Politics and Personalities

International Political Concerns

Since the Poles first arrived in Cleveland, they have been interested and active in politics. Much time, energy and rhetoric have been expended in both local, Cleveland politics and the politics of their former homeland.

The politics of Poland, particularly concerning the reconstitution of the partitioned Polish state, were primary in the minds of the city’s Poles. Repression and imprisonment awaited those Poles who worked for independence while in Poland and the movement was forced underground. However, the freedom of the United States allowed the full and open statement of hopes and theories of reconstitution. In the vanguard of those working for reconstitution were the national fraternal organizations, particularly the Polish National Alliance. P.N.A. members in Cleveland and throughout the nation spoke and lobbied for Polish independence. They often hosted personalities, such as Ignace Paderewski, who were well-known for their advocacy of a free Poland.

Not until the outbreak of World War I did any real hope exist for a new Polish state. The need for Polish support caused the Central Powers, and eventually the Allies, to make promises for the rebuilding of the state. In the United States and in Cleveland, Polish opinion was divided as to which offer to trust, or accept. The Prussian Poles, who constituted fifty-seven percent of the city’s Polish population^[1] and lived in the Warszawa and Poznan districts, wanted a completely independent Polish state, and they looked to the Allied Powers for its creation. On the other hand, the Austrian and Russian Poles, who comprised forty-three percent of the Polish population^[2] and were centered in Kantowa, felt that complete independence was impossible. They believed the best that could be achieved was the creation of a satellite state under Austrian or German dominance. This idea was an anathema to the Prussian Poles who had already suffered the consequences of the Kulturkampf and German military conscription.^[3]

During the early stages of the war, the faction favoring a German governed Poland allied themselves with the Central Powers and with General Joseph Pilsudski, a Polish officer leading Polish brigades for the Germans. Many Cleveland Poles joined the Committee of National Defense, a Chicago-based organization that backed Pilsudski and espoused the German solution.^[4] The Prussian Poles stuck to their demand for an independent Poland during this early period, allowing the P.N.A. to champion their cause. As the war, stalemated in 1916-1917, the Germans proposed a semi-autonomous Polish monarchy with a Hapsburg or Hollenzollen prince on the throne to gain Polish support. When Russia withdrew from the Allies in 1917, the remaining powers were quick to offer a totally independent Poland, comprised in part of Russian territory, in return for aid in defeating the Central Powers.

With America’s entry into the war in April 1917, most of the city’s Poles fell behind the plan to create an independent Polish state. Aiding in this change of opinion were expediency, intimations on the part of Woodrow Wilson about an independent Poland, and a switch in allegiance on the part of Pilsudski. (Pilsudski turned against the Germans in 1917 and was jailed by them.) With the formal Allied promises of an independent Poland in late 1917, and the subsequent publication of Wilson’s Fourteen Points, Cleveland’s Poles wholeheartedly supported the Allied cause. Thousands of Poles from Cleveland and other American cities formed a Polish Volunteer Army to fight with the Allies.

The successful completion of the war, and the creation of the Polish state, relieved the city’s Poles of an issue that had dominated their lives for many years. Even the P.N.A. felt somewhat lost, noting that its major purpose had been accomplished.^[5] However, interest in the affairs of the new Polish state again soon occupied many Cleveland Poles. Indeed, the stormy beginnings of the new state caused divisions among the Poles as serious as those occasioned by the independence question.

Conditions in Poland after independence were chaotic. A standard monetary system had to be created, a viable government formed, and a war against the Bolshevik Russians concluded. Again, the central figure in Poland and Cleveland was General Pilsudski. After defeating the Russians at the Vistula River in 1920, Pilsudski became dissatisfied with the democratic government under Paderewski. A series of assassinations and coups left Pilsudski in virtual dictatorial control of the state after 1925.^[6]

Many of the people in Kantowa, and their newspaper, the Wiadomosci Codzienne, championed the cause of Pilsudski again. They believed his genius and leadership had stopped the Bolsheviks at the Vistula and that his rule was creating order in Poland.^[7] The people of Warszawa believed otherwise. They felt that Pilsudski was a socialist dictator and that the victory at the Vistula was a miracle and not the result of his genius.^[8]

As Pilsudski and his party retained power throughout the late 1920’s and 1930’s, this rift in Cleveland’s Polish community continued, becoming at times quite dramatic. One notable instance concerned the visit of one of Pilsudski’s generals to Cleveland in 1930 to take part in a celebration of the tenth anniversary of the Vistula battle. A field mass was to be offered in which 40,000 people were expected to participate. The Warszawa faction, however, wanted the mass to publicly honor the “Miracle of the Vistula.” The Kantowa faction felt this to be an insult to the honor of General Pilsudski. A long period of bickering ensued that involved the two Polish daily newspapers, various Polish veterans groups and even the Catholic Diocese. Because of this, the great field mass was cancelled, but finally rescheduled.^[9]

Shortly after this argument, an effort was made to bring all of the factions in the community together. A union of the city’s Polish organizations was subsequently formed in 1931. This League of Polish Organizations, however, soon fell victim to the problem it had hoped to cure.^[10]

The split in Cleveland’s Polish community was mended, however, by the German invasion of Poland in 1939. The city’s Poles immediately rallied to the Allied cause, with some Poles going to Canada to join the free Polish forces fighting the Germans. During the war, and after the liberation of Poland in 1944, tons of food and clothing were gathered by the city’s Poles and sent to their homeland.

Before the Poles could take sides again over a new post-war Polish government, they were startled into virtual unanimity by the communist takeover of the state. This was especially harsh news to those who had fled Poland in the early stages of the war. The communist takeover of Poland became, and remains, the single major Polish political question that confronts Cleveland’s Poles.

The issue has been most effectively kept before the people by the Polish American Congress, a union of Polish organizations existing on national, state, and local levels. Since its inception in 1944, the P.A.C. has attempted to use unified Polish public opinion to force either the United States or the United Nations to act on behalf of the cause of a free Poland.^[11] The organization, staffed largely by post-war political emigres, enjoyed a great deal of power and success in the 1950’s and 1960’s. However, the new move toward detente has hurt its cause. Through its fostering of Polish cultural activities in the city and its influence on member organizations, the P.A.C. still endeavors to keep the cause of a free Poland before the public.

Local Political Involvement

The beginnings of activity in local politics by Cleveland’s Poles came after their activities on behalf of Polish independence had begun. This lag probably was due to the insular nature of the major community, Warszawa, from its founding until the 1890’s. The settlement was five miles from the city and physically isolated from it by a series of ravines. In these years the Poles seemed quite happy to use their own institutions to solve community problems and left all political activity to the Irish in the southeastern portion of Newburgh. Even as late as 1905, there were only 493 naturalized Polish voters in Cleveland.^[12]

Most of these voters were probably businessmen. Because of their dealings outside of the Polish community, they had a special interest in the political affairs of the country and the city. Many were Republicans and joined the Polish Republican Club started by Michael Kniola in 1893. Since their prosperity was dependent upon that of the nation, they probably blamed the Democrats for the great depression of 1893 and cast their lot with the GOP. One hundred of these businessmen appear on a composite photograph issued by the Polish Businessman’s Club in 1896. Conspicuous in the center of the photograph is a portrait of William McKinley.

Michael Kniola was the driving force behind the organization of the Polish businessmen and their Republican political stance. He performed many duties for the Republican Party, speaking to various Polish groups at the behest of Theodore Burton, senator from Ohio and an intimate of President McKinley. His work on behalf of the party did not go unrecognized. In 1898 Kniola was invited to dinner at the McKinley house in Canton, Ohio. While at this dinner, he requested and received an officer’s commission for a Cleveland Pole serving in the army.^[13]

In the 1900 presidential election, another prominent Polish businessman, Telesfor Olstynski, took up the Republican cause. At the request of Cleveland party leaders, Olstynski spoke on behalf of McKinley before Polish groups throughout the country. Like Kniola, he was rewarded for his efforts by a dinner with the President. At that dinner he was offered, but refused, a high position in the Cleveland custom house.^[14]

Shortly after 1900, the Poles became involved in local city politics. Joseph Sledz, a Polish saloon owner, was elected to city council in 1902 from Ward 17 (now Ward 14) which encompassed the Warszawa district.^[15] His election, and Polish interest in local affairs, were probably due to two factors: since the city had grown out to meet Warszawa, its inhabitants were thus forced to deal with it; and the Poles now realized the various rewards that local political activity could bring. One of the first rewards brought about by Polish activity was the construction of a bridge on Tod (E. 65th) Street that facilitated access to Broadway Avenue over the Morgana Ravine. This bridge provided a better, quicker connection with downtown Cleveland, greatly aiding Polish business enterprises dependent on wholesale supplies from the city.^[16] A second reward for which Sledz may have been responsible was the paving of Warszawa’s streets–the contract for which was awarded to a Pole, Frank Orlikowski.^[17]

Since Sledz’s election in 1902, Warszawa has almost always been represented by a councilman of Polish background. (See Appendix D for a listing of councilmen.) A notable exception occurred in 1927 when the animosities between the St. Stanislaus and Immaculate Heart factions flared up again and split the Polish vote between two Polish candidates, allowing the victory of the third candidate, an Irishman, John P. McGreal.^[18]

Successors to Joseph Sledz continued to work for improvements in the Warszawa section. More streets were paved, gullies filled, and by the 1920’s, electric street lights had been installed. Through their work the Warszawa area was physically integrated into the city by the 1930’s.

The guaranteed election of a Polish councilman from Warszawa provided that area’s Poles with a lever to obtain patronage positions. The American Polish Chamber of Industry, founded in 1908, the Krakow Political Club (1923), and the Warsaw Political Club (1926) were groups established to lobby for jobs and improvements by putting pressure on local representatives.^[19]

The coming of age in the 1920’s of the first large American-born generation of Poles greatly increased the number of Polish voters in the city. Their voting power helped make city-wide elective officials more amenable to the demands and favors asked by the Poles and their councilmen. More political jobs were obtained by Poles, and some councilmen, such as Edmund P. Lewandowski, were given upper level city positions. Lewandowski, for example, was made head of the city’s Cooley Farm (the Workhouse) in the 1930’s.^[20]

Because of its heavy Polish concentration, Warszawa consistently elected Polish representatives to city council. Though Kantowa has periodically elected representatives to council, its polyglot nature has prevented it from doing this with the consistency of Warszawa.

The highest elective office that a Cleveland Pole attained on the basis of a local community vote, alone, was state representative. The first Pole elected to this office was Joseph Sawicki, in 1906.^[21] Because of the limited Polish vote at this time, it can be assumed that Sawicki gathered enough Irish votes in his district to secure his victory. This was a remarkable achievement considering the ongoing Polish-Irish animosities in the old Newburgh area. Sawicki was eventually elected to the municipal bench in the 1920’s and 1930’s. He was, perhaps, the major figure in Cleveland’s Polish community in this century, maintaining a myriad of activities and offices both in the Polish, and general communities. After Sawicki’s election, the growing Polish vote and favorable redistricting insured this seat to a succession of Poles, including Sawicki’s son, Edwin.

Until the 1920’s the local and national voting patterns of Cleveland’s Poles could be either Republican or Democratic. There was no extraordinary allegiance to either party. However, the actions of Woodrow Wilson on behalf of an independent Poland, the candidacy of the Catholic, Al Smith, in 1928, and the Depression reforms of Franklin Roosevelt wedded the city’s Poles to the Democratic Party. Only in the recent local campaigns of Ralph Perk, and the Nixon-McGovern presidential campaign, has this bond weakened.

With the dispersal of the Polish population, the impact of the Polish vote in ward politics in Cleveland has waned and will continue to do so. As even Warszawa becomes less Polish, the chances for the election of a non-Polish councilman increase. The dispersal of the population, and its multiplication by new generations, however, provides a Polish vote with clout in city-wide, county-wide, state-wide, and independent suburban elections. Suburban mayors of Polish background, such as Raymond Grabow of Warrensville Heights, have recently been elected, as well as an increasing number of judges such as Eugene Sawicki (another son of Joseph).

In recognition of this new power, many politically active Poles, such as the members of a relatively new patronage-pressure group, Polish Americans Incorporated, have been demanding patronage at higher levels of government. Polish political activity, which began in the 1890’s in an effort to secure jobs and improve conditions has changed little over time and functions much the same today, although on a broader scale.