Polish Venezuelans
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| (4,000 to 8,900) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Caracas, Maracaibo, Valencia, Maracay | |
| Languages | |
| Predominantly in Spanish, minority speak Polish and/or Yiddish | |
| Religion | |
| Roman Catholicism, minority are Orthodox and Judaism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Poles, Polish Brazilians, Polish Americans, Polish Canadians |
Polish Venezuelans (Polish: Polscy Wenezuelczycy, Spanish: polaco-venezolanos) are Venezuelan citizens of full or partial Polish ancestry. The Polish colony in Venezuela is well dispersed throughout the country, but most of the Poles and their descendants live in big cities like Caracas, Maracaibo and Valencia.
Polish immigration to Venezuela occurred in three stages, the first during World War II, when Polish citizens of Jewish origin were fleeing the Holocaust.
The second happened immediately after the war (years 1946-48), when the Poles of Jewish origin who survived the war joined their relatives already established in Venezuela. In addition, many Polish soldiers who had fought in Britain, Germany and Italy or were prisoners in Nazi camps migrated to Venezuela.
The next wave of Polish immigration to Venezuela took place between 1957-1958 when a few hundred Polish citizens primarily of Jewish origin arrived. There were others who escaped from Poland during a communist crackdown (1947-1956).
As for their profession and employment, the largest group among Poles in Venezuela is constituted by representatives of small family business. There are a considerable number of musicians, academics and doctors. Teodoro Petkoff Malec is a Venezuelan politician, ex-guerrilla, journalist and economist. One of the most prominent politicians on the left in Venezuela, Petkoff began as a communist but gravitated towards liberalism in the 1990s. The governor of Miranda state, Henrique Capriles Radonski and film director Jonathan Jakubowicz are of Polish origin. In the sports world, Jimy Szymanski is a representative of Venezuela in tennis. Mariano Kossowski founded Promar Television in Barquisimeto, Lara State . Nina Novak prima ballerina is a dance national prize of 1996, Harry Abend, is a national prize winning sculptor, and Maria Magdalena and Andrzej Antczak are recognized archaeologists. Ángel Rosenblat was a philologist, essayist and hispanist. Mieczysław Detyniecki is a painter. David Smolansky, politician, Voluntad Popular, mayor of El Hatillo, Miranda State. Franco de Peña, film director. Two Polish Venezuelans have achieved considerable success in the Miss Venezuela. In 1996, Miss Venezuela for Miss World pageant was Ana Cepinska who then get the third place in the Miss World 1996 pageant in India. In 2003 one of the 10 finalists of Miss Venezuela was Francys Sudnicka, who later represented Poland in the Miss Universe 2006 (did not place) and Miss Earth 2006 (semi-finalist) pageants.Waclaw Zalewski was engaged as architect by Universidad de los Andes and MIT.
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Wikipedia