''The Fourth Partition'' is a

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

about the history of

Poles in Chicago Both immigrant Poles and Americans of Polish heritage live in Chicago, Illinois. They are a part of worldwide '' Polonia'', the Polish term for the Polish Diaspora outside of Poland. Poles in Chicago have contributed to the economic, social an ...

and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Its focus is on the first wave of over 4,000,000 Poles who migrated from

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

between 1870 and 1920. This film was produced in 2013 by Amerykafilm LLC., (Adrian Prawica – Director and Editor, Rafał Muskała – Associate Producer, Mirek Miyo Mardosz, Andrzej Krzeptowski-Bohac, Jeton Murtishi, Sławomir Bielawiec, and Jan Zienko – music). The world premiere was on November 8, 2013, as part of the 25th Polish Film Festival in America (Chicago), where the film received the "Discovering Eye Award". It was also awarded with "Best Documentary Debut" at the 20th Polish Film Festival in Ann Arbor (Michigan). The film won the popular award at the 3rd Annual Polish Film festival in Vancouver, Ca. (2014). Adrian Prawica was awarded the Waclaw Lednicki Humanities Award from the Polish Institute of Arts & Sciences in America (2014), and the Creative Arts Prize from the

Polish American Historical Association The Polish American Historical Association (PAHA), founded in 1942, is a scholarly not-for-profit association dedicated to the study of Polish American history and culture. Originally a section of the larger Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences in ...

(2015).

Synopsis

At the dawn of the 20th century,

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

was the second largest city in the

with over 2,000,000 residents. It was also the center of

Polish culture The culture of Poland () is the product of its Geography of Poland, geography and distinct historical evolution, which is closely connected to History of Poland, an intricate thousand-year history. Poland has a Catholic Church, Roman Catholic ma ...

and

political activism Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from mandate build ...

in America. With Poland partitioned between

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, the

Habsburg monarchy The Habsburg monarchy, also known as Habsburg Empire, or Habsburg Realm (), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities (composite monarchy) that were ruled by the House of Habsburg. From the 18th century it is ...

, and

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

, over 4,000,000 Poles immigrated to the United States between 1870 and 1920 in search of a better life. In

, they worked in some of the most dangerous factories and mills in the United States. In their

neighborhoods A neighbourhood (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American English) is a geographically localized community within a larger town, city, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neighbourh ...

, they built communities, churches, and most of all, aided their beloved

in her fight for independence. Their story is known as the "

Fourth Partition The Partitions of Poland were three partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place between 1772 and 1795, toward the end of the 18th century. They ended the existence of the state, resulting in the elimination of sovereign ...

". Donald Pienkos, James Pula, and Dominic Pacyga discuss places and events from the early 20th century that had historical significance in Polish-American History. They provide a picture of struggling immigrants who didn’t speak the English language, or were aware of the reality in the "New World". They were hired in steel mills and packing houses to do some of the most difficult and often lowest paying manual labor. Historians discuss neighborhoods where Poles lived, built churches, and created their communities. Poles not only named their neighborhoods after Polish parishes (Stanislawowo, Trójcowo, Helenowo) and tried to keep their culture, but also aided Poland in its fight for independence. The film’s creators present economic and historical reasons for the Polish migration to the United States. The film starts in 1608, at the

Jamestown colony The Jamestown settlement in the Colony of Virginia was the first permanent English settlement in the Americas. It was located on the northeast bank of the James River, about southwest of present-day Williamsburg. It was established by the L ...

, when the first Poles arrive. From there, it talks about the first large Polish settlement in Panna Maria, Texas, and Chicago, as the center for Polish culture in America. Historians and Polish journalists debate about social and political strengths of Polish community in Chicago, which resulted not only as an active participation in local authorities, but also in fraternal organizations. Poles also created their military structure – " Blue Army" led by General Józef Haller.

Production

The film was released in 2013 by Amerykafilm, LLC., and was produced by Adrian Prawica & Rafał Muskała. Mirek Mardosz, Andrzej Krzeptowski-Bohac, Jeton Murtishi, Jan Zienko and Sławomir Bielawiec composed the original music score.

Awards

*2013 – "Discovering Eye Award" 25th Annual Polish Film Festival in America, USA *2013 – "Best Debut" 20th Annual Polish Film Festival in Ann Arbor Michigan, USA *2014 – "Popular Award" 3rd Annual Vancouver Polish Film Festival, Canada *2014 - "The Waclaw Lednicki Humanities Award "Polish Institute of Arts & Sciences in America *2015 - "Creative Arts Prize" Polish American Historical Association

External links

*{{IMDb title, 3237768 2013 films 2013 documentary films Polish-American culture in Chicago Documentary films about Chicago Documentary films about immigration to the United States Films about Polish-American culture American documentary films 2010s American films