Figure 1.--The Saxons during the 10th century forced the Sorbs to accept Christianity or suffer death. |
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The Sorbs first settled in what is now Germay during the Middle Ages. They are noted as early as the 6th century in northern and eastern Germany along the Baltic coast from the Elbe to the Vistula and south to Bohemia. Gradually antagonism between the Germans and Slavs grew. Heinrich I in 928 created the Mark Meissen and at this time the Sorbs were reported in Saxony. They were forcibly Christianized by the Saxons, probably about 990. The Germans saw the Slavs as a subject people. The very name Slav means serf in German. The German attitudes were displayed in the savage Wendish Crusade (ll47). Sorbs are also found in Bohemia, the modern day Czech Republic. Main Towns in the area are Bautzen (Bydsin) Vetschau and Görlitz. The Sorbs never had their own state. In modern German history they were Prussian or German citizens. Since the 19th century they have been subjected to great pressure to Germanize, especially during the NAZI era. But they kept their culture, language and costumes.
The Sorbs (or Wends) are a Slavic tribe that never had their own state. Two small Slavic tribes (the Luzici and the Milcani) are the ancestors of modern Sorbs. They first settled in what is now Germay during the Middle Ages. They are noted as early as the 6th century in northern and eastern Germany along the Baltic coast from the Elbe to the Vistula and south to Bohemia.
Gradually as Germanic kingdomes were established on the borderlands and within the former Roman Empire, antagonism between the Germans and Slavs grew. Heinrich I in 928 created the Mark Meissen and at this time the Sorbs were reported in Saxony. They were forcibly Christianized by the Saxons, probably about 990. The Germans saw the Slavs as a subject people. The very name Slav means serf in German. The German attitudes were displayed in the savage Wendish Crusade (ll47). Sorbs are also found in Bohemia, the modern day Czech Republic. Main Towns in the area are Bautzen (Bydsin) Vetschau and Görlitz. The Sorbs never had their own state.
The Sorbs have always had lived in an area that were part of Germany, or at least part of the Germany before World War I. They used to belong to a much larger Slav settlement that disappeared after Germanic people pushed them eastwards to what is now Poland and the Czech Republic. This term was not used in the Middle Ages. Rather the Germans at the time used the term "Ostsiedlung" or "east colonization". It was the German effort to expand their culture, language, and settlement east.
The Germans had been push west by the Huns, Avars, and other nomadic warriors from Central Asia. These pressure from Central Asia subsided and Eastern Europe was settled by Slavs and Balts. With the fall of the Roman Empire, Germanic tribes over ran the West and established medieval kingdoms. These kingdoms, especially the ones in the east began to push east to expand their territory. After the Darl Ages the comonies of Europe began to increase as commerce quickened and agricultural technology increased yields. The result was an expanding population. German at the time was the Holy Roman Empire. Germans from the Rhenish, Flemish, and Saxon territories of Empire eastwards began tomigrate east into the less-densly populated areas of the Baltic and Poland. This population movements were supported by the German nobility and the medieval Church. It was also supported by Slavic kings and nobility. This is because the increased population and the skills of the German settlers meant increased income and taxes. Much of this migration was peaceful. There were also military campaigns launched against the Poles and still pagan Balts. This is sometimes referred to as the Northern Crusades. One of the Baltic tribes attacked was the Prussei (1018-1285) and the future state of Prussia would take on the name of the defeated tribe. The Teutonic Knights played a major role in the conquest of the Balts. Konrad of Masovia invited the Knights to northern Poland. The Teutonic Knights became a Polish vassal (1466). Der Drang nach Osten is a German term that appeared in the 19th century with the rise of German nationalism. It became a centerpiece of NAZism culminating in Germany's World War II invasion of Poland and the Soviet Union.
While the medieval Germans pushed the Slaves east, the Sorbs The Sorbs were more or less overlooked, since they had settled in a swampy area that was hard to penetrate. T his way they were able to preserve their own culture and language. They became citizens of Saxony and Prussia, after 1871 of Imperial Germany.
Most Sorbs became Protestant (lutherans) during the Refortmation. Most other Slavs in Poland, Russia, and the Balkans remained Orthodox or Ctholic. The Sorbs are one of the few Protestant Slavic groups. There are, however, also spme Catholic Sorbs.
In modern German history they were Prussian or German citizens. Since the 19th century they have been subjected to great pressure to Germanize. This was referred to as Kulturkampf.
German authorities attempted to germanize the Sorbs with mixed results. Nearly all became bi-lingual, but many preferred to speak their own language at home and with their village neighbors. On Sundays the girls and women wore beautiful "ethnic" costumes when going to church.
The Sorbs have been discriminated against especially in the last part of the 19th century in Imperial Germany under Bismarck. Many had to Germanize their family names, like Nowak became Noack, and speaking Sorbian at school was verboten. During the German Empire the Lutheran pastors in the Wendish areas of Prussia were instructed to confirm the children in German only (1885). Of course that was not unusual Indian children in American schools were punished for speaking their own language and there are many similar examples. But in general the Wends were pretty well left alone, because they live in a swampy area where there were no roads. Transportation is by boat like in Venice. The farmers own patches of land in all that water. So they were in effect isolated. Which is why they survived all those years! Gradually this effort within Imperial Germany wained.
Many Sorbs were hostile to the Weimar Republic. This may have been especially true of the Catholic Sorbs. This ppears to have been primarily as religious matter. The German monarchy had strong ties to Christian ideology. And the Sorbs primarily made up of peasants in rural area destrusted the secular orientation of the Socialists who dominated the Weimar Republic.
Maby Sorbs distrusted the NAZIs. Some believed that the NAZI might help guarantee Sorbian culture because of their opposition to Weimar. Hitler with his dictim of "Ein Reich, Ein Volk, Ein Führer" of course had little toleration for minority groups. The NAZIs banned Sorb publications and even the use of the term "Sorb". As with nearly all minorities the Sorb customs and languages were prohibited in the NAZI era. The NAZI effort was primarily to eradicate Sorb culture and language. Sorbian teachers and priests were banished from Lausitz. Some Sorbian leaders were executed, but this appears to have been because they opposed the NAZIs, not because they were Sorbs--Alojs Andricki (1943) and Marja Grolmusec (1944). Domowina was banned (following its rejection of Nazi synchronilation), as were all asopects of public Sorbian life (1937). Wend House was confiscated (1937) and latter burned by the SS (1944). Publishing in the Sorbian language was ended with the banning of the "Katolski Posol", the last Sorbian publication (1939). The last Sorbian divine services were banned by the Brandenburg Consistory (1941). I do not know of any efforts aimed at individuals Sorbs as the NAZIs persued against the Slavs in Poland and the Soviet Union. I am not sure, however, how the Sorbs were treated in areas where an Aryan ancestry was needed, for example such as admission to higher education, the civil service, the NAZI party, the SS, ect. There does not appear to have been a racial persecution of the Sorbs as was carried out by German forces in the occupied East. Of course we do not know what the NAZIs would have done had they won the War and been able to persue their racial ideology.
The Sorbs after the NAZI defeat (1945) found themselves in the Soviet occupation zone. Soviet occupation authorities encouraged the Sorbs to re-discover their Slav heritage. The children got Sorb language classes at school and books were printed in the old language (with some Soviet propaganda no doubt, but nevertheless...).
Wth the fall of Communism andfter East Germany became part of the German Federal Republic (1989), the Sorbs finally were granted a large amount of autonomy. In cities like Cottbus and Bautzen all street signs are in German and Sorbish and people are allowed to speak their language in court and in public places. The economy is flourishing because boat trips in the area are becoming very popular. The Sorbs are, as a result, today a small but recognized as an autochthonous or historical minority. The regional governments in Saxony and Brandenburg oversee the execution of some special rights that these minorities possess, such as education in the ethnic language, ethnic periodicals and bilingual road signs in Sorbian areas. we note in 2003 a controversy in Saxony with the Government deciding to close Sorb schools. One report, "PARENTS OF CROSTWITZ MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS AND DOMOWINA PREPARE A PROTEST CAMPAIGNE" read, "Crostwitz/Germany. Domowina and parents of former students in Crostwitz are not accepting the decision of Saxon Ministry of Culture to close their local school. Together they are inviting every supporter of Sorbs to a demonstration, which will take place in the school court yard; on Friday July 11th after church services (19.00 hrs). This is a result of yesterday's meeting which took place at Domowina's invitation to parents and supporters of the school. 'Sorbs not only wish to publicly protest in Saxony and Germany in the context of the upcoming International Folklore Festival which will take place in Crostwitz, but they also want to demonstrate their action internationally, and will not allow to have their language area to be threaten" said Manuela Smolina, who presided over the meeting as a representative of Jan Nuk, Domowina's president and the Sorbian representative of the Saxon Parents Committee. It the context of this new protest, the parish's priest Rev. Clemens Hrjehor blessed a wooden cross with the inscription " We were, We are, We will be". This cross was handed over by the Ralbitz community to people of Crostwitz on the first day of "Crostwitz revolt 2001" . This cross will now find it's permanent home in Crostwitz. At the same time it's expected that parents of the former grade 4,7,8 and 9 will sign up their children for the Crostwitz school again and will file a law-suit which Domowina supports against the ministry's decision. In the entirely filled parish-hall participants not only criticizes the school policies of the Saxon government, but also the village counsel with mayor Macij Brycka (CDU) especially, for his indifference in a fight to save the school. [Serbske Nowiny (Sorbian News)]
Serbske Nowiny (Sorbian News) July 4, 2003 .
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