Polish Escape to Canada and USA in 1944

Polish escape Canada USA
Throughout Canada’s history, there have been six notable periods of Polish migration, each characterized by distinct timeframes. These waves of migration occurred between 1854 and 1901, 1902 and 1915, 1916 and 1939, 1944 and 1956, 1957 and 1979, and 1980 and 1993, each contributing to the diverse tapestry of Canada’s cultural and social landscape. Polish escape Canada USA

While the first wave of Polish immigrants to Canada did not arrive directly from Poland, the second wave between 1916 and 1939 arrived from a newly independent Poland and primarily settled on the Prairies, where they made their homes until at least 1931. During this time, Winnipeg, Manitoba became home to the largest Polish community in the country.

Following the Second World War, a new wave of Polish immigration arrived in Canada, consisting mainly of former soldiers of the Polish armed forces who had fought in Western Europe, as well as former inmates of Nazi concentration or forced-labor camps and political refugees fleeing communist Poland. Of these individuals, 50 percent made their homes in Ontario. Polish escape Canada USA

The Polish passport of was issued in Warsaw to Mr. KLAWE Czeslaw Henryk and has several interesting visas. Two visas were issued bz the Nazis in Warsaw and always border stamped by the infamous GESTAPO (Secret State Police) in 1938 and 1939.

Then there is a 1940 visa issued at the French consulate in Bucharest, Romania for Paris. A Croatian transit visa 1940, also issued in Bucharest. French transit Visa 1940. Very interesting is the fact that his passport was extended in Oct 1944 for another year (Oct 1945) in Montreal, Canada. But there is no visa for Canada! Polish escape Canada USA

The final visa was issued by the American vice consul Henry T. Dwyer in Oct 1946 at the American consulate in Toronto, Canada. His final destination, according to this passport, was America by entering via Niagara Falls, NY.

By the way. The annual compensation of a US vice consul in 1946 was ranging between $2650 to $7400 per year. Which is nowadays $40k to $114k.

Source: American Foreign Journal, March 1946

The Polish passport of Karol Wojtyla – Pope John Paul II

Tom Topol | Passport History Expert & Author.
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