The first congress of Poles in Germany 1938

These truths were later to become known as the ‘Decalogue’ of Poles in Germany. Over the next few months they were broadcast by every Polish broadcasting company and in the press. On 9th March 1938 Senator Witold Jeszke from Poznan spoke the following words in the Senate of the Republic of Poland: “The congress in Germany was a proud and dignified celebration. At this congress the Truths of Poles were solemnly proclaimed. These truths should not only guide the thoughts and actions of national minorities wherever they might find themselves, but act as an example to all Poles…”

The congress was scheduled to be recorded by a Berlin broadcasting company, the German Broadcasting Company, with whom the Polish Broadcasting Company had a contract. But staff from the German company did not show up until the middle of the congress. On the following day, to their amazement, the congress organisers were informed that because of technical problems with the equipment the “proceedings at the congress could not be recorded”. As chance would have it the promoters had already organised their own recording parallel to their agreement with the Germans. The recording equipment was secretly installed in the theatre and the material was sorted and put together by the technician Antoni Brzozowski and editor Edmund Osmańczyk in the Berlin studio of the Swedish firm Mix/Goernes. The result was a 30 minute reportage for the radio company and a 60 minute documentary recording for a record album. The material was broadcast one week later and the record was distributed in Germany and abroad in an edition of 500. The Gestapo was caught completely off guard by this action. After war broke out they raided the material and destroyed it. Only two copies have survived. One of these was donated by Edmund Kaczmarek, the brother of Dr. Jan Kaczmarek, to the History Museum in Opole.

The congress was proof of the organisational skills of the Union of Poles in Germany and its members’ unity and mobilisation abilities. It revived morale in the regional organisation and manifested the vibrant feeling of national togetherness amongst Poles in Germany. Although the Nazi authorities tried to hinder preparations for the congress and their negative attitude to the Poles was becoming ever more obvious, the lawful presentation of a major event organised by a national minority in the capital of Germany was used by the Nazi government as proof of their allegedly liberal domestic policies. Sadly – as became clear in the following years – the congress’s hopes that the event would prevent any further repressive measures against the Union of Poles in Germany and the Polish minority in the German Reich were not fulfilled.

Krzysztof Ruchniewicz, June 2014