Janina Skuret

Dec. 17, 2019

Modern World History

Exploring Polish Immigrants

Immigrants from Poland moved to the United States from 1860-1914 because it was
helpful for their living purposes. There was a lot of research put into this, including Jane Bariluk,
a primary source for this event. Her parents moved from Poland to America in order to have a
better life maintaining a family. Many families moved from Poland and other parts of the world
to America for many reasons, including job shortages. If families had more than 3 kids, it would
also be very hard to maintain a good lifestyle earning money because of these job shortages.
Most immigrants entered through New York City in order to get a better life that they had
wished for for their families. Jane said that her father came first of all of her family to New York
in order to have a more suitable life with more land and more money to support his family. These
immigrants moving to America, whether they moved for personal freedom or for their families,
all wished for a brighter future and to get away from Polish lifestyles that they didn't approve of.

Jane stated that

“My parents came from Poland in a.. a town called prausnitz and it was very close
to the… German border. So my grandfather's name was Grous so… Grous, I
guess, -ous, we always thought there was some German and polish mixed in there,
but thats where they came from.. and then they, ya know, came from Ellis island,
they came from Ellis Island to this country, thats where they came from, Poland.”1
Her family came from Poland and moved to the United States through Ellis Island, which had a
new immigration processing center on Ellis Island on the harbor of New York City.2 These types
of sites and centers were helpful in introducing many immigrants to their new settlements to be.
These settlements would be their homes where their family would live and where they would
create a new life for themselves. Janes family also had to learn to speak english since they had
grown up in Poland. She says “…and Mama went to night school to learn english which she
understood but didn't speak much of, but Papa could…”3 Accumulating to the United States’
customs, like being able to speak english, was probably hard for them to do, but since they
wanted a good life it was worth it. If they wanted a good job that was well paying or if they

1
​Bariluk,Jane. Interview by the author. Seymour, CT.
2
​"Immigration to the United States, 1851-1900." The Library of Congress. Accessed December
20, 2019.
http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/presentations/timelin
e/riseind/immgnts/.
3
​Bariluk, Jane. Interview by the author.
wanted to have their children get an education in America, the whole family had to be able to
speak american.

One member of the family usually came beforehand in order to get situated into the
country before the whole family had moved. Jane has a similar experience where her father goes
to Ellis Island to meet up with his brother who told him to bring his family to America. “Papa
came first, I guess he had a wealthy brother, who owned a lot of property in Naugatuck and he
brought my father to the United States. Which we have his ship that he came on.” This would
make it easier when the rest of the family to move out. The one member would find a house for
his or her family to live in and a community established by previous settlers from their
homelands. Most of them wanted to settle in this way because they were close to native speaking
families who they could relate and bond with. It was also probably easier for them to become
accumulated to the american society with natives in their community and town.

Nearly 12 million immigrants arrived to America4 between 1860-1914. They came for a
brighter future, some coming in for political reasons and some for religious reasons. They were
seeking relief from political and religious persecution. Coming to america was the best option for
them because Americans were inviting them in with the immigration centers and there were laws
that made them feel and be more free.

Jane's father came to America from Poland because his brother thought it would be a
great idea for him and his family. There weren’t enough jobs and there wasn't enough land even
if they wanted to live in Poland. She says,
“Well, I guess being that my uncle had so much persuasion there and he was well to do,
and he thought he could bring his brother to this country and help him out with the family
and that's why they came to uh.. my uncle brought them here. Ya know, paid his way and
all that, so that was.. why he came to this country for a better.. a better life. To raise their
kids, yup.”5
Her family would probably have left either way since Jane had many other siblings, with her
being the youngest. Her father and mother wouldn't have been able to support their family if they
had stayed in Poland. With America having some job openings because of the immigrants, it was
just easier to sustain a family in America hen in Poland during this time.

Having a family member in America already helped significantly when trying to adapt to
the new living space the immigrants had just moved too. Jane's father had a wealthy brother

4
​"Immigration to the United States, 1851-1900."
5
​ ariluk, Jane. Interview by the author.
B
already in America at the time, so it was easier for her and her family to move into this new
place. She says,
“...I guess he had a wealthy brother, who owned a lot of property in Naugatuck and he
brought my father to the United States. Which we have his ship that he came on. He had
to have money in order to come into the country and there was a dollar. He had to have a
dollar that he came with. You had to have money and you had to have somebody sign for
you to come into the country and Uncle Victor, his brother, signed for him. Thats where
he was heading.”6
Since they had to have someone sign for them to come into the country, as Jane explains, her
father's brother signed for him to come into the country. If he didn't have his brother to sign for
them, they wouldn't be able to start their new life in America and to have help with their life in
supporting their family.
Immigrants were sometimes treated differently while working in their new jobs in the
United States. With all the immigrants trying to move in at the same time, it was hard for most of
them to receive jobs. They were all fighting for the freedom and bright future they wanted for
themselves and their families if they traveled to America with them. They also had trouble being
immigrants and being the minority in the country during this time. Male immigrants were
generally paid less than other non-immigrant​ ​workers. Female immigrants were paid even less
than the males were. This was just part of the immigrant experience. It also included being
physically and verbally abused in some areas because they were “different.” This did help
America learn to adapt to new people coming into the society, but it was hard for some
immigrants to accumulate themselves into the new settlements. Luckily, some societies were
close nite so they didn't have as much of a problem with this. The immigrants were just glad that
they got to move to an open country where they could live the life they wanted to live, unlike
their struggle in Poland.

6
​Bariluk, Jane. Interview by the author.
 Annotated Bibliography

Bariluk, Jane. Interview by the author. Seymour, CT.

This is the most important information because it came from my great-grandmother who
knows stories from her parents about immigrating from Poland to America.

Gormley, Myra Vanderpool. "Tracking Down Polish Ancestors." Los Angeles Times. Last
modified October 2, 1989.
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-10-02-vw-331-story.html.
Gives exact dates but mostly tells you what to do to find your Polish ancestry.

"Immigration to the United States, 1851-1900." The Library of Congress. Accessed December
20, 2019.
http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/presentations/
timeline/riseind/immgnts/.
When they arrived in America, how many arrived, and lots of other very useful
information even though it is a small article.

Klaehn, Jagoda Urban-. "Three Waves of Massive Polish Immigration." ? Accessed December
18, 2019. http://culture.polishsite.us/articles/art41fr.htm.
Explains the first three waves of Polish immigrants coming into the country.