Polish Military Organization of Upper Silesia
114-565: Zabrze ( Polish pronunciation: [ˈzabʐɛ] ; German: 1915–1945: Hindenburg O.S. , full form: Hindenburg in Oberschlesien , Silesian : Zŏbrze , Yiddish : זאַבזשע , romanized : Zabzhe ) is an industrial city in Silesia in southern Poland , near Katowice . It lies in the western part of the Metropolis GZM , a metropolis with a population of around 2 million. It
228-510: A chairman appointed by the Council of the League, should draw up economic regulations as well as a statute for the protection of minorities, which were to have a duration of fifteen years. Special measures were threatened in the event that either of the two states should refuse to participate in the drawing up of such regulations, or to accept them subsequently. In May 1922, the League of Nations issued
342-552: A consensus on the interpretation of the plebiscite. The primary problem was the disposition of the "Industrial Triangle" east of the Oder river, whose triangle ends were marked by the cities of Beuthen (Bytom), Gleiwitz (Gliwice) and Kattowitz (Katowice). The French wanted to weaken Germany, and thus supported Polish claims on the territory; the British and the Italians disagreed, in part because
456-644: A decision, stressing the principle of self-determination . On the basis of the reports of this commission and those of its experts, in October 1921 the Council awarded the greater part of the Upper Silesian industrial district to Poland. The Polish Government had decided to give Silesia considerable autonomy with the Silesian Parliament as a constituency and the Silesian Voivodeship Council as
570-475: A dialect of Polish" (" Das Schlesische ... kann somit ... ohne Zweifel als Dialekt des Polnischen beschrieben werden "). In Czechia, disagreement exists concerning the Lach dialects which rose to prominence thanks to Óndra Łysohorsky and his translator Ewald Osers . While some have considered it a separate language, most now view Lach as a dialect of Czech. There have been a number of attempts at codifying
684-535: A false announcement of the fall of Warsaw to the Red Army in the Polish–Soviet War . Pro-German activists spontaneously organised a march to celebrate what they assumed would be the end of independent Poland. The volatile situation quickly degenerated into violence as pro-German demonstrators began looting Polish shops; the violence continued even after it had become clear that Warsaw had not fallen . On 19 August,
798-574: A labour dispute at the Mysłowice mine ( Myslowitzer Grube ). The massacre sparked protests from the Silesian Polish miners, including a general strike of about 140,000 workers, and caused the First Silesian uprising against German control of Upper Silesia. The miners demanded the local government and police become ethnically mixed to include both Germans and Poles. About 21,000 German soldiers of
912-1018: A language of prayers. The Lord's Prayer in Silesian, Polish, Czech, and English: Fatrze nŏsz, kery jeżeś we niebie, bydź poświyncōne miano Twoje. Przińdź krōlestwo Twoje, bydź wola Twoja, jako we niebie, tak tyż na ziymi. Chlyb nŏsz kŏżdodziynny dej nōm dzisiŏk. A ôdpuś nōm nasze winy, jako a my ôdpuszczōmy naszym winnikōm. A niy wōdź nŏs na pokuszyniy, nale zbŏw nŏs ôde złygo. Amyn. Ojcze nasz, któryś jest w niebie, święć się imię Twoje, przyjdź królestwo Twoje, bądź wola Twoja jako w niebie tak i na ziemi. Chleba naszego powszedniego daj nam dzisiaj. I odpuść nam nasze winy, jako i my odpuszczamy naszym winowajcom. I nie wódź nas na pokuszenie, ale nas zbaw od złego. Amen. Otče náš, jenž jsi na nebesích, posvěť se jméno Tvé Přijď království Tvé. Buď vůle Tvá, jako v nebi, tak i na zemi. Chléb náš vezdejší dej nám dnes A odpusť nám naše viny, jako i my odpouštíme naším viníkům
1026-426: A language. Jan Miodek and Dorota Simonides , both of Silesian origin, prefer to see the preservation of the entire range of Silesian dialects rather than standardization . The German linguist Reinhold Olesch was greatly interested in the "Polish vernaculars" of Upper Silesia and other Slavic varieties such as Kashubian and Polabian . The United States Immigration Commission in 1911 classified it as one of
1140-633: A leading role as a Freikorps officer in the "vicious fighting" in Upper Silesia in 1921, became a SS- Brigadeführer in World War Two who committed one of the worse massacres ever in Greek history when his men massacred the entire village of Distomo on 10 June 1944. Under the Sanation regime, Michał Grażyński , was appointed as the voivode of Polish Upper Silesia in 1927. Graźyński became involved in
1254-481: A lengthy feud with Korfanty and went out of his way to downplay and minimize Korfanty's role in the uprisings. By contrast, Graźyński vastly inflated his own role in the uprising of 1921 as he described himself as the "chief insurgent" and the "sole liberator" of Upper Silesia, an attempt to rewrite history in his favor that made him unpopular in Upper Silesia. The fact that Grażyński was from Galicia led him being viewed as an outsider in Upper Silesia. During his time as
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#17328511431181368-474: A neuveď nás v pokušení, ale zbav nás od zlého. Amen. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen. Silesian has many dialects: Opinions are divided among linguists regarding whether Silesian
1482-522: A number of people would end up on the "wrong" side of the frontier. In late April 1921, rumours spread that the British position would prevail, prompting the local Polish activists to organise an uprising. The insurrection was to begin in early in May. Having learned from previous failures, the Third War was carefully planned and organized under the leadership of Wojciech Korfanty . It started on 2–3 May 1921, with
1596-459: A pig-iron output of 570,000 tonnes, 170,000 tonnes remained German, and 400,000 tonnes became Polish. Of 16 zinc and lead mines, which produced 233,000 tons in 1920, only 4, with an output of 44,000 tonnes, remained German. The main towns of Königshütte (Chorzów), Kattowitz (Katowice), and Tarnowitz (Tarnowskie Góry) were given to Poland. In the Silesian territory that Poland regained, the Germans were
1710-701: A referendum in Upper Silesia in the Treaty of Versailles was a compromise to resolve the Anglo-French dispute at the Paris peace conference. Around the German city of Posen turned the Polish city of Poznań , an uprising by the Polish majority in December 1918 had left about 2,900 people dead, and it was felt preferable to have a plebiscite in Upper Silesia and rather a resort to arms as being
1824-457: A significant minority. Similarly, a significant minority of Poles (about half a million Poles) was still left on the German side, most of them in Oppeln (Opole). In order to mitigate the hardships likely to arise from the partition of a district that was essentially an economic unit, it was decided, on the recommendation of the Council of the League of Nations, that German and Polish delegates, under
1938-650: A very high-handed and harsh manner. The First World War was a period in Upper Silesia of collapsing living standards as wages failed to keep up with inflation; almost everyone suffered from shortages of food and working hours were increased in the mines and factories. The nationalist climate produced by the Spirit of 1914 , with its sense that all Germans should rally behind the Kaiser in the war effort, led members of Germany's Polish minority to feel more excluded and marginalized than before 1914. The subject of an independent Polish state
2052-580: A violent policy of Germanizing the "recovered lands". During the German occupation, Polish veterans of the Upper Silesia uprisings were hunted down and killed as enemies of the Reich . For this reason alone, the Polish veterans tended to be overrepresented in the Polish resistance. In 1945, all of Upper Silesia was annexed to Poland. During the Communist era, the government in Warsaw took an ultra-nationalist line to rebut
2166-418: Is Górnik Zabrze , one of the most accomplished Polish football clubs , 14 times Polish champions , 6 times Polish Cup winners, and 1969–70 European Cup Winners' Cup runners-up, as the only Polish team to reach the final stage of a major European football competition. Other popular team is NMC Górnik Zabrze , two times Polish men's handball champions and three times Polish Cup winners. Both teams compete in
2280-634: Is a distinct language, a dialect of Polish, or, in the case of Lach , a variety of Czech. The issue can be contentious, because some Silesians consider themselves to be a distinct nationality within Poland. When Czechs, Poles, and Germans each made claims to substantial parts of Silesia as constituting an integral part of their respective nation-states in the 19th and 20th centuries, the language of Slavic-speaking Silesians became politicized. Some, like Óndra Łysohorsky (a poet and author in Czechoslovakia ), saw
2394-664: Is an Honorary Consulate of Armenia in Zabrze. There is a khachkar in Zabrze commemorating the Armenian–Polish friendship . Zabrze is twinned with: Silesian language Silesian , occasionally called Upper Silesian , is an ethnolect of the Lechitic group spoken by part of people in Upper Silesia . Its vocabulary was significantly influenced by Central German due to the existence of numerous Silesian German speakers in
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#17328511431182508-547: Is in question-forming. In standard Polish, questions which do not contain interrogative words are formed either by using intonation or the interrogative particle czy . In Silesian, questions which do not contain interrogative words are formed by using intonation (with a markedly different intonation pattern than in Polish) or inversion (e.g. Je to na karcie? ); there is no interrogative particle. According to Jan Miodek , standard Polish has always been used by Upper Silesians as
2622-697: Is in the Silesian Highlands , on the Bytomka River, a tributary of the Oder . Zabrze is located in the Silesian Voivodeship . It is one of the cities composing the 2.7 million inhabitant conurbation referred to as the Katowice urban area , itself a major centre in the greater Katowice-Ostrava metropolitan area which is populated by just over five million people. The population of Zabrze as of December 2021
2736-592: Is in this alphabet as is some of the Silesian Misplaced Pages , although some of it is in Steuer's alphabet. It is used in a few books, including the Silesian alphabet book . One of the first alphabets created specifically for Silesian was Steuer's Silesian alphabet , created in the Interwar period and used by Feliks Steuer for his poems in Silesian. The alphabet consists of 30 graphemes and eight digraphs : Based on
2850-536: Is located just outside the city limits. In addition the Polish National roads 78, 88 and 94 also run through the city. The Drogowa Trasa Srednicowa leads through the town. Among the cultural institutions of the town are the Zabrze Philharmonic [ pl ] and Teatr Nowy ("New Theatre"). Dom Muzyki i Tańca ("House of Music and Dance") indoor arena is located in Zabrze. The local museums are
2964-510: Is revolting the number of murders that took place, generally at night and in the woods, which no amount of patrolling could stop. For instance, a one-armed German ex-soldier was taken out and murdered by the Poles one night, and the same night the French reported several murders by the Germans near their post in the woods close by". Wilson wrote that these tactics were not "the triumph of innate barbarism in
3078-491: The Allies . The area in Upper Silesia east of the Oder was dominated by ethnic Poles, most of whom were working class. Most spoke a dialect of Polish, a few felt they were a Slavic group of their own called Silesians . In contrast, most of the local middle and upper classes were ethnic Germans, including the landowners, businessmen, factory owners, local government, police, and Catholic clergy. The population of Upper Silesia
3192-818: The Coal Mining Museum [ pl ] , the Municipal Museum and the Military Technology Museum. The Maciej mine shaft and the Main Key Adit ( Główna Kluczowa Sztolnia Dziedziczna ), one of the longest such structures in Europe, are open for tourists. The historic coal mines of Zabrze are listed as a Historic Monument of Poland . Among the historical architecture there are many industrial facilities, as well as various churches, houses, public buildings, etc. Important monuments of architecture were built
3306-579: The Communist Party of Germany won the local elections and proposed changing the name of the city to Leninburg . In 1928, among the largest cities in western Upper Silesia, Polish parties received the most votes in Zabrze. In the March 1933 elections , most of the citizens voted for the Nazi Party , followed by Zentrum and the Communist Party . Nazi politician Max Fillusch became the city's mayor and remained in
3420-458: The Dorotheendorf settlement was founded. In 1791, a coking coal seam was discovered in Zabrze, and then its first coking coal mine was opened. In the 19th century, new coal mines, steelworks, factories and a power plant were created. A road connecting Gliwice and Chorzów and a railway connecting Opole and Świętochłowice were led through Zabrze. In 1905, the Zabrze commune was formed by
3534-502: The Entente appeared to have no troops ready and available for dispatch. The only action the 'Inter-Allied Military Control Commission' and the French government made was demanding immediate prohibition of the recruiting of German volunteers from outside Upper Silesia, and this was promptly made public. After the initial success of the insurgents in taking over a large portion of Upper Silesia,
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3648-690: The Expressionist and modernist styles, eg. the Admiralspalast Hotel (1924-1927), housing estate on Słowiański Square (1927-1928) and St Joseph's Church (1930-1931, designed by Dominikus Böhm ). There are also numerous monuments referring to the history of the city, especially the Silesian uprisings fought here and World War II . There is also a botanical garden and several parks in Zabrze. Members of Parliament ( Sejm ) elected from Bytom/Gliwice/Zabrze constituency The city's most renown sports team
3762-562: The German-Polish Accord on East Silesia , also known as the Geneva Accord , intended to preserve the economic unity of the area and to guarantee minority rights. The League also set up a tribunal to arbitrate disputes. Furthermore, in response to a German complaint about the importance of Silesian coal for the German industry, Germany was given the right to import 500,000 tons per year at discounted prices. In 1925, three years following
3876-712: The Habsburg monarchy when Ferdinand I of Austria was elected as the King of Bohemia. Frederick the Great of Prussia seized Silesia from Maria Theresa of Austria in 1742 in the War of Austrian Succession , after which it became a part of Prussia and subsequently, in 1871, the German Empire . Although the province of Silesia overall had by then become Germanized through the Ostsiedlung and later
3990-632: The Kulturkampf , Poles constituted a majority in Upper Silesia. Upper Silesia was bountiful in mineral resources and heavy industry, with mines, iron and steel mills. The Silesian mines were responsible for almost a quarter of Germany's annual output of coal, 81 percent of its zinc and 34 percent of its lead. After World War I, during the negotiations of the Treaty of Versailles , the German government claimed that, without Upper Silesia, it would not be able to fulfill its obligations with regard to reparations to
4104-452: The League of Nations . The greatest excitement was caused all over Germany and in the German part of Upper Silesia by the intimation that the Council of the League of Nations had handed over the matter for closer investigation to a commission; this remained composed of four representatives, one each from Belgium , Brazil , Spain , and China . The commission collected its own data and issued
4218-602: The Ministry of Administration and Digitization registered the Silesian language in Annex 1 to the Regulation on the state register of geographical names; however, in a November 2013 amendment to the regulation, Silesian is not included. On 26 April 2024, the Sejm voted 236-186 with five abstentions to recognise Silesian as a regional language. On 29 May 2024, President Andrzej Duda vetoed
4332-572: The Reich that Poland might be reborn again after an Allied victory. During the First World War, about 56,000 men from Upper Silesia were killed fighting in the war with the heaviest losses being taken at the Battle of Somme in 1916. During the Paris peace conference in 1919, a strong division emerged between the British prime minister David Lloyd George who wanted Upper Silesia to remain within Germany vs.
4446-478: The Silesian Misplaced Pages was founded. On 30 June 2008 in the edifice of the Silesian Parliament in Katowice , a conference took place on the status of the Silesian language. This conference was a forum for politicians, linguists, representatives of interested organizations and persons who deal with the Silesian language. The conference was titled "Silesian – Still a Dialect or Already a Language?" ( Śląsko godka – jeszcze gwara czy jednak już język? ). In 2012,
4560-453: The Silesians as being their own distinct people, which culminated in his effort to create a literary standard which he called the "Lachian language". Silesian inhabitants supporting the cause of each of these ethnic groups had their own robust network of supporters across Silesia's political borders which shifted over the course of the 20th century prior to the large-scale ethnic cleansing in
4674-525: The Soviet Union , while other inhabitants were expelled west in accordance to the Potsdam Agreement . However, in stark contrast to the other cities in the so-called Recovered Territories , three quarters of the mostly bilingual inhabitants were spared expulsion. Following World War II , according to the Potsdam Agreement the city was handed over to Poland in 1945 and the town's name was changed to
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4788-522: The Stalag VIII-B /344 prisoner-of-war camp in the city, two of which operated in the local coal mines, and also a subcamp of Auschwitz III was located there. Another subcamp of Stalag VIII-B/344 (E51) was operated at a coal mine in the present-day Mikulczyce district. On 24 January 1945, the Soviets captured the city, then committed a massacre of some 100 inhabitants, and later deported some inhabitants to
4902-573: The four major dialects of Polish , while others classify it as a separate regional language, distinct from Polish. According to the official data from the 2021 Polish census , about 500 thousand people consider Silesian as their native language . Internationally, Silesian has been fully recognized as a language since 2007, when it was accorded the ISO 639-3 registration code szl . Several efforts have been made to gain recognition for Silesian as an official regional language in Poland. In April 2024,
5016-553: The voivode which lasted until 1939, Grażyński held gigantic rallies to honor the anniversary of the uprising of 1921 every May 3rd that were meant as much to honor himself as the anniversary of the uprising. Grażyński's rallies were boycotted by Korfanty and his supporters who complained that he was taking all of the credit for the uprisings for himself. Jan Kustos , the leader of the Upper Silesia Defense League that wanted autonomy for Upper Silesia in Poland criticised
5130-415: The "corpses of both men and women have been mutilated". The most common means of mutilation was by smashing in the face with rifle butts into a bloody mash. Likewise, castration of prisoners were a common tactic, again as a way to show dominance and to literally "unman" the other side. Violence against the genitals was the second common form of mutilation of faces. One British Army officer wrote in 1921 "It
5244-584: The 13th century. The present-day districts of Mikulczyce and Rokitnica were locations of motte-and-bailey castles from the 13th-15th century, which are now archaeological sites. In the 1970s, archaeologists discovered an Epipalaeolithic flintwork and flint tools from the Mesolithic at the Mikulczyce archaeological site. In the Late Middle Ages , the local Silesian Piast dukes invited German settlers into
5358-466: The 1921 uprising. The British historian Tim Wilson wrote about sexual violence by the German forces: "Eighteen such incidents can be easily verified. Many of these were multiple rapes; in other cases of mass rape the number of victims were not even given". In September 1922, the Polish government submitted a detailed dossier about the rape of Polish Upper Silesian women to the League of Nations. Wilson also wrote that rape of women believed to be supporting
5472-436: The Allied forces were too few to maintain order. Further, the commission was torn apart by lack of consensus: the British and Italians favored the Germans, while the French supported the Poles. The British blamed this situation on France's intent on limiting Germany's industrial might. Those forces failed to prevent continuing unrest. In August 1920, a German newspaper in Upper Silesia printed what later turned out to be
5586-498: The Freikorps (Free Corps), a paramilitary organization whose troops fought any pro-Polish activists. The pro-Poland side employed the Polish Military Organisation ( POW ) – a secret military organisation and predecessor of Polish intelligence – to fight back with the same force. The majority of the men serving in the para-military forces on both sides were veterans of the First World War and were experienced soldiers, accustomed to fighting and killing. In addition, most of
5700-408: The French Premier Georges Clemenceau who supported the Polish claim to Upper Silesia. The Treaty of Versailles, signed in 1919, had ordered a plebiscite in Upper Silesia , to determine whether the territory should be a part of Germany or Poland. The plebiscite was to be held within two years of the Treaty in the whole of Upper Silesia, although the Polish government had only requested it to be held in
5814-415: The French responsible for the easy spread of the uprising through the eastern region. The fighting was slowly brought to an end in September, by a combination of allied military operations and negotiations between the parties. The Poles obtained the disbanding of the Sipo police and the creation of a new police ( Abstimmungspolizei ) for the area, which would be 50% Polish. Poles were also admitted to
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#17328511431185928-416: The German Grenzschutz several times resisted the attacks of Wojciech Korfanty's Polish troops, in some cases with the cooperation of British and Italian troops. An attempt on the part of the British troops to take steps against the Polish forces was prevented by General Jules Gratier, the French commander-in-chief of the Allied troops. Eventually, the insurgents kept most of territory they had won, including
6042-430: The German cause by "Polish militants" was "relatively common". Mutilation by both sides were a common tactic as a way to show dominance over the other side. Both sides liked to mutilate the faces of their victims to the point of obliviating the face as a way to show their dominance by robbing the victim of not only their lives, but even their identities that they held in life. Reports from the British officers state that
6156-444: The German government declared that a loss of the Silesian industries would render Germany incapable of paying the demanded war reparations . Devising a frontier that was mutually acceptable to both sides proved to be impossible because in many of the contested districts of Upper Silesia, the people in the urban areas tended to vote for staying in Germany while the rural areas voted for going to Poland. Thus, any division would mean that
6270-468: The German president Frederich Ebert bowed to the ultimatum and banned the Freikorps . Twelve days after the outbreak of the insurrection, Korfanty offered to take his troops behind a line of demarcation (the "Korfanty Line"), conditional on the released territory not being re-occupied by German forces, but by Allied troops. It was not, however, until 1 July that the British troops arrived in Upper Silesia and began to advance in company with those of
6384-406: The Polish Sejm took a significant step by passing a bill recognizing it as such, however, the bill was vetoed by President Andrzej Duda on 29 May 2024. Silesian speakers currently live in the region of Upper Silesia , which is split between southwestern Poland and the northeastern Czech Republic . At present Silesian is commonly spoken in the area between the historical border of Silesia on
6498-402: The Roman Catholic Church was the subject of at least one dissertation presented by a Seminary student. As a frontier area, Upper Silesia was placed under martial law in August 1914 and remained so for rest of the war. The German military administrators distrusted the Poles, taking the viewpoint that as Slavs, they were naturally sympathetic towards the Russians , and governed Upper Silesia in
6612-405: The Silesian Recovered Territories after its end. Before World War II , most Slavic-language speakers also knew German and, at least in eastern Upper Silesia, many German speakers were acquainted with Slavic Silesian. According to the last official census in Poland in 2021 , about 460,000 people declared Silesian as their native language , whereas in the country's census of 2011 , the figure
6726-672: The Slavic Silesian language was given the ISO 639-3 code szl . On 6 September 2007, 23 politicians of the Polish parliament made a statement about a new law to give Silesian the official status of a regional language . The first official National Dictation Contest of the Silesian language ( Ogólnopolskie Dyktando Języka Śląskiego ) took place in August 2007. In dictation as many as 10 forms of writing systems and orthography have been accepted. On 30 January 2008 and in June 2008, two organizations promoting Silesian language were established: Pro Loquela Silesiana and Tôwarzistwo Piastowaniô Ślónskij Môwy "Danga" . On 26 May 2008,
6840-453: The Steuer alphabet, in 2006 the Silesian Phonetic Alphabet [ szl ] was proposed: Silesian's phonetic alphabet replaces the digraphs with single letters ( Sz with Š , etc.) and does not include the letter Ł , whose sound can be represented phonetically with U . It is therefore the alphabet that contains the fewest letters. Although it is the most phonetically logical, it did not become popular with Silesian organizations, with
6954-446: The Third Silesian Uprising broke out and Hindenburg was captured by Polish insurgents, who held it until the end of the uprising. When Upper Silesia was divided between Poland and Germany in 1921, the Hindenburg commune remained in Germany, while the present-day districts of Kończyce, Makoszowy and Pawłów were reintegrated with Poland. It received its city charter in 1922. Just five years after receiving city rights Hindenburg became
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#17328511431187068-453: The Weimar Republic's Provisional National Army ( Vorläufige Reichsheer ), with about 40,000 troops held in reserve, quickly put down the uprising. The army's reaction was harsh, with 2,500 Poles either hanged or executed by firing squad for their parts in the protest. Some 9,000 ethnic Poles sought refuge in the Second Polish Republic, taking along their family members. This came to an end when Allied forces were brought in to restore order, and
7182-453: The absence of social constraint", but rather were tactics quite consciously chosen to express contempt and dominance. Much of the grotesque violence was due to the fluidity of identities in Upper Silesia where many people saw themselves as neither German nor Polish, but rather Silesian, thus leading to nationalists to take extreme measures to polarize society into diametrically opposed blocs. In May-June 1921, at least 1,760 people were killed in
7296-547: The aftermath of World War II . Some linguists from Poland, such as Jolanta Tambor, Juan Lajo, Tomasz Wicherkiewicz , philosopher Jerzy Dadaczyński, sociologist Elżbieta Anna Sekuła, and sociolinguist Tomasz Kamusella , support its status as a language. According to Stanisław Rospond, it is impossible to classify Silesian as a dialect of the contemporary Polish language because he considers it to be descended from Old Polish . Other Polish linguists, such as Jan Miodek and Edward Polański , do not support its status as
7410-439: The area prior to World War II and after. The first mentions of Silesian as a distinct lect date back to the 16th century , and the first literature with Silesian characteristics to the 17th century . Linguistic distinctiveness of Silesian has long been a topic of discussion among Poland's linguists , especially after all of Upper Silesia was included within the Polish borders, following World War II. Some regard it as one of
7524-416: The area transferred to the newly founded Polish Republic , fought German police and paramilitary forces which sought to keep the area part of the new German state founded after World War I . Following the conflict, the area was divided between the two countries. The rebellions have subsequently been commemorated in modern Poland as an example of Polish nationalism . Despite central government involvement in
7638-432: The areas east of the Oder river, which had a significant number of Polish speakers. Thus, the plebiscite took place in all of Upper Silesia, including the predominantly Polish-speaking areas in the east and the predominantly German-speaking areas west of the river. The Upper Silesian plebiscite was to be conducted on 20 March 1921. In the meantime, the German administration and police remained in place. The requirement for
7752-423: The argument that it contains too many caron diacritics and hence resembles the Czech alphabet . Large parts of the Silesian Misplaced Pages, however, are written in Silesian's phonetic alphabet. Sometimes other alphabets are also used, such as the "Tadzikowy muster" (for the National Dictation Contest of the Silesian language ) or the Polish alphabet, but writing in this alphabet is problematic as it does not allow for
7866-469: The attendance at Polish services in the 1930s gradually decreased, according to Bund Deutscher Osten. Polish activists were increasingly persecuted since 1937. People were urged to Germanise their names, Polish inscriptions were removed from tombstones. Some Polish priests were expelled from the city, both before and during World War II . As a result of German persecution the Jewish community dropped from 1,154 people in 1933 to 551 in 1939, and its remainder
7980-419: The biggest city in German-ruled western Upper Silesia and the second biggest city in German-ruled Silesia after Wrocław (then Breslau ). Nevertheless, various Polish organizations still operated in the city in the interbellum , including a local branch of the Union of Poles in Germany , Polish libraries, sports clubs , credit unions , choirs, scout troops and an amateur theater. Polish newspaper Głos Ludu
8094-462: The bill. On 26 June 2024, Silesian was added to the languages offered in the Google Translate service. Silesian Uprisings The Silesian Uprisings (Polish: Powstania śląskie ; German: Aufstände in Oberschlesien, Polenaufstände ) were a series of three uprisings from August 1919 to July 1921 in Upper Silesia , which was part of the Weimar Republic at the time. Ethnic Polish and Polish-Silesian insurrectionists, seeking to have
8208-554: The border issue. In 1921, Adolf Hitler who was the best known member of the Munich-based National Socialist German Workers' Party, but not its leader, came into conflict with the party's founder and leader, Anton Drexler . In July 1921, the dispute came was resolved with Hitler seizing control of the party and deposing Drexler as a party leader. At the meeting in Munich that decided in favor of Hitler, it
8322-507: The case in Poznań. Meanwhile, propaganda and strong arm tactics by both sides led to increasing unrest. The German authorities warned that those voting for Poland might forfeit their jobs and pensions. Pro-Polish activists argued that, under Polish rule, Silesian Poles would no longer be discriminated against. Poland also promised to honour their German state social benefits, such as the old age pensions. However, many German Army veterans joined
8436-404: The central part of Poland also settled in Zabrze. The city limits were largely expanded in 1951, by including Mikulczyce , Rokitnica, Grzybowice, Makoszowy , Kończyce and Pawłów as new districts. New neighbourhoods were built from the 1950s to 1990s. In 1948, Górnik Zabrze football club was founded, which won its first Polish championship in 1957, and soon became the pride of the city as one of
8550-411: The charge that it was under Soviet domination, and placed great emphasis on the "recovered western territories" as the centerpiece of its claim for legitimacy. Władysław Gomułka gave a speech at Góra Świętej Anny on 1 May 1946 to honor the Poles killed fighting in the battle in 1921 and presented a line of continuity between the uprising of 1921 and his government. This was especially the case during
8664-628: The conflict, Polish historiography renders the events as uprisings reflecting the will of ordinary Upper Silesians rather than a war. Much of Silesia had belonged to the Crown of Polish Kingdom in medieval times, but it passed to the Kings of Bohemia under the Holy Roman Empire in the 14th century. Following the death of Louis II Jagiellon of Bohemia and Hungary in the Battle of Mohács , Silesia became part of
8778-461: The destruction of German rail bridges (see " Wawelberg Group ") in order to slow down the movement of German reinforcements. A particular concern was to prevent the recurrence of violent acts against Polish civilians by members of the Freikorps , demobilised Imperial German army units that had refused to disband. These paramilitary units existed throughout Germany and usually acted independently from both
8892-404: The development of the agreement and approaching the termination of the coal agreement, Germany refused to import the appropriate quantities of coal, attempting to use the coal issue as a lever against Poland, trying to impose a revision of the whole Polish-German frontier. Polish-German relations worsened, as Germany also began a tariff war with Poland, but the Polish government would not yield on
9006-483: The dialects of Polish. In their respective surveys of Slavic languages, most linguists writing in English, such as Alexander M. Schenker, Robert A. Rothstein, and Roland Sussex and Paul Cubberley list Silesian as a dialect of Polish, as does Encyclopædia Britannica . On the question of whether Silesian is a separate Slavic language, Gerd Hentschel wrote that "Silesian ... can thus ... without doubt be described as
9120-677: The differentiation and representation of all Silesian sounds. Silesian has recently seen an increased use in culture, for example: In 2003, the National Publishing Company of Silesia ( Narodowa Oficyna Śląska ) commenced operations. This publisher was founded by the Alliance of the People of the Silesian Nation ( Związek Ludności Narodowości Śląskiej ) and it prints books about Silesia and books in Silesian language. In July 2007,
9234-413: The dispatch of six battalions of Allied troops and the disbandment of the local guards, contributed markedly to the pacification of the district. The Allied Supreme Council was, however, still unable to come to an agreement on the partition of the Upper Silesian territory on the lines of the plebiscite; the British and the French could only agree on one solution: turning the question over to the Council of
9348-511: The east and a line from Syców to Prudnik on the west as well as in the Rawicz area. Until 1945, Silesian was also spoken in enclaves in Lower Silesia , where the majority spoke Lower Silesian , a variety of Central German . The German-speaking population was either evacuated en masse by German forces towards the end of the war or deported by the new administration upon the Polish annexation of
9462-474: The especially grandiose and expensive rally Grażyński organsed on 3rd May 1931 to mark the 10th anniversary of the uprising as a colossal waste of money, charging that it was unjust that millions of zlotys have been spent on the rally when so ordinary people were suffering from the Great Depression. In September 1939, Polish Upper Silesia was annexed to Germany, and during the German occupation, there were
9576-630: The executive body. Poland obtained almost exactly half of the 1,950,000 inhabitants, viz. , 965,000, but not quite a third of the territory, i.e., only 3,214 of 10,951 square kilometres (1,241 of 4,228 mi ). This, however, constituted the more valuable portion by far of the district. Of 61 coal mines 49 1 ⁄ 2 fell to Poland, the Prussian state losing 3 mines out of 4. Of a coal output of 31,750,000 tonnes, 24,600,000 tonnes fell to Poland. All iron mines with an output of 61,000 tonnes fell to Poland. Of 37 furnaces, 22 went to Poland, 15 to Germany. Of
9690-444: The fighting in Upper Silesia. The support of France for Poland proved to be crucial. On 23 May 1921, the Freikorps defeated the Poles at the Battle of Annaberg, which in turn led to a French ultimatum demanding that the Reich cease at once its support of the German para-military forces. The next day, much to the shock of the Freikorps who were expecting to follow up their victory by keeping all of Upper Silesia for Germany,
9804-402: The former communes Alt-Zabrze, Klein-Zabrze and Dorotheendorf. The Zabrze commune was renamed Hindenburg in 1915 in honour of Generalfeldmarschall Paul von Hindenburg . The name change was approved by Emperor Wilhelm II on 21 February 1915. Up until then, it was one of the few cities whose Polish name was retained during German rule. In 1904 the "Sokół" Polish Gymnastic Society in Zabrze
9918-551: The historic Zabrze on 19 May 1945. The first post-war mayor of Zabrze was Paweł Dubiel, pre-war Polish activist and journalist in Upper Silesia, prisoner of the Dachau and Mauthausen concentration camps during the war. The pre-war Polish inhabitants of the region, who formed the majority of the city's population in 1948, were joined by Poles expelled from former eastern Poland annexed by the Soviet Union . Moreover, Polish settlers from
10032-575: The idea of a Polish-Silesian Identity. Included among the statements within these texts was adherence to the Roman Catholic church. One such publisher was Ignacy Bulla (later changed to Buła in celebration), who would spread information related to these principles at risk to his own life and freedom. He is widely credited with having inspired the Polish-Silesian patriotic feelings that inspired the uprisings. His contribution to bringing Silesia back into
10146-743: The language spoken by Slavophones in Silesia. Probably the most well-known was undertaken by Óndra Łysohorsky when codifying the Lachian dialects in creating the Lachian literary language in the early 20th century. Ślabikŏrzowy szrajbōnek is the relatively new alphabet created by the Pro Loquela Silesiana organization to reflect the sounds of all Silesian dialects. It was approved by Silesian organizations affiliated in Rada Górnośląska . Ubuntu translation
10260-434: The local administration. The Polish Military Organisation in Upper Silesia was supposed to be disbanded, though in practice this did not happen. The Third Silesian Uprising ( Polish : Trzecie powstanie śląskie ) was the last, largest and longest of the three uprisings. It included the Battle of Annaberg and began in the aftermath of a plebiscite that yielded mixed results. The British and French governments could not reach
10374-488: The local industrial district. They proved that they could mobilize large amounts of local support, while the German forces based outside Silesia were barred from taking an active part in the conflict. The fighting in Upper Silesia was characterized by numerous atrocities on both sides with rape and mutilation being integral and routine methods of war. The men of both sides tended to conflate "national honor" and their sense of masculinity with their perceived ability to "protect"
10488-557: The men serving on the German side had served in the Freikorps ("Free Corps"), units of volunteers raised by the government to fight against the possibility of a Communist revolution. Most of the men serving on the Polish side had previously served in the German military during World War One. Eventually, the deteriorating situation resulted in Upper Silesian Uprisings conducted by Poles in 1919 and 1920. The right to vote
10602-568: The most successful clubs in Poland. Zabrze was administratively part of the Katowice Voivodeship until 1998. On 17 September 2012, the Zabrze city council decided on a new administrative division of the city. Zabrze was subsequently divided into 15 districts and 3 housing estates. The Polish north–south A1 and east–west A4 motorways, which are parts of the European routes E75 and E40 , respectively, run through Zabrze, and their junction
10716-588: The national top leagues, the Ekstraklasa and Superliga respectively. Many sportspeople were born in Zabrze, including footballers Jerzy Gorgoń , Łukasz Skorupski and Adam Bodzek , and pro ice hockey player of the National Hockey League , Wojtek Wolski . Like other towns in this populous region, it is an important manufacturing centre, having coal-mines , iron, wire , glass, chemical and oil works, and local Upper Silesia Brewery , etc. There
10830-477: The other Allies towards the former frontier. Simultaneously, with this advance, the Inter-Allied Commission pronounced a general amnesty for the illegal actions committed during the insurrection, with the exception of acts of revenge and cruelty. The German Grenzschutz was withdrawn and disbanded. Arrangements between the Germans and Poles in Upper Silesia and appeals issued by both sides, as well as
10944-634: The period when Gomułka was in power between 1956-1970 as he restored the tradition of celebrating the anniversary of the third uprising every May 3rd and often took part in the celebrations. The last veteran of the Silesian Uprisings, Wilhelm Meisel , died in 2009 at the age of 105. In 2021, a dispute emerged over plans to put up a monument in Opole honoring those who fought for Poland. The Social-Cultural Society of Germans in Opole Silesia, representing
11058-511: The position until 1945. The anti-Polish organization Bund Deutscher Osten was very active in the city, it dealt with propaganda , indoctrination and espionage of the Polish community, as well as denouncing Poles to local authorities. When, the Barbórka (traditional holiday of miners) church services were organized separately for Poles and Germans in 1936, the Polish service enjoyed a greater attendance, however, due to Nazi oppression and propaganda,
11172-514: The provisional official army and the leadership of the fledgling German Republic. However, the Reich government subsidized these groups and thus had much leverage over them. The most violent and the most aggressive of the Freikorps units sent into Upper Silesia was the Oberland corps from Bavaria, which seemed to have been the unit most responsible for the atrocities on the German side. The Inter-Allied Commission , in which General Henri Le Rond
11286-464: The refugees were allowed to return later that year. The Second Silesian Uprising (Polish: Drugie powstanie śląskie ) was the second of the three uprisings. In February 1920, an Allied Plebiscite Commission was sent to Upper Silesia. It was composed of representatives of the Allied forces, mostly from France, with smaller contingents from United Kingdom and Italy. Soon, however, it became apparent that
11400-562: The region mobilized by the Polish government. . The League of Nations was asked to settle the dispute before it led to even more bloodshed. In 1922, a six-week debate decided that Upper Silesia should be divided. This was accepted by both countries, and the majority of Upper Silesians. Approximately 736,000 Poles and 260,000 Germans thus found themselves now in Polish (Upper) Silesia, and 532,000 Poles and 637,000 Germans remained in German (Upper) Silesia. On 15 August 1919, German border guards ( Grenzschutz ) massacred ten Silesian civilians in
11514-662: The territory, resulting in increasing German settlement . The settlement was part of the Silesian duchies of fragmented Poland. Zabrze became part of the Habsburg monarchy in 1526. In 1645, along with the Duchy of Opole , Zabrze returned to Polish rule under the House of Vasa , in 1666 it fell back to the Habsburgs, and was later annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia during the Silesian Wars . In 1774,
11628-532: The violence eventually led to a Polish uprising which quickly resulted within the occupation of government offices in the districts of Kattowitz (Katowice), Pless (Pszczyna) and Beuthen (Bytom). Between 20 and 25 August, the rebellion spread to Königshütte (Chorzów), Tarnowitz (Tarnowskie Góry), Rybnik , Lublinitz (Lubliniec) and Gross Strehlitz (Strzelce Opolskie). The Allied Commission declared its intention to restore order, but internal differences kept anything from being done; British representatives held
11742-426: The women of their respective communities from the other side. For both sides, rape served as a way to symbolically "unman" the men of the other side by proving that they were incapable of defending their women and as a way of asserting their power over the women of the other side, hence the frequency of rape. Complaints about rape by both sides started to become common after the 1919 uprising, but were most common after
11856-489: Was 168,946, down from June 2009 when the population was 188,122. Zabrze is bordered by three other cities of the metropolitan area: Gliwice , Bytom and Ruda Śląska . Biskupice, which is now a subdivision of Zabrze, was first mentioned in 1243 as Biscupici dicitur cirka Bitom . Zabrze (or Old Zabrze) was mentioned in 1295–1305 as Sadbre sive Cunczindorf (German for Konrad /Kunze's village ; sive = "or"). According to historical sources, mining in Zabrze dates back to
11970-672: Was about 510,000. In the censuses in Poland, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia, nearly 900,000 people declared Silesian nationality ; Upper Silesia has almost five million inhabitants, with the vast majority speaking Polish in the Polish part and declaring themselves to be Poles and the vast majority speaking Czech in the Czech part and declaring themselves to be Czechs. Although the morphological differences between Silesian and Polish have been researched extensively, other grammatical differences have not been studied in depth. A notable difference
12084-470: Was deported to concentration camps in 1942. The town's synagogue, that had stood since 1872, was destroyed in the Kristallnacht pogroms of November 1938. During World War II, in 1941 the German administration requisitioned church property, in which it removed Polish symbols and memorabilia. Church bells were confiscated for war purposes in 1942. The Germans established three forced labour subcamps of
12198-583: Was established, which was also a Polish patriotic and pro-independence organization. As a result of the Prussian harassment it was liquidated in 1911, but it was reactivated twice, in 1913 and 1918. Its members took an active part in the post-war plebiscite campaign and the Silesian uprisings . During the plebiscite held after World War I , 21,333 inhabitants (59%) of the Hindenburg commune voted to remain in Germany, while 14,873 (41%) voted for incorporation to Poland, which just regained its independence. In May 1921
12312-562: Was first raised by the Germans and Austrians who in 1916 created a puppet Polish state on the territory of Congress Poland , the lands of which were taken from the Russian Empire in 1915. The way in which the Allies promoted the promise of an independent Poland after the war, most notably in the 14 Points issued by the American president Woodrow Wilson led to hopes within the Polish community within
12426-598: Was granted to all aged 20 and older who either had been born in or lived in the plebiscite area. A result was the mass migration of both Germans and Poles. The German newcomers accounted for 179,910, while Polish newcomers numbered over 10,000. Without these "new voters", the pro-German vote would have had a majority of 58,336 instead of the final 228,246. The plebiscite took place as arranged on 20 March. A total of 707,605 votes were cast for Germany and 479,359 for Poland. The Third Silesian Uprising conducted by Poles broke out in 1921 supported by thousands of troops from outside
12540-419: Was overwhelmingly Catholic with 92% of the people being Roman Catholic. Most of the 8% of Upper Silesians who were Protestant tended to be Germans, but the linguistic and ethnic divide between Catholic Germans and Poles tended to subsume their shared religion. In the German census of 1900, 65% of the population of the eastern part of Silesia was recorded as Polish-speaking, which decreased to 57% in 1910. This
12654-554: Was partly a result of forced Germanization , but was also due to the creation of a bilingual category, which reduced the number of Polish speakers. American Paul Weber drew up a language map that showed that in 1910, in most of the Upper Silesian districts east of the Oder river, Polish-speaking Silesians constituted a majority, forming more than 70% of the population there. While still under German control, various Poles identified as Silesians would write, publish, distribute pamphlets, newsletters and other written material, promoting
12768-490: Was published in the city. In a secret Sicherheitsdienst report from 1934, Zabrze was named one of the main centers of the Polish movement in western Upper Silesia. In terms of religion, most of the city's population adhered to the Catholic Church . In the 1920s, the communists , Christian democrats and nationalists enjoyed the greatest support among the German population, while Poles supported Polish parties. In 1924
12882-462: Was the most influential individual, waited rather long prior to taking any steps to end the violence. The French troops generally favored the insurrection, while within some cases, British and Italian contingents actively cooperated with Germans. UK Prime Minister Lloyd George 's speech in the British Parliament , strongly disapproving of the insurrection, aroused the hopes of some Germans, but
12996-457: Was the veterans of the Upper Silesia campaign newly returned to Bavaria, described by one contemporary as the "Upper Silesian adventurers, flashing medals, badges and swastikas", who provided the decisive votes which enabled the triumph of Hitler over Drexler. A number of the Freikorps veterans of the Upper Silesia war such as Fritz Schmedes went on to serve in the Nazi Party. Schmedes, who played
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