there. Nieumierzycki noted that when he came to Canada he realized that by signing the contract he replaced the German POWs many of whom decided to stay in Canada instead of going back to Europe. Two days later, he met the owner of the farm to which he was assigned. The farm was located 15 kilometers south of Lethbridge. According to the contract, he was to earn 40 to 45CAD per month for tending the cattle and looking after the farm. Soon after, the farmer left him in charge for several months and went to work as a farmhand in the United States. Nieumierzycki worked by himself with no access to newspapers or a radio. Instead, he read Polish books that he brought with him from

Italy for his journey to Canada. His command of the English language allowed him to conduct military duty in Italy but it was also limited because of that. He recalls that when he was speaking Polish in public places this was seen as unacceptable and he was chastised for that by

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comments that had an aggressive undertone “Why don’t you speak English?”. However, in the environment in which he was working he did not have opportunities to learn English.

Nieumierzycki wore his military uniform as his work clothes. He worked under such conditions until October 1947 when the farmer returned. Nieumierzycki, who was dissatisfied with the conditions, did not want to continue working there and asked for his wages. He was paid

120CAD for 11 months of farm labour. The farmer claimed that he did not have the money to pay for Nieumierzycki’s work and agreed to take him to Calgary to search for a new employment. With the help of newly met members of the Polish community in Calgary,

Nieumierzycki, found a job with AGT where his skills and knowledge of telecommunication were seen as a great asset. However, he could not stay in this position because, as he learned, he was not allowed to undertake any government jobs. While looking for suitable employment,

Nieumierzycki met a colleague from the Canadian Army from the Italian Campaign. On the spot, his colleague offered him a job as an electrician in his company. However, Nieumierzycki’s employment did not last because he was ordered by a representative of the government to finish his two-year farm contract first. After complaining about the work conditions and the lack of pay, he was sent to the Burns Farm where he worked until the end of his contract.

Nieumierzycki reported that the conditions at Ranch Bow Valley on the Burns Farm were much better and he slept in a bunkhouse, was fed, and he became part of the crew. He milked the cows, worked on a feedlot, and operated a tractor. Also, at that time Nieumierzycki started to have more contacts with other Polish veterans because he was allowed to take some time off on weekends and he visited Calgary where he met other ex-servicemen who were assigned to work on farms that were located close to Calgary. After a year when his contract was finished

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Nieumierzycki was paid 150CAD for each month of work. He used this money to buy a car, a

1939 Dodge and returned to Calgary to work as an electrician for the E.M.C. owned by his

Canadian colleague from the Italian Campaign. Nieumierzycki worked for this company as an

electrician from 1948 – 1985 and he was responsible for such projects as the brewery and

Calgary Zoo. He is a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

The narrative that tells the story of his arrival and work on a farm in Canada tells a story

of not taking the identity of farm help but rather the story of his ethnic identity preservation that

he maintained by reading Polish books while working on the farm that he brought with him to

Canada. In addition, he continued speaking Polish, when he was in a company of other Poles,

even if that caused reactions of disapproval expressed by some members of the public. The work

he did on a farm he considered as a temporary solution and he never took it as a factor

contributing to his identity formation. In his narrative, he presented himself, more like a solder

because not only that he was wearing his military uniform to do the farm work, but also because

of the way he handled seeing the protests against bringing the ex-servicemen to work on farms

since he finds signing the contract with the government as a binding agreement.

Moreover, he actively sought the contacts with the Polish community in Calgary and

when he found it, he made a long-lasting connection with it. The help he received from other

Poles who were already here, helped him find employment in his learned profession, even if that

was for a short time due to the regulations and policies of the Canadian immigration that forced

him to work one more year on a farm.

In his narrative, Nieumierzycki portrays himself as hardworking, reliable, committed, willing to learn and to share his skills as an educated specialist, and as someone greatful for the

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opportunity to work in Canada. Overall, he saw his experience of working on farms as positive,

especially that the two year contract offered the opportunity to build a new life in Canada.

However, he recalls that other Polish veterans were not treated well while working on farms.

Thus, his example illustrates that cases like his were an exception from the norm and not

common among the Polish ex-servicemen. But the help of the Polish community allowed those

who managed to find these connections to find more suitable employment after they finished the

farm work contract.

Niewiński arrived in Halifax on November 12, 1946 and was initially sent to Lethbridge,

where he was housed in the quarters previously occupied by the German POWs. He was

assigned to work on a farm near Cremona. Similarly, to the experience of Nieumierzycki,

Niewiński’s first year on the farm was not positive when he stated that he was housed in a barn

and the farmer did not provide enough food. Because of that, he often went hungry. His duty

included milking the cows and performing general farm labour. After the first year, Niewiński

asked the Canadian authorities in Calgary that he be assigned to a different farm hoping that the

second year will bring a better experience. He was assigned to work on a farm near Mossleigh.

After the contract was finished, the farmer for whom Niewiński worked wanted him to stay longer and even offered to cede the farm to him. However, Niewiński did not want to live in isolation on a remote farm. He wrote in his memoir:

Po zakończeniu kontraktów, młodzi Weterani zaczeły uciekać z farm do miast w Kanadzie. Zaczęto odnawiać życie na nowo zakładać spowrotem SPK, coraz więcej stępowało nowych członków do koła. W każdym prawie mieści gdzie się znajdowali Weterani zakładano koła. Energia życie zaczeło kwitnąć, zabawy, szluby, chciny, wszystko na wesoło. [sic]

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After finishing the contracts, young Veterans started fleeing from the farms to Canadian cities. They started a new life and formed SPK (Polish Combatants Association), more new members joined the organization. In almost every city where Veterans could be found new organizations were formed. Energy and life were blossoming, parties, weddings, baptisms, everything in a happy mood. [sic]

In his narrative and memoir, Niewiński did not concentrate on his experience on the farms, instead he focused on his experience as a soldier and a freedom fighter, and someone committed to strengthening the Polish community in Calgary. His approach is similar to Nieumierzycki who never took on working as a farm help to be his identity. While the farmer for whom Niewiński worked saw him as a valuable asset and a hardworking and trusting individual, Niewiński portrays himself as a soldier who fought for freedom of his country, and as someone who loved his homeland. He was enthusiastic about the prospect of a new life and new opportunities in

Canada, however, Niewiński did not want to stay on a farm, and rather he wanted to find a job, start a family, buy a house, and have children. His active pursuits of other Poles in Calgary paid off and with their help he managed to find new employment and a place to live.

Zbigniew Rogowski arrived in Halifax, Canada on November 24, 1946. He was 19 at that time. Rogowski was sent to Lethbridge, Alberta. Upon arrival, he felt ill with pneumonia and had to be admitted to a military hospital in Currie Barracks in Calgary for ten days. He was discharged and sent to the Employment Office in Edmonton where he was assigned to work on a farm in the area of Fort St John. His duty was to tend and milk the cows, tend hogs and horses, chop the wood and perform other general duties on the farm. His accommodation was inadequate and substandard. He was housed in a small cottage that had a roof full of holes letting the pigeons in. The pigeons made this place their nest too. Therefore, Rogowski often found his bed

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soiled with pigeons’ droppings. Rogowski used his military blanket to cover himself at night, and

during the day he used his military uniform as his working clothes. He stated ‘To wszystko co ja

miał” [sic] “That was all I had”. Rogowski described his experience:

I ja robił u niego jakieś dwa pół, trzy miesiące. I ja myśle ja mam taki apetyt żeby pójść do miast żeby sobie wypić piwo albo coś bo mnie tutaj nie ma nic. I ja miałem 10 dolarów w kieszeni co mnie dali. I ja poszedłem pieszo do tego Fort Station John miasta i siedzę w piwiarni. W mundurze jestem. i ja sobie siedzę. Pije sobie piwko. I jeden przychodzi do mnie, widzi mnie w mundurze. Mówi. Ty żolnierzem? Ja mówie. Polish soldier. Army British. Under 8th Army British command. A on mówi to ty byłeś na drugiej wojnie tak. Ja mówię ja byłem wszędzie w całej Italii.[sic]

I was working there about two and a half, three months. And, I thought, I have such an appetite to go to town, to have a drink, or something, here, there is nothing. I had ten dollars in my pocket that was given to us before. I walked to this Fort Station John and I saw a beer-parlor. I drank a beer. Someone comes to me. He sees me in a uniform. He says, “You soldier?” I said, Polish soldier. British Army. Under 8th Army British Command. He says, have you been to the Second War, yes. I said, yes I was in Italy. [sic]

When Rogowski told them on which farm he worked, they knew that the conditions on the farm were inadequate since they knew that farmer.

Then English guy told me. He is no good. Ja sobie wiem że on nie good. Ja mówię ja pracuję tam on mi nie płaci co miesiąca. On mnie nie karmi dobrze. Ja złamał siekierę jak ja rżnął lód żeby swiniom dać pić wodę. Ja złamał tę rączkę na siekiera on mnie mówi że ja mu muszę dwa dolary zapałacić za to. On mówi on nie good. [sic]

This English guy told me. He is no good. I knew he was no good. I told him that I work there, he does not pay me every month. He feeds me poor. I broke the ax when I was breaking the ice to fetch water for the hogs. I broke the ax handle. He said that I have to pay him two dollars for this. He says he is no good. [sic]

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The next day the police was notified by the Canadian he met at the beer-parlor and they came to investigate the conditions where Rogowski worked. They inspected the place where he slept and asked that Rogowski talk to the farmer and ask to be paid for his work because he will be relocated to a different place. The farmer refused to pay and only gave a cheque for about $90 or

$100 to the police officers after they had a long talk with him. While he was in the city for ten days waiting for the new contract, Rogowski had to pay for his hotel room $2 per night.

For the second work placement Rogowski was assigned to a farm located close to Hythe,

Alberta where he worked for about six or seven months, but was never paid. Despite the effort

Rogowski put into working, the farmer was not satisfied and complained. Because of the overall conditions, Rogowski still wearing his military uniform decided to leave the farm and hitchhiked to Wembley where in a beer-parlor he was approached by Ukrainian young men with whom he shared his story of working on the farm in Hythe. They took him back there by a car to ask the farmer to pay back the money he owed. The farmer paid close to $300 for 6-7 months of work and said that he still owes him money for his work. The Ukrainian young men helped Rogowski find a job with the railroad maintaining train tracks and where he was given a room to stay. A few days later, the immigration officer came and announced that “Tobie nie wolno robić tutaj.

Ty musisz skończyć cały rok na farmie” “You are not allowed to work here. You have to finish working the entire year on a farm”. He was assigned to a farm located in Spirit River. However, the overall social conditions on the farm were deploring and he left the farm to which he was assigned.

For Rogowski the experience of working on farms was not only exhausting physically, but it was also difficult for him because of isolation, loneliness, lack of understanding of rules of

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employment and remuneration, and inability to communicate with others. These factors were

contributing to his problems. The only place where he found some form of human contact was in

beer-parlors where he met random strangers. The loneliness and the lack of contact with others were hurting him emotionally.

Jak ja przyjechał do Kanady to mnie bardzo cieżko było ja nie mógł mojego języka gadać z nikim bo nikt nie był tu gdzie ja byłem. Tylko Indiany byli. To ja się tak nauczył od Indianów troszkę. Troszke od tych w piwiarni nauczył się od tych ludzi. Bo radia nie miałem jak ja robił na farmie sobie sam siedziałem całą noc. Leżał i nie wiedział co to sie robi. Było, Ja cierpiał, i cierpiał, i cierpiał. Czasem myślał o samobójstwo, bo tak było. Życie przycisneło mnie tak paskudnie ze ja myslał wooh.[sic]

When I came to Canada it was difficult for me, I could not speak using my language with anyone because there was no one there where I was. Only Indians were there. I learned from Indians a little. I learned a little bit from those people in a beer-parlor. I did not have a radio when I worked on a farm. I was by myself at night. I lied down and did not know what is happening. I suffered, I suffered. I suffered. Sometime, I thought to commit suicide because it was like that. Life pressed me so nastily that I thought, woooh.

After four failed attempts of working on a farm, the immigration officer assigned Rogowski to

work in a lumber mill. Rogowski’s narrative about his experience explains his attitude and

approach to work. He portrays himself as willing to work hard despite the conditions in order to

fulfill his contract obligations of working for two years on a farm. Not knowing the language and

not able to communicate, with a very little personal possession, and $10 in his possession he was

powerless under challenging conditions when he was being exploited by those who hired hm.

Rogowski said that his military uniform looked exactly like a Canadian military uniform

since both the Canadian and the Polish soldiers who served under the British command in 120

Europe were equipped with this same clothing. His uniform had a little Polish Eagle attached to

it to differentiate from the other nationals. The military uniform brought him respect and an

attention when he was in a public place and when those who talked with him learned about the

inadequate condition of his employment those people acted immediately to find a way to

improve his work condition. The Canadian he met brought Rogowski’s situation to the attention

of police who undertook actions to change this. The second time the young Ukrainians took his case into their own hands and offered assistance in getting back the wages owed to him by the farmer and finding new employment for him.

However, those seem to be short-term solutions to his long-term problems and the lack of a viable community support where he could communicate and share his concerns had its consequences. Since Rogowski experienced mistreatment on every farm to which he was assigned to work, this also illustrates that there was a lack of a system in place that would ensure that those ex-servicemen working on contracts were not mistreated. Rogowski experienced a constant struggle to receive his wages. Thus, for most of the time he was not paid for his work.

On one hand, this can be seen on his part as a lack of knowledge how to set and handle financial agreements, but on the other it could be seen as a lack of assistance from the immigration officers to teach the newcomers how to handle such challenges. The entire farm work experience left Rogowski struggling with financial and emotional difficulties, and he felt powerless and left alone with no support. The farms to which he was assigned were located further north and there were no known larger Polish communities there. Thus, the lack of the language skills made his life even more difficult when he had to learn the new language from the sporadic encounters he had with strangers who he met at the beer-parlors. These difficulties and challenges, however,

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did not change him as an individual. He stayed true to his values of helping others in the time of struggle especially those who shared these same ethnic roots. Rogowski recalls an episode that took place when he worked for the lumber mill as part of his labour contract.

Przyszedł jeden Polak. On sie urodził w Kanadzie ale po polsku troszkę rozumiał. Mówi że szuka roboty. A ja mówię że ja sam dostał tą robotę. Ja mówię że jak chcesz pomagć mi ja ci zapłacę z mojej kieszeni. Ja mu pomógł, on zjadł ze mną, robiliśmy tu razem. On mi pomagał to i to. [sic]

There came a Pole. He was born in Canada and understood Polish a little and said that he is looking for a job. I said, I just got this job. If you want to help me, I will pay you from my pocket. I helped him, he ate with me, we worked there together. He helped me with this and that.

Rogowski presented himself as someone who shares what he had despite how little he had himself. When he met someone in need, sharing common ancestral roots was enough to motivate him to offer his help and brig comfort to a stranger. He portrays himself as someone who is appreciative of what he was given when he was allowed to come to Canada. Despite the challenges and difficulties he encountered in Canada he saw it as “lepiej jak w Rosji ja nie żebrał tutaj, ja robił, tu ja pacował” “better than in Russia, did not beg here, I worked here”. This shows his unwavering commitment to support and provide for himself and not be a burden to society.

Tilly (2002) argues that stories provide information about the identity of individuals and offer common identities that could be recognized and shared by others, and, as such, allow forming common relationship among groups of people (p. 10). The narrative provided by

Rogowski illustrate a negative experience he had had while working on several farms, and as noted by Nieumierzycki, was similar to some of the other ex-servicemen also had while working on the farms in Alberta. Thornton (1989) who researched the feasibility and effectiveness of the 122

Polish Resettlement program in Canada has stated that the main purpose for Canada accepting

the Polish ex-servicemen was that Canada was “looking for replacements for German prisoners

of war who had been working in the sugar beets fields of Ontario” (p. 235). The statistics

provided by the Department of Labour on September 1948, indicated that out of 4,527 ex-

servicemen, 91 were missing, 14 were deceased, 12 were hospitalized in mental institutions, 18

were hospitalized, 16 were in Brandon Sanatorium, and 4,081 were employed on farms. In his

article, Thornton dealt with statistics and the focus of his research was to prove that the program

was a failure. Thornton has stated that “With the regard to the short- and long-term contributions the Poles made to agriculture, the scheme was a failure.” (p. 235).

When Thornton dealt with the feasibility of this project, this thesis looks at stories of

Polish ex-servicemen and their experiences while they worked on farms as part of their two-year

contracts. Therefore, Rogowski’s narrative could be seen as a representation of stories that could

be told by those who did not finish their contracts, because they went missing from the farm,

they were hospitalized or because they died. When Rogowski tells his story of desperation, he is

not only presenting his identity through these images, but he also influences the position of those

listening to his narratives as defined by Harre and Davies (1990). They could see these

narratives as images of harassment, antagonism, mistreatment, and exploitation the ex-

servicemen lived through.

Rogowski’s narratives indicate that for an extended time he was living in isolation from

larger community, and did not have any contact with the Polish ethnic community at all until

mid-1950s, and he experienced a variety of problems caused challenges of adjustment to

Canadian society. Thus, it could be argued that the plan presented by Hardy (1946, p. 12)

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printed in The Edmonton Journal on how to deal with the Polish ex-servicemen integration during the time of their contract, had a negative impact on his identity formation. The implementation of “Block segregation” defined by the media as:

Much of the trouble develops when, not understanding English, and having no place to go, they crowd into Polish halls, and Polish societies. Such societies are considered all right, if the Poles have been in Canada some time and have developed a sense of balance. (p. 12) had devastating results on his identity formation and adjustment to a new life in Canada.

Stefan Koselak came to Canada, and was transferred to Lethbridge where he was placed

in the internment camp used during the war to house German POWs. Initially, Koselak worked

on a sugar beet farm near Taber and Picture Butte. Chris Fisher, Koselak’s daughter recalls that

some of the ex-servicemen, whom she met, who came with her father to Lethbridge told that they

were housed in chicken coops. While working on the farm in Alberta, Koselak wore his military

uniform for work in the fields. Later Koselak was sent to work on a farm in Welling where he

worked on contract doing general farm duty and tending farm animals.

Chris Fisher stated that Koselak had a positive experience while working on the farms in

Alberta. Koselak knew English and he was satisfied with the work conditions on the farm (E.

Koselak, personal communication, September 22, 2013). Contrary to stories of other ex-

servicemen who were mistreated, while working on farms, the farmers where Koselak’s future

wife worked as domestic help encouraged the Polish ex-servicemen who worked there to get

together every couple of weekends to socialize. Ewa Koselak recalls that they were given time

off to accommodate this activity. Stefan Koselak, while working on a farm, bought a used car

from the farmer for whom he worked. Because of his duty in a tank during the war, he knew how

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to repair heavy machinery, and after fixing the car he was able to drive to church and sometime he would drive to Lethbridge where there was a big Polish community where he met with other

Poles. Thus, having a car allowed him to travel to the nearby cities and meeting people like him and socialize.

In 1948, Koselak suffered three heart attacks and was unable to perform heavy work.

Later on, when he finished the farm contract, he was given a course through the welfare office to learn how to be a barber. However, the welfare office did not want to be involved in a long- term assistance and wanted the military to help Koselak. Because it was unclear which institution was responsible for him, Koselak ultimately found himself caught in a conflict between two institutions. Eventually, unable to work, Koselak received a small military pension. On

December 7, 1953 Stefan Koselak was granted Canadian citizenship. He passed away on July 28,

1960, and was given a military burial and is buried in the Field of Honor in Calgary. His wish was to be buried in his military uniform and his 12 medals.

Koselak was proud of his military medals and said that he fought hard for them and he wore them during military celebrations. His wife was also very proud of her husband’s military involvement during the war. Koselak is portrayed by his wife and daughter as someone who was willing to work hard until his health deteriorated. He never complained, and talked very little about his past not to disturb his family. However, he was not open about his war experience at home since many of the people he knew had a similar life story and at that time, people were not sharing these stories.

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5.1.2 A Summary of the Polish veterans’ experience in Canada and the role of the Polish

community

Upon their arrival in Alberta, the Polish ex-servicemen had to deal with a situation for which they were not prepared and for which there were no governmental guidelines or policies in place. The ex-servicemen were not informed about their rights and how they should deal with issues of payment for their work and accommodation. According to the SPK’s website, the ex-

servicemen had to provide their fingerprints and were given temporary identification documents

(Polish Combatants Association Branch #18 Calgary, 2011). It would seem that doing the work

was all that mattered to the immigration authorities.

The ex-servicemen who participated in this research reported not receiving payment for

several months of their heavy farm work, or being severely underpaid. In some cases, such as in

the case of Rogowski, when he complained to people he met his case of mistreatment was

reported to the police who intervened in his behalf. In other cases, due to a lack of protocol how

the ex-servicemen should deal with not being paid they decided to leave the farms on which they worked and searched for employment elsewhere. Each time, however, the immigration officers

tracked their whereabouts and found another farm where they were sent to finish their contract.

Rogowski was placed in four different farms and each time experienced not being paid and

living in substandard conditions. Only after four negative experiences was he allowed to finish

his contract while working for a sawmill company.

Moreover, most of the time, the ex-servicemen were housed in substandard

accommodations and they experienced malnutrition while working on individual farms. In such

cases there was no protocol that would define the responsibilities of a farmer who employed the

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Polish ex-servicemen. This was another reason for which these contracts were broken and the ex- servicemen had to be moved to another farm to finish their two-year contract. They were left on their own to deal with conflicts and issues. Therefore, the lack of set rules and procedures in place on how to deal with the issues arising from conflicts between the farmers and the ex- servicemen forced them to abandon the farms and seek help or break the contracts.

All participants reported that they had to wear their military uniforms for their farm work that they used during the Italian war campaign. Moreover, the ex-servicemen became aware that they were replacing German POWs whose farm jobs they were performing. Most of the ex- servicemen spent months in isolation with limited contact with the outside world. They did not have access to media such as newspapers or a radio. In some cases, the farmers left them alone for several months to take care of their farms making for the ex-servicemen difficult to leave their farms even for a brief time. Because of lack of opportunities to learn English, the ex- servicemen learned English from strangers they met in places such as beer-parlors. However, they were chastised for speaking Polish in public places. These social, financial, and labour conditions were experienced by most of the ex-servicemen, but they were never reported by the newspapers or a radio.

In 1946, upon their arrival in Halifax to start work on farms, the Polish ex-servicemen were assigned to different provinces. They hoped to be placed on the farms together with their friends or in close proximity so they can keep in touch or visit. However, as Niewiński reported after he pointed who his friend is they were separated and sent to different provinces, one was sent to central Canada and Niewiński was sent to Alberta. Niewiński said the he always wondered about this and my research of newspaper articles allowed him to understand what had

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happened in the past. With the exception of Koselak about whom there is a limited personal

account, they reported that they did not have any contact with other ex-servicemen or other

Polish community during their first year of their contract or in the case of Rogowski throughout his entire two years of his contract and several years beyond it. The contacts the ex-servicemen made with the Polish community were because of their own initiative when they were dealing with inadequate conditions on the farms. After Nieumierzycki left the farm because he was not being paid for several months he arrived in Calgary where he met members of the Polish ethnic group who immigrated to Canada around the 1920s. Through this contact with the “Stara

Polonia” “the Old Diaspora” he found out that there is a Polish Community (Dom Polski) located in Calgary on 313 4 Street NE. There he met Walter Frank Chuchla, who helped him find a job and provided him with free accommodation. Chuchla (1904-1987) was a 1920s Polish immigrant, who took upon himself to assist Polish refugee in the 1940s (Glenbow Musuem), especially the Polish ex-servicemen who came to Alberta. The help Nieumierzycki received from the members of the Polish community was instrumental and allowed him start a new life in

Canada.

During the interviews, Nieumierzycki talked about his journey to Canada for which he took two suitcases that contained about two hundred Polish books that he brought with him from

Italy. While still in Italy, he read books about Canada and this motivated him to select Canada.

The books Nieumierzycki brought were the only possession he had and these books were the only companion he had while working on the farm. Soon after he finished his farm contract,

Nieumierzycki became involved with the Polish Canadian Association in Calgary and from 1948 until 1953, he volunteered as a librarian, and organized and maintained the Polish library.

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Nieumierzycki portrays himself as someone who places values in the preservation of the Polish

heritage, Polish culture, and Polish language and being a librarian serving Polish community in

Calgary was his contribution to this cause. In his memoir, Nieumierzycki cites Adam

Mickiewicz, regarded as the national poet from Polish Romanticism “Jeśli zapomnę o nich, Ty,

Boże na niebie, Zapomnij o mnie…” “If I forget about them. O, God in heaven forget about me..” Nieumierzycki highlights the importance of remembering one’s history and teaching it to the younger generation and cultivating the language. Because of that, he has been speaking

Polish at home with his family and friends, and in the Polish community. Through this

Nieumierzycki celebrates, cultivates and empowers the Polish community in Calgary.

Similarly, Niewiński also looked for other Polish ex-servicemen when he left the farm

after the first year due to poor conditions on the farm and because he was not being paid for his

work. In Calgary, after he finished the contract, Niewiński met with other Polish ex-servicemen and they formed the Polish Combatants Association in 1947 that had 160 members. They were meeting in their community centre located in Bridgeland. Niewiński stated that his motivation was to keep Polish traditions and values alive.

Musi być Polskość żeby mogli potańczyć, pośpiewać, albo po Polsku mówić, nie żeby się obawiać że czegoś nie można. Nie czuli się że to nie jest ich miejsce. I dzisiaj jest obczyzna [sic]

It has to be a Polish place, so we could dance, sing, or speak Polish without fears that we could not do that. We did not feel this was our place. Even today, it is a foreign land.

Niewiński reported that having a place where they could feel safe, comfortable and where there

were others like him who shared a common history and tradition was important to him.

However, he had to work on a farm to finish his contract. After that, Niewiński renewed his

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involvement with the Polish community in Calgary and was actively involved in building of the

new Polish Canadian Cultural Centre at 3015-15 St. NE, Calgary. The help he received from the

Polish community in Calgary upon his arrival, allowed him establish a new life in Canada and

later on he was actively involved in volunteer work for the community. The description of the

Polish community in Calgary Niewiński gave reflects the definition of diaspora by Safran

(1991).

Similarly, Koselak looked for contacts with other Polish ex-servicemen and was involved with the Polish community in Lethbridge. For his farm contract, he was assigned to work on a farm near Picture Butte, and since he bought a car, he could commute to Lethbridge where there was a large Polish community. He joined the Polish Combatants Association in May of 1948.

Chris Fisher, Koselak’s daughter remembers her father as a brilliant, self-taught person, who knew several languages and who taught her a lot during the ten years of her life she spent with him before he died. She recalls that even thought Koselak was

sick because of the heart condition he never stopped being involved in the Polish community and helped new immigrants filling out papers, forms, going to government offices with them. He worked very closely with the priest Father Otłowski in the church located in Bridgeland.

She never saw him lamenting, Koselak never succumbed to seeing his past as a negative experience, and he always stayed positive. She saw her father counselling other veterans who, at times, “got drunk” and talked about their war experiences. His daughter remembers him as strong and wise, as someone able to give an advice on how to deal with and how to overcome life difficulties. Fisher stated “What my father taught me in ten years many people would not have learnt in a life time“ (C. Fisher, personal communication, October 6, 2013).

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Fisher recalls that the majority of the immigrants in Calgary settled in Bridgeland that became to be known as the “Little Europe”. In addition, she recalls that they were considered as

DPs, Displaced Persons.

It was a happy place because we were all poor and we did not know it. Because we had such close connections with each other. There is a wonderful sense of community, but when you cross the bridge to go downtown and on the other side of the city then you saw we are not this same as these people.

Even though Fisher was born in Canada, she felt that the “ethnic” stigma was attached to all immigrants and people like her. Fisher recalls that this was also visible when her father passed away and the family had to deal with the funeral proceedings.

Fisher remembers being very angry, even though she was ten years old, when her father passed away on July 28, 1960. His family wanted to bury Koselak in the St. Mary’s Cemetery as others were doing and the family believed that would be a way of honoring him.

I also remember being very, very angry, even though I was 10 years old when my father passed away. Mom, of course wanted him to be buried in St. Mary’s Cemetery and we lived in a two room basement suit and at the time the funeral director, the original Mr. McInnis from Holloway who started the McInnis and Holloway Funeral Homes, the original Mr. Holloway, he was an Irish Catholic and he was also a good friend of the Bishop. When he came to the house and saw that we had nothing. My mom was the only one working. He said to my mom, he said why do you want to go into debt for the rest of your life, and you have a daughter to rise and you have nothing to pay for this funeral. He said because my dad was also a member of the Canadian Royal Legion here in Calgary, he said, because he was a member of the Canadian Legion they would bury him, or they would arrange the funeral and pay for everything and as he said it. It’s not, you do not have a choice of the casket or anything. It is a very dignified funeral because the Legion would be present, the casket would be covered with the Polish flag, and at the time, it was the British flag because we did not have our own Canadian flag. He said there is a lot of honor in that and the priest had a little bit of a problem with 131

it because it was not a Catholic cemetery, because he would have to be buried in the Field of Honor. That was the first for our priest. Mr. Holloway went and spoke to the Bishop and the Bishop spoke to the Polish priest and said, go bless the ground. This makes more sense then. But, I felt such anger that there would be a question about it. I do not know. I would have wanted, a fancy casket, a great big tombstone, all this because we could not have afford it.

When analysing this narrative using the approach of Kohler Riessman, (1993), who advises to

asks, “Why was the story told that way?” linking the telling of the story to telling “about

experience” that could be interpreted (p. 2), it appears that having a military burial with a simple

coffin was not regarded highly by the society at that time. The families of those who died did not

want their dead relatives to look poor on the day of their burial. Having a funeral financed by the

Legion meant, “It’s not, you do not have a choice of the casket or anything” and they felt that this would further add to their stigma of DPs and it will show they were poor. Moreover, the prospect of being buried in a non-consecrated ground was against Catholic beliefs, so special

arrangements were needed to take place to alleviate this. It seems that the family perceived

conducting such a burial as a continuation of the stigma of Displaced Person. At that time,

Fisher did not see having a burial funded by the Legion as dignifying. Perhaps, she as a child

raised and schooled in this society felt that way and this might be a reflection of how such a

burial might be perceived by society then.

Fisher described that she feels different about her father’s burial today, she describes that

today her sense of pride that her father is buried in the Field of Honor is strong and unwavering.

However, her feeling of anger when she was ten years old that her father would not have the

burial she felt he deserved, illustrates the values that were present in society at that time.

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O, I am so proud now, because when I go there to the Field of Honor everybody is identical, all the tombstones. There is no more rank […]. It is an honorable place and everybody is equal.

Stefan Koselak was buried in his military uniform with 12 medals that he was awarded for his

involvement in the Italian Campaign. This narrative also describes changes that took place over

time in perception of Polish veterans in Canada and their involvement in war. As a ten-year-old child, Fisher was raised between two distinctly different cultures and her reaction to her father burial could be a reflection of this. Polish culture places a lot of importance on burial ceremonies and to the place in our life of those ancestors who died. We could be poor in life but certainly, we do not want to appear poor in death. We could be DPs in life but we want to find dignity in our final resting place.

Fisher also realizes that for a long time she was disconnected from her heritage “Because

I married into a Canadian family and that was my focus, my husband and my daughter“ and this realization prompted her to look for her roots “And, so then I started going through his documents and realizing that I know nothing about his history.”

I often thought myself, I wish there is somebody there who has a gift for writing and interviewing because many of my friends have also said we did not ask our parents enough questions, but they did not want to talk about it either. So, now, when they are gone the history is gone.

This illustrates how difficult it was for the ex-servicemen to talk about their past experiences and many years had to pass in order for them to talk about the past. Many of them did not share their war stories with their closest family members. Even though they were heroes, the way they were treated in Canada did not make them feel like the heroes. Thus, the reason for the ex-servicemen to want to forget about the past more than remember it might be rooted not only in the atrocities

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they saw when fighting military battles, but also because they were treated poorly when they

came to Canada. Replacing German POWs and taking up their work places on farms did not

seem an honorable thing for them to do.

The case of Stefan Koselak, who passed away at the age of 39, illustrates how society

perceived the Polish veterans at that time. The difference is especially visible when comparing

the relationship within the group of Polish ex-servicemen and the community at large by which they were seen as Displaced Persons (DPs) as noted by Fisher, a term that carried a negative if not derogatory connotation stripping them of their dignity. The Polish ex-servicemen with their families moved into a neighbourhood of the city where they formed a tightly knit community that kept close ties and helped those most vulnerable. In the case of Stefan Koselak the community collected money to send him to the Mayo clinic to seek medical help.

For the Polish ex-servicemen the sense of community was important and they all sought contact with others like them. These characteristics of identity formation were taking place on the level of individual’s portraying themselves as soldiers and veterans and their collective approach contributed to the formation of the Polonia the Polish Diaspora in Calgary.

The description of the Polish community in Calgary formed after the Polish ex-

servicemen finished their farm labour contract and settled in Calgary reflects Safran’s (1991)

description of Diaspora. The ex-servicemen were dispersed from their homeland and moved to a

foreign country. They did retain a collective memory of their homeland and cultivated their

knowledge of history and achievements. In addition, they believed that they were not fully

accepted by the host society and because of that, they felt alienated from it. Moreover, they

regarded their homeland as their true and ideal home. Some reported that they believed that they

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should be committed to restoration of the homeland and hoped to return there (pp. 83-84). These

beliefs contributed to their involvement in building and strengthening of the Polish community in

Calgary that not only illustrated how the Polish Diaspora grew but also it served as a form of

support for them during their early years of immigration to Canada.

Nieumierzycki and Niewiński reported that the Polish community that was already

established here treated the Polish ex-servicemen who came to Calgary very well. The veterans

were offered free accommodation until they were able to find a job and establish their lives in

Calgary. This illustrates the strength of the Polish community and how this community valued

the sacrifices the ex-servicemen made during the war. Nieumierzycki remembers that

Polonia Kanadyjska wtedy tak było że Polacy wszyscy w Calgary jak veteranie byli to ich domy były zawsze otwarte dla weterana. Czy to miał biznes czy coś innego to zaraz. Gdzie teraz City Hall stoi to tam była fryzjernia, Rokita to miał fryzjernię. To dla weteranow specjalnie z tyłu wybudował prycze żeby weterani mieli gdzie spać jeżeli nie mają miejsca. To samo inni Polacy, każdy dom Polski był otwarty dla weterana. Weterani to byli przyjęci jako cześć rodziny przez ten związek który tutaj już byl i istniał od roku 1931.[sic]

Polish Diaspora in Canada. Then it was that for all Poles in Calgary their homes were always open to the veterans. If they had business or something like that, they too were open to them. Where there is the City Hall today, there was a barber named Rokita who had a barbershop. For all veterans who did not have a place to sleep, he built a place to sleep equipped with bunks behind his shop. This was the same for other Poles, who opened their homes to veterans. Veterans were welcomed by the association that was here since 1931, as if they were part of a family.

Nieumierzycki said that after the war there was a strong feeling of solidarity among the Polish immigrants that involved not only the group of ex-servicemen but also other generations of immigrant. The WWII veterans were welcomed and embraced by the Polish community. This

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narrative speaks to the strength, solidarity, and the level of support the Polish ex-servicemen were given by the Polish community in Calgary. Thorough the research I have learned from

Nieumierzycki that the Canadian Polish Congress, an umbrella organization formed in 1944, had paid for healthcare for the Polish refugees coming to Calgary until the 1990s and it also paid for healthcare for my family when we came to Calgary in February of 1990.

Such support lasted for many years. The family of Koselak reported that he was also involved in helping other veterans, first he provided his service as a barber free of charge to those ex-serviceman who could not afford to pay for it. Later on in the late 1950s, when he could not work anymore due to deteriorating health Koselak, was often approached and asked to assist those Polish veterans who could not speak and write in English. On their behalf, he wrote letters to authorities, accompanied them during their appointments, and helped with their cases.

Rogowski, after his farm contract ended, worked for several years in the northern part of

Alberta setting electrical power lines. He reported that he did not know any Poles when he moved back to Calgary. In 1950, he joined the Polish Combatants Association but did not get involved. He joined the Royal Canadian Legion where he met other Canadian veterans. It appears that years apart from Polish community made a mark on him and impacted his ability to actively get involved. Since 2007 Rogowski is a member of the Polish Senior Club located in

Polish Canadian Cultural Centre at 3015-15 St. NE where they are meeting monthly. However, he states “Tylko zyje od dnia do dnia nie ma happiness. Smutno”. “I only live from day to day, there is no happiness. Sadness”. Rogowski has no family in Canada. He was married from 1970 until 1976 when his wife also a war veteran died.

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Rogowski, however, had no contact with other Polish ex-servicemen and rarely had contact with anyone at all due to the conditions on the farms on which he worked. The farms to which he was sent were located in the north and were far away from any major city. He learned

English from people whom he met in beer parlors when he sporadically visited them.

During the interviews, Rogowski portrayed himself as selfless, as someone who helped many people who were in need including his family while in Kazakhstan, his wife who also served in the military during the war, and many whom he met in Canada. Rogowski moved to

Calgary but he did not know anyone in here, thus he joined the Royal Canadian Legion where he met Canadian war veterans. Starting in 1957, he started attending the celebrations in Memorial

Park on November 11 wearing his military medals that day. During the celebrations, he said, he listened to speeches and watched the officers salute those who died in war to commemorate them. He said that “After that everyone went their own way”. Before 1957, he could not celebrate Remembrance Day because he worked on farms and later on he worked far north setting up the power lines. Rogowski said that he did not talk about the war with other people, that he never told anyone until now his life story, and no one in Canada knows that he was in the military during the war. Those he met in life were not interested in his stories and he kept them to himself.

Following the argument of Kohler Riessman, (1993), who advises researchers to ask,

“Why was the story told that way?” linking the telling of the story to telling “about experience” that could be interpreted (p. 2), Rogowski’s story of celebrating the November 11 Remembrance

Day the way he does illustrates that he as a war veteran feels forgotten. However, he is not coming to those celebrations to celebrate his own involvement in the war, but he is coming on

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behalf of those Polish soldiers who died and whose deaths he witnessed and now he wants to acknowledge their sacrifices. Since his memories of war events are still raw when he talks about them, perhaps, in his memory he relives the comrades dying on the battlefield of Monte Cassino and asking “Zbyszek, remember me”. In Rogowski’s narratives, it appears as if the shrapnel wounds are still open, pieces of torn flesh are hanging not taken care of, the wounded souls are still hurting, and the spirits are killed forever. Thus, it appears that for him the passing time alone cannot heal these wounds.

Rogowski says that now, when he visits the Memorial Park on November 11 wearing his military medals and his original military hat, young people come to him and say” thank you for your service in the military and for giving your life and for defending the world”. This simple acknowledgement he receives from the strangers passing by on that day seems to bring him satisfaction. This expression of appreciation is more than what he was receiving for his military service when he came here after the war.

Charles Tilly (2002), a sociologist, stated, “stories do provide viable explanations of social processes” and “the principal responsibility of social interpreters is the construction of superior standard stories” that contain information about social processes that took place in the past, and were witnessed or experienced by those telling their stories (p. 10). Tilly argued that stories provide information about the identity of individuals and offer common identities that could be recognized and shared by others, and, as such, allow forming common relationship among groups of people (p. 10).

However, if the story cannot be told or these stories could only be shared with those who also lived through similar experiences, this could be interpreted as inability to tell these

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stories because these stories were too fresh in the memories of ex-servicemen and they could not

share them yet due to the emotional load associated with such stories. Thus, reliving these

stories through narratives would invoke images that were too fresh in their memories. At that

time, the ex-servicemen could not keep a safe distance from their stories.

People like Nieumierzycki, Niewiński and Koselak had access to Polish communities and

if they needed they could talk about the past events. People like Rogowski who was placed in

isolation from Polish communities were not able to talk with others, especially if they did not

know English. Thus, it is possible that such stories were never shared with anyone, and

Rogowski confirmed that during the interviews. This is perhaps why, only now, Rogowski is

reliving his stories from the time of war and working on farms and he is invoking powerful

images from the past. The way Rogowski told his stories is fundamentally different from the

way Niewiński and Nieumierzycki told their stories. Rogowski’s stories are raw, vivid, filled

with pain, profound sadness, and suffering “I lied down and did not know what is happening. I suffered, I suffered. I suffered”. Niewiński and Nieumierzycki’s stories are told in a way illustrating that they had managed to build a distance to what happened to them in the past. For

Koselak that distance between what had happened and the time his daughter remembers him was too close to tell his stories at all. Koselak’s stories as he would tell them himself died with him.

Koselak understood the pain associated with these stories but never lamented as Fisher stated.

Instead, he was counselling other veterans who, at times, “got drunk” and talked about their war experiences. Many Polish veterans suffered substance abuse or depression and he was there for them to help and give an advice on how to deal with and how to overcome life difficulties.

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Fisher stated “What my father taught me in ten years many people would not have learnt in a life

time“ (C. Fisher, personal communication, October 6, 2013).

Tilly (2002) has argued that the common characteristics contributing to the formation of

relationships include “relations, boundaries, and stories” shared by a group (p. 12). Thus, the identity of an individual is linked to individual’s relation to others which is expressed in a social setting in which this individual exists (p. 12). Tilly has stated that stories contribute to defining boundaries of social settings in which an individual operates, thus stories contribute to the formation of individuals’ and groups’ identities (p. 12). Thus, the stories of the generation of

Koselak were still kept inside of them most likely due to the emotional stress of their temporal proximity. The stories of people like Niewiński and Nieumierzycki illustrate that they have built distance to the events because they had support of the Polish community. The story of Rogowski illustrates that he was separated from the community and he still is reliving his stories as they happened in the past.

5.1.3 Interviews and memoirs as forms of identity formation

5.1.3.1 Memoirs

During the interviews, I learned that Nieumierzycki, Niewiński, Rogowski, and Koselak

had made an effort to document their stories despite the challenges of resettlement, war, and

immigrating to Canada. Some of the memoirs were more extensive and others were in an

embryonic form. Two of the participants wrote extensive memoirs where they told their stories.

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Many of those entries were used in this thesis to illustrate their life stories. These memoirs serve

as an expression of how they view themselves and how they want to be seen by others.

5.1.3.2 Władyslaw (Walter) Niewiński

Niewiński titled his memoir “Przesiedlenie ludności Polskiej z S.S.R.S. do krajów pod

Flago Brytyisko lub kolonji Brytyiskich.” [sic] “The Resettlement of the Polish Population from the USSR to countries under the British flag and to British Colonies”. Niewiński wrote an

extensive memoir intended to express his patriotism and his hope for a free and independent

Poland. This hope led him to join the Polish Second Army Corps and participate in the 1944-

1945 Italian campaign. His memoir continues to describe the years spent in Canada and contains

his vision of how national Polish values should be preserved and cultivated in Polish

organizations in Calgary that he helped to establish and build. For Niewiński, family, freedom

and preserving his culture were the core values that he wanted to be carried into the future and he

portrayed himself as a bearer of those values and as someone who stood on guard of values that

support the Polish community in Calgary. He valued having Polish citizenship and in his

memoir, he expresses his grief that the Polish government took it away from the Polish ex-

servicemen who fought on the side of the Allies, but he decided not to return to Poland under

Soviet influence. With the political changes that took place in Poland after 1989, he saw himself

as a contributor to changes and as someone who had achieved his lifelong dream of seeing

independent Poland. From then on, he wanted to be just a veteran. Niewiński is buried in

Calgary. On the day of his burial, several police officers accompanied the funeral procession and

stopped traffic on all intersections leading to the cemetery. All police officers involved stood at

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the entrance to the cemetery saluting the hearse carrying Niewiński’s body as a way to honor him as war veteran. Niewiński’s son in-law is a police officer in Calgary, and his daughter works as a

Citizenship Officer in Calgary.

5.1.3.3 Anatol (Tony) Nieumierzycki

Nieumierzycki, titled his memoir “Testament deportowanych na Wschód” “Testament deported to the East” where he tells the story of the deportation into the interior territory of the

Soviet Union and the experience of work in labour camps as well as the movement of large group of Poles to join the newly formed Polish Army. He briefly addressed his involvement in the military campaign and immigration to Canada to work on a farm contract. Nieumierzycki concluded his memoir with a statement “Kontrakt wykonany, ale farmerem nie zostałem”

“Contract fulfilled, but I did not become a farmer.” He saw himself as someone who fulfilled the requirements of the contract, but was not interested in agriculture as a long-term career, and his stance appears to be in tune with how other Polish ex-servicemen who participated in the

Resettlement program felt about the prospect of staying on farms beyond their two-year long contracts. Nieumierzycki wanted to pursue his chosen profession and this was only possible if he lived in a city.

5.1.3.4 Zbigniew (Leo) Rogowski

Rogowski stated that he attempted to write a memoir in the past. However, the level of stress he experienced while doing this prevented him from finishing it. He states that he committed everything to his memory.

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Ja chciał pisać książki o sobie ale zawsze busy troszeczkę. I ja zaczął pić za dużo. I ja zgubił się z rozumem. Bo nerwowy sie zrobiłem. Zaczął pamiętać te wszystkie czasy, robiło mi się tak niedobrze. [sic]

I started writing a book about me, but I was always busy and I started drinking too much. I got lost. I became nervous. I started to remember all these times and I started to feel badly.

In the past, Rogowski made several attempts to write his stories but this caused reliving those stories and consequently caused mental and emotional stress that he found difficult to bear and he tore up the pages he wrote. Therefore, Rogowski’s memoir is rudimentary in its form. It contains the pictures of his parents with their birth dates written beside these pictures and information on the profession of his father. This speaks to the value he puts into family and his ancestral Polish roots, as well as how much he values continuing into his father’s footsteps who served as a cavalry soldier in World War I. In his memoir, there is also a page with a photograph of his three sisters, whom he cared for during the time of the forced relocation to the territory of the USSR. Rogowski also took a note of their names and their birth dates. Since his memoir contains information about his immediate family, this indicates that he values the family and his roots.

Moreover, despite losing his original military documents, Rogowski kept a copy of those documents about his involvement in the Italian campaign of 1944 and about the medals, he received. Rogowski portrays himself as someone who attributes the highest value to family, serving in the military to fight for freedom, and working hard to support his family and himself.

He sees himself and portrays himself as a war veteran who fought for freedom.

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5.1.3.5 Stefan Koselak

Koselak’s memoir titled “For your freedom and ours” is also rudimentary and it contains

brief information accompanying the photographs of him, his tank brigade, and members of the

Polish army taken during the campaign in Italy, and on board the ship on route to Canada. There

are also photographs of Koselak taken during his first years in Canada. All photographs show

Koselak wearing his military uniform that looks impeccable and there are several photographs showing the tank in which he fought during such battles as Monte Cassino. Also, his memoir has

photographs and names of those who were part of his tank brigade. Moreover, the photograph

and captions illustrate his journey through the Middle East after he joined the Polish Second

Army Corps. The comments under the pictures refer to places where he fought, destroyed enemy

tanks, and to places where he was awarded military decorations, and participated in a Victory

parade in Bologna. This illustrates that Koselak put a high value on being in the military and

fighting in such battles as Monte Cassino, Monte Fortino, and the Goth Line. Koselak included

in his memoir the pictures of the ruins of the monastery on Monte Cassino and the cemetery in

which the Polish soldiers are buried. The memoir also contains a photograph and the name of his

brother and his mother. Photographs of his family illustrate that he also valued having family. It

was reported by his family that since his early childhood, Koselak wanted to become a soldier

and this memoir illustrates that he valued being a soldier and fighting for freedom. Moreover, all

photographs show Koselak wearing his impeccable looking military uniform and his Monte

Cassino cross. This illustrates that he put pride and a great emotional value into being a soldier

and the participant of the Battle for Monte Cassino. This provides an illustration to Harre and

Langenhove (1991) argument that accounts in which stories are told provide information on

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biographical events and the social world which include discursive practices that generated and

reproduced societal icons (p. 394). The icon of a military uniform adorned with the military cross that Koselak wore symbolizes his involvement in the military during the war and his personal relation to it. The military uniform informed the public about his rank, the kind of military unit, and about his engagement and belonging. Since Koselak’s uniform looks impeccable on each photograph of him despite that he had to use it as his work clothes when working on the farm, it shows that he obeyed the laws and regulations on how a military uniform has to be treated. Koselak showed his respect to it. Since his wish was to be buried wearing his military uniform it shows that the privilege of wearing such a uniform was granted to him in his life and in his death. Thus, he died as a veteran and not as farm labourer.

5.1.3.6 The long-term impact

On November 11, 2012, the Polish Combatants Association Branch #18 celebrated the

65th anniversary of its inception in Calgary. The ceremony started with a speech delivered in

Polish and in English by Barbara Gorzkowska, the Vice-president of the Polish Combatants

Association Brunch #18 in Calgary. Gorzkowska was born in Canada and her mother Marta

Mańkowska is a veteran of the 1944 Warsaw Uprising. Gorzkowska talked about the article

Polish Vets Suffering T.B., Venereal Disease. Several in Currie Army Hospital for Treatment

printed on top of the front page in The Calgary Herald on December 14, 1946 (The Calgary

Herald, 1946). The article starts with a matter of fact statement that a number of the Polish

veterans who came to work on farms in Alberta were diagnosed with tuberculosis and venereal

disease. The article is written in a sensationalized manner and it is framed by the title suggesting

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the Polish veterans were endangering public health and safety. To support the allegations, the

author uses the approach of factuality when referring to the number of infections and providing

names of the officials involved in dealing with this issue. This sensationalized approach is taken

before letting the public know that “The danger to the Canadian public of this disease among

the Polish soldiers is very very small” (The Calgary Herald, 1946).

Moreover, the article also undermines the qualifications of the Polish veterans who came

here to work on farms.

The Herald also learned that although the government had declared that all the Polish soldiers had experience as farm workers, this was not true. The majority of the men arrived there were not experienced farm workers and are learning the work from their new employers. (The Calgary Herald, 1946)

Bringing the content of this article during the 65th anniversary of the formation of the Polish

Combatants Association indicates how the Polish veterans feel about this unfounded and uncalled for representation. Thus, the speech was intended to illustrate that the Polish ex-

servicemen did not agree with this portrayal. Because they do not agree with this portrayal and

this is expressed in the official speech given during the celebration they and the entire Polish

community positioned themselves to this article. Thus, this illustrates the second order

positioning also called reflexive positioning. Harre and Langenhove (1991) define the second

order positioning when individuals perceive themselves and others within the moral fabric and

within the context of a story (p. 396). The Herald’s article painted all of them with this same

brush, and at the same time did not allow them to voice their opinion. During the interviews,

some of the Polish ex-servicemen reported suffering from pneumonia during their imprisonment

in Siberia and Kazakhstan that caused some concerns for their health but this was cleared up

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immediately upon their arrival. They returned to farms to which they were assigned soon after.

By depriving the Polish ex-servicemen of any form of voice their image in the Canadian society

was formed by the media.

On December 20, 1946, The Calgary Herald printed an article No German P.O.W.s will

stay in Canada (The Calgary Herald, 1946). The title of this article indicates that there will be no

German POWs left in Canada after the appeal of the Canadian Legion, Alberta government,

Alberta’s Premier E. C. Manning to extradite all Germans from Canada. However, some farmers in Alberta wanted the Germans to stay since they proved to be “in most cases, those were the men for whom petitions were made by Canadian farmers who had found them satisfactory workers” as described in an article printed on December 14, 1946, 200 Prisoners of War to Stay

Here (The Calgary Herald, 1946). This favourably composed article about the German POWs was printed on this same front-page separated by two columns from the article titled Polish Vets

Suffering T.B., Venereal Disease. Several in Currie Army Hospital for Treatment that was slandering the morale and the image of the Polish ex-servicemen.

It is not surprising the Polish ex-servicemen who came to Canada to work on farms as part of their contract felt that they were treated more like POWs than veterans. Putting these two articles—one about P.O.W.s and the other about Polish Veterans—together suggested a connection. Both groups had to do the same work and both were there by government decree.

The trans-generational impact of the article negatively portraying the group of Polish ex- servicemen who came here to work on farms indicates how the Polish Diaspora saw itself in

Canada. The Polish Diaspora today is much larger than it was before and it includes the descendants of the veterans and those Polish immigrants who came here until 1990s. It is a

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diverse community which has to account for differing histories and experiences by its diverse membership.

The description of the Polish community in Calgary formed after the Polish ex- servicemen finished their farm labour contract and settled in Calgary is in tune with Safran’s

(1991) description of Diaspora. The ex-servicemen were dispersed from their homeland and moved to a foreign country. They did retain a collective memory of their homeland and cultivated their knowledge of history and achievements. In addition, they believed that they were not fully accepted by the host society and because of that, they felt alienated from it. Moreover, they regarded their homeland as their true and ideal home. Some reported that they believed that they should be committed to restoration of the homeland and hoped to return there (pp. 83-84).

These beliefs contributed to their involvement in building and strengthening of the Polish community in Calgary that not only illustrated the growth of the Polish Diaspora but also served as a form of support for them during their early years of immigration to Canada.

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CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSION

The analysis of the available data indicates that there was no single factor that influenced

the identity formation of the Polish ex-servicemen who came to Canada after the war. Rather, there were multiple factors that played a role in how their identity came to be formed and

expressed. Some factors played more a pronounced role in the identity formation and

transformation process than others. I approached the analysis of the portrayal and identity

formation of the Polish ex-servicemen who came to Canada as part of Resettlement Program by examining how their participation in the events of WWII, experiencing deportation under Soviet occupation, participation in the Battle for Monte Cassino, and joining the Polish Resettlement

Corps contributed to that. I examined Canadian immigration policies that regulated the settlement of the WWII Polish veterans in Canada, the newspaper articles printed in Canada about the Polish servicemen and veterans, as well as newspaper articles about the Canadian veterans who returned from the war front. Moreover, I used recent events during which the issue of portrayal of Polish ex-servicemen was discussed. For my analysis, I used a variety of primary texts collected from interviews, narratives, memoirs, and texts collected from Canadian newspaper articles that dealt with the issue of WWII Polish veterans in the 1940s. In order to analyse the empirical data derived from these texts I used Critical Discourse Analysis, theory of

Identity Formation, Positioning Theory, and theories of ethnicity.

The Critical Discourse Analysis method used in this research aimed at analysing “the relationship between language and society“ as defined by Fairclough, Mulderrig, and Wodak

(2011), who also pointed to “the semiotic dimensions of power” (p. 357) which also illustrates and defines power relations between individuals or groups of people. The authors argued that in

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the relation between language and society discourses are formed. Since this research looked at the relation of language used in the identity formation of the Polish ex-servicemen, I needed analytical tools to analyze texts from personal narratives, which are examples of language that is more informal in its expression and to analyze texts from media documents, which are examples of language that is more formal and has a potential to reach greater number of people, hence it could influence the opinion of society. Thus, the complexity and the diversity of the language used in these texts required the use of the critical discourse analysis method since these texts were central to my thesis and discourse analysis offers a variety of approaches to texts that are not only created but also consumed. Philips and Jorgensen (2002) have argued that discursive practices present in texts create “the social world, including social identities, and social relations” (p. 61). Thus the approach of data analysis offered by Discourse Analysis is in tune with the way the discourse of those who evolved from detainees, to solders, to immigrants, and finally to farm workers was created within the fabric of social relations of the various situations in which they were.

The language used in these texts came from social contexts, so the Discourse Analysis method as defined by Tonkiss who advised to use DA when studying language in social context

(Tonkiss, 2012, p. 405) was appropriate. Discourse Analysis allows conducting analysis of spoken and written texts in addition to examining the relation of discursive practices and social interaction as defined by Teun A. Van Dijk et al. (1997). The case of WWII Polish ex- servicemen is an example of the importance of social context in identity formation.

The DA method was especially important when their stories had to be pieced together, as part of this research, to understand the implications of larger social processes in which they took

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part. Narrative Analysis uses the DA method as part of its analytical approach. The DA method

was instrumental when looking for understanding the motives behind the language of the stories.

There were several reasons why the ex-servicemen told their stories and some were more direct and visible but often their stories had a deeper meaning and purpose behind them and DA was instrumental in understanding these reasons. In the case of the Rogowski, Nieumierzycki and

Niewiński narratives DA provided an understanding of the relationship between the stories told, the way these stories were told, and why these stories were told that way. In each case the iconic language used by the narrators positioned them in relationship to their personal values and what they felt they represented by what they did at various stages in their lives.

Moreover, Positioning Theory also incorporates the DA method to understand the social construction of selfhood and identity formation in discourse in relation to the individuals and the group studied. I used the combination of Positioning Theory and the DA method to understand the social construction of self-portrayal as individuals and members of the larger group of Polish

ex-servicemen. In addition, I used the DA method in the Position Theory to understand

utterances, seen as a form of expression, as proposed by Harre (Paterson, 2005). Harre argued

that such utterances are examples of how people understand the world that surrounds them and

the social formation of personhood. The Polish ex-servicemen resorted to such utterances when

they were telling their stories. Such an example as “We will create a Polish Army” in which

there are encapsulated discourses of patriotism and euphoria for the anticipated freedom when

the political change took place that allowed the army to be formed. This in turn influenced their

identity transforming from detainees to perspective soldiers of the Polish army.

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The use of Positioning Theory allowed examining the discourse formation in action when private discourses and public discourses interacted and created or affirmed identities. This approach of analysis was proposed by Harre and Langenhove (1991). They saw the use of the

Positioning Theory as a suitable evaluation tool for analysing dialogs and narratives. I used this tool to analyze icon creation as in the case of youth joining the Polish Army or the value the

Polish ex-servicemen put into their Polish military uniforms. Moreover, Positioning Theory as defined by Harre and Langenhove is their introduction of a notion of the “first and second order positioning” to explain how individuals position themselves and others when these individuals tell stories. This was one of the approaches of analysis of the texts from narratives collected during this research. The use of Positioning Theory in the contexts of the first and second order positioning was helpful in understanding the reaction of the Polish community to the way the ex- servicemen were presented by the media 65 years ago.

Moreover, my involvement as s researcher could be seen as a second level positioning as defined by Harre and Langenhove when I was using research methods and theories to pose questions, analyze, and synthetize veterans’ stories in relationship to socio-historical and political scenarios of the 1940s and 1950s.

Identity Formation is at the core of this research and I used several approaches to analyze how identity of the Polish ex-servicemen was formed. Hall (2000) has argued that “identities are constructed within, not outside, discourse” and he stressed the importance of understanding identity formation as a product of “specific historical and institutional sites within specific discursive formations and practices, by specific enunciative strategies.” (p. 17). Hall (2000) based his argument on the work of Foucault that identity needs to be explored through the lens of

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“a theory of discursive practice” (p. 16). Once again, the DA method was part of analytical

approach when I analyzed how the identities of the Polish ex-servicemen were formed when historical and institutional sites were part of identity formation in discourse. The identities of the

Polish ex-servicemen were formed within those sites and their formation was influenced by the presence of these sites. Since the identity of Polish ex-servicemen was influenced by the existing historical and institutional discursive practices, Hall’s theory of identity formation was proven as instrumental in finding further understanding how their identity as soldiers, immigrants, and members of an ethnic group in Canada was affected by these factors. The use of Hall’s approach proven to be a viable method when examining the theory of how diasporas form and transform over time as discussed by Butler (2001) to examines how the identity formation of individuals is linked to migration.

The finding of this research points out that identity formation of the ex-servicemen was very much tied to their Polish identity and its military component. Writing in and speaking in

Polish allowed the ex-servicemen to express their identities through a language that had social meaning primarily to the ethnic group to which they belonged. Polish allowed them to present themselves in a positive light. But it also kept their viewpoint from the dominant society and was accessible only to family and the community. The difference between the representations of ex- servicemen in Polish accounts and English-language accounts is striking. The difference is a sign of the social status that the ex-servicemen found themselves in Canada when they came. It is also a sign of ethnicity and its place in Canadian society in the 1940s and 1950s.

I believe that combining the Narrative Analysis method proposed by Bamberg (2012) with Kohler Riessman’s (1993) approach to analysing narratives by asking the question why

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was story told that way (p. 2), I gained a better understanding of these narratives, especially in the cases when a presented identity was contested. For example in the case of identity formation of youth joining the military. This is especially visible in the case of Rogowski reporting to his military duty in the Battle for Monte Cassino.

In his narrative, Rogowski realizes that he was visibly young and that the captain realized that too. Rogowski repeats his age twice as to confirm this information or to make himself appear old enough to fight in such a battle. Rogowski uses years and months to define his age as to ensure that he is old enough for the battle. He does that slowly, lowering his voice, stretching the words as to last longer, as if recalling in his mind what had led him to this moment. In this short encounter with the captain when his young age is at the center of the conversation, and in anticipation that he will be led to his hole in the ground soon, there is not enough time to explain that his childhood years were taken away from him when he and his family were deported in the middle of the night. There was no time to explain that he worked in grueling conditions to make the family stay alive. There was no time to tell the story of the challenges he experienced during several weeks of travel to join the Polish army when he was afraid that he would be devoured by the wolves when he disembarked at the wrong train station and was alone the entire night. To stay safe, he climbed a telephone pole and stayed there until someone arrived in the morning. 16 years and three months seems not long enough to experience atrocities, death of loved ones, and suffering the way thousands of people did during the war. To the captain, Rogowski’s body

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looked young, but his inner soul was experienced, battered, and aged. Most likely, they were all

affected by the atrocities of war. Rogowski did not want to accept that he is much younger then

the captain, he believed that his life experience was making up for his young age when he said I

say what, nine years older than me, thus contesting his young age himself.

Moreover, when I explored how identities of the Polish ex-servicemen were formed in narratives, I used the Discourse Historical Approach (DHA) method. This method allowed me to explore identity formation from the perspective offered by Wodak who argued that “discourse is

always connected to other discourses which were produced earlier, as well as those which are

produced synchronically and subsequently” (Fairclough, Mulderrig, & Wodak, 2011, p. 364).

This approach to analysing texts from narratives proved important to understand how the outlook

on the identity formation of ex-servicemen was affected. This was especially useful in cases

when their identity was transformed by situations in which they found themselves and their

identities changed from detainees to new army recruiters, from soldiers to farm labour, or from

heroes to supplicants as in the case of them joining the Polish Resettlement Corps.

Since the Polish ex-servicemen experienced deportation and detention in Soviet camps,

they found themselves in situations where their ethnicity was one of the factors that caused their

detention. They also found themselves in a situation when they were seen as an ethnic minority

when they arrived in Canada to fulfill their contract duty. Thus, the Theory of Ethnicity assisted

in understanding how their identity was formed and transformed and how their ethnic origins

affected their identity formation. Their ethnic origins contributed to defining their place in

Canadian society within a complex and dynamic socio-political theatre of war and its aftermath.

The Discourse Analysis method and the Narrative Analysis method used in combination with the

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Theory of Ethnicity allowed my understanding of the position of a person of ethnic origin within

the dominant society further complicated by the socio-political situation during and after the war.

My first hypothesis states that the most important factor in their identity formation was the participation of the ex-servicemen in world events and in their experience in Canada. The

beginning of WWII brought about significant changes to the socio-economic and geo-political

make up of Europe. Millions of people were forcefully uprooted from their homes and placed in

internment camps in Siberia and Kazakhstan. The Poles who were sent to the territory of the

Soviet Union did not want to agree to the conditions that were forcefully imposed on them.

Their patriotism led them to join the army even if they were underage. They saw themselves as

freedom fighters and guards of democracy. Their participation in the 1944 – 1945 Italian

Campaign proved their heroic undertaking where thousands of them lost their lives. The values

of freedom and democracy to which they subscribed did not allow them to compromise and

return to Poland that was under the Soviet Union influence after the war. They chose not to

return to Poland even if that cost them their citizenship.

The socio-political situation in 1940s’ Canada put them in a disadvantaged situation, of

being treated equally if not worse than the German POWs still in Canada. However, their values

caused them to treat the farm labour contracts as an extension of their military service. Before

they came to Canada, the Canadian government engaged in parliamentary discussion on how

their case should be treated and if any of them should be accepted to Canada. The rules

governing acceptance of the Polish ex-servicemen were set in place. However, there was lack of rules and regulations on how their cases should be handled in case of conflict such as them not being paid or not being provided appropriate accommodations. This illustrates unpreparedness

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and a lack of understanding how the ex-servicemen might react and feel when they were set to face discrimination, mistreatment and when they were accommodated in these same facilities as the German POWs. The human factor was completely overlooked and the federal and provincial governments took a myopic approach when dealing with the cases brought to their attention. If not for the reaction of the public that saw the mistreatment and reported it, there would be many more cases of mistreatment. Because of that, their dignity as veterans was taken away from them.

The Canadian newspapers in the 1940s acted more like onlookers and gawkers. This is evident in how they treated the Polish ex-servicemen when they came to Canada to work on their farm labour contracts. The arrival of the Polish soldiers was not taken seriously with attention being paid to issues of finding wives by the soldiers. The newspapers did not follow up on their cases nor did they spell the exact terms of their contracts. However, the media were diligent and instrumental in listing the way the Polish soldiers should be treated in order to assimilate them to

Canada in the fastest possible way. This left many of the Polish ex-servicemen disappointed over how they were treated and the honor of being a war veteran was taken away from them.

As part of this research, I wanted to answer the following five research questions.

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1. How did Canadian immigration policies influence the settlement and identity formation of

the WWII Polish veterans and combatants and what was the socio-political basis for these

policies?

2. How did the Canadian and Calgary media portray the WWII Polish servicemen and veterans,

and what influence did this portrayal have on government policy and the lives of those

resettled?

3. What does the treatment of the WWII Polish ex-servicemen say about Canadian government

policies and social values during the post-war era?

4. How did the veterans’ experience in WWII contribute to their sense of self-identity and how

did their experience in Canada contribute to their sense of ethnicity?

5. What was the role of Calgary’s Polish community in the re-settlement and identity formation

of Polish veterans?

My first research question related to Canadian immigration policies that influenced the settlement and identity formation of the WWII Polish veterans. My research indicates that

Canadian immigration policies in the 1940s were set to disallow admittance of a larger number of immigrants and these policies were in place until approximately two years after the war ended.

After the war, Canada was adjusting to the post-war economic requirement. When the economy improved, Canada needed a large number of immigrants to fulfil these needs. Hence, the introduction of new immigration polices took place starting in 1946. Moreover, the view of new immigrants was that admission to Canada was a privilege and those admitted needed to positively contribute to the economy. New immigrants under the new immigration policies were

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admitted to alleviate a labour shortage. Only starting around 1948 the new relaxed immigration

policies were introduced that allowed more immigrants to come to Canada as refugees.

My research indicates that Canadian immigration policies in place in the 1940s impacted

how the Polish ex-servicemen were classified and these stateless people were allowed to come to

Canada to alleviate the labour shortage, especially in the agriculture. The labour shortage in

agriculture at that time was also caused by the fact that German POWs who were performing

these jobs during the war were returning to Europe. The Canadian veterans returning from war

were looking for other forms of employment or they pursued further education.

The sense of admission to Canada as a privilege and viewing immigrants as contributors

to economy was reflected in the selection process in place. The Polish ex-servicemen had to go

through such process when they were still in Europe to ensure that they met the requirements of

age – they had to be up to 35 years old, their health – they had to be healthy, and regarding their

marital status – they had to be single. These requirements were set up to ensure that they could work on farms and perform heavy labour. Their admittance was based on economic grounds even though they were stateless people and as such later on could be classified as refugees,

especially since they feared persecution, imprisonment, even death if they returned to their

homeland.

Moreover, under these immigration policies, the terms of duration of the immigration

contracts were strictly executed. Despite the issues on the farms when the ex-servicemen were

not paid for their work, were housed in substandard accommodations, or were mistreated by the

farmers there was a strict reinforcement of the terms of duration of the contracts to ensure that

they finish the entire two-year contract working on farms. These immigration policies did not

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take into consideration that the Polish ex-servicemen would replace German POWs who were returning to Europe after the war. Both groups were treated based on their economic contribution, and as such they were equated and no difference was attempted to be made in how the Polish ex-servicemen would be treated upon their arrival. Hence the immigration policies concentrating on economic usefulness of immigrants contributed to the confusion and misunderstanding caused by using this same facilities to accommodate German POWs and the

Polish ex-servicemen. Since many Polish ex-servicemen reported mistreatment while working on farms, especially during their first year of contract, it could be argued that such treatment of two distinct groups of people, who were enemies on the battlefields in Europe and in Canada were made look this same, and possibly added to inclinations among the farmers to mistreatment of the Polish ex-servicemen. This also illustrates that the Canadian public was not well versed in differences between enemies and allies. Since so many different nationalities were involved on both sides of the conflict this is understandable. The issue is what role the media played in clarifying or confusing identities since it was the media and government policies that informed the Canadian public.

My second question related to how the Canadian and Calgary media portrayed the WWII

Polish servicemen and veterans and how this portrayal influenced government and immigration policy and the lives of those affected. My research indicates that before the 1944 Yalta

Conference, the Polish Army and General Lieutenant Władysław Anders were treated as heroes and liberators when the newly formed Polish Army moved from the territory of the Soviet

Union, where it was formed, to the Middle East where the soldiers were trained and then joined the Eastern Front. General Anders was described as a hero and a leader of the Polish Army by

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the Canadian newspapers. The Polish Army was defined as the Ally in the fights against the

German aggressor. However, this portrayal of General Anders and the Polish Army changed after General Anders rejected the terms of the Yalta Conference. Because of Anders’ opposition, starting in 1945, negative articles were printed in Canadian newspapers as well as in Calgary newspapers reflecting this change and portraying the General and the Polish Army as renegades.

Because of that, a new negative discourse of Polish solders was created and this contributed to their treatment by Canadian society. This was reflected in newspaper articles encouraging

“Block segregation” (Hardy, 1946) thus defining how they should be treated when they arrive in

Canada as part of the Polish Resettlement Corps.

Fairclough, Mulderrig, and Wodak (2011), have recognized “the semiotic dimensions of power” and “the relationship between language and society“ where they argued discourses are formed (p. 357). Media are seen as a platform to disseminate dominant ideologies. The authors have stated that CDA is related to the theory of Gramsci who saw that the power of dissemination of ideology is not only placed in “its coercive force but also in ‘hegemony’” reflected in how the majority accepts and incorporates these practices into daily life and, by doing so, these practices are being perpetuated in society (p. 360). Thus, the negative portrayal of the Second Polish Army Corps by the media contributed to the formation of the discourse of

Polish Army as renegade hence it influenced the immigration policies reflected in the list “Plan

Make Poles good Canadians” printed in The Edmonton Journal on November 13, 1946 as part of preparation for their arrival to Alberta.

My third question related to Canadian government immigration policies and social values during the post-war era. My research indicates that between the 1930s and 1940s, Canadian

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immigration policies were designed to serve the Canadian economy and the Canadian

government viewed refugees and displaced persons in Europe as a source of cheap labour. The

notion of humanitarian help was not present in the immigration policies at that time. Kelley and

Trebilcock’s (2010) study of the period indicated that the number of immigrants to Canada was the lowest in 1943, and one of the reasons for the decline ranged from immigrants not being able to meet the financial requirements and conditions in place to be considered for admittance. The population in Europe was treated as a reservoir and a source of inexpensive labour. They also looked at the ethnic background as a central criterion in the selection process, giving preferences to those whose political views were against Communist ideology and against the Cold War, deeming as undesirable those leaning towards left wing politics (Knowles, 1997, p. 165). This points to values such as economic usefulness, a right-wing outlook on politics, opposition to large labour movements, and preference for unskilled labourers to come to Canada.

My fourth research question looked at how the veterans‘ experience in WWII contributed to their sense of self-identity and how did their experience in Canada contribute to their sense of ethnicity. In their narratives, the veterans shared experiences they felt were fundamental to their identity formation, which included their formative years before the war, forced deportation to

Siberia and Kazakhstan under the Soviet occupation, joining the Polish Second Army Corps, the participation in the Battle for Monte Cassino, the role loyalty to their homeland played in their identity formation, and later on joining the Polish Resettlement Corps and working on farms in

Alberta. While conducting this research, I discovered that despite the differences of their experiences, the participants of this research felt that they were soldiers and war veterans.

Canadian immigration policy applied to the Polish veterans made them equivalent to the German

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POWs and my thesis was to discover how that happened. However, the intention of the policies

was not to put them into this situation. The Polish Diaspora in Calgary acted as a counter balance to this situation and gave the Polish veterans a sense of belonging and positive identity. In their narratives and memoirs, the Polish ex-servicemen presented themselves as soldiers bound by a military oath to fulfill their duty during the war. They were directly involved in the Battle for

Monte Cassino known as the longest and bloodiest engagements of the Italian campaign during

World War II. The WWII Polish ex-servicemen presented themselves as loyal, patriotic, and dedicated soldiers, and despite their young age, they were ready to give their lives for the cause.

All of them received several military medals and were honorably discharged from the army after they fulfilled their duties.

My fifth research question explored the role Calgary’s Polish community in the resettlement and identity formation of Polish veterans. My research indicates that the existence of a Polish diaspora in Calgary was instrumental in the identity formation of the Polish ex- servicemen who came to work on farms in Alberta and moved to Calgary after they fulfilled the terms of their two-year long farm contracts. For example Niewiński, Nieumierzycki, and

Koselak sought other Poles in Calgary after they left the farms on which they worked. From the members of the “Stara Polonia” “the Old Diaspora” who was here from about the 1920s they found out that there is a Polish Community (Dom Polski) located on 313 4 Street NE. They found help and support there in a form of temporary accommodation until they found more suitable place. They also made contacts with other Poles and were able to find jobs in their learned professions. For the Polish ex-servicemen the sense of community was important and they all sought contact with others like them. These characteristics of identity formation were

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taking place on the level of individual’s portraying themselves as soldiers and veterans and their collective approach contributed to the formation of the Polish Diaspora in Calgary. This illustrates the strength of the Polish community and how this community valued the sacrifices the ex-servicemen made during the war.

The formation of The Polish Combatants Association in Calgary brought new energy and the members of the Polish Combatants Association became involved in other activities such as forming a credit union to help the newcomers with financing mortgages to buy a house. They also build a new church and a new community hall. Later on, the Polish community already established in Calgary helped the next waves of Polish immigrants and refugees especially in the

1980s until the 1990s when the last big group of Polish refugees arrived in Canada. Over the years, the Polish diaspora grew in its numbers and include the second generation of Poles born in

Canada. Since there is a Polish school in Calgary, many children attended this school learning the language and the culture. This further strengthened the Polish diaspora in Calgary, but also created multigenerational link between those who were living here before and those who came to

Canada later on. The children born to the Polish families were involved in scouting activities, in

Polish dance club, and in events organized by the Polish church as well as by the Polish

Community Center. The Polish ex-servicemen were invited to the Polish school to talk about their experiences from the time when they were in detention in the Soviet Union, when they were soldiers in the Polish Second Army Corps and when they worked on farms in Alberta. This created a multigenerational connection and strengthened the Polish diaspora in Calgary.

It is no surprise then that the Polish community in Calgary is sensitive to the injustice done to the Polish veterans in Alberta and this was mentioned during the celebration of the 65th

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anniversary of the formation of the Polish Combatants Association Bruch # 18 in Calgary. The

younger generation of Polish immigrants feels indebted to the Polish veterans for what they have

contributed in order to build this community but also remembers and celebrates them as WWII

Polish veterans and through that acknowledging their sacrifices they made during the war.

My research was intended to understand the role the ex-servicemen played in the Polish community in Calgary by reuniting this community with its history and to illustrate the underexplored human factor of WWII, especially the history of the Polish ex-servicemen who came to Canada as part of the Polish Resettlement Corps. With the number of WWII Polish veterans, rapidly declining it is important to reach into the lives to help the Polish community understand its past and address the grievances rooted in the way the ex-servicemen were treated in order to seek reconciliation and closure.

The ex-servicemen’s discourse of loyalty to family and country, of patriotism and heroism, and of mistreatment in Canada is so different from the media and government discourses about them that bridging the gap is not easy. I can only conclude that what the media felt was a problem—too much identification with an ethnic community—was in fact the very thing that allowed them to integrate into Canadian society and become reconciled with their new identity. Neither the media nor the government provided any help in creating a positive new identity for these ex-servicemen, but their community did. It gave them a sense of belonging, of being valued, of assistance in time of need. In short, it gave them a place where they could hold their heads up high and feel equal to other citizens. Why Canada could not do this in the first place is a question that Canadians need to ask themselves. This study may be limited to a small

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sub-group in a small ethnic community, but it reflects on the wider attitudes found historically in

Canadian society toward foreigners. Hopefully the Polish experience, as reflected in this study, offers insights into the way identity formation came about in the postwar era. Canadian society is made up of many diasporas and these diasporas have their own painful histories.

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