Polish Immigration · Haller’s Army
In 1917 and 1918 more than twenty thousand Polish immigrants in the United States volunteered for a Polish army that did not yet have a country. They trained in Canada, fought in France and then in Poland, and their recruitment records are among the best sources for a Polish-American family’s village.
The Polish Army in France
In 1917 France authorized a Polish army to fight on the Western Front, recruited from Polish prisoners of war taken from the German and Austrian armies, Polish emigrants in France and, above all, Polish immigrants in North America who were not American citizens and so could not be drafted into the US Army. General Józef Haller took command in 1918, and the force became known as Haller’s Army, or the Blue Army after its French-style uniforms.
Recruitment in America
Recruiting stations opened in Polish communities across the United States, supported by the Polish Falcons and other organizations. Volunteers were sent to a training camp at Niagara-on-the-Lake in Ontario, Canada, and then shipped to France. After the war ended in the west, the army was transported to Poland in 1919 and fought in the Polish-Soviet War.
The recruitment records
Each volunteer filled in a recruitment form with his name, date and place of birth, often down to the village and district, his address in America and his next of kin. The original records are held by the Polish Army Veterans’ Association of America, and the Polish Genealogical Society of America has published an index.
- Search the index under every spelling of the name
- Note the recruiting station, which shows where the man lived in 1917 or 1918
- Use the birthplace to search the Polish parish records
- Look for the man’s return to America: many veterans came back in the early 1920s and appear on passenger lists
After the war
Some volunteers settled in Poland; most returned to the United States, often after years of service. Because they had served in a foreign army they were not entitled to American veterans’ benefits, and the Polish Army Veterans’ Association was founded in part to support them. Their service is often remembered only as a family story about a grandfather who “fought for Poland”.
If a family story says an ancestor went back to fight in the First World War, Haller’s Army is the first place to look. The recruitment form may give the village in his own words.
How we can help
Immigration & Passenger Records includes the Haller’s Army index and return voyages where a family story points to service, and Ancestral Village Identification uses the birthplace to find the parish.
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