The Union of Poles in Germany

The main objectives of the Union had already been set out in the Articles of association in 1922:

“Countrymen! The government must afford us the rights of a national minority, just as have already been granted to the German minority in Poland. (…) To obtain such rights, to put on elections which give rise to our elected representatives, to defend our interests in the Reichstag and in the Landtag, to keep the countrymen, who are scattered throughout the German State, connected for mutual benefit - that is why we are founding the Union of Poles in Germany.”

It should be noted here that the governments of the Weimar Republic (later the Third Reich) consistently refused to grant the Poles (but also other minorities living in the Reich) minority status. The view taken was that Article 131 of the Constitution of the Weimar Republic was sufficient guarantee.

In order to force concessions from the German authorities in this area, the UPG took the initiative to found a representative body with other national minority organisations. In 1924, the Association of National Minorities in Germany was founded in Berlin. As well as Poles, the members also included people with a Danish, Sorbian, Frisian and Czech background. A member of the Prussian Landtag and the first President of the UPG, Stanisław Sierakowski, was Chair (the first Dane Ernst Christiansen became his successor after he left the role in 1934). In the years that followed, the Association committed to guaranteeing the minorities true equality in socio-political life and to including their representatives in different central and national German institutions. It opposed the fact that Germany used minorities as an instrument to question the Versailles system and to politicise it. The Association chose instead to highlight the stabilising role minorities played in the domestic situation. In this way, the Association fought against the internationalisation of minority issues which were spearheaded by Germany. It respected the legal order of the Weimar Republic and the Versailles system.

The medium the Association used to set out its policies was the monthly magazine “Kulturwille” (which renamed “Kulturwehr” in 1925). Jan Skala, a journalist, author and politician from Upper Lusatia, published the magazine. The owner and publisher was Stanisław Sierakowski, the president of the organisation. The monthly magazine quickly became an important forum for minorities to exchange experiences. It provided current information on minority issues in Germany, on German citizenship policy and actively supported the election efforts of minority representatives in different representative bodies. The magazine published memoranda to the German authorities to improve the situation for minorities. From 1929, the UPG belonged to the World Federation of Poles Abroad (“Światpol”).

Some of the more important activities concerned the reinforcing of the UPG structures. The UPG unified the Polish movement by creating organisational dependencies and personal connections. The sporting, youth, economic and cultural organisations recognised the right of the Union to determine the course of action for the Polish movement. In its manifesto, the Union rejected the review of the Polish-German border but announced the organisation of the Polish population to defend its national interests. It demanded solidarity that was independent of political conviction, and, in terms of its social views, based itself on the Christian teaching.

The organisation placed a lot of importance on the battle for seats in the German representative bodies at different levels. The Polish Catholic People’s Party was founded for the elections. It created lists with Polish candidates and organised election campaigns. In Germany, the voting procedures were not favourable to the Poles because they were fragmented; nevertheless, in 1922 they succeeded in capturing two seats in the Prussian Landtag. They kept these seats for two parliamentary terms until 1928.

At the beginning of the 1920s and 1930s, there were conflicts about the centralist intentions of the Union’s leadership. As a result, several members left the organisation. After 1933, however, another consolidation took place in light of the threat caused by the policy pursued by the Third Reich.  Polish activists were subjected to repression, parents who sent their children to Polish schools were bullied, and the organisational work was hindered by house searches and bans on activities. Following the German-Polish non-challenge declaration(1934), the Polish organisations were given more freedom but were still heavily monitored.

In the 1930s, the press central, which had been founded by the association in 1925 and led by Edmund Osmańczyk, began their activity by providing the basic material for the Polish press in Germany and determining the policy for these magazines.