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THE SARMATIAN REVIEW Vol. XX, No. 1 January 2000 Die Auswanderer The Central and Eastern Europeans’ Trek to America The monument honoring emigrants to America in Bremenhafen, Germany. Those who boarded ship in Bremen before the Great War included Poles from Prussian, Russian, and Austrian Poland. Seated at the monument are present-day Turkish immigrants to Germany. Photo by Ewa M. Thompson. 666 THE SARMATIAN REVIEW January 2000 The Sarmatian Review (ISSN 1059- problem in the interview published in this 5872) is a triannual publication of the Polish In- From the Editor issue. With less grace and less Christian stitute of Houston. The journal deals with Polish, This issue is devoted to the relationship charity, some colleagues told me that they Central, and Eastern European affairs, and their between America’s Central and Eastern have endured ignorance and boorishness implications for the United States. We specialize European ethnic communities and the of some Central European intellectuals in the translation of documents. intelligentsia in Central and Eastern Eu- Subscription price is $15.00 per year for individu- who visit these shores courtesy of Ameri- als, $21.00 for institutions and libraries ($21.00 rope. can sponsorship. Some Polish immi- for individuals, $27.00 for libraries overseas, air Some time ago, a colleague complained grants whose books are read only in Po- mail). The views expressed by authors of articles that his book on Polish American history land and who play negligible roles in do not necessarily represent those of the Editors which received favorable reviews in pro- or of the Polish Institute. Articles are subject to American society have been showered editing. Unsolicited manuscripts and other mate- fessional journals in the United States was with Polish prizes, while Polish Ameri- rials are not returned unless accompanied by a self- ignored in Poland. Other than writing that can writers and organizational leaders addressed and stamped envelope. Please submit book, the professor had spent countless who have made a mark on this society your contribution on a Macintosh disk together hours arranging visits to the United States with a printout. Letters to the Editor can be e- and whose interventions have made it mailed to <[email protected]>, with an accom- of his impecunious Polish colleagues possible for the Polish intelligentsia to panying printout sent by snail mail. Articles, let- (they never reciprocated) and otherwise visit here have been ignored. ters, and subscription checks should be sent to helping Poles. It then occurred to your The cover photo shows a monument The Sarmatian Review, P. O. Box 79119, editor that this is a common experience erected in the German city of Houston, Texas 77279–9119. of Polish Americans: they write, invite, The Sarmatian Review retains the copyright for Bremenhafen five years ago. The monu- all materials included in print and online issues. arrange, pick up, prepare and promote, ment was funded by German organiza- Copies for personal or educational use are permit- only to receive a patronizing pat on the tions in the United States. It honors those ted by section 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright shoulder from their Polish colleagues: who came to America from lands held Law. Permission to redistribute, republish, or use well, it is nice that you try. keep trying, SR materials in advertising or promotion must be by Germany in the nineteenth and early submitted in writing to the Editor. we appreciate your efforts. Other Ameri- twentieth centuries. Most of them were Editor: Ewa M.Thompson (Rice University). cans of Central European ancestry have Germans, but some were Poles and Editorial Advisory Committee: Janusz A. similar stories to tell. All too often, the Czechs who lived in the German-occu- Ihnatowicz (University of Saint Thomas), Marek Central European intelligentsia consider Kimmel (Rice University), Alex Kurczaba (Uni- pied parts of Poland and Czechia. Under versity of Illinois), Witold J. Lukaszewski (Sam ethnic Americans to be in some way in- Bismarck and later, when Polish language Houston State University), Michael J. Mikos consequential, perhaps a good source of and Roman Catholicism were suppressed (University of Wisconsin), James R. Thompson financing but nonessential as scholars, in Prussia, few of these “auswanderers” (Rice University), Andrzej WaÊko (Jagiellonian writers and opinion makers. University). dared to declare themselves Polish. The Web Pages: Charles Bearden (Rice University) Not all ethnic Americans have had such trek from Poznania, Pomerania, Silesia Web Address: <http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~sarmatia>. experiences. Some have generously ac- and Moravia to New York included a stay Sarmatian Review Council: Marla K. Burns (Burns knowledged the appreciation which their in the city of Bremen. Some travelers re- & Associates), Boguslaw Godlewski (Diagnostic works have received in Central Europe. Clinic of Houston), Iga J. Henderson, Danuta Z. mained in Bremen and became German- Hutchins (Buena Vista University), Joseph A. But the Blejwas–Milosz debate on the ized, others sailed on to America and Jachimczyk (J. A. Jachimczyk Forensic Center of pages of The New York Times Book Re- became Polish Americans. Harris County, Texas), Leonard M. Krazynski view Magazine in 1987 pointed to a prob- Is it not high time for a similar monu- (Krazynski & Associates), Aleksandra Ziółkowska- lem that would not go away. It pops up in Boehm. ment to appear in a Polish city? My hunch In this issue: different guises. is that American Polonia would gladly SR INDEX..........................................667 With her customary graciousness, collect money for that purpose. Given the SR interview Suzanne Strempek Shea669 Suzanne Strempek Shea summed up this countless ways in which American John Radzilowski, Poles, Poland, Polish Polonia has helped Polish citizens, per- Americans, Polonia.............................669 haps the Polish government should also Anthony Bukoski, The Far and the Near: 1947, by Aleksander Gella (reviewed by get involved. An American Writer’s Commerce with Anna M. Cienciala).................................683 Finally, this issue contains an excerpt Polish Intellectuals..............................671 Paradise in a Concrete Case, by Leszek from Zygmunt Krasiƒski’s ultra-Roman- BOOKS and Periodicals Received.....673 Dzi∏giel (reviewed by J. A. Kotarba).....686 tic drama Iridion. This kind of poetry has Thaddeus Kosciuszko: The Purest Son of Fronda: A Monthly (reviewed by Danuta rarely been part of the Polish American Liberty, by James S. Pula (reviewed by Z. Hutchins).............................................687 education. While Iridion is by no means James R. Thompson) ........................678 Wiesław J. Mikulski, Poem....................688 Krasiƒski’s best work (it was written A History of the Poles in America to George Rapall Noyes, Introduction to when the author was 23 years old), it con- 1908, Part III, by Wacław Kruszka (re- Iridion (excerpts).....................................688 veys the patriotic fervor that past genera- viewed by John J. Bukowczyk)..........680 Zygmunt Krasiƒski, About Iridion and tions of Poles kept alive. A revaluation Lily of the Valley, by Suzanne Strempek Iridion (excerpts).....................................689 and reinterpretation of this fervor is now Shea (reviewed by Bogna Lorence- LETTERS...............................................690 on the Polish intellectual agenda. ∆ Zagłada Drugiej Rzeczypospolitej, 1945– About the Authors..................................691 January 2000 THE SARMATIAN REVIEW 667 The Sarmatian Review Index Life and death Percentage of Poles who would support a law allowing doctors to apply medication that would “shorten the suffer- ings of the incurably ill”: 51 percent. Percentage of those against: 36 percent. Percentage of Poles who approve of euthanasia: approximately 36 percent. Percentage of Poles who disapprove of euthanasia: approximately 51 percent. Source: Center for the Study of Public Opinion (CBOS) poll, as reported by Donosy, 27 August 1999. Demography Percentage fall in the number of people aged between 25 and 50 by 2020: Britain, 8 percent; Germany, 11 percent; Italy, 19 percent. Percentage increase in the number of people aged between 25 and 50 in the United States by 2020: three percent. Source: The Economist, 4–10 September 1999. Notable quote from Paul Wallace, author of a book on global ageing: “Populations in Europe are poised to plunge on a scale not seen since the Black Death in 1348.” Number of ethnic Chinese living in the Russian Federation in 1999: 2.5 million. Source: Russian Statistics Committee, as reported by Michael Waller, Russia Reform Monitor, #658 (5 July 1999). Percentage of St. Petersburg inhabitants who live in communal apartments: 40 percent. Source: Marina Koreneva of Agence France-Presse (St. Petersburg), 24 November 1999. The share of American workers in physically demanding jobs in 1950 and 1996, respectively: 20.3 percent and 7.5 percent. Source: Eugene Steuerle of the Urban Institute in the United States, as reported by The Economist, 4–10 September 1999. Tourism Projected largest industries in 2020: 1. tourism 2. oil industry. Projected number of tourists in 2020: 1.6 billion people, or triple the present number. Source: Ben Partridge, “Global Warming Could Threaten Tourism,” Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 3 September 1999. Retirement Percentage of American men aged between 60 and 64 that are still in the labor force: 50