It all started with Kazimiera’s mother, born in Ohio in 1922. At the age of 10 she came back with her parents to Poland. Her daughter, Kazimiera, was born in Bydgoszcz. In 1967, Kazimiera Lehki’s mother came to the US again, to visit her brother living in Hamtramck. After twenty years she managed to bring her daughter, Kazimiera, and her son-in-law, Stefan, to the US.
Kazimiera Lehki came to America with her younger son in 1987. Four years later, in 1991, her husband, Stefan, came to her with their older son. In Poland Stefan Lehki worked in the aviation industry, Kazimiera was an economist. At first she worked in accountancy, then she looked after children. As an expatriate, Stefan Lehki worked at the K-Automation factory and Kazimiera was a childminder and carer for the elderly.
Interviewed by Anna Muller in July 2014 in Hamtramck.
Kazimiera Lekhi: In 1987 we came to settle here. My mum got us visas and we came here to stay.
Moderator: You came here, the two of you, right?
Kazimiera Lekhi: No, no, we also have two sons.
Stefan Lekhi: First my wife came here.
Kazimiera Lekhi: I came here first, with my son. At the time he had been studying medicine in Gdansk, he was on his third year. And he came here to his grandma. When he visited some hospitals and saw how everything works here, comparing to situation in Poland, and back then they had nothing in Polish hospitals. And the doctors practically worked for bribes because their remuneration was really low. So when he saw everything we agreed with grandma that we will come here. He called: “Mum, you have to get here”. Because only mum could sponsor me and my entire family but she couldn’t sponsor her grandson.
Moderator: So you had to come so that your son could come with you?
Kazimiera Lekhi: We came and this is show we got here.
Moderator: And your entire family came with you?
Kazimiera Lekhi: No, just me and my son at first. We had to hurry because he was almost 21 and below 21 he could travel with me as a child. My second son, I had to try hard to get him. It took me two years.
Stefan Lekhi: If he had extended his stay a little more, he couldn’t have come because then he would be subject to mobilization.
Kazimiera Lekhi: He would go to the army as an adult. He would have to try to leave Poland on his own.
Stefan Lekhi: Just a couple of days before the deadline…
Kazimiera Lekhi: We came here 4 days before his birthday but we got help at the American Embassy. We went without having undergone any medical examinations. We had no documents, we just wanted to get here before the deadline. He had a lot on his mind here. He was on his third year there. He had to learn for 10 more years here. Here medical studies are organized differently. The university studies take 4 years, 4 years of medicine and 4 years of residence, a kind of training, low-paid work. When he was 32 he became a doctor here. But now he is 48 and he has been a doctor…
Stefan Lekhi: Well, he decided to stay here because he got to know one doctor here who told him straight away: “Why did you come here, son? There is nothing for you to do here, you should better go back to Poland”. He met another doctor [ns 00:02:35]. The latter invited him to his place, showed his home, his work, took him to visit his hospital, showed him surgeries and then my son understood that it’s better than in Poland. He said: “I’ve learnt more during one summer holiday than during an entire year of medical studies”.
Kazimiera Lekhi: He has five children now and such a big house. He lives in West Virginia, he has a good job there and that’s where he settled.
Moderator: And your other son, is he here as well?
Kazimiera Lekhi: Yes, he is. He is a physiotherapist. But he came from Poland on his own, I didn’t have to bring him here, I had to… We got green cards when we came here, thanks to my mum.
Moderator: Because my mother came…
Kazimiera Lekhi: She visited her brother. They didn’t want to give my mother a visa so that she could travel. Back then it was horrible. Especially in Bydgoszcz. I’d tried so many times to visit my mother but they always declined.
Moderator: And mother came to visit but she had papers with her, she had her citizenship.
Kazimiera Lekhi: Yes, she did. My mother never lost her citizenship and she came… Americans deemed her as a citizen but Poles didn’t.
Moderator: But your mother spoke English at the time, right?
Kazimiera Lekhi: No, she didn’t. She learnt a little in Poland. No, my mum came when she was 10. She was a part of the Polish community. Besides, she only attended a Polish school. No, no. My mum was a quick learner because she knew that she will go there so she attended courses. My mum has earned her old age pension here. We came and we have earned our pensions here as well.
Kazimiera Lekhi: We travel a lot but now there is no one waiting for us in Poland anymore. Our whole family is here.
Stefan Lekhi: Since we came here we have visited Poland three times. We had to sell the flat, handle everything and it’s not that easy. You had lived there for so long and you had to do away with everything, just like that. So we went there three times and each visit lasted three months. After that we didn’t go there anymore because we had no reason to do so. My parents died, I only have two sisters in Poland. They get by there and I get by here.
Kazimiera Lekhi: They don’t want to. We invite them over but they don’t want to come.
Stefan Lekhi: We can always invite them but they don’t want to come. They say: “Why should we come here?”.
Kazimiera Lekhi: I invited a lot of people. When I came here, I have this list of over 30 people that I’ve invited. I wanted them to come here, to earn some money, because some women came here. You know, even now a woman comes and she can earn 35 thousand per year, she takes her dollars and she goes back to Poland. Especially in care, taking care of the elderly, because she works 24-hour shifts, 6 days a week. You have to speak a little English. Now there are no Poles here. The entire Polish community has died out. What I mean is that my mum was the last of them. The Polish community is no more. Nobody speaks Polish anymore.
Moderator: You didn’t want to move out, did you? Didn’t you think about moving out?
Kazimiera Lekhi: You know, we don’t want to. There is just the two of us. I really like… I really don’t mind. You know, I don’t insult anyone. We just live here undisturbed. I can go anywhere, all the shops are Polish. Here we live like in Poland. We eat Polish food. I have to go everywhere by car. I can’t do any errands because everything is quite far from my home.
Stefan Lekhi: We are only speaking of the cons but in America there are also pros.
Kazimiera Lekhi: We have friends, we meet here. We live a little like in Poland.
Stefan Lekhi: When you walk the street some other man says “Hi” or “How are you?”
Kazimiera Lekhi: Everyone is friendly. Black people too.
Stefan Lekhi: They treat you differently here. It’s just that here people see people, they try to get along. In the open it’s different because of the vast spaces, houses aren’t close to one another. You just drive out of the garage then into the garage without actually seeing anyone. People live in isolation.
Kazimiera Lekhi: A totally different life.
Stefan Lekhi: Yes. And here, the atmosphere is different. I heard one man said that he moved from Hamtramck to another neighbourhood up north. And there no people were to be seen. His mother says: “I live here like on a desert. I want to go back to Hamtramck”. It’s different. Even when you sit in front of the house you can see cars passing by, people getting off, getting in, they walk here, some passer-by says “Hi”, you can have a chat.
Kazimiera Lekhi: It’s a shame that a lot of Poles moved out.
Moderator: But you still have your friends here.
Kazimiera Lekhi: Yes, we do.
Stefan Lekhi: Yes, we have many friends. Here, they don’t have time to meet and we are retired. It’s Sunday for us all week long …
Kazimiera Lekhi: Our time.
Stefan Lekhi: But not for our friends. When we go to church, to Ludwik…
Kazimiera Lekhi: You know, we have a lot of friends here…
Stefan Lekhi: This is why I’m afraid to go there…
Kazimiera Lekhi: Yes.
Stefan Lekhi: There is this tradition that one or two women bake cakes and bring them so that anyone can have a slice for free. Anyone can throw in a dollar or two into the jar. And you get cake. The priest prepares coffee in a room. It’s a big assembly room and people gather there, drink coffee, eat cakes and talk. Some talks even last for two hours. They all know each other and it’s the only time when you can talk about everything. And most of our friends are there.
Kazimiera Lekhi: You know, it’s too far to get to other neighbourhoods. Because when you go to someone living in a distant neighbourhood, you practically have to make half a day off to do so. We also have friends who visit us…
Moderator: But you rather meet at homes. There is no such venue where…
Stefan Lekhi: No, no, there isn’t.
Kazimiera Lekhi: Maybe there are some venues somewhere but a dinner at a restaurant or…
Moderator: What restaurant do you like?
Kazimiera Lekhi: We don’t eat at restaurants often but when we do, we choose different restaurants.
Stefan Lekhi: No, we mainly eat at the “Polonia” restaurant because we know the manager there. But sometimes we eat at an Arabic restaurant for a change, to try their food. But it’s rarely because we really don’t like their cuisine.
Kazimiera Lekhi: I don’t like eating at restaurants. That’s a fact.
