The Union of Poles in Germany

The majority of the Union’s activities related to education issues. In 1923, the Federation of Polish School Associations was founded, which fought for the right to operate national schools. The result of these endeavours was a decree from the Prussian Council of Ministers from 1928 governing matters relating to the Polish school system. One of the things it permitted was the setting up of private schools in Germany. This was not an optimal solution but it could be taken as a positive. Schools were allowed to be set up in the areas with a native Polish-speaking population, particularly in Silesia, Ermland, Masuria and others. The first private primary schools were set up in Silesia, and later in other regions. Various problems had to be overcome when the new schools were founded. There were no suitable buildings, no teachers and hardly any textbooks. On top of this, the creators of such facilities were confronted at every turn by the reluctant Prussian administration, the hostility of German teachers and social discrimination and harassment. The success of these endeavours depended predominantly on the resolve of the Polish parents. As well as primary schools, secondary schools were also put under scrutiny. In 1932, the “private secondary school with the character of a grammar school and with teaching in the Polish language” was founded successfully. Three years later, this school was awarded public status. On 5 November 1937, a second private grammar school was opened in Marienwerder in East Prussia.

In 1927, the UPG was involved in the founding of an auditing association for Polish companies (Confederation of Polish Cooperatives in Germany), which supported their activities.

This easing of tension in the relationships between Nazi Germany and Poland was only temporary. Between 1937 and 1939, the situation of the Poles in Germany deteriorated and this despite a declaration about minority affairs being signed in 1937 (after the so-called Upper Silesian Treaty of 1922). Under these worsening conditions, the UPG managed to hold a Congress of Poles in the German capital Berlin, where the 15-year-old existence of the association was celebrated. The conference was held on Sunday, 6 March 1938, and was one of the largest demonstrations of Poles in Germany, who came from different regions. The event was opened by the President of the UPG, the priest Dr Bolesław Domański, who stressed the unity of the Polish nation. The official part ended with an address by the General Secretary of the UPG, Dr Jan Kaczmarek. He lent his attention to the situation of the Poles in Germany and the fight to respect the rights of the Polish minority in this country. His speech was repeatedly interrupted by applause. At the end of his speech he said:

“On 6 March 1938, we, the sons of the Polish nation, faithful sons gathered under the Rodło symbol, solemnly declare at the great Congress of Poles in Germany the five truths of the Poles:

First truth: We are Poles!
Second truth: The belief of our fathers is the belief of our children.
Third truth: A Pole is a brother to other Poles!
Fourth truth: Every day, the Pole serves his people!
Fifth truth: Poland is our mother – nothing bad can be said about our mother!“

These sentences became the “important maxims” of Poles in Germany. In the months that followed, these maxims were disseminated by all Polish radio stations and the media. In the Polish Senate on 9 March 1938, Senator Witold Jeszke from Poznań said:

“The Congress in Germany was a proud and dignified celebration. The truths of the Poles were formally adopted at this Congress. It is not just the national minorities that should be guided by these truths, wherever they find themselves; they should also be an example to all Poles…”

The Congress proved the organisational capabilities of the UPG and the mobilisation and solidarity of its members. It reinvigorated the activities of the administrative districts of the organisation locally and showed the vitality of the national sentiment of German Poles. Although the authorities indirectly hindered the preparation of the Congress and the negative attitude towards the Poles was becoming increasingly apparent, the Nazis were able to use the fact that such a large assembly took place legally in the German capital as propaganda to prove their allegedly liberal domestic policy. However, this did not prevent them from restricting activities even further and soon also oppressing Reich citizens of Polish nationality. The situation escalated quickly. Arrests, seizures of newspapers, expulsions, but also de facto criminal attacks crushed the Polish movement.

Poles in Germany were amongst the first victims of the Second World War. The arrests began in August 1939 and continued in the months that followed. Some of those arrested were transferred to concentration camps within the Reich. After a few weeks or months, several of them were released but many remained behind bars for years. It is estimated that between 1,200 and 2,000 Poles, the most active members of their communities, had passed through the concentration camps by the end of the war. Some of them died. Most of them were sent to the Sachsenhausen and Ravensbrück concentration camps. Leading representatives of the UPG, politicians, teachers and industrialists were taken to Sachsenhausen concentration camp. These included Jan Baczewski, Jan Bauer, Jan Boenigk, Maksymilian Golisz, Jan Kocik, Aleksander Kraśkiewicz, Franciszek Sarnowski. Women were usually taken to the second camp Ravensbrück. These included Eleonora Stejakowska, Zofia Sarnowska, Anna Burda, Helena Lehr-Palaez, Zofia Hajduk and Maria Zientara-Malewska. From 1941, men were also detained in the camp. It is not known how many Poles were conscripted to the German army and died at the fronts in the Second World War.