Remigration or return? Back to the old homeland as a Ruhr Pole

The decision
 

I am now a third-generation Ruhr Pole. I spent my childhood and youth in the Oberhausen suburb of Osterfeld and still live there today. I grew up fully conscious of being of Polish descent, for this was communicated from generation to generation. As early as the age of 15 I was already interested in my roots and began genealogical research, collected all the relevant information and studied the history of Poland and Lithuania. During my time as a student in the mid-1990s I made several trips to Poland. This is how I got to know and love the country and its people. The older I got, the more I became interested in and attached to the land of my ancestors. It was my interest in history, which led me to meet my wife, Joanna, a few years ago. Joanna was born in Olsztyn and has lived most of her life in Poland. She only left Poland on account of our marriage. By marrying a native Polish woman, I, a Ruhr Pole, have closed the circle once more and revived the family tradition. We now have two daughters, one aged three, and the other seven months.

Even before we got married, my wife and I had decided to return to Poland. For my wife it was self-evident, because she never really settled here in Germany. For me, the decision is a real turning point in my life. After more than 100 years of living in the Ruhr area, I shall now return to the land of my ancestors. To my new and old Polish homeland. Friends, acquaintances and relatives ask me why. There are a number of reasons.

I want to give my life a new feel. I want to “decelerate” my life. When we are in Poland I notice how I come to rest, how my body and mind have an opportunity to replenish and regenerate. I have a whole new feeling of being “at home”. This means quality of life for me. For many years now I have completely ceased to feel at home in the Ruhr area, here in Oberhausen. This feeling exists only as a sentimental memory of my childhood and youth.

The structural changes in the coal and steel industry and the associated life styles in the Ruhr area – it was moving into the service sector – slowly led me to throw off my ties to my German “home”. As a child and teenager I had lived through the final years of the coal and steel industry and this was precisely what had made this region so special. Structural change has not been successful. Once the Ruhr area was the industrial heart of Germany; today it is the poorhouse of the nation. City centres and neighbourhood centres have almost disappeared: the streets are badly maintained, as are kindergartens, schools and other public facilities. This change has also ushered in an enormous socio-cultural change. No, my “home” no longer exists here.

However the most important reason for moving to Poland is our children. As parents, we have carefully considered where our daughters have the best chances for a good future. We quickly agreed that this would only be possible in Poland. Poland is a wonderful country, with so much potential and so many opportunities. A country on the move. In Poland, our children will find a well-functioning school system, a homogeneous society with shared values and security as in no other European country.

Our timetable is fixed. In two years at the latest, we would like to have moved the centre of our life to Olsztyn. With its good infrastructure, Olsztyn can offer us everything we expect. In 2016, we completed the first step of the move by purchasing a building plot. Our children are growing up bilingual, so that Polish will not be a foreign language for them, and I am also a keen student of Polish. Unfortunately, for me as an adult it's harder than for the children. I have already received some job offers from a headhunter. But we also have some business ideas of our own.