View source for German minority in Poland

{{Short description|none}}
<!-- This short description is INTENTIONALLY "none" - please see WP:SDNONE before you consider changing it! -->
{{Infobox ethnic group
| group            = German minority in Poland
| flag             = 
| image            = File:Percentage of the German population according to the National Population and Housing Census 2021 in Poland.png
| caption          = Percentage of the German population in Poland in 2021.
| pop              = 144,178<ref name=2021Final/>
| popplace         = south central region near [[Opole]]
| langs            = [[German language|German]], [[Polish language|Polish]]
| rels             = {{ubl|[[Catholicism]]|[[Lutheranism]]}}
| related          = [[Germans]], [[Germans in Kazakhstan|German Kazakhstanis]]
}}

[[File:Cisek2.jpg|thumb|Example of [[Bilingual communes in Poland|bilingual labeling]] in German and Polish on the town hall of the Polish village of [[Cisek]].]]

The registered '''German minority in Poland''' ({{langx|pl|Mniejszość niemiecka w Polsce}}; {{langx|de|Deutsche Minderheit in Polen}}) is a group of [[German people]] that inhabit [[Poland]], being the largest minority of the country. As of 2021, it had a population of 144,177.<ref name=2021Final>{{Cite web |last=GUS |title=Tablice z ostatecznymi danymi w zakresie przynależności narodowo-etnicznej, języka używanego w domu oraz przynależności do wyznania religijnego |url=https://stat.gov.pl/spisy-powszechne/nsp-2021/nsp-2021-wyniki-ostateczne/tablice-z-ostatecznymi-danymi-w-zakresie-przynaleznosci-narodowo-etnicznej-jezyka-uzywanego-w-domu-oraz-przynaleznosci-do-wyznania-religijnego,10,1.html |access-date=2023-10-07 |website=stat.gov.pl |language=pl}}</ref>

The [[German language]] is spoken in certain areas in [[Opole Voivodeship]], where most of the minority resides, and in [[Silesian Voivodeship]]. German speakers first came to these regions (present-day Opole and Silesian Voivodeships) during the late Middle Ages.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_CqpCAAAAIAAJ|title=Die Verbreitung und die Herkunft der Deutschen in Schlesien|last=Weinhold|first=Karl|publisher=J. Engelhorn|year=1887|location=Stuttgart|language=de|trans-title=The Spread and the Origin of Germans in Silesia}}</ref> However, there are no localities in either [[Upper Silesia]] or Poland as a whole where German could be considered a language of everyday communication.<ref>[[Tomasz Kamusella]]. 2014. [https://www.ecmi.de/fileadmin/downloads/publications/JEMIE/2014/Kamusella.pdf "A Language That Forgot Itself"]. ''Journal on Ethnopolitics and Minority Issues in Europe''. Vol 13, No 4. pp. 129–138.</ref> The predominant home or family language of Poland's German minority in Upper Silesia used to be the [[Silesian German|Silesian German language]] (mainly {{lang|de|Oberschlesisch}} (Upper Silesian dialect), but also {{lang|de|Mundart des Brieg-Grottkauer Landes}} (dialect of the land of Brieg-Grottkau) was used west of Opole), but since 1945 [[Standard German]] replaced it as these Silesian German dialects went generally out of use except among the oldest generations which have by now completely died off.<ref>{{lang|pl|Niemcy w województwie opolskim w 2010 roku. Pytania i odpowiedzi. Badania socjologiczne członków Towarzystwa Społeczno-Kulturalnego Niemców na Śląsku Opolskim. Projekt zrealizowano na zlecenie Uniwersytetu Osaka w Japonii}} [''Germans in Opole Province in 2010: Questions and Answers: The Sociological Poll Research on the Members of the Social-Cultural Society of Germans in Opole Silesia: The Project Was Carried Out on Behalf of Osaka University, Japan'']. Opole and Gliwice: Dom Współpracy Polsko-Niemieckiej [House of Polish–German Cooperation], 2011.</ref> The [[German Minority (political party)|German Minority]] electoral committee benefits from the provision in Polish election law which exempts national minorities from the 5% national threshold.

In the school year of 2014/15 there were 387 elementary schools in Poland (all in Upper Silesia), with over 37,000 students, in which German was taught as a minority language (that is, at least for three periods of 45 minutes in a week), hence ''de facto'' as a subject.<ref>{{lang|pl|[http://stat.gov.pl/files/gfx/portalinformacyjny/pl/defaultaktualnosci/5488/1/9/1/oswiata_i_wychowanie_w_roku_szkolnym_2014-2015.pdf Oświata i wychowanie w roku szkolnym 2014/2015]}} [''Education in 2014/2015 School Year'']. 2015. Warsaw: GUS. p. 101.</ref> There were no minority schools with German as the language of instruction, though there were three asymmetrically bilingual (Polish–German) schools, where most subjects were taught through the medium of Polish.<ref>[[Tomasz Kamusella]] (2014). [http://www.ecmi.de/fileadmin/downloads/publications/JEMIE/2014/Kamusella.pdf "A Language That Forgot Itself"]. ''Journal on Ethnopolitics and Minority Issues in Europe''. Vol 13, No 4. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150102165345/http://www.ecmi.de/fileadmin/downloads/publications/JEMIE/2014/Kamusella.pdf|date=2015-01-02}}. pp. 129–138 (136).</ref> Most members of the German minority are [[Roman Catholic]], while some are [[Lutheran]] [[Protestants]] (the [[Evangelical-Augsburg Church in Poland|Evangelical-Augsburg Church]]).

==Germans in Poland today==
{{See also|Bilingual communes in Poland}}
[[File:German Minority Upper Silesia.png|thumb|upright=1.4|German minority in Upper Silesia: Opole Voivodeship (west) and Silesian Voivodeship (east).]]
[[File:Deutsche Minderheit Masuren Ermland.png|thumb|upright=1.4|German minority in Warmia and Masuria.]]
According to the 2021 census, most of the Germans in Poland (67.2%) live in [[Silesia]]: 59,911 in the [[Opole Voivodeship]], i.e. 41.6% of all Germans in Poland and a share of 6.57% of the local population; 27,923 in the [[Silesian Voivodeship]], i.e. 19.4% of all Germans in Poland and 0.66% of the local population; plus 8,978 in the [[Lower Silesian Voivodeship]], i.e. 6.2% of all Germans in Poland, though only 0.31% of the local population.

Towns with particularly high concentrations of German speakers in [[Opole Voivodeship]] include: [[Strzelce Opolskie]]; [[Dobrodzien]]; [[Prudnik]]; [[Głogówek]]; and [[Gogolin]].<ref>{{cite interview|url=http://www.poglad-berlinwest.de/Miscelleanous/PolishAnd%20GermanSilesia.html|title=Senator Favors Silesian Bridge-Building Role |location=Warsaw |work=Rzeczpospolita |date=10 December 1990 |page=3 |first=Dorota |last=Simonides |interviewer=Edward Klimczak |access-date=30 January 2016 |via=Pogląd}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Region
! Population
! German
! % German
|-
| {{flag|Opole Voivodeship}} ||911,971||59,911||6.57
|-
| {{flag|Silesian Voivodeship}} ||4,204,536||27,923 ||0.66
|-
| {{flag|Lubusz Voivodeship}}||985,532||3,478 ||0.35
|-
| {{flag|Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship}} ||1,371,380||4,717 ||0.34
|-
| {{flag|West Pomeranian Voivodeship}}||1,647,530||5,222 ||0.32
|-
| {{flag|Lower Silesian Voivodeship}}||2,883,187||8,978 ||0.31
|-
| {{flag|Pomeranian Voivodeship}}||2,332,928||7,055 ||0.30
|-
| {{flag|Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship}}||2,019,680||3,939 ||0.20
|-
| {{flag|Greater Poland Voivodeship}}||3,490,414||6,306 ||0.18
|-
|{{flag|Lublin Voivodeship}}
|985,532
|1,737
|0.18
|-
|{{flag|Lesser Poland Voivodeship}}
|3,415,178
|3,409
|0.10
|-
| {{flag|Łódź Voivodeship}}||2,400,874||2,378 ||0.10
|-
| {{flag|Masovian Voivodeship}}||5,475,754||5,318 ||0.10
|-
|{{flag|Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship}}
|1,192,985
|1,134
|0.10
|-
|{{flag|Subcarpathian Voivodeship}}
|2,085,006
|1,757
|0.08
|-
|{{flag|Podlaskie Voivodeship}}
|1,133,137
|915
|0.08
|-
!{{POL}}!!38,036,118!!144,177!!0.37
|-
| colspan="4" align="left" style="font-size: 95%;" | Source (2021, diverging): ''[[Główny Urząd Statystyczny]]'', Warsaw; Census results.<ref name="2021Final" />
|}


Poland was the third most frequent destination for migrant Germans in 2009, after the United States and Switzerland,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.spiegel.de/karriere/ausland/0,1518,802337,00.html |title=Arbeiten in Polen: Die deutschen Teuerlöhner kommen |language=de |date=11 January 2012 |work=Der Spiegel |access-date=30 January 2016}}</ref> dropping to 8th most frequent in 2015. <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.thelocal.de/20170810/here-are-the-top-countries-where-germans-immigrate-to |title=Here are the top 10 countries Germans immigrate to |date=17 August 2017 |work=The Local |access-date=25 September 2023}}</ref>
[[File:Germans in Silesia.png|thumb|Germans in Silesia according to 2021 census<ref name="2021Final" />]]

== History of Germans in Poland ==
{{Main|History of the Germans in Poland}}
[[File:German Expulsion from Poland.png|thumb|Germans as percent of population before the flight and expulsion]]

German migration into areas that form part of present-day Poland began with the medieval {{lang|de|[[Ostsiedlung]]}} (see also {{lang|de|[[Walddeutsche]]}} in the [[Doły Jasielsko-Sanockie|Subcarpathian]] region). Regions which subsequently became part of the [[Kingdom of Prussia]] – [[Lower Silesia]], [[East Brandenburg]], [[Pomerania]] and [[East Prussia]] – were predominantly German speaking by the [[High Middle Ages]].{{cn|date=August 2024}} In other areas of modern-day Poland there were substantial German populations, most notably in the historical regions of [[Pomerelia]], [[Upper Silesia]], and [[Province of Posen|Posen]] or [[Greater Poland]]. In the 19th century, Germans became actively involved in developing the clothmaking industry in what is now central Poland. Over 3,000 villages and towns within Russian Poland are recorded as having German residents. Many of these Germans remained east of the [[Curzon line]] after World War I ended in 1918, including a significant number in [[Volhynia]]. In the late 19th century, some Germans moved westward during the {{lang|de|[[Ostflucht]]}}, while a [[Prussian Settlement Commission]] established others in Central Poland.

According to the [[Polish census of 1931|1931 census]], around 740,000 German speakers lived in Poland (2.3% of the population). Their minority rights were protected by the [[Little Treaty of Versailles]] of 1919. The right to appeal to the [[League of Nations]] however was renounced by the League of Nations in 1934, officially due to Germany's withdrawal from the League (September 1933) after [[Adolf Hitler]] became German Chancellor in January 1933.

{| class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible"
|+Number of Germans in Poland according to the 1931 census
!Voivodeship or city
!Population
!German-speakers
!% German
|-
|[[Poznań Voivodeship (1919–1939)|Poznań Voivodeship]]
|1860030
|186693
|10.0%
|-
|[[Poznań|Poznań City]]
|246470
|6387
|2.6%
|-
|[[Pomeranian Voivodeship (1919–1939)|Pomeranian Voivodeship]]
|1080138
|105400
|9.8%
|-
|[[Silesian Voivodeship (1920–1939)|Silesian Voivodeship]]
|1295027
|90545
|7.0%
|-
|[[Łódź Voivodeship (1919–1939)|Łódź Voivodeship]]
|2027381
|101753
|5.0%
|-
|[[Łódź|Łódź City]]
|604629
|53562
|8.9%
|-
|[[Warsaw Voivodeship (1919–1939)|Warsaw Voivodeship]]
|2529228
|73592
|2.9%
|-
|[[Warsaw|Warsaw City]]
|1171898
|1892
|0.2%
|-
|[[Wołyń Voivodeship (1921–1939)|Wołyń Voivodeship]]
|2085574
|46883
|2.2%
|-
|[[Stanisławów Voivodeship]]
|1480285
|16737
|1.1%
|-
|[[Lwów Voivodeship]]
|2815178
|9601
|0.3%
|-
|[[Lviv|Lwów City]]
|312231
|2448
|0.8%
|-
|[[Lublin Voivodeship (1919–1939)|Lublin Voivodeship]]
|2464936
|15865
|0.6%
|-
|[[Białystok Voivodeship (1919–1939)|Białystok Voivodeship]]
|1643844
|7290
|0.4%
|-
|[[Kraków Voivodeship (1919–1939)|Kraków Voivodeship]]
|2078516
|8192
|0.4%
|-
|[[Kraków|Kraków City]]
|219286
|740
|0.3%
|-
|[[Wilno Voivodeship (1926–1939)|Wilno Voivodeship]]
|1080868
|796
|0.1%
|-
|[[Vilnius|Wilno City]]
|195071
|561
|0.3%
|-
|[[Kielce Voivodeship (1919–1939)|Kielce Voivodeship]]  
|2935697
|7938
|0.3%
|-
|[[Tarnopol Voivodeship]]
|1600406
|2675
|0.2%
|-
|[[Polesie Voivodeship]]
|1131939
|1063
|0.1%
|-
|[[Nowogródek Voivodeship (1919–1939)|Nowogródek Voivodeship]]
|1057147
|379
|0.0%
|-
![[Second Polish Republic]]
!31915779
!740992
!2.3%
|}

=== World War II ===
{{Main|Volksdeutscher Selbstschutz}}
[[File:Selbstschutz leaders in Bydgoszcz.jpg|thumb|Commanders of the {{lang|de|[[Volksdeutscher Selbstschutz]]}}, a paramilitary organization composed of members of the German minority living in pre-war Poland, 1939]]

After Nazi Germany's [[Invasion of Poland|invasion of the Second Polish Republic]] in September 1939, many members of the German minority (around 25%<ref name="Kampania Wrześniowa 1939.pl">[http://www.1939.pl/epizody/kolumna.htm "Kampania Wrześniowa 1939.pl"<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url= https://web.archive.org/web/20061217024726/http://www.1939.pl/epizody/kolumna.htm |date= 2006-12-17 }}</ref>) joined the [[ethnic German]] paramilitary organisation {{lang|de|[[Volksdeutscher Selbstschutz]]}}. When the [[Occupation of Poland (1939-1945)|German occupation of Poland]] began, the {{lang|de|Selbstschutz}} took an active part in [[Nazi crimes against ethnic Poles]]. Due to their pre-war interactions with the Polish majority, they were able to prepare lists of Polish intellectuals and civil servants whom the Nazis selected for extermination. The organisation actively participated in and was responsible for the deaths of about 50,000 Poles.<ref name="Tyle praw dla Niemców w Polsce, ile dla Polaków w Niemczech. Wywiad z prof. Tadeuszem Marczakiem z Uniwersytetu Wrocławskiego">{{cite web|url= http://www.warminsko-mazurskie.iap.pl/?id=wiadomosci&nrwiad=429082|title= Portal|access-date= 30 January 2016}}</ref>{{fcn|date=October 2023}}

Following the outbreak of World War II in September 1939, the Soviets annexed a [[Territories of Poland annexed by the Soviet Union|massive portion of the eastern part of Poland]] (November 1939) in the wake of [[Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact|an August 1939 agreement]] between the Reich and the USSR. During the German occupation of Poland during the war (1939-1945), the Nazis forcibly resettled ethnic [[History of German settlement in Central and Eastern Europe|Germans from other areas of Central Europe]] (such as the [[Baltic states]]) in the pre-war territory of Poland. At the same time the Nazi authorities [[Expulsion of Poles by Germany|expelled, enslaved and killed Poles]] and [[Operation Reinhard|Jews]].

=== Cold War ===
[[File:Former eastern territories of Germany.png|thumb|[[Former eastern territories of Germany]] annexed by [[Poland]]]]
After the Nazis' defeat in 1945, Poland did not regain its Soviet-annexed territory;<ref>Watson pp. 695–722</ref> instead, Polish communists, directed by the Soviets, expelled<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|url=http://rcin.org.pl/Content/15652/WA51_13607_r2011-nr12_Monografie.pdf|title=Political Migrations on Polish Territories (1939–1950)|last=Eberhardt|first=Piotr|publisher=Polish Academy of Sciences|year=2011|isbn=978-83-61590-46-0|location=Warsaw}}</ref> the remaining Germans who had not already been evacuated or fled<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://www.igipz.pan.pl/en/zpz/Political_migrations.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150626151411/http://www.igipz.pan.pl/en/zpz/Political_migrations.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=2015-06-26|title=Political Migrations in Poland 1939-1948. 8. Evacuation and flight of the German population to the Potsdam Germany|last=Eberhardt|first=Piotr|publisher=Didactica|year=2006|isbn=9781536110357|location=Warsaw}}</ref> from the areas of [[Lower Silesia]], [[Upper Silesia]], [[Farther Pomerania]], [[East Brandenburg]], and [[East Prussia]] and made Poles take their place, some of whom were expelled from Soviet-occupied areas that had previously formed part of Poland. About half of East Prussia became the newly created Soviet territory of [[Kaliningrad Oblast]] (officially established in 1946), where Soviet citizens replaced the former German residents. Claims to a border along the [[Oder-Neisse line]] were presented at the [[Potsdam Conference]] of August 1945 by a delegation of Polish politicians.<ref name=":02"/> However the conference eventually specified or endorsed the [[Territorial changes of Poland immediately after World War II|shifting of borders]] pending a later peace treaty.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Eberhardt|first=Piotr|year=2015|title=The Oder-Neisse Line as Poland's western border: As postulated and made a reality|url=https://www.geographiapolonica.pl/article/item/9928.html|journal=Geographia Polonica|volume=88|issue=1|pages=77–105|doi=10.7163/GPol.0007|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name=":02">{{Cite journal|last=Eberhardt|first=Piotr|year=2012|title=The Curzon line as the eastern boundary of Poland. The origins and the political background|url=http://rcin.org.pl/Content/28362/PDF/WA51_46563_r2012-t85-no1_G-Polonica-Eberhardt.pdf|journal=Geographia Polonica|volume=85|issue=1|pages=5–21|doi=10.7163/GPol.2012.1.1}}</ref>  In the following years, the communists and activists inspired by the [[Myśl zachodnia]] ("Western thought") strove to "de-Germanize" and to "re-[[Polonization|Polonize]]" the huge land, [[Propaganda in the Polish People's Republic|propagandistically]] termed "[[Recovered Territories]]".<ref>{{cite book |title=Recovered Territory: A German-Polish Conflict over Land and Culture, 1919–1989 |first=Peter |last=Polak-Springer |publisher=Berghahn |pages=185, 191, 199, 205, 210}}</ref>

Since the downfall of the [[History of Poland (1945–1989)|Polish Communist regime]] in 1989, the German minorities' political situation in modern-day Poland has improved, and after Poland joined the [[European Union]] in the [[2004 enlargement of the European Union|2004 enlargement]] and was incorporated into the [[Schengen Area]], German citizens are now allowed to buy land and property in the areas where they or their ancestors used to live, and can return there if they wish. However, none of their properties have been returned after being confiscated.

A possible demonstration{{original research inline|date=February 2018}} of the ambiguity of the Polish-German minority position{{clarify|date=August 2012}} can be seen in the life and career of [[Waldemar Kraft]], a [[minister without portfolio]] in the [[West German]] [[Bundestag]] during the 1950s. However, most of the German minority had not been as involved in the Nazi system as Kraft was.<ref>Helga Hirsch. {{lang|de|Die Rache der Opfer}}.{{full citation needed|date=October 2023}} The author mentions the indiscriminate expulsions of most Germans from 1945 until the mid-1950s, regardless of their personal involvement or non-involvement in the Nazi dictatorship.</ref>

There is no clear-cut division in Poland between the Germans and some other minorities, whose heritage is similar in some respects due to centuries of assimilation, [[Germanisation]] and intermarriage, but differs in other respects due to either ancient regional [[West Slavs|West Slavic]] roots or [[Polonisation]]. Such minorities include the [[Slovincians]] ({{lang|de|Lebakaschuben}}), the [[Masurians]] and the [[Silesians]] of [[Upper Silesia]]. While in the past these people have been claimed{{by whom|date=February 2018}} for both Polish and German ethnicity, it really depends on their self-perception which they choose to belong to.

==German Poles==
[[File:Gminy z dodatkowymi nazwami.png|thumb|right|Communes in Poland in which additional minority names were introduced (as of 1 December 2009). In blue – German names in the [[Opole Voivodeship|Opole]] and [[Silesian Voivodeship]]s (total of 238 German names in Silesia)]]

The term "'''German Poles'''" ({{langx|de|Deutsche Polen}}, {{langx|pl|Polacy pochodzenia niemieckiego}}) may refer to either [[Polish people|Poles]] of German descent or sometimes to [[Polish nationality law|Polish citizens]] whose ancestors held German citizenship before World War II, regardless of their ethnicity.

After the [[flight and expulsion of Germans from Poland]], the largest of a series of flights and expulsions of Germans in Europe during and after World War II, over 1 million former citizens of Germany were naturalized and granted Polish citizenship. Some of them were forced to stay in Poland, while others wanted to stay because these territories were inhabited by their families for hundreds of years. The lowest estimate by West German [[Schieder commission]] of 1953, is that 910,000 former German citizens were granted Polish citizenship by 1950.<ref>''Dokumentation der Vertreibung der Deutschen aus Ost-Mitteleuropa'', Theodor Schieder (compilator) in collaboration with A. Diestelkamp [et al.], Bonn, Bundesministerium für Vertriebene (ed.), 1953, pp.&nbsp;78 and 155.</ref> Higher estimates say that 1,043,550<ref name="Gawryszewski2005">{{cite book|url=http://www.rcin.org.pl/igipz/dlibra/docmetadata?id=2425&from=publication|title=Ludność Polski w XX wieku|last=Gawryszewski|first=Andrzej|publisher=Instytut Geografii i Przestrzennego Zagospodarowania im. Stanisława Leszczyckiego PAN|year=2005|isbn=978-83-87954-66-6|series=Monografie / Instytut Geografii i Przestrzennego Zagospodarowania im. Stanisława Leszczyckiego PAN|volume=5|location=[[Warsaw]]|language=pl|trans-title=Population of Poland in the 20th century|oclc=66381296|access-date=11 June 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170731190553/http://www.rcin.org.pl/igipz/dlibra/docmetadata?id=2425&from=publication|archive-date=31 July 2017|url-status=dead}} [http://globus.igipz.pan.pl/wydaw/Monografie_5/ PDFs by chapter] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20130416095500/http://globus.igipz.pan.pl/wydaw/Monografie_5/ |date=2013-04-16 }} (see [http://globus.igipz.pan.pl/wydaw/Monografie_5/spistresci.pdf contents]{{dead link|date=January 2018|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}})</ref> or 1,165,000<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kosiński|first=Leszek|date=1960|title=Pochodzenie terytorialne ludności Ziem Zachodnich w 1950 r |trans-title=Territorial origins of inhabitants of the Western Lands in year 1950 |url=http://rcin.org.pl/Content/33932/WA51_50482_r1960-z2_Dokumentacja-Geogr.pdf|journal=Dokumentacja Geograficzna|language=pl|location=Warsaw|volume=2}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kosiński|first=Leszek|date=1963|title=Demographic processes in the Recovered Territories from 1945 to 1960.|url=http://rcin.org.pl/Content/16862/WA51_21995_r1963_nr40_Prace-Geogr.pdf|journal=Geographical Studies|language=pl, en|volume=40}}</ref> were naturalized as Polish citizens by 1950.

=== Post-World War II ===
{{Main|Emigration from Poland to Germany after World War II}}

After the end of [[Flight and expulsion of Germans from Poland during and after World War II|expulsions]], Polish sources of 1948–49 report that 125,000 to 160,000 lived on what was now Polish territory, but according to West German information, the number was 430,000 or even 900,000. It can be assumed today that the Polish figures were vastly understated and the West German figures were probably exaggerated, but ultimately closer to reality.<ref name="Amos"/>

In order to understand the reported numbers it must be borne in mind that many former German citizens were "verified" as Polish, as they were alleged to be of Polish ancestry but subjected to centuries of Germanization. The Polish referred to these people using the propagandistic term “autochthonous”, as opposed to those Germans whose ancestors came to the region in the Middle Ages. In West Germany, and, internally, also for [[East Germany]], these "autochthons" counted as Germans. Also, in 1951 those "autochthons" who had emphatically resisted verification were compulsorily given Polish citizenship; but many “verified autochthons” resisted the Polish assimilation policy, which was often accompanied by discrimination. 

In 1951, Polish law restored equal rights to Germans in Poland in working life and in cultural and educational matters. However, this decision was not fully implemented until 1956.<ref name="Amos">{{cite book|chapter= Deutsche in Polen: Auswirkungen auf das Verhältnis DDR – VR Polen|series=Schriftenreihe der Vierteljahrshefte fur Zeitgeschichte|title= Die Vertriebenenpolitik der SED 1949 bis 1990|author= Heike Amos|year=2009|ISBN= 9783486591392}}</ref>

Germans of Poland at the time hence{{clarify|date=April 2024}} consisted of:
*citizens of the German Reich who had always been residents of the territories now annexed to Poland;
*members of the German minority in the [[Second Polish Republic]];
*Germans who had been resettled by the German authorities in Polish areas during the war, including evacuees due to bombing;
*Germans who were married to Poles, their children and grandchildren; and
*the so-called autochthons.

At the end of the 1950s, regional concentrations of Germans in Poland existed in the new Polish western and northern areas and in the Silesian area, especially in the regions of Olsztyn, Wrocław, Gdansk and Katowice and Opole.<ref name="Amos"/>

However, the vast majority of Germans were the so-called "autochthons" who were allowed to stay in post-war Poland after declaring [[Polish people|Polish ethnicity]] in a special verification process.<ref name=EU28>Steffen Prauser, Steffen and Rees, Arfon. [http://cadmus.iue.it/dspace/bitstream/1814/2599/1/HEC04-01.pdf "The Expulsion of 'German' Communities from Eastern Europe at the end of the Second World War"]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091001022039/http://cadmus.iue.it/dspace/bitstream/1814/2599/1/HEC04-01.pdf |date=2009-10-01 }}. Florence: European University Institute. HEC No. 2004/1. p.28</ref> Thus most of them were inhabitants of Polish descent of the pre-war border regions of [[Upper Silesia]] and [[Warmia]]-[[Masuria]]. Sometimes they were called {{lang|de|Wasserpolnisch}} or {{lang|de|Wasserpolak}}. These people were allowed to reclaim their former German citizenship on application, and under [[German Basic Law]] were "considered as not having been deprived of their German citizenship if they have established their domicile in Germany after May 8, 1945, and have not expressed a contrary intention".<ref>[[s:Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany|Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany]]</ref> Because of this, many of them left the [[People's Republic of Poland]] due to its undemocratic political system and economic problems.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Belzyt|first=Leszek|date=1996|title=Zur Frage des nationalen Bewußtseins der Masuren im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert (auf der Basis statistischer Angaben)|url=https://www.zfo-online.de/index.php/zfo/article/view/134|journal=Journal of East Central European Studies|language=de, en|volume=45|issue=1|access-date=2018-05-03|archive-date=2019-02-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190206203920/https://www.zfo-online.de/index.php/zfo/article/view/134|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Also, a great many of families, due to war, flight, and expulsion, had been torn apart by the border shift and now pressured the German authorities to support their relatives to leave Poland. During the 1950s, negotiations for family reunions were conducted between Poland and [[East Germany]]. However, anything that went beyond the reunification of separated spouses or minor children with their parents was rejected by the Polish authorities.<ref name="Amos"/>

From 1956 on, family reunions to both [[East Germany]] (GDR) and West Germany were handled more liberally, but the more generous exit policy for Germans from Poland was flanked by massive attempts by the Polish and GDR authorities to influence the German minority to stay in Poland or move to the GDR rather than to West Germany. In 1959/1960, as had been the case several times in the 1950s, family reunifications were declared complete by the Polish. In yet another phase of emigration negotiated in 1964, the number of applications to move to the GDR surprised both the Polish and the East German sides, and the Polish authorities now strove to limit the emigration.<ref name="Amos"/>

The European policy of détente at the beginning of the 1970s, and in particular the signing of the [[Treaty of Warsaw (1970)|Warsaw Treaty]], ushered in the next phase of family reunions and departures of Germans, particularly the "autochthonous" population, from Poland, especially to the Federal Republic of Germany. <ref name="Amos"/>

Eventually, the Polish had to realize that their assimilation policy towards the German minority (both the German citizens and the so-called "autochthons" who insisted on their German ethnicity) had failed.<ref name="Amos"/> 

In total, in the [[Cold War]] era, hundreds of thousands of Polish citizens decided to emigrate to West Germany and, to a lesser extent, to East Germany.<ref>Gerhard Reichling, {{lang|de|Die deutschen Vertriebenen in Zahlen}}, part 1, Bonn: 1995, p.&nbsp;53.</ref><ref name="Manfred Görtemaker 1999, p.169">Manfred Görtemaker (1999), {{lang|de|Geschichte der Bundesrepublik Deutschland: Von der Gründung bis zur Gegenwart}}, Munich: C. H. Beck, p.&nbsp;169, {{ISBN|3-406-44554-3}}</ref><ref name=Levitin>Levitin, Michael (February 26, 2009). [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/4841432/Germany-provokes-anger-over-museum-to-refugees-who-fled-Poland-during-WWII.html "Germany provokes anger over museum to refugees who fled Poland during WWII"]. ''The Telegraph''.</ref> Despite that, hundreds or tens of thousands of former German citizens remained in Poland. Some of them created families with other [[Polish people|Poles]], who, in the vast majority, were settlers from central Poland or were resettled from the [[former eastern territories of Poland]] by the [[Soviets]] to the [[Recovered Territories]] ([[Former eastern territories of Germany]]).

Since the [[fall of communism in Poland]], several socio-cultural organisations to promote German culture and language among the German minorities in Poland were created, including the [[German Socio-Cultural Organisation in Wrocław|German Socio-Cultural Organisation]] in [[Wrocław]] and other organisations in cities such as [[Opole]].<ref name=":12">{{Cite journal |last=Pyrah |first=Robert |date=March 2017 |title=Germans in Wroclaw: “Ethnic minority” versus hybrid identity. Historical context and urban milieu |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/nationalities-papers/article/abs/germans-in-wroclaw-ethnic-minority-versus-hybrid-identity-historical-context-and-urban-milieu/085F08AEAFEF0DCAB658C3D261F7EEE2 |journal=Nationalities Papers |language=en |volume=45 |issue=2 |pages=274–291 |doi=10.1080/00905992.2016.1259295 |issn=0090-5992|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

==Education==
[[File:Krol59DSC 0823.JPG|thumb|[[Willy-Brandt-Schule (Warsaw)|Willy-Brandt-Schule]] in [[Warsaw]]]]
There is one German international school in Poland, [[Willy-Brandt-Schule (Warsaw)|Willy-Brandt-Schule]] in [[Warsaw]].

==Notable Poles of German descent==
[[File:Jan Henryk Dąbrowski 1.PNG|thumb|upright|Jan Henryk Dąbrowski, the Polish national hero of German ancestry (mother of German descent).]]
[[File:Wladyslaw Anders.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Władysław Anders]], a general in the [[Polish Armed Forces (Second Polish Republic)|Polish Army]] and prominent member of the [[Polish government-in-exile|Polish government-in-exile in London]] was of [[Baltic-German]] ancestry.]]

* [[Władysław Anders]] (1892–1970), general, leader of the [[Polish 2nd Corps]] during [[World War II]] and prominent member of the [[Polish government-in-exile]] in London
* [[Grzegorz Braun]] (born 1967), journalist, academic lecturer, movie director, screenwriter and [[far-right]] politician
* [[Izabela Czartoryska]] (1746–1835), noblewoman, née [[Flemming]], writer, art collector, and founder of the first Polish museum, the [[Czartoryski Museum]] in Kraków
* [[Jan Henryk Dąbrowski]] (1755–1818), general and Polish national hero
* [[Stanisław Ernest Denhoff]] (1673–1728), [[szlachcic|noble]], politician and military leader
* [[Karol Estreicher (senior)]] (1827–1908), father of Polish [[bibliography]] and founder of the [[Polish Academy of Learning]]
* [[Adam Fastnacht]] (1913-1987), historian and member of [[Armia Krajowa]]
* [[Jan Fethke]] (1903–1980), film director, author and proponent of [[Esperanto]] language
* [[Emil August Fieldorf]] (1895–1953), Polish general during [[World War I]] and World War II
* [[Franciszek Fiszer]] (1860–1937), author, bon-vivant and philosopher
* [[Mark Forster (singer)|Mark Forster]] (born 1983), singer, songwriter and TV personality
* [[Anna German]] (1936–1982), popular singer
* [[Małgorzata Gersdorf]] (born 1952), lawyer, judge, Head of [[Supreme Court of Poland]]
* [[Wanda Gertz]] (1896–1958), decorated officer in the Polish Army during World War II<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nowakowska-Wierzchoś |first=Anna |date=26 March 2007 |title=Wanda Gertz: opowieść o dziewczynie żołnierzu (cz. 1) |url=https://histmag.org/Wanda-Gertz-opowiesc-o-dziewczynie-zolnierzu-cz-1-1055 |access-date=28 May 2025 |website=Histmag.org |language=pl}}</ref>
* [[Krystian Getinger]] (born 1989), footballer
* [[Roman Giertych]] (born 1971), lawyer, advocate, former Deputy Prime Minister
* [[Kamil Glik]] (born 1988), footballer<ref>{{Cite news |last=Flash |first=Matthew |date=18 October 2012 |title=Kamil Glik - bohater ze szkółki Realu, który nie wybrał Niemców |url=https://przegladsportowy.onet.pl/pilka-nozna/reprezentacja-polski/kamil-glik-bohater-ze-szkolki-realu-ktory-nie-wybral-niemcow/tj1qb1z |access-date=28 May 2025 |work=Przeglad Sportowy |publisher=Onet.pl |language=pl}}</ref>
* [[Henryk Grohman]] (1862–1939), industrialist
* [[Jan Albin Goetz-Okocimski]] (1864–1931), [[brewer]], head of [[Okocim Brewery]]
* [[Józef Haller]] (1873–1960), Polish general, political and social activist
* [[Marek Jędraszewski]] (born 1949), [[Archbishop of Kraków]] since 2016 (his mother was connected with [[Bambrzy|Bambers]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.e-wpis.pl/pl/musimy-podniesc-glowy-do-gory-i-nie-lekac-sie|title=Musimy podnieść głowy do góry i nie lękać się! |website=Miesięcznik WPIS - Wiara, Patriotyzm i Sztuka|language=pl|access-date=2019-01-31}}</ref>)
* [[Miroslav Klose]] (born 1978), footballer<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kemper |first=Anna |last2=Sussebach |first2=Henning |date=6 June 2012 |title=Miroslav Klose: "Ich war noch nie in Warschau" |url=http://www.zeit.de/2012/24/Fussball-EM-Interview-Klose |access-date=28 May 2025 |work=Die Zeit |language=de}}</ref>
* [[Maximilian Kolbe]] (1894–1941), Polish [[Conventual Franciscan]] friar, murdered in [[Auschwitz concentration camp|Auschwitz]] and subsequently [[Canonization|canonised]]
* [[Henryk Korowicz]] (1888–1941), professor, economist, and rector of [[Academy of Foreign Trade in Lwów]], murdered by the Gestapo
* [[Sławomir Mentzen]] (born 1986), Polish right-wing libertarian politician
* [[Janusz Korwin-Mikke]] (born 1942), controversial politician and writer<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.moremaiorum.pl/genealogia-janusza-korwin-mikkego-skany-i-wywod-przodkow/|title=Genealogia Janusza Korwin-Mikkego|date=October 2015|website=moremaiorum|trans-title=Genealogy of Janusz Korwin-Mikke}}</ref>
* [[Gustaf Kossinna]] (1858–1931), linguist and archaeologist
* [[Juliusz Karol Kunitzer]] (1843–1905), industrialist, economic activist and industrial magnate in [[Congress Poland]]
* [[Karolina Lanckorońska]] (1898–2002), like her father ([[Count Karol Lanckoroński]]) an art collector and [[Philanthropy|philanthropist]]
* [[Joachim Lelewel]] (1786–1861), Polish historian and politician
* [[Samuel Linde]] (1771–1847), linguist, librarian and lexicographer of the Polish language
* [[Tadeusz Manteuffel]] (1902–1970), historian
* [[Joachim Marx]] (born 1944), football player and coach
* [[Jakub Moder]] (born 1999), footballer
* [[Suzanna von Nathusius]] (born 2000), child actor
* [[Tomasz Neugebauer]] (born 2003), footballer
* [[Wilhelm Orlik-Rückemann]] (1894–1986), Polish general and military commander
* [[Emilia Plater]] (1806–1831), noblewoman and revolutionary
* [[Lukas Podolski]] (born 1985), footballer
* [[Nelli Rokita]] (born 1957), politician of [[Law and Justice (Poland)|Law and Justice]] party in Poland<ref>{{Cite news |date=8 March 2008 |title=Czarna wdowa, czyli tajemnice Nelli Rokity |url=https://www.rp.pl/plus-minus/art16851921-czarna-wdowa-czyli-tajemnice-nelli-rokity |access-date=28 May 2025 |work=Rzeczpospolita |language=pl}}</ref>
* [[Raphael Schäfer]] (born 1979), footballer
* [[Piotr Steinkeller]] (1799–1854), early industrialist and banker
* [[Jerzy Stuhr]] (1947–2024), film actor and director
* [[Romuald Traugutt]] (1826–1864), "dictator" of the [[January Uprising]]
* [[Donald Tusk]] (born 1957), politician, from 2023 [[Prime Minister of Poland]]<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=http://www.newsweek.pl/polska/zmarla-matka-donalda-tuska,38309,1,1.html|title=Zmarła matka Donalda Tuska|date=2009-04-07|work=Newsweek|access-date=2017-10-31|language=pl}}</ref>
* [[Jozef Unrug]] (1884–1973), Prussian-born Polish admiral who helped to form the [[Polish Navy]] in independent Poland, inmate of [[Colditz]]
* [[Karol Ernest Wedel]] (1813–1902), [[Confectionery|confectioner]]
* [[Edward Werner]] (1878–1945), economist, judge and politician in the [[Second Polish Republic]]

== German media in Poland ==
* [[Schlesisches Wochenblatt]]
* [[Polen-Rundschau]]
* Schlesien Aktuell – a German-language radio station from [[Opole]]
* [[Polskie Radio]] – public-service radio with online German edition (Deutsche Redaktion), as well as broadcasts in German
* Polen am Morgen – [[online newspaper]], published daily since 1998

== See also ==
{{Portal|Germany|Poland}} 
* [[Germany–Poland relations]]
* [[Bilingual communes in Poland]]
* [[German Minority (political party)]]
* [[Germans in the Czech Republic]]
* [[Polish minority in Germany]]
* [[Olędrzy]]
* [[History of Germans in Russia and the Soviet Union|Vistula Germans in Russian Poland]]
* [[Bambrzy]]
* [[Volksdeutsche]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|2}}

==References==

* ''[http://facta.junis.ni.ac.rs/facta/pas/pas2003/pas2003-01.pdf Dual Citizenship in Opole Silesia in the Context of European Integration]{{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}'', Tomasz Kamusella, Opole University, in ''Facta Universitatis'', series Philosophy, Sociology and Psychology, Vol 2, No 10, 2003, pp.&nbsp;699–716
* {{cite book |first=Till |last=Scholtz-Knobloch |title=Die deutsche Minderheit in Oberschlesien - Selbstreflexion und politisch-soziale Situation unter besonderer Berücksichtigung des so genannten "Oppelner Schlesiens (Westoberschlesien)" |publisher=Senfkorn-Verlag |language=de |isbn=3-935330-02-2 |location=Goerlitz |year=2002 }}
* {{cite book |first=Marek |last=Zybura |title=Niemcy w Polsce |publisher=[[Wydawnictwo Dolnośląskie]] |language=pl |isbn=83-7384-171-7 |location=Wrocław |year=2004 }}
* {{cite book |first=Alastair |last=Rabagliati |title=A Minority Vote. Participation of the German and Belarusian Minorities within the Polish Political System 1989-1999 |publisher=Zakład Wydawniczy NOMOS |isbn=83-88508-18-0 |location=Kraków |year=2001 }}

== Further reading ==
* de Zayas, Alfred M.:{{unreliable source?|sure=y|reason=Cuban-American lawyer Alfred-Maurice de Zayas is known for defending the rights of German expellees from Eastern Europe including former Nazis. In his books, Zayas attempted to refute the findings of Wiesenthal and Safer by asserting that the Germans came to the rescue of Jews during pogroms.|date=March 2017}} Die deutschen Vertriebenen. Graz, 2006. {{ISBN|3-902475-15-3}}.
* de Zayas, Alfred M.: Heimatrecht ist Menschenrecht. München, 2001.{{ISBN|3-8004-1416-3}}.
* de Zayas, Alfred M.: A terrible Revenge. New York, 1994. {{ISBN|1-4039-7308-3}}.
* de Zayas, Alfred M.: Nemesis at Potsdam. London, 1977. {{ISBN|0-8032-4910-1}}.
* de Zayas, Alfred M.: 50 Thesen zur Vertreibung. München, 2008. {{ISBN|978-3-9812110-0-9}}.
* Douglas, R.M.: Orderly and Humane. The Expulsion of the Germans after the Second World War. Yale University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-30016-660-6}}.
* Kleineberg A., Marx, Ch., Knobloch E., Lelgemann D.: Germania und die Insel Thule. Die Entschlüsselung vo Ptolemaios: "Atlas der Oikumene". Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 2010.
* Matelski Dariusz, Niemcy w Polsce w XX wieku (Deutschen in Polen im 20. Jahrhundert), Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, Warszawa-Poznań 1999.
* Matelski Dariusz, Niemcy w II Rzeczypospolitej (1918-1939) [Die Deutschen in der Zweiten Republik Polen (1918-1939)], Wydawnictwo Adam Marszałek, Toruń 2018 cz. 1 [Bd. 1] ({{ISBN|978-83-8019-905-7}}), ss. 611, il., mapy.
* Matelski Dariusz,  Niemcy w II Rzeczypospolitej (1918-1939[Die Deutschen in der Zweiten Republik Polen (1918-1939)]), Wydawnictwo Adam Marszałek, Toruń 2018 cz. 2[Bd. 1]  ({{ISBN|978-83-8019-906-4}}), ss. 624, Abstract (s. 264–274), Zusammenfassung (s. 275–400).
* Naimark, Norman: Fires of Hatred. Ethnic Cleansing in Twentieth-Century Europe. Cambridge Harvard Press, 2001.
* Prauser, Steffen and Rees, Arfon: The Expulsion of the "German" Communities from Eastern Europe at the End of the Second World War. Florence, Italy, European University Institute, 2004.
* {{cite journal |last=Cordell |first=Karl |date= June 1996 |title=Politics and society in Upper Silesia today: The German minority since 1945 |journal=[[Nationalities Papers]] |volume=24 |issue=2 |pages=269–285 |doi=10.1080/00905999608408441 |s2cid=154554688 }}
* {{cite journal |last=Cordell |first=Karl |author2=Stefan Wolff |date= June 2005 |title=Ethnic Germans in Poland and the Czech Republic: a comparative evaluation |journal=[[Nationalities Papers]] |volume=33 |issue=2 |pages=255–276 |doi=10.1080/00905990500088610 |s2cid=73536305 }}
* {{cite journal |last=Dyboski |first=Roman |date= September 1923 |title=Poland and the Problem of National Minorities |journal=Journal of the British Institute of International Affairs |volume=2 |issue=5 |pages=179–200|doi=10.2307/3014543|publisher =Blackwell Publishing|jstor = 3014543 }}
* {{cite journal |last=Fleming |first=Michael |date= December 2003 |title=The Limits of the German Minority Project in Post-communist Poland: Scale, Space and Democratic Deliberation |journal=[[Nationalities Papers]] |volume=31 |issue=4 |pages=391–411 |doi=10.1080/0090599032000152915 |s2cid=55549493 }}

{{Ethnic groups in Poland}}
{{German diaspora}}
{{Portal bar|Germany|Poland}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:German Minority In Poland}}
[[Category:Germany–Poland relations]]
[[Category:German diaspora in Poland| ]]