Polish students in Breslau – the “Silesia Superior” society of Upper Silesian academics (1924–1939)

The origins of organised Polish student activity can be traced back to 1920, when students helped in the Polish “school room” and were actively involved in the Polish plebiscite bureau in Breslau. They acted as couriers, travelling between the towns and cities and ensuring that communications with the Polish plebiscite committee headed by Wojciech Korfanty in Beuthen (Bytom) ran smoothly. The Union of Poles in Germany, more precisely, “District I”, which included Lower Silesia from 1924 onwards, controlled the activities of the Polish students. “Silesia Superior”, the society of academics in Upper Silesia, had been founded in Oppeln (Opole) on 28 August 1924. It was the oldest Polish academic society in the Oppeln region of Silesia. The union was founded by Ignacy Cebula, Józef Hudoła, Grzegorz Kipka, Karol Knosała, Augustyn Kośny, Paweł Kwoczek, Józef Tomys and Jerzy Wyrwoł, who met in the Landwirtschaftsbank, the agricultural bank in Oppeln. During the summer and winter semesters of the 1926/27 academic year, the society was chaired by Karol Knosała. The organisation had links to Breslau right from the start and brought together Polish and Upper Silesian students at the university there. Its aim was not only to bring together Polish students, but also former pupils from German grammar schools who came from Polish families and who had no clear sense of national identity. The Upper Silesians constituted the largest group among the Polish students in German Breslau. This was due to the cultural connections with Breslau, the historic capital city of Silesia, as well as the fact that during that period, Upper Silesia and the Oppeln region were border territories that were home to a large number of people who identified as Polish but spoke fluent German, which improved their chances of studying at the most important academic institution in the region.

In its statutes, the Society of Upper Silesian Academics set out its aims as follows:

 “[...] to join together all Polish-Upper Silesian academics with German citizenship and to support them as conscious national workers for the good of Polish society in Upper Silesia by learning and deepening Polish culture through active participation in society in Poland.” (W. Wawrzynek, Polskie stowarzyszenia…, p. 31)

The document clearly states that after completing their studies, members should be active in society in the Oppeln region of Silesia. However, members who failed to meet these standards, such as the medical graduate Ernst Prokop, were excluded from the organisation. Nevertheless, “Silesia Superior” always welcomed new members. For example, Paweł Nantka-Namirski (who later became chair of the society) arrived in Breslau in 1930 and was given assistance by the consul at the time, Stefan Bratkowski. He invited Nantka-Namirski to the Polish House, where he was accepted as a member of the society and was assigned Leon Głogowski as his advisor. 

The members of “Silesia Superior” were closely monitored by the German authorities. The situation worsened particularly after Hitler came to power. In 1933, three Polish students, Tadeusz Kania, Franciszek Jankowski and Feliks Straszyński, were badly beaten after speaking Polish in a pub in Breslau. The case was made public by the Polish press, and caused a great deal of anxiety among the Polish community in Breslau. Pawel Nantka-Namirski recalled that for him, the events of 1933 served as a “warning”.