Background
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Situated in central Europe east of Germany and west of Belarus and the Ukraine, Poland borders the Baltic Sea. Poland implemented one of the first parliamentary systems of government in the world. Renowned for a variety of cultural and artistic achievements, the astronomer Copernicus is one of Poland’s most famous sons. (Okay, here’s a refresher for you: Copernicus theorized in 1543 that – gasp! – the Earth moves around the sun. Caused quite a hullabaloo in those days.)
After being invaded again and again by most of the various European powers for centuries, Poland once again was the sight of major conflict during World War II. At the Yalta Conference in February 1945, Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin decided to leave Poland under Soviet control and thus Poland became mired in communism and Soviet-style repression. Lech Walesa’s Solidarity movement of the 1980s was the impetus that eventually brought about the end of communism in Poland.
Today, Poland is home to over 38 million people. In 2004, Americans adopted 102 children from Poland. As with most other countries, the children from Poland are available for international adoption for one of two reasons: (1) either their parents are deceased and they have no one else to care for them, or (2) their parents are unable (or unwilling) to take care of them.
Credits: The International Adoption Guidebook, © Mary M. Strickert
