The Articulation of Identity in Silesia since 1989

Abstract

With the rise of Solidarity in Poland, and their eventual triumph, came the project finally to establish the notion of civil society and a notion of individual civil and collective human rights. Fundamental to this reappraisal of the relationship between state and society was a reassessment of nation and citizenship and a move away from the idea that Polish society was almost exclusively composed of ethnic Poles. Thus as Solidarity moved toward the attainment of political power it had to confront the position of indigenous ethnic minorities in Poland. Apart from anything else, it would be impossible finally to jettison the legacy of Yalta without acknowledging all of the human consequences that had stemmed from it. The role of the first post-communist prime minister Tadeusz Mazowiecki was particularly important at this time. Not only was he instrumental in repairing Polish–German inter-state relations, he was also supportive of the attempts of the German minority to organize itself both politically and culturally (Bingen, 1994).

The early sections of this chapter which deal with Polish Upper Silesia were written by Tomasz Kamusella and completed by Karl Cordell. The sections on Czech Silesia were written by Karl Martin Born.