Polish exiles in the West after 1939 were in the vanguard of the movement for European integration and rank with the so-called founding fathers of European unity for the fertility of their ideas. Unprepared to return to a communist-dominated homeland they debated how the perennial insecurity of their country could be overcome if and when the Iron Curtain came down. After intensive discussions in their journals and in various clubs and societies over half a century they concluded that Poland's independence, economic growth and social development could only be guaranteed by membership in a European association of states. To this end they formulated and refined their federalist conceptions and participated actively in west European organizations such as the Council of Europe and the European Movement. Their political activities are set in the context of international relations during the Cold War. Interviews with leading figures in post-communist Poland assess the impact of the exiles on Polish attitudes to the European Union.