2.2 Economic situation - economic emigration

            From the time of the partitions, the forest areas and the entire eastern part of the country were among the most economically backward. Peasants lived almost exclusively from agriculture. Peasant farms were very fragmented and the process continued to deepen. Industrial production on a larger scale practically did not exist.

            The growing birth rate, overpopulation, and lack of industrial centers forced us to look for other sources of income. The Galician peasants began to leave "in search of bread". The emigration was facilitated by the abolition of serfdom and enfranchisement. The most frequent destinations of emigration were the United States of America, Argentina, Canada, Brazil and, less frequently, European countries, such as Denmark, France or Belgium. The most numerous group of Lasowiaks, however, chose the journey "overseas", ie the United States of America. It is estimated that by 1914, about 600,000 people left all of Galicia there.

            Initially, the emigration movements were spontaneous and disorganized. With time, emigration intermediaries started agitating those willing to travel to the "promised land". They were most often agents and touts employed by ocean lines. They sold ship tickets and helped in "organizing" the trip. Often, emigrants fell victim to dishonest intermediaries and fraudsters, which made them lose their savings or money borrowed from their family to leave. Only a small percentage of those who traveled overseas returned home. Many expats stayed in the "American Dream" starting families there, sometimes getting educated and getting rich. However, those who returned brought money to pay off their debts, bought land or built new, better and prettier houses, and improved their living conditions. Their mental horizons also widened, their consciousness changed. Thanks to their attitude and the money they brought, the Galician economy and countryside began to develop: the wages of mercenaries and agricultural products began to rise. Homes also began to change. Houses were built of new materials of a higher standard. Home furnishings have changed, household utensils, clay has been replaced by porcelain. Eventually, customs and habits in the countryside began to change.

SOURCES:

Dudek-Młynarska E., "If not for bandos, then to America" - the direction of economic emigration of Rzeszowiaks and Lasowiaks at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Contribution to ethnographic research [in:] Country-image of independence. Everyday life on the threshold of free Poland, Kolbuszów 2019.

Fudyna J., Lasowiacy. A rural residential house at the confluence of the Vistula and San rivers. Form and Function, Mielec 2014