Should I Apply for Polish Citizenship by Presidential Grant?

Spoiler alert: I’m already working on it. Here are some of my considerations as I make this pretty big decision!

Getting Polish Citizenship by Descent is Tough

It’s official-as if we didn’t know-I cannot get citizenship in Poland by descent. I turned over every stone. I did as much research into my great-grandparents and grandfather as I could, but I hit a wall. I couldn’t find a loophole. I sure tried!

I did learn quite a bit about my Polish family.

I continue seeking small details whenever I have some spare time. I am grateful that I could find as much information as I have so far. I felt sad that much of our culture was lost instead of being handed down from my grandfather to my mother and then to me. But those people are gone now and I’m on my own.

My family prized becoming American

As I’ve said before, my family took great pains to change our last name and hide our Polish-ness. My mother stopped speaking Polish words around me once I was old enough to repeat them. My grandparents even chose to leave their home in Cleveland’s Slavic Village around 1965.