The article discusses the problem of return migration from the USA to Poland after World War I, particularly one aspect of it: the ideologically motivated returns of organizers of approximately 200 cooperatives and corporations, the activity of which was transplanted to independent Poland. Most of these attempts failed and the image of Poland as the »Promised Land« for fonner emigrants disappeared.

The article discusses the problem of return migration from the USA to Poland after World War I, particularly one aspect of it: the ideologically motivated returns of organizers of approximately 200 cooperatives and corporations, the activity of which was transplanted to independent Poland. Most of these attempts failed and the image of Poland as the »Promised Land« for fonner emigrants disappeared.

Following their arrival in Argentina post-war Slovene emigrants continued their publishing activities just as they had in the refugee camps of Austria and Italy. They set themselves lofty goals. The numerous periodicals published by the emigrants are a constituentpart of their successful efforts to create in a foreign country a part of that homeland of which they had been deprived and to communicate their national values to subsequent generations. Although the community was not wealthy, its publishing activities, like all other areas of public life, were entirely financed from its own resources. Despite its great enthusiasm, however, the community was not able to sustain such a number of publications either in the financial sense or with the necessary number of intellectual contributions. More than fifty years later the second and third generations have not abandoned the publication of Slovene periodicals but are trying to preserve Slovene heritage in this field, in as far as they are still able to resist the process of assimilation.

Following their arrival in Argentina post-war Slovene emigrants continued their publishing activities just as they had in the refugee camps of Austria and Italy. They set themselves lofty goals. The numerous periodicals published by the emigrants are a constituentpart of their successful efforts to create in a foreign country a part of that homeland of which they had been deprived and to communicate their national values to subsequent generations. Although the community was not wealthy, its publishing activities, like all other areas of public life, were entirely financed from its own resources. Despite its great enthusiasm, however, the community was not able to sustain such a number of publications either in the financial sense or with the necessary number of intellectual contributions. More than fifty years later the second and third generations have not abandoned the publication of Slovene periodicals but are trying to preserve Slovene heritage in this field, in as far as they are still able to resist the process of assimilation.

The psychological problems of immigrants and their adjustment to a new land were the subject of many contemporary studies in the field of psychology, sociology and anthropology.Their findings systematically confirm more frequent incidences of mental illness among immigrants. However, there are so many variables affecting migration that no specific conclusion could be drawn as to the causes of this phenomenon. The motivation for migration has to be taken into account, as well as migrants’ personalities, the extent of their losses and their personal coping strategies, other traumatic events related to their migration, the attitude of the host country and its immigration policies, etc. Three different waves of Slovene immigrants to Canada experienced different degrees of culture shock and they devised different coping strategies. All three seem to utilize the power of religion, as well as the community support of various Slovene organizations, to cope with the anxiety caused by the unknown and unexpected.

The psychological problems of immigrants and their adjustment to a new land were the subject of many contemporary studies in the field of psychology, sociology and anthropology.Their findings systematically confirm more frequent incidences of mental illness among immigrants. However, there are so many variables affecting migration that no specific conclusion could be drawn as to the causes of this phenomenon. The motivation for migration has to be taken into account, as well as migrants’ personalities, the extent of their losses and their personal coping strategies, other traumatic events related to their migration, the attitude of the host country and its immigration policies, etc. Three different waves of Slovene immigrants to Canada experienced different degrees of culture shock and they devised different coping strategies. All three seem to utilize the power of religion, as well as the community support of various Slovene organizations, to cope with the anxiety caused by the unknown and unexpected.

The connection of the group identity of a social group with the place in which it lives isformed through social relations and does not derive from the place itself. Emigrants and their descendants are constantly tom between the relations they have with the majority society and their relations within the emigrant community and the family; and thus they are constantly torn between the ‘original’ homeland and the new one. Attachment or affiliation to the ‘original’ area is closely linked to affiliation to an ‘original’ culture or ‘original’ ethnic identity, although the relationship is not always linear. It is usually difficultor impossible to differentiate between the milieu of place and culture, between feelings of territorial bonds or belonging and ethnic or national awareness.

The connection of the group identity of a social group with the place in which it lives isformed through social relations and does not derive from the place itself. Emigrants and their descendants are constantly tom between the relations they have with the majority society and their relations within the emigrant community and the family; and thus they are constantly torn between the ‘original’ homeland and the new one. Attachment or affiliation to the ‘original’ area is closely linked to affiliation to an ‘original’ culture or ‘original’ ethnic identity, although the relationship is not always linear. It is usually difficultor impossible to differentiate between the milieu of place and culture, between feelings of territorial bonds or belonging and ethnic or national awareness.

The article deals with emigration from the commune of Sovodnje in Venetian Slovenia, the western most part of Slovene ethnic territory, situated in the Friuli-Venezia Giuliaregion (north-eastern Italy), and one of the most conspicuous emigration zones of this area. The first part of the article offers a review of emigration processes before and after the First World War on the basis of the commune’s population registers, with a special consideration of the orientation, progress and weight of emigration in the local socioeconomic system. The second part deals on the basis of personal testimony with the individual and collective emigration experiences of the population after the Second World War, when the phenomenon changed from predominantly temporary forms of emigration to a permanent dispersal of the population to all parts of the world, which resulted in thedying out of the original localities.

The article deals with emigration from the commune of Sovodnje in Venetian Slovenia, the western most part of Slovene ethnic territory, situated in the Friuli-Venezia Giuliaregion (north-eastern Italy), and one of the most conspicuous emigration zones of this area. The first part of the article offers a review of emigration processes before and after the First World War on the basis of the commune’s population registers, with a special consideration of the orientation, progress and weight of emigration in the local socioeconomic system. The second part deals on the basis of personal testimony with the individual and collective emigration experiences of the population after the Second World War, when the phenomenon changed from predominantly temporary forms of emigration to a permanent dispersal of the population to all parts of the world, which resulted in thedying out of the original localities.