German newspaper Die Welt recently ran an article on Iceland’s largest ethnic minority, which has now been translated into English.
The article in question talks to Poles living in the town of Akranes. It points out that while the Polish population of Iceland has halved since the 2008 economic crash, that still leaves some 10,000 of them. For many of them, the attraction to Iceland was an economic one.
Patricia, a former flute student at the Music Academy in Krakow, told Die Welt, “In Poland, I had to work 60 hours or more a week just to make ends meet. Here, I work 20. It’s a safe country. There is no crime, no corruption. You don’t have to worry that you’ll go broke in the middle of the month.”
The article contends that Poles integrate into Icelandic society because “they understand the principle of Icelandic society: work. People who do not work here are severely frowned upon.”
Overall, the article provides a window into the daily lives of some of Iceland’s Poles. You can read the English version here, or read the original German.
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