Youth Polish Diaspora in Chicago and their Relations with the Ukrainian Diaspora in the Context of the Full-Scale War in Ukraine

The launch of the full-scale war in Ukraine by the Russian Federation (2022) has had an impact on millions of young people, not only in Central and Eastern European countries. In this article, on the basis of in-depth interviews conducted in Chicago, USA, the author takes a closer look at the attitudes of young Americans towards the armed conflict in Ukraine. The study involved 8 young Americans, representatives of the Polish and Ukrainian diasporas, selected using the so-called snowball method, residents of Chicago. The thesis of the article is: “The full-scale attack by the Russian Federation on Ukraine in 2022 contributed to deepening the sense of Polish and Ukrainian identity among the American youth surveyed”, additionally, the paper explores the theories describing the very concept of ‘diaspora’. The results of surveys conducted with the respondents show that the aggression of the Russian Federation has had an impact on young Americans of Polish and Ukrainian origin, affecting not only their sense of being tied to the country of their ancestors, but also motivating them to become more active in the diaspora community.