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Similarities Between Jewish Immigration And Polish Immigration

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Polish and Jewish Immigration to the United States
Throughout the late 18th and early 19th centuries, many people from eastern Europe immigrated to the United States. Each distinct group of people has their own story of why they decided to immigrate to the United States, however the two main groups that are looked at in this paper are Jewish immigrants and Polish immigrants. Specifically, between 1881 and 1924, there was an influx of Jewish and Polish immigrants to the United states and while the groups had similar issues, there are some distinct to each culture.
Jewish immigrants were the first non-Christian religious group to immigrate to the United States. Hasia R. Diner wrote about the issues the Jewish immigrants faced in America and how …show more content…

Both Jewish and Polish immigrants left their homes to immigrate to the United States in order to provide a better life for themselves and their families. While it is hard to start a new life in a new country, many immigrants were joining someone they already knew in the United States. This aided in making their transition easier, even though they still faced difficulties. In addition, both Jewish and Polish immigrants found a way to maintain their unique cultures while also assimilating to American culture. They were able to do this in different ways with Jews having created neighborhoods and continued holiday traditions while Poles maintained their language and created a unique education …show more content…

One of which is that it seems as if Polish immigrants had an easier time assimilating to American culture and being accepted by Americans than Jewish immigrants did during the early years of immigration. Part of this can be attributed to the antisemitic views of Americans towards Jews making it difficult for them to fit in. Another aspect can be the difference in religion since being Jewish is both a religion and a culture, while being Polish is a culture and not a religion. The United States has always had a religious majority of Christians and since most people in Poland who were not Jewish were Christian this fact could attribute to them assimilating easier to the new culture and not facing as much

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