Emigracja 'drugiego pokolenia': refleksje i pytania na marginesie biografii Piotra Wandycza i Leopolda Łabędzia

Peter Wandycz is one of the most renowned historians of Polish origin to achieve academic success in the West after WWII, reaching the position of professor at Yale University. Leopold Łabedź, born three years earlier (in 1920), is another example of a brilliant career of Polish post‑war emigrant, namely one of the most renowned sovietologists, as well as co‑founder and editor of the quarterly “Survey”. The parallel biographies of these two outstanding repre­sentatives of the generation, which experienced WWII in their twenties and decided to stay in the West, served here as a basis for reflection on the changes of the concept and importance of Polish emigration. The starting point of the consideration is the opinion expressed in 1954 by a well‑known journalist, Juliusz Mieroszewski, who stated that the new generation of Polish immi­grants would be melting into the cultural and political life of their countries of settlement, thus allowing them to impact on the political consciousness of the Western elites. The comparison of examples of life decisions and achievements of Peter Wandycz and Leopold Łabedź constitutes a good opportunity for the verification of this assertion.