Suchergebnisse

When an independent Polish state was reestablished in 1919, its border included huge numbers of non-Polish ethnic, religious, & national groups, including four different groups of Germans. Relations with the Germans were complicated by border disputes & the post-Versailles settlement. Between 1944 & 1949, about 3 million Germans living in Poland were evicted or emigrated to Germany in a form of ethnic cleansing. Many of those remaining were in Upper Silesia & autochthons, speakers of German dialects who claimed they were Germanicized Slavs so that they would be allowed to stay in their homeland. This group was subject to official discrimination, since German speaking was not allowed. Over time, some emigrated to Germany, where their Catholicism, Slavic origins, & dialect also set them apart. Large numbers of this group still in Upper Silesia now view themselves as Germans, & the German government encourages active links with this population. M. Pflum

Traces the history of the ethnic German population of the Upper Silesia region in Poland & its relation to the ethnic Poles. The self-perception of the Germans has undergone many changes in the last 45 years, due to the changing views of ethnicity & changing policies of the German state since WWII. Attempts at assimilation have been made by the Polish state, while the German population has organized political interest groups. It is concluded that lasting peace in a liberal democratic environment can only succeed if these ethnic groups develop a notion of common nationality that does not depend directly on ethnic heritage. 32 References. M. Wagner

Discusses the history, assimilation, and political attitudes of the ethnic German minority in Poland; some focus on political activities of Germans in Upper Silesia. Includes role of this minority with regard to Polish-German relations.

Resistance to the Socialist Unity Party of Germany by elements within the Church since the early 1980s; prospects for church/state relations in the united Germany.

Since 1949.