Figure 1.This is a photogrpah frommone of the athletic clubs of the Ruhr poles. It is fifficult to make out what they are wearing, but it looks to be tights. The photograph was taken at Bochum (Ruhr) in 1917.
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Figure 1.This is a photogrpah frommone of the athletic clubs of the Ruhr poles. It is fifficult to make out what they are wearing, but it looks to be tights. The photograph was taken at Bochum (Ruhr) in 1917. |
The history of Poles in Germany is quite complicated. The Poles have at times been a very substantial minority in Germany, especially because Germany (Prussia) participated in the partitions of Poland. There was always a Polish minority along the Eastern border of Prussia and the Polish partitions brough areas into Prussia that were laergely populated by Poles. Surpringly However, the most significant ethnic Polish group in Germany was along the western border of Germany in the Ruhrgebiet
of Rhineland-Westphalia. These were the so-called Ruhr Poles, who after the Franco-Prussian War in 1870-71 were invited by German authorities to work in the coal mines and newly established industries. In 1914 there were between 350 000 and 500 000 "Ruhrpoles" living in Germany. They had their own organizations like the "Sokols" (sport clubs) where they wore destinctive uniforms. I am not sure to what extent they wore ethnic clothing or held folk festivals. After World War I, the number of Poles in Germany were substantially reduced when the Versailles Peace Treaty created a new Polish statem in part out of areas from the German Empire, especially Upper Silesia and West Prussia. Many Germans thus found themselves living in the new Polish state. Hitler used alleged mistreatment of these Germans to in propaganda leading to the NAZI invasion of Poland, in effect the launching of World War II.
The Poles were a very substantial minority in Germany, especially because Germany (Prussia) participated in the partitions of Poland.
There was always a Polish minority along the Eastern border of Prussia and this increased as the Prussian state acquired more of the smaller neigboring states.
the Polish partitions brough areas into Prussia that were laergely populated by Poles. A Polish Army under John III Sobieski defeated a Turkish Army at the gates of Vienna in 1683 which had posed a serious threat to European Christendom. This was, however, virtually the only important Polish achievement during the 17th abd 18th century. Poland foughgt disaterous wars with Bradenburg (future Prussia), Sweden, Russia, and Turkey and had to ceede large areas of territory. Efforts to reform Poland in the 18th century were resisted by the land-holding Russian nobility, especially an effort to institute a liberall constitution. Spearheaded by an aggressive Russian policy, Poland was subjected to three patitions (1772-96) during the 18th century and by the eve of the Napoleonic Wars had disappered from the European map. Prussia was on of the participants in the Polish partitions in conjunction with Austria and Russia.
Surpringly a very significant ethnic Polish group in Germany was along the western border of Germany in the Ruhrgebiet of Rhineland-Westphalia. These were the so-called Ruhr Poles, who after the Franco-Prussian War in 1870-71 began to migrate to the Ruhr. German unification in 1871 helped to stimulate industrialization as a vast single market, common currency and labor pool was created. Most of the new industry was located in the western Germany, especially in the Ruhr Valley. One of the industries that began to flourish due to its privatization and increasing demand from the growing steel indistry was coal mining. The industrial boom in the Ruhr led to a labor shortage and thousands of new miners and other workers were needed. Job hungary Poles in eastern Germany migrated west between 1870 and 1914. These were ethnically Poles, but Imperial German citizens. Many of these Poles came from East Prussia, first to the Central German cities of Berlin, Leipzig, and Dresden, and later to the western German Rhineland. [Bade, 1987, p. 62] This process was incouraged by German authorities who saw it as both a boon to industry and helpful in Germanizing the Polish population. ome of this same Polish population also emmigrated to America and play an imprtant role in the coalfields of northeast Pennsylvania. [McCook] By 1914 at the outbreak of World war II there were between 350,000 and 500,000 "Ruhrpoles" living in Germany. They used to live together in certain blocs. They had their own church services in Polish, their clubs, newspapers ("Wiarus Polski") and they created their own labor union ("Zjednoczenie Zawodowe Polskie").
There have since 1871 been four German Governments with varied laws and economic policies cocerning minorities. Policies ranged from relative acceptance, enfranchisement, efforts at Germanization, and expulsion. Our information is limited.
As mentioned above, the Imperial German Government recruited Poles to work in the Ruhr following the Franco-Prussian War (1870-71). We have no information at this time as to Government policies toward the Poles within Imperial Germany and to what extent efforts were made to Germanize them. We also do not know to what extent Poles were afforded citizenship and allowed to vote. We know that in Imperial Germany that there were efforts to Germanize minorities, but we have few details at this time. A reader reports, "Of course, in the beginning the Ruhr Germans were descriminated against, but since they stayed in Germany and married there many eventually became integrated into German society." I think this may be true of the Ruhr Poles in the West. The situation was different, hoever, in the east where there were Poles more concentrated in communities. The Poles in Germany did not have their own schools either where they would have been taught in Polish (this should not surprise anybody when you realize that foreign children in the United States are being taught in English only in the American public schools), but they were allowed to have their own clubs and organisations, especially the "Ruhrpoles" in the West of the country, who nevertheless became totally Germanized, except perhaps for their names. [Bade]
World War I and the German economic problems had a severe impact on the Ruhr Poles. By the mid-1920s, the Polish community in the Ruhr was split. Economic hardship, political antagonisms and the attraction of the new Polish state caused two-thirds of the Poles in the Ruhr to either migrate to Frseek new opportunities in France or return to now independent Poland. About one-third of the pre-war Polish community remained in the Ruhr and thoroughly integrated themselves into Germam society. [McCook] They had their own organizations like the "Sokols" (sport clubs) where they wore destinctive uniforms. I am not sure to what extent they wore ethnic clothing or held folk festivals. The national sentiment for Poland gradually disappeared, the union was absorbed by the more powerful German labor
movement, they intermarried with Germans and the only thing Polish they have
left is their name.
The Ruhr Poles were apparently not considered to be different by the NAZIs when they came to power in 1933. A HBC reader reports, "Several "Poles" joined the party and the SS had actually a high number of men with Polish and Czech (these from Austria) names." The Poles btoght under German control were treated very differently. We know that the Poles brought into the Reich were treated differently depending on the area in which they lived because of the differing policies of NAZI administrators. Some were Germanized. Some were expelled to make way for German "colonizers". This process was limited by World War II. A Dutch reader tells us, "I am almost certain that many "Polish" boys were members of the Hitler Jugend. After all, they were Germans and Poles are Aryans too. But I suspect that many Ruhr Poles were not happy about it, because their families were Roman Catholics and very religious." I do not think that Poles were regarded as Aryans by the NAZIs, although some Poles in the areas annexed to the Reich were reclassified as Germans and Aryans. Remember that for the Germans it was not language and culture that were important, but ancestry. We know that Poles received lower rations when as the War began to go against the NAZIs and severe rationing was introduced. Poles in German-annexed Poland were given lower allocations under the NAZI rationing system. (As regards rationing, I am not sure how the Ruhr Poles were treated.) Hitler and many NAZIs had an almost pathological hatred of the very idea of a Polish state and the genocidal occupation policies persued by the NAZIs was a reflection of this. Here we need additional information. This subject is complicated because there were different groups of Poles: the Ruhr and other Poles living within the Reich when World War II began. Then more Poles were added when parts of Poles were annexed. Some of these Poles were Germanzed, others were not. Then there were Poles living in the Government General administered by te NAZIs after the Poles were defeated (October 1939) and areas of the Soviet Union overrun after the NAZI invasion (June 1941). There were also Poles brought into the Reich to work as slave labor in war industries and on farms. A Dutch reader reports, "The Ruhr Poles were treated like other German citizens and not like the Poles from Poland who were forced to work in Germany during the War. Many of the Ruhr Poles seem to have been Germanized by World War II. I know that many served in the Wehrmacht during World War II, because I read sometimes German newspapers that were available in occupied Holland and I was amazed to see so many Polish names of soldiers who died for the Fuehrer and the Fatherland. Most of them were from Bottrop and Dortmund, cities with a large Polish population. Popular soccer players like Tony Turek and Fritz Tilkowski were Poles from the Ruhr region."
Little remains of the Ruhr Poles in the German cities where they settled. There are no stores or signs in Polish as one sees in Chicago or Milwaukee.
During World War I, Germany acquired areas of Poland that had been under Russian control. These areas were administered as the Government General and the Germans recruited Russian soldiers to fight the Russians. After World War I, the number of Poles in Germany were substantially reduced when the Versailles Peace Treaty created a new Polish statem in part out of areas from the German Empire, especially Upper Silesia and West Prussia. (When ever I see Upper Silesia mentioned, I can't help but recall the comments by P.G. Wodehouse who was interned there by the NAZIs during World War II. He wrote that if Upper Silesia was as bad as it was, imagine what Lower Silesia must be like.) These areas were combined with areas of the former Austrain and Russian Empire to create a new Polish state Many Germans thus found themselves living in the new Polish state.
Hitler used alleged mistreatment of these Germans to in propaganda leading to the NAZI invasion of Poland, in effect the launching of World War II. After the German conquest of Poland, areas of eastern Poland were annexed to the Reich, bringing large numbers of Poles within Germany. I am not sure how the Ruhr Poles were treated by NAZI authorities.
After World War II, many Germans in the recreated Polish state with borders moved west by the Allies moved into Germany fearing retribution at the hands of the Poles who had suffered greviously under NAZI occupation. Many others were expelled by Polish authorities. These Germans and their descendants now live throughout Germany. There continue to many Poles living in Germany, especially the Ruhr Poles. Most of them have become German citizens and now are no different from other Germans, except for Polish surnames.
Ethnic costumes certainly were worn in Imperial Germany (1871-1918), especially in largely Polish areas in eastern Germany. It is unlikely if they were worn during the NAZI era (1933-45). I am not sure about the current situation. We have no information on folk costumes among the Ruhr-Poles. I do not know if they have ethnic festivals like Poles and other ethnic minorities in America.
Bade, Klaus J. "From Emigration to Immigration: The German Experience in the 19th and 20th Century" in Bade, Klaus J. and Myron Wiener (1997). Eds.
Bade, Klaus J. Deutsche im Ausland: Fremde in Deutschland. Migration in Geschichte und Gegenwart (C.H.Beck: Munich, 1992).
Cotati, Rudi. E-mail, July 11, 2002.
McCook, Brian. History: Conflict and Concord: Ethnicity and Class in the Coal Mining Communities of the Ruhr and Northeastern Pennsylvania, 1880-1924
Mendes-Flohr, Paul. German Jews: A Dual Identity (1999), 168p.
Deutsche Volkstrachten (1955).
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