The Ties That Bind: Religion and Nationalism Amongst Polish(-)Canadian Immigrants During the Interwar Period
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The Ties that Bind: Religion and Nationalism amongst Polish(-)Canadian Immigrants during the Interwar Period Gabriela Pawlus-Kasprzak A thesis submitted to the Faculty of the University of St. Michael's College and the History Department of the Toronto School of Theology In partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Theology awarded by the University of St. Michael's College © Copyright by Gabriela Pawlus Kasprzak 2014 The Ties that Bind: Religion and Nationalism amongst Polish(-)Canadian Immigrants during the Interwar Period Gabriela Pawlus-Kasprzak Doctor of Philosophy University of St. Michael’s College 2014 Abstract Polish immigrants to Canada in the interwar period utilized religion to preserve their national identity. Closely associated with Catholicism, Polish nationalism was continuously being recreated according to the shifting values afforded to language, history, and cultural tradition. The tensions over the rightful definition of the Pole-Catholic identity continued to be debated in the parishes, in the various religious and secular organizations, and the ethnic press, along with affecting the immigrant’s relationship with the Polish government. Religion was at the heart of the debate, perceived either as the defining or irrelevant factor of Polish nationalism. ii Acknowledgements The completion of this project would not have been possible without the support of many individuals. Some offered their time listening to my rants, others provided words of inspiration and still others made it clear that failure was not an option. To all of them I offer my deepest thanks and gratitude. This work is as much theirs as it is mine. I would like to especially thank those individuals who helped during the research component of this project. Marc Lerman at ARCAT for granting access to clergy files. Jadwiga Madej at SGH, who took time off from her vacation so that I could access immigrant memoirs. Fr. Marian Gil, OMI and Fr. Janusz Błażejak, OMI for opening the Assumption Province archives. Stanisława Antkowski who brought me materials from St. Mary’s Polish Parish. Irene Szkudlarek who helped me to make sense of LAC. Your generosity has made the story of Polish Canadians that much richer. Much thanks to my supervisor, Mark McGowan for his advice and support. He inspired me to be a better scholar. My parents, Anna and Jozef Pawlus, for their encouragement and raising the three of us to freely speak our minds. Dominika Pecota for the Skype talks and Jacek Pawlus for his suggestions. Above all, I am indebted to my husband, Michal Kasprzak, who listened, discussed and read my work. Thank you for your poignant comments and observations, and your no nonsense attitude. Lastly, this project was funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Scholarship. iii Table of Contents Abstract Acknowledgements List of Appendices Introduction: The Pole in Canada: An Introduction 1 Chapter 1: The Plight of the Polish Immigrant: Background and Context 21 Chapter 2: “Little Polands”: Poles, Parishes and (Re)creating the Homeland 51 Chapter 3: Religion and the Polish Consuls: A Marriage of Convenience 99 Chapter 4: Unity and Division: Organizing the Community 134 Chapter 5: Read All About It!: Selling Religion and Nationalism in the Polish Press 184 Concluding Remarks: The Ties that Bind 256 iv List of Appendices Appendix A 267 Appendix B 268 Appendix C 273 Appendix D 285 Appendix E 286 Bibliography 298 v Introduction: The Pole in Canada The history of the Poles in Canada has generally been associated with two images: that of Sir Casimir Gzowski and the Kaszubs. Gzowski arrived in Canada from partitioned Poland in 1841. By the end of the century, he had completely assimilated and risen through the ranks of Canadian society, becoming the Deputy Lieutenant Governor of Ontario and knighted by Queen Victoria. Late in life, he lamented over not being able to speak in his native tongue. The Kaszubs, who settled in the Renfrew area of eastern Ontario, comprised the first Polish mass migration of approximately 500 families to Canada in the mid-1850s from the Prussian controlled region of partitioned Poland. Beyond the history of the Kaszubs and Gzowski, the story of the Canadian Polonia goes through a lengthy interregnum only to reappear in the 1980s with the advent of the Solidarity movement. Yet, the evolution of the Polish community in Canada cannot be defined solely by the Poles who came in the mid-19th century or the 1980s. Canada has experienced a continuous flow of Polish migrants from the mid-nineteenth century to the early 1990s, with the exception of the two World Wars and the latter half of the 1930s, during the Great Depression years. Chronologically, Polish chain migration to Canada can be divided into five distinct periods: i) latter half of the 19th century (1850-80s); ii) pre-Great War (1890s-1914); iii) interwar (1919-1939); iv) post-Second World War (1940s-1970s); and v) post-Solidarity (1980s-19931). In broadest strokes, the migration experience has been shaped by a variety of factors: reasons for migration (economic vs. political); length of migration (temporary vs. permanent); socio-economic standing of the incoming group; and place of settlement (rural vs. urban). These factors have fluctuated considerably depending on the period of any given group’s arrival in Canada. 1 I have selected 1993 as the cut-off point for Polish migration because the post-1993 period experiences a significant decline in the migration as better opportunities present themselves in a new Poland, and later, in the European Union. This, however, does not mean that Polish migration to Canada had come to a conclusive end. 1 2 In the entire historical narrative of the Canadian Polonia, the interwar period has received least attention. The existing scholarship argues that prior to the Second World War, Polish migration was predominantly comprised of male migrants whose sole intention was to earn enough income to return to their homeland in order to purchase land or pay off debts.1 These men took on employment that was physically intensive, including mining, lumbering, railroad construction and/or commercial agriculture. If permanent settlement did occur, it usually happened in western parts of Canada, such as Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. For the most part, those that arrived prior to the Second World War belonged to the peasantry, lacked a formal education, were not nationally aware, and had migrated for economic reasons. This early immigrant community is often juxtaposed against the new wave that arrived after 1945. After the Second World War, Polish migrants who made their way to Canada tended to be better educated, especially in the professional and technical fields.2 Many were former soldiers serving in the Polish Armed forces and were now considered displaced persons with no desire to return to a Communist Poland. Migration in the post-war period tended to be political in nature, and comprised of both men and women. They quickly became organized, creating a framework for the community’s institutional life. According to this interpretation, the Second World War became the catalyst for the emergence of a more organized Polonia. However, this is not an accurate reflection of the evolution of the Polish community in Canada. The existing literature has neglected to adequately explain the importance of the interwar period. The two decades between the two World Wars witnessed the key transformation of the Polish community, which have been ascribed to the post-1945 years. 1 Anna Reczyńska, For Bread and a Better Future: Emigration from Poland to Canada 1918-1939 (North York: Multicultural History Society of Ontario, 1996), 82-5. 2 Edward Kołodziej, Wychodźstwo zarobkowe z Polski 1918-1939: studia nad polityką emigracyjną II Rzeczypospolitej, (Warszawa: Książka i Wiedza, 1982), 132. 3 The history of the interwar Polish immigration begins at the end of the Great War. In 1918, Poland regained her independence, but the young country that emerged from over a century of foreign oppression—being divided between three empires--faced a daunting battle to amalgamate three regions (Prussian Poland, Russian Poland and Austrian Poland) that were at different stages of development. Consequently, the delayed agrarian reforms and slow industrialization created a situation whereby even into the 1930s, three-quarters of Poland’s population still lived in villages and sixty-four per cent of its population was employed in agriculture.3 These factors led to a post-war population boom, which was exacerbated, by repatriation and decreasing land holdings, leading to a surplus labour force that could not be absorbed. Some of them departed for Canadian shores. This study shows that although the majority of the Poles migrating to Canada during this period were men from the lower classes, unlike previous periods, these men arrived with some formal education, even if it was just elementary schooling. They also came with a sense of national identity and organizational experience. The latter was especially important in the process of creating and nurturing the organizational life of the community. Initially, many came as temporary sojourners—much like their predecessors who came before 1914—but the Great Depression would change their plans. First, many were financially unable to return to the homeland, so they did the next best thing--they brought their wives, fiancés and children over to Canada. Interestingly, though this migration went from temporary to permanent, in the minds and hearts of the majority, it remained a temporary situation. Second, the economic situation encouraged a shift in their settlement from rural areas to urban centres and from western Canada (i.e., Prairies, Winnipeg, Manitoba) to eastern Canada (i.e., Ontario). There were greater opportunities for Poles in 3 Kołodziej, Wychodźstwo zarobkowe z Polski 1918-1939, 273. 4 unskilled labour within the cities than in rural settlements.