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Poland Germans
The German population of Poland is centered in the
southern
industrial region of Silesia, but a small population
remains in
the northeastern region that had been East Prussia in the
nineteenth century. As was the case with other ethnic
minorities,
only approximate estimates of numbers were available in
1991.
Definition and quantification of the German population of
Polish
Silesia vary greatly according to the time and the source
of
statistics. The communist regimes of Poland counted only
2,500
Germans through 1989. In 1992 German minority
organizations,
whose activities increased markedly after 1990, claimed
that over
300,000 Silesians, concentrated in Opole District, were
ethnic
Germans
(see
fig. 1). The official Polish estimate at that
time,
however, was 100,000 ethnic Germans.
The constant shifting of Silesia between Polish and
German
control during several centuries created a unique ethnic
amalgam
and regional self-consciousness. Whatever the original
ethnic
composition of the region, the Silesians themselves
developed a
separate culture that borrowed liberally from both Polish
and
German. The predominant spoken language is a heavily
Germanized
dialect of Polish.
Although the Silesians retained close traditional ties
with
their locality and their own group, in the early 1990s
they could
not ignore the difference between their standard of living
and
that of nearby Germany. Many non-German Silesians very
likely
declared themselves ethnic Germans to receive preferential
treatment from the German government; this practice played
a
major role in the diversity of minority population
estimates.
Some Silesians were bitter over the resettlement policy
of
the postwar communist governments and other forms of
anti-German
discrimination. Immediately following the end of Polish
communist
rule, a well-organized German faction in Silesia demanded
that
dual citizenship and other privileges be guaranteed the
German
minority in Poland by the forthcoming Polish-German
friendship
treaty
(see Foreign Relations
, ch. 4). In this demand they
were
joined by German citizens who had been expelled from the
German
territory awarded Poland after World War II. Ratification
of the
Polish-German treaty of friendship and cooperation in 1991
blunted the impact of radicals, however, and promoted
pragmatic
local cooperation rather than confrontation between Poles
and
Germans in Silesia.
Postcommunist Polish governments established no firm
criteria
for proving German nationality; in most cases, oral
declarations
were accepted as sufficient proof. Beginning in 1989, the
Social
Cultural Association began propagating German culture in
Silesia.
By 1992 the group had initiated German instruction in 260
schools, stocked libraries with German materials, and
arranged
technical instruction in Germany for Silesian health and
education workers. The special ties with Germany make
Opole one
of the most prosperous regions in Poland; the Silesian
Germans
provide important resources to the local economy, and the
lifestyle of many Silesian communities resembles that of
Germany
more than that of Poland. Although many non-German
Silesians
feared that the spread of German economic and cultural
influences
would erase the unique ethnic qualities of their region
and the
idea of German dominance retained some negative historical
associations, in the early 1990s postcommunist aspirations
for
the prosperity promised by German connections remained an
important factor in public opinion on the German ethnic
issue.
A smaller concentration of Germans became active and
visible
for the first time in 1990 in Olsztyn District in
northeastern
Poland, although the resettlement of the 1950s and ongoing
emigration had reduced the German population there
substantially
between 1956 and 1980. In 1992 estimates of the group's
size
ranged from 5,000 to 12,000. Beginning in 1990, several
German
cultural associations appeared in the region with the aims
of
preventing discrimination and preserving German culture.
Association members received transportation to and
employment
opportunities in Germany, and the German government
contributed
money to support association activities in the early
1990s.
Data as of October 1992
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