East Central Europe in Exile Volume 1: Transatlantic Migrations

The East Central Europe in Exile series consists of two volumes which contain chapters written by both esteemed and renowned scholars, as well as young, aspiring researchers whose work brings a fresh, innovative approach to the study of migration. Altogether, there are thirty-eight chapters in both volumes focusing on the East Central European émigré experience in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

The first volume, Transatlantic Migrations, focuses on the reasons for emigration from the lands of East Central Europe; from the Baltic to the Adriatic, the intercontinental journey, as well as on the initial adaptation and assimilation processes.

The second volume is slightly different in scope, for it focuses on the aspect of negotiating new identities acquired in the adopted homeland. The authors contributing to Transatlantic Identities focus on the preservation of the East Central European identity, maintenance of contacts with the “old country”, and activities pursued on behalf of, and for the sake of, the abandoned homeland. Combined, both volumes describe the transnational processes affecting East Central European migrants.

Dr Anna Mazurkiewicz is a Historian at the University of Gdańsk, Poland. She is the Second Vice-President of the Polish American Historical Association.

“East Central Europe in Exile provides English-speaking readers with exciting first glimpses into an established scholarly network that stretches from the western border of Russia, to the east, to the Czech lands and Balkans to the west and southwest. . . . Volume 1 adds both new voices and new insights to a long history of Atlantic migrations. . . . With its broad geography and long chronology, and with its attention to three key steps in the migratory process, Transatlantic Migrations will be required reading for any English-speaking scholar who wants to join the debates about how migrations created, maintained, and altered relations between North America and Europe.”
– Donna R. Gabaccia, Professor of History, University of Minnesota

“This is a fine collection of 20 essays written by European . . . and well-known Polish-American scholars. Comparative in nature, the volume bridges the discourse about the ‘Old’ (19th/early 20th Centuries) experience with the one about people crossing the Atlantic and settling in Europe after 1945. . . . This logical, well-structured book is devoted mostly to the more recent migration waves of exiles from Central Europe to America. Some essays discuss the experience en route, some touch on the problems of the second generation children. These sections of the volume are particularly interesting and expand our knowledge of migrant communities. Furthermore, the narrations allow the reader to hear the voices of the heroes. Their recollections and letters bring the reader closer to the realities of the complex migrations.”
– Adam Walaszek, Professor of History, Jagiellonian University

Agata Biernat

M. B. Biskupski

Daniel Černý

Jan Daniluk

Silvia G. Dapía

Mary Patrice Erdmans

Anne M. Gurnack

Aleksej Kalc

Arnold Kłonczyński

Brian McCook

Slavomír Michálek

Oskar Myszor