The present thesis applies the method of historical institutionalism to analyze the repatriation policies of Poland and the way they have worked in practice. It describes the development of repatriation from the territory of the former Soviet Union, starting from the First World War to present. It examines the institutional changes that contributed to the current Repatriation Act and puts these changes into a deeper context. The following section introduces the "Karta Polaka" (lit. The Pole's Card), which according to the lawmakers, aims at materializing its holder's moral commitment to Polonia. To ensure the proper working of the "Karta Polaka"in practice, it was also necessary to amend the Citizenship Act - the relevant components of which will be also discussed in the thesis. By describing the development of the institution of the "Karta Polaka", my goal is to prove that the primary aim of helping the Polish diaspora in the East is no longer entirely true. In addition, thanks to the simple conditions for obtaining the "Karta Polaka", as well as a series of amendments to the law, it rather serves the purpose of repatriation, as the holders of the card can apply for Polish citizenship after a year. Although both laws are aimed at a different group of people, the "Karta Polaka" is gradually taking over the...

This thesis deals with a Polish national group in Germany, Polonia, comprising about 2 million Poles and Germans with Polish origin. Polonia has a very well-developed organizational structure in Germany that takes care of Polish culture, language and traditions, as well as stands up for its rights listed in the Polish-German Treaty from the Polish-German Treaty of Good Neighborhood and Friendly Cooperation of 1991. Periodical roundtables and conferences that are crucial for the Polish-German dialogue show problems that the Polish group faces. There are asymmetries in the fulfilment of the Polish-German treaty of 1991, which guarantee the same rights for the Polish group in Germany as for the German minority in Poland: whereas the latter is officially recognized as a national minority in Poland, the former has not been awarded the minority status. Furthermore, there is a lack of funding in the case of Polonia, which prevents the effective functioning of Polish organizations, and the unsatisfactory level of teaching Polish at public schools. Author of the thesis comes to the conclusion that although the Polish national group is not a de jure recognized national minority, it de facto has the rights that are commonly attributed to a national minority. Moreover, the analysis showed that the Poles are...