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'''Recovered''' or '''Regained Territories''' ({{lang-pl|Ziemie Odzyskane}}) was the official term used by the ] to describe those ] which were assigned by the ] allies to ] after ].<ref name="neires466">An explanation note in , ed. by Polonsky and Michlic, p.466</ref> The rationale given for the term "Recovered Territories" was that these territories had been under Polish rule during the early to high ]. No longer used officially<ref name="Gregor Thum 2006, p.298">Gregor Thum, ''Die fremde Stadt. Breslau nach 1945", 2006, p.298, ISBN 3570550176, 9783570550175</ref> the alternative term '''"Western and Northern Territories"''' ({{lang-pl|Ziemie Zachodnie i Północne}}) is preferred,<ref name="Gregor Thum 2006, p.298"/><ref name="Social Capital 51">Martin Åberg, Mikael Sandberg, ''Social Capital and Democratisation: Roots of Trust in Post-Communist Poland and Ukraine'', Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2003, ISBN 0754619362, </ref> the "Western Territories" being the regions of ] (the former ] and ] (Stettin) area), ] (]) and ] (without ]), and the "Northern Territories" being the ] area (the former ]) and the regions of ] and ] (formerly part of ]). '''Recovered''' or '''Regained Territories''' ({{lang-pl|Ziemie Odzyskane}}) was the official term first used by the ] in 1938<ref></ref> in regards to ] and later adopted by ] to describe those areas of Nazi Germany which were assigned by the ] allies to ] after ].<ref name="neires466">An explanation note in , ed. by Polonsky and Michlic, p.466</ref> The rationale given for the term Recovered Territories was that these territories had been initially part of Polish state and were integral part of Poland especially during], of which the ] was the legitimate heir.<ref name="neires466"/><ref name="Joanna B. Michlic 2006, pp.207-208">Joanna B. Michlic, ''Poland's Threatening Other: The Image of the Jew from 1880 to the Present'', 2006, pp.207-208, ISBN 0803232403, 9780803232402</ref><ref name="Norman Davies 2005">Norman Davies, ''God's Playground: A History of Poland in Two Volumes'', 2005, pp.381ff, ISBN 0199253404, 9780199253401</ref><ref name="Geoffrey Hosking 1997, p.153">Geoffrey Hosking, George Schopflin, ''Myths and Nationhood'', 1997, p.153, ISBN 0415919746, 9780415919746</ref><ref name="Jan Kubik 1994, pp.64-65">Jan Kubik, ''The Power of Symbols Against the Symbols of Power: The Rise of Solidarity and the Fall of State Socialism in Poland'', 1994, pp.64-65, ISBN 0271010843, 9780271010847</ref>The territories were either part of Poland uner ] dynasty,Polish fiefs and areas lost in ]. They were lost in part due to Germanisation and due German ] towards the East.<ref name="Geoffrey Hosking 1997, p.153"/><ref>Norman Davies, ''God's Playground: A History of Poland in Two Volumes'', 2005, pp.381ff, p.395, ISBN 0199253404, 9780199253401</ref><ref>Karl Cordell, Andrzej Antoszewski, ''Poland and the European Union'', 2000, p.166, ISBN 0415238854, 9780415238854</ref>


The ] was started and gradually the previous Polish minority became the majority on the territories,<ref name=Hoffmann142/><ref name=Cordell168/> although a small ] remains in some areas. While the majority of Polish settlers moved in voluntarily from Central Poland and the wartime Polish diaspora, the Communist authorities also ] ] and other minorities as well as ] from ].<ref name=Hoffmann142/><ref name=Cordell168/><ref name="Dan Diner p.164">Dan Diner, Raphael Gross, Yfaat Weiss, ''Jüdische Geschichte als allgemeine Geschichte'', p.164</ref><ref name="Gregor Thum 2006, p.344">Gregor Thum, ''Die fremde Stadt. Breslau nach 1945", 2006, p.344, ISBN 3570550176, 9783570550175</ref>
The phrase "recovered" was used to ]<ref name="Cordell_1999">Tomasz Kamusella and Terry Sullivan in Karl Cordell, ''Ethnicity and Democratisation in the New Europe'', 1999, p.169: " christened so by the Polish communist-cum-nationalist propaganda", ISBN 0415173124, 9780415173124</ref> a picture of the Western and Northern Territories having been an integral part of Poland since ], of which the ] was the legitimate heir.<ref name="neires466"/><ref name="Joanna B. Michlic 2006, pp.207-208">Joanna B. Michlic, ''Poland's Threatening Other: The Image of the Jew from 1880 to the Present'', 2006, pp.207-208, ISBN 0803232403, 9780803232402</ref><ref name="Norman Davies 2005">Norman Davies, ''God's Playground: A History of Poland in Two Volumes'', 2005, pp.381ff, ISBN 0199253404, 9780199253401</ref><ref name="Geoffrey Hosking 1997, p.153">Geoffrey Hosking, George Schopflin, ''Myths and Nationhood'', 1997, p.153, ISBN 0415919746, 9780415919746</ref><ref name="Jan Kubik 1994, pp.64-65">Jan Kubik, ''The Power of Symbols Against the Symbols of Power: The Rise of Solidarity and the Fall of State Socialism in Poland'', 1994, pp.64-65, ISBN 0271010843, 9780271010847</ref> Emphasis was put on periods the territories were ] ruled, which was the case with the Western Territories during some periods of the ], or Polish fiefs, as were the Northern Territories during some periods of the ]. The ] were presented as a mere result of Germany's continuous "aggression" towards her eastern neighbors ("]").<ref name="Geoffrey Hosking 1997, p.153"/><ref>Norman Davies, ''God's Playground: A History of Poland in Two Volumes'', 2005, pp.381ff, p.395, ISBN 0199253404, 9780199253401</ref><ref>Karl Cordell, Andrzej Antoszewski, ''Poland and the European Union'', 2000, p.166, ISBN 0415238854, 9780415238854</ref> The post-war forced population movements were officially termed "repatriations,"<ref name="Geoffrey Hosking 1997, p.153"/> and the erstwhile German character and heritage of the territories was disregarded and denied.<ref name="Cordell_2005"/>

The ] and gradually replaced by Polish nationals,<ref name=Hoffmann142/><ref name=Cordell168/> although a small ] remains in some areas. While the majority of Polish settlers moved in voluntarily from Central Poland and the wartime Polish diaspora, the Polish regime also ] ] and other minorities as well as ] from ].<ref name=Hoffmann142/><ref name=Cordell168/><ref name="Dan Diner p.164">Dan Diner, Raphael Gross, Yfaat Weiss, ''Jüdische Geschichte als allgemeine Geschichte'', p.164</ref><ref name="Gregor Thum 2006, p.344">Gregor Thum, ''Die fremde Stadt. Breslau nach 1945", 2006, p.344, ISBN 3570550176, 9783570550175</ref>


The ] was formally recognized by ] in the ] (1950) and by ] in the ] (1970), and was affirmed by the re-united ] in the ]. The ] was formally recognized by ] in the ] (1950) and by ] in the ] (1970), and was affirmed by the re-united ] in the ].
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{{Borders of Poland}} {{Borders of Poland}}


==Area nad history of Recovered territories before 1945==
==Area==
{{See|Piast Poland}}
{{See|Former eastern territories of Germany}}
{{See|Partitions of Poland}}
{{See|History of Poland (966-1385)}}
]
] in United States. Poland at the time of death of ]]]


Numerous ] had inhabited most of the area of present-day Poland since the 6th century. ] of the ] from his stronghold in the ] area united various neighboring tribes in the second half of the 10th century, creating the first Polish state and becoming the first historically recorded ] duke. His realm roughly included all of the area of what would later be named Recovered Territories except for ]. His son and successor, ], expanded the southern part of the realm, but lost control over ]. After fragmentation, pagan revolts and a Bohemian invasion in the 1030s, ] again united most of the former Piast realm, including ] and the ], but without Pomerania. Pomerania became part of Polish state again under ] in 1116-1121. On his death in 1138, Poland was subjected to , and ruled by Bolesław's sons and later their successors, who were often in conflict with each other. Partial reunification was achieved by ], crowned king of Poland in 1320, although the ] and ] duchies remained independent Piast holdings.
The ''Western Territories'' comprise the regions of:
*] (meaning "Western Pomerania", but not to be confused with ]), comprising the former German ] region and the ] (Stettin) area, which was the easternmost part of German ] before the war, also denoted ''Stettiner Zipfel''. These ]n areas constituted the German ] before the war and the Polish ] after the transfer.
*], the former ] ("New March") portion of ]. As the area had been the eastern part of the Brandenburgian province, the area was also referred to as ]. The term Lubusz Land ({{lang-de|Lebuser Land}}) follows a medieval terminology, when parts of the area were named after the then important town of ] ({{lang-pl|Lubusz}}). Although the Polish region is named after Lebus, the town itself lies on the German bank of the ] river.
*Most of ] and parts of ], located in the former German ] east of the ] and ] rivers. Lower Silesia also includes eastern parts of the region of ].


In the course of the 12th to 14th centuries, ], ] and ] settlers moved into East ] and ] (a process known as the ]). In Pomerania, ], ] and Silesia, the former ] (] and ]) or ] population became minorities throughout the following centuries, although substantial numbers of original inhabitants remained in areas like Upper Silesia. In Poland and ] (West Prussia), German settlers formed a minority.
The ''Northern Territories'' comprise:

Despite the actual loss of several provinces, medieval lawyers of the Kingdom of Poland created a specific claim to all formerly Polish provinces that were not reunited with the rest of the country in 1320. It based on the theory of the '''Corona Regni Poloniae''' according to which the state (the Crown) and its interests were no longer strictly connected with the person of the ]. Because of that no monarch could effectively renounce Crowns claims to any of the territories that were historically and/or ethnically Polish. Those claims were reserved for the state (the Crown) which in theory still covered all of the territories that were part, or dependent of, the Polish Crown in 1138. Some of the territories (Pomerelia, Masovia) were reunited with Poland during the 15th and 16th centuries. However all of the ], until the end of the ], had to promise to do everything that is possible to reunite the rest of those territories with the Crown<ref name= "Historia Ustroju i Prawa Polskiego">{{pl icon}} {{cite book | author = ], Bogusław Leśnodorski, Michał Pietrzak | editor = ]| title = Historia Ustroju i Prawa Polskiego| url = | format = | year = 2001 | publisher = | location = Warszawa | isbn = 83-88296-02-7| chapter = | chapterurl = | quote = | page = :85–86}}</ref>

In general the areas of Recovered Territories can be divided into three categories:
*Parts of Polish state during the Polish Piast dynasty:
*Polish fiefs

*Territories of Poland lost during Partitions of Poland:
] (1772),
parts of ] (1772),
](1772)
](1772)
](1772)
] (1793),
](1793)
] (1793).


===Pomerania===
{{Main|History of Pomerania}}
]

The ]n parts of the Recovered Territories were subject to Polish rule several times from the late 10th century. ] had acquired at least significant parts of the area, and a ] by his son ] in 1000–1005/07, before the area was lost again. Despite attempts to again control the ], this was only managed by ] in several campaigns lasting from 1116 to 1121. There were successful Christian missions in 1124 and 1128, however by the time of Bolesław's death in 1138, most of West Pomerania (the ]) was lost to Poland. Following centuries would see Germanisation of the area and discrimination of Slavic population. Despite this, a Polish minority existed till XX centuryand was active in several organisations upkeeping the Polish cultural and national existance before the Second World War.

====Gdańsk (Danzig) and the Lauenburg and Bütow Land====
] (to 1525 ]) as fief of the ] 1466-1657]]
{{See|History of Gdańsk|Lauenburg and Bütow Land}}
] (orange) in the "Recovered Territories" (green)]]

The history of the Eastern ]n areas around ] and ] (] and ]), which are also within the Recovered Territories, differs somewhat from the history of the bulk of Pomerania. They are situated in the former region of ], which was ruled by the ] dynasty who, unlike the Griffins, did not join the Holy Roman Empire and remained part of Polish state, loosening in the course of the 13th century. After the death of ] in 1294, the Polish kings ] and ] and ] for a short period ruled Pomerelia<ref>A. Chwalba, Kalendarium Dziejów Polski, p. 72, ISBN 8308031366</ref> in conflict with ], who also claimed the region. The ] followed in 1308, and after that Danzig and Lauenburg-Bütow became part of the ] until the ] (1466), when ] became subject to the Polish Crown (though with substantial autonomy). Lauenburg-Bütow was handed over to the Griffin dukes and was a Polish fief for most of the time until the ] (1772). Danzig became a part of ] in the ] (1793), and was made the ] after ].

===Lubusz Land===
{{Main|Lubusz Land|Brandenburg}} {{See|Neumark}}
] (orange) in the "Recovered Territories" (green)]]
]

The medieval ], including Lubusz (]) itself, was also part of Mieszko's realm. Poland lost the bishopric of Lebus to ] ] in 1252, who made it part of their ]. The present-day Polish Lubusz Land comprises most of the former Neumark territory east of the Oder River.

===Parts of Greater Poland and Kuyavia===
]
{{See|Province of Posen-West Prussia}}
]

A portion of the Recovered Territories east of the Lubusz Land had previously formed the western parts of the Polish provinces of ] and ] (''Polonia Maior''), being lost to Prussia in the ] (the Pomerelian parts) and the ] (the remainder). During ]ic times the Greater Poland territories were part of the ], but after the ] they were taken over again by Prussia as part of the ] (Poznań), later ]. After ] those parts of the former Province of Posen and of ] which were not restored part of the ] were administered as ] (Province of Posen–West Prussia) until 1938.

===Silesia===
{{Main|History of Silesia}}
] (orange) in the "Recovered Territories" (green)]]

Silesia continued to be ruled by Piast dukes following the 12th-century ]. The ] retained power in most of the region until the early 16th century, the last (], duke of ]) dying in 1675. The first German colonists arrived in the late 12th century, and large-scale German settlement started in the early 13th century with the reign of ].<ref>Hugo Weczerka, ''Handbuch der historischen Stätten: Schlesien'', 2003, p.XXXVI, ISBN 3-520-31602-1</ref> While Lower and Middle Silesia in the late Middle Ages became German-speaking except for some areas along the northeastern frontier, Upper Silesia retained a Polish character.<ref>Ernst Badstübner, ''Dehio - Handbuch der Kunstdenkmäler in Polen: Schlesien'', 2003, p.4, ISBN 342203109X</ref> Here, the Germans who arrived during the Middle Ages were mostly ]; Germans dominated in large cities and Poles mostly in rural areas. The province came under the control of ], in the 14th century. Silesia passed to the ] of ] in 1526, and was mostly conquered by Prussia's ] in 1742. A part of ] became part of Poland after World War I, but the bulk of Silesia formed part of the post-1945 Recovered Territories.

===Warmia and Masuria===
{{See|Prussia (region)|East Prussia}}
] (orange) in the "Recovered Territories" (green)]]


The northern territories of ] and ] form the areas of Recovered Territories that were Polish fiefs . Originally inhabited by pagan ], these regions were incorporated into the state of the ] in the 13th and 14th centuries. By the ] (1466), an area of Warmia around ] was awarded to the Polish crown as part of ], though with considerable autonomy. The remainder of today's Warmia-Masuria region became part of ], formally a Polish fief. The region was taken by Prussia in the ] (1772). It formed the southern part of ] after World War I, becoming part of Poland after World War II, with northern East Prussia going to the ] to form the ].
*the area of Gdansk (the former ]);<ref>{{cite book|title=International Law Reports|first=E|last=Lauterpacht|publisher=] Press|year=1961|isbn=0521463696|page=77|quote="under the "administration" of Poland the territory of the former Free City of Danzig and certain former German territories. These territories, situated east of the Oder and Neisse rivers, have since been referred to by the Polish legislation as "the Recovered Territories"}}</ref>


*the southern two-thirds of the former German province of ], comprising the regions of ] (Ermland) and ].


<gallery perrow="4"> <gallery perrow="4">
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File:Northern and Western Territories.PNG|], Western and Northern Territories in dark green File:Northern and Western Territories.PNG|], Western and Northern Territories in dark green
</gallery> </gallery>




==Origin and use of the term== ==Origin and use of the term==
], Minister of Recovered Territories]] ], Minister of Recovered Territories]]
The term "''Recovered Territories''" was officially used for the first time in the Decree of the President of the Republic of 11 October 1938 after the annexation of ] by the Polish army.<ref>{{Dziennik Ustaw|rok=1938|numer=78|pozycja=533}}</ref> It became the official ] term<ref name="neires466"/><ref name="Cordell_1999"/> coined in the aftermath of ] to denote the ] that were being ].<ref>{{cite book|last=Przybyła|first=Piotr|chapter=Wiedergewonnene Gebiete als ''Vor-'' und ''Fest''stellung. Zum Verhältnis von Propaganda, Migration und Besiedlung von Polens neuen Gebieten im Jahr 1945|title=Wahl und Wagnis Migration|volume=6|series=Gesellschaft und Kultur|editor1-first=Silke|editor1-last=Flegel|editor2-first=Anne|editor2-last=Hartmann|editor3-first=Frank|editor3-last=Hoffmann|publisher=LIT Verlag|location=Münster|year=2007|isbn=3825804364|pages=97-126; 97}}</ref> The underlying concept was to define post-war Poland as the heir of the ] realm,<ref name="Joanna B. Michlic 2006, pp.207-208"/><ref name="Norman Davies 2005"/><ref name="Geoffrey Hosking 1997, p.153"/> which was simplified into a picture of an ethnically homogeneous state matching the post-war borders,<ref name="Jan Kubik 1994, pp.64-65"/> as opposed to the later ] Poland, which was multi-ethnic and located further east.<ref>Jan Kubik, ''The Power of Symbols Against the Symbols of Power: The Rise of Solidarity and the Fall of State Socialism in Poland'', 1994, pp.65, ISBN 0271010843, 9780271010847</ref> One reason for post-war Poland's favoring a "Piast" rather than a "Jagiellon" tradition was ]'s refusal to withdraw from the ] and the Allies' readiness to satisfy Poland with German territory instead.<ref name="Rick Fawn 2003, p.190">Rick Fawn, ''Ideology and national identity in post-communist foreign policies'', 2003, p.190, ISBN 0714655171, 9780714655178</ref> However the original argument for awarding formerly German territory to Poland – compensation – was complemented by the argument that this territory in fact constituted "old Polish lands",<ref>Alfred M. De Zayas, ''Nemesis at Potsdam'', p.168</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Zimniak|first=Pawel|chapter=Im Schatten des Zweiten Weltkrieges. Machtverhältnisse und Erinnerungsinteressen beim Umgang mit dem Deprivationsphänomen in der deutsch-polnischen Öffentlichkeit|title=Information Warfare|editor1-first=Claudia|editor1-last=Glunz|editor2-first=Artur|editor2-last=Pełka|editor3-first=Thomas F|editor3-last=Schneider|publisher=]/V&R unipress|location=Osnabrück/Göttingen|year=2007|isbn=3899713915|pages=547-562; 556}}</ref> seizing on a pre-war concept developed by Polish right-wing circles attached to the ].<ref>{{cite book|last=Dmitrow|first=Edmund|chapter=Vergangenheitspolitik in Polen 1945-1989|title=Deutsch-polnische Beziehungen 1939 - 1945 - 1949|editor1-first=Wlodzimierz|editor1-last=Borodziej|editor2-first=Klaus|editor2-last=Ziemer|location=Osnabrück|year=2000|pages=235-264; 250}} As cited by {{cite book|last=Zimniak|first=Pawel|chapter=Im Schatten des Zweiten Weltkrieges. Machtverhältnisse und Erinnerungsinteressen beim Umgang mit dem Deprivationsphänomen in der deutsch-polnischen Öffentlichkeit|title=Information Warfare|editor1-first=Claudia|editor1-last=Glunz|editor2-first=Artur|editor2-last=Pełka|editor3-first=Thomas F|editor3-last=Schneider|publisher=]/V&R unipress|location=Osnabrück/Göttingen|year=2007|isbn=3899713915|pages=547-562; 556, 562}}</ref> Another reason for the emphasis on the Piast era was the Polish desire to create an ethnically homogeneous rather than a multi-ethnic state.<ref name="Joanna B. Michlic 2006, p.208">Joanna B. Michlic, ''Poland's Threatening Other: The Image of the Jew from 1880 to the Present'', 2006, p.208, ISBN 0803232403, 9780803232402</ref><ref name="Jan Kubik 1994, p.65">Jan Kubik, ''The Power of Symbols Against the Symbols of Power: The Rise of Solidarity and the Fall of State Socialism in Poland'', 1994, p.65, ISBN 0271010843, 9780271010847</ref> Also, the Piasts were perceived to have defended Poland against German peoples, while the Jagiellons' rival had been the growing ], making them a less suitable basis for post-war Poland's Soviet-dominated situation.<ref name="Rick Fawn 2003, p.190"/><ref name="Jan Kubik 1994, p.65"/> The ] and ] thus supported the idea of Poland based on old Piast lands<ref name="Rick Fawn 2003, p.190"/><ref name="Joanna B. Michlic 2006, p.208"/> against their pre-war peasant and nationalist opponents.<ref name="Geoffrey Hosking 1997, p.153"/>{{Clarify|date=August 2009}} In fact, the question of the "Recovered Territories" was one of the few issues that did not divide the Polish Communists and their opposition, and there was unanimity regarding the western border. Even the underground anti-Communist press called for the Piast borders, "ending ] and ] once and for all".<ref>''Redrawing Nations: Ethnic Cleansing in East-Central Europe'' 1944-1948 By Philipp Ther, Ana Siljak Page 81</ref>


The term "''Recovered Territories''" was officially used for the first time in the Decree of the President of the Republic of 11 October 1938 after the annexation of ] by the Polish army.<ref>{{Dziennik Ustaw|rok=1938|numer=78|pozycja=533}}</ref> It became the official ] term<ref name="neires466"/><ref name="Cordell_1999">Tomasz Kamusella and Terry Sullivan in Karl Cordell, ''Ethnicity and Democratisation in the New Europe'', 1999, p.169: " christened so by the Polish communist-cum-nationalist propaganda", ISBN 0415173124, 9780415173124</ref> coined in the aftermath of ] to denote the ] that were being ]. The underlying concept was to define post-war Poland as the heir of the ] realm,<ref name="Joanna B. Michlic 2006, pp.207-208"/><ref name="Norman Davies 2005"/><ref name="Geoffrey Hosking 1997, p.153"/> which was simplified into a picture of an ethnically homogeneous state matching the post-war borders,<ref name="Jan Kubik 1994, pp.64-65"/> as opposed to the later ] Poland, which was multi-ethnic and located further east.<ref>Jan Kubik, ''The Power of Symbols Against the Symbols of Power: The Rise of Solidarity and the Fall of State Socialism in Poland'', 1994, pp.65, ISBN 0271010843, 9780271010847</ref> One reason for post-war Poland's favoring a Piast rather than a Jagiellon tradition was ]'s refusal to withdraw from the ] and the Allies' readiness to satisfy Poland with German territory instead.<ref name="Rick Fawn 2003, p.190">Rick Fawn, ''Ideology and national identity in post-communist foreign policies'', 2003, p.190, ISBN 0714655171, 9780714655178</ref> However the original argument for awarding formerly German territory to Poland – compensation – was complemented by the argument that this territory in fact constituted former areas of Poland.<ref>Alfred M. De Zayas, ''Nemesis at Potsdam'', p.168</ref><ref name="Joanna B. Michlic 2006, p.208">Joanna B. Michlic, ''Poland's Threatening Other: The Image of the Jew from 1880 to the Present'', 2006, p.208, ISBN 0803232403, 9780803232402</ref><ref name="Jan Kubik 1994, p.65">Jan Kubik, ''The Power of Symbols Against the Symbols of Power: The Rise of Solidarity and the Fall of State Socialism in Poland'', 1994, p.65, ISBN 0271010843, 9780271010847</ref> Also, the Piasts were perceived to have defended Poland against the Germans, while the Jagiellons' main rival had been the growing ], making them a less suitable basis for post-war Poland's Soviet-dominated situation.<ref name="Rick Fawn 2003, p.190"/><ref name="Jan Kubik 1994, p.65"/> The ] and ] thus supported the idea of Poland based on old Piast lands.<ref name="Rick Fawn 2003, p.190"/><ref name="Joanna B. Michlic 2006, p.208"/> In fact, the question of the Recovered Territories was one of the few issues that did not divide the Polish Communists and their opposition, and there was unanimity regarding the western border. Even the underground anti-Communist press called for the Piast borders, that would end ] and ].<ref>''Redrawing Nations: Ethnic Cleansing in East-Central Europe'' 1944-1948 By Philipp Ther, Ana Siljak Page 81</ref>
]]]


Great efforts were made to propagate the view of "recovered Piast territory", which were actively supported by the Catholic Church.<ref>Gregor Thum, ''Die fremde Stadt. Breslau nach 1945", 2006, pp.287, ISBN 3570550176, 9783570550175</ref> The sciences were responsible for the development of this perception of history. In 1945 the ] ({{lang-pl|Instytut Zachodni}}) was founded to coordinate the scientific activities. Its director, ], characterized his mission as follows: "We don't try for the so called objective historiography. It was our mission to present the Polish history of these countries and to project the current Polish reality of these countries upon their historical background.".<ref>Gregor Thum, ''Die fremde Stadt. Breslau nach 1945", 2006, pp.282, ISBN 3570550176, 9783570550175</ref> Historical scientists, archaeologists, linguists, art historians and ethnologists worked in an interdisciplinary effort to legitimize the new borders.<ref>Gregor Thum, ''Die fremde Stadt. Breslau nach 1945", 2006, pp.281, ISBN 3570550176, 9783570550175</ref> Their findings were popularised in countless monographs, periodicals, schoolbooks, travel guides, broadcasts and exhibitions.<ref>Gregor Thum, ''Die fremde Stadt. Breslau nach 1945", 2006, pp.283, ISBN 3570550176, 9783570550175</ref> Official maps were drawn up to show that the Polish frontiers under the first known Piast princes matched the new ones.<ref name="Geoffrey Hosking 1997, p.153"/> According to ] the young post war generation was educated to assume that the boundaries of the People's Republic were the same as those on which the Polish nation had developed for centuries. Furthermore, they were instructed that the Polish "Motherland" has always been in the same location, even when occupied for long periods of time by foreigners or as political boundaries shifted.<ref name="Norman Davies 2005, pp.386">Norman Davies, ''God's Playground: A History of Poland in Two Volumes'', 2005, pp.386, ISBN 0199253404, 9780199253401</ref> The official view was that the Poles had always had the inalienable and inevitable right to inhabit the "recovered" territories, even if prevented from doing so by higher powers.<ref name="Norman Davies 2005, pp.386"/> As a consequence, the Piast concept was accepted by millions of Poles and is still believed by many.<ref name="Geoffrey Hosking 1997, p.153"/> Furthermore, the Piast concept was used to persuade the Allied Powers, who found it difficult to define a Polish "ethnographic territory", to assume that it would be an untolerable injustice to not "give the territories back".<ref name="Geoffrey Hosking 1997, p.153"/>


Even though most of the "Recovered Territories" had been under German and Prussian rule for many centuries, many events of this history were perceived as part of "foreign" rather than "local" history in post-war Poland.<ref>Norman Davies, ''God's Playground: A History of Poland in Two Volumes'', 2005, p.393, ISBN 0199253404, 9780199253401</ref> Polish scholars instead concentrated on the mediaeval Piast history of the region, the cultural, political and economic bonds to Poland, the history of the Polish-speaking population in Prussia and the "Drang nach Osten" as a historical constant since the Middle Ages.<ref>Gregor Thum, ''Die fremde Stadt. Breslau nach 1945", 2006, p.281, ISBN 3570550176, 9783570550175</ref>


Great efforts were made to propagate the view of recovered Piast territory, which were actively supported by the Catholic Church.<ref>Gregor Thum, ''Die fremde Stadt. Breslau nach 1945", 2006, pp.287, ISBN 3570550176, 9783570550175</ref> The sciences were responsible for the development of this perception of history. In 1945 the ] ({{lang-pl|Instytut Zachodni}}) was founded to coordinate the scientific activities. Its director, ], characterized his mission as an effort to present the Polish history of the region, and project current Polish reality of these countries upon a historical background.".<ref>Gregor Thum, ''Die fremde Stadt. Breslau nach 1945", 2006, pp.282, ISBN 3570550176, 9783570550175</ref> Historical scientists, archaeologists, linguists, art historians and ethnologists worked in an interdisciplinary effort to legitimize the new borders.<ref>Gregor Thum, ''Die fremde Stadt. Breslau nach 1945", 2006, pp.281, ISBN 3570550176, 9783570550175</ref> Their findings were popularised in monographs, periodicals, schoolbooks, travel guides, broadcasts and exhibitions.<ref>Gregor Thum, ''Die fremde Stadt. Breslau nach 1945", 2006, pp.283, ISBN 3570550176, 9783570550175</ref> Official maps were drawn showing that the Polish frontiers under the first known Piast princes matched the new ones.<ref name="Geoffrey Hosking 1997, p.153"/> According to ] the young post war generation received education informing them about the fact that the boundaries of the People's Republic were the same as those on which the Polish nation had developed for centuries. Furthermore, they were instructed that the Polish "Motherland" has always been in the same location, even when occupied for long periods of time by foreigners or as political boundaries shifted.<ref name="Norman Davies 2005, pp.386">Norman Davies, ''God's Playground: A History of Poland in Two Volumes'', 2005, pp.386, ISBN 0199253404, 9780199253401</ref> The official view was that the Poles had always had the inalienable and inevitable right to inhabit the Recovered Territories, even if prevented from doing so by higher powers.<ref name="Norman Davies 2005, pp.386"/> As a consequence, the Piast concept was accepted by millions of Poles and is still believed by many.<ref name="Geoffrey Hosking 1997, p.153"/> Furthermore, the Piast concept was used to persuade the Allied Powers, who found it difficult to define a Polish "ethnographic territory", to assume that it would be an intolerable injustice to not "give the territories back".<ref name="Geoffrey Hosking 1997, p.153"/>
By 1949 the term "Recovered Territories" had been dropped from ], but it is still used occasionally in common language.<ref name="Gregor Thum 2006, p.298"/> On the grounds that those areas should not be regarded as unique territories within the Polish state, the authorities began to refer to them instead as the "Western and Northern Territories".<ref name="Gregor Thum 2006, p.298"/><ref name="Social Capital 51">Martin Åberg, Mikael
Sandberg, ''Social Capital and Democratisation: Roots of Trust in Post-Communist Poland and Ukraine'', Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2003, ISBN 0754619362, </ref> Along with the debunking of communist historiography, the recovered territories thesis has been discarded.<ref name="Cordell_2005">Karl Cordell, Stefan Wolff, ''Germany's Foreign Policy Towards Poland and the Czech Republic: Ostpolitik Revisited'', 2005, p.139: "In addition it has been relatively easy for Polish historians and others to attempt to debunk communist historiography and present a more balanced analysis of the past - and not only with respect to Germany. It has been controversial, and often painful, but nevertheless it has been done. For example, Poland's acquisition in 1945 of eastern German territories is increasingly presented as the price Germany paid for launching a total war, and then having lost it totally. The 'recovered territories' thesis previously applied in almost equal measures by the communists and Catholic Church has been discarded. It is freely admitted in some circles that on the whole 'the recovered territorries' in fact had a wholly German character. The extent to which this fact is transmitted to other groups than the socially and politically engaged is a matter for some debate. " ISBN 0415369746, 9780415369749</ref> However the fact that the territories acquired in 1945 had a wholly German character is not necessarily one that has been transmitted to the whole of Polish society.<ref name="Cordell_2005"/> The term was also in use outside Poland. In 1962 ] referd to those territories as the ''western lands after centuries recovered'' and did not revise his statement even under pressure of the German embassy. The term is still sometimes considered useful, due to the Polish existence in those lands that was still visible in 1945, by some prominent scholars, such as Krzysztof Kwaśniewski .<ref>Krzysztof Kwaśniewski, ''Smutek anegdot'', 2010, p.93, ISBN 9788386944750, also his previous work ''Adaptacja i integracja kulturowa ludności Śląska po drugiej wojnie światowej'' 1969</ref>


Due to fact that the Recovered Territories had been under German and Prussian rule for many centuries, many events of this history were perceived as part of "foreign" rather than "local" history in post-war Poland.<ref>Norman Davies, ''God's Playground: A History of Poland in Two Volumes'', 2005, p.393, ISBN 0199253404, 9780199253401</ref> Polish scholars thus concentrated on the Polish aspects of the territories:mediaeval Piast history of the region, the cultural, political and economic bonds to Poland, the history of the Polish-speaking population in Prussia and the "Drang nach Osten" as a historical constant since the Middle Ages.<ref>Gregor Thum, ''Die fremde Stadt. Breslau nach 1945", 2006, p.281, ISBN 3570550176, 9783570550175</ref>
==Polonization of the "Recovered Territories"==

By 1949 the term "Recovered Territories" had been dropped from ], but it is still used occasionally in common language.<ref name="Gregor Thum 2006, p.298">Gregor Thum, ''Die fremde Stadt. Breslau nach 1945", 2006, p.298, ISBN 3570550176, 9783570550175</ref> On the grounds that those areas should not be regarded as unique territories within the Polish state, the authorities began to refer to them instead as the "Western and Northern Territories".<ref name="Gregor Thum 2006, p.298"/><ref name="Social Capital 51">Martin Åberg, Mikael
Sandberg, ''Social Capital and Democratisation: Roots of Trust in Post-Communist Poland and Ukraine'', Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2003, ISBN 0754619362, </ref>German political scientist Steffan Wolff and Karl Cordell have alledged that that along with the debunking of communist historiography, the recovered territories thesis has been discarded,<ref name="Cordell_2005">Karl Cordell, Stefan Wolff, ''Germany's Foreign Policy Towards Poland and the Czech Republic: Ostpolitik Revisited'', 2005, p.139: "In addition it has been relatively easy for Polish historians and others to attempt to debunk communist historiography and present a more balanced analysis of the past - and not only with respect to Germany. It has been controversial, and often painful, but nevertheless it has been done. For example, Poland's acquisition in 1945 of eastern German territories is increasingly presented as the price Germany paid for launching a total war, and then having lost it totally. The 'recovered territories' thesis previously applied in almost equal measures by the communists and Catholic Church has been discarded. It is freely admitted in some circles that on the whole 'the recovered territories' in fact had a wholly German character. The extent to which this fact is transmitted to other groups than the socially and politically engaged is a matter for some debate. " ISBN 0415369746, 9780415369749</ref>claiming that the territories acquired in 1945 had a wholly German character(despite existance of Polish minority), and that this view is not necessarily one that has been transmitted to the whole of Polish society.<ref name="Cordell_2005"/> The term was also in use outside Poland. In 1962 ] referred to those territories as the ''western lands after centuries recovered'' and did not revise his statement even under pressure of the German embassy. The term is still sometimes considered useful, due to the Polish existence in those lands that was still visible in 1945, by some prominent scholars, such as Krzysztof Kwaśniewski .<ref>Krzysztof Kwaśniewski, ''Smutek anegdot'', 2010, p.93, ISBN 9788386944750, also his previous work ''Adaptacja i integracja kulturowa ludności Śląska po drugiej wojnie światowej'' 1969</ref>

After at the end of Second World War the Polish territories in the east had been annexed by the ], the Polish population from the region was encouraged by local authorities to move west or forcibly transferred. In the framework of the campaign, posters were exhibited at public places, which contained messages promising better life in the West<ref>Norman Davies and Roger Moorhouse: ''Die Blume Europas. Breslau, Wrocław, Vratislavia. Die Geschichte einer mitteleuropäischen Stadt''. Munich 2002, ISBN 3-426-27259-8, pp. 533-534.</ref>

==Reverting Germanisation of Recovered Territories==
] in 1945]] ] in 1945]]
Along with the establishment of the People's Republic as the heir of the Piasts, the population had to be made to fit the new frontiers.<ref name="Geoffrey Hosking 1997, p.153"/> With its eastern territories (the ]) annexed by the Soviet Union, Poland was effectively ] and its area reduced by almost 20% (from 389,000&nbsp;km² to 312,000&nbsp;km²).<ref name="Parrish">{{cite book | first = Andrzej | last = Paczkowski | others = translation Jane Cave | title = The Spring Will Be Ours: Poland and the Poles from Occupation to Freedom | publisher = Penn State Press | year = 2003 | pages = 14 | url = http://books.google.com/books?id=WoKQWem2yl4C&pg=PA14&lpg=PA14&ots=pLgq3por17&sig=R4N2us9hfrMcUwz_HMSGuywI8AI}} Along with the establishment of the People's Republic as the heir of the Piasts, the population had to be made to fit the new frontiers.<ref name="Geoffrey Hosking 1997, p.153"/> With its eastern territories (the ]) annexed by the Soviet Union, Poland was effectively ] and its area reduced by almost 20% (from 389,000&nbsp;km² to 312,000&nbsp;km²).<ref name="Parrish">{{cite book | first = Andrzej | last = Paczkowski | others = translation Jane Cave | title = The Spring Will Be Ours: Poland and the Poles from Occupation to Freedom | publisher = Penn State Press | year = 2003 | pages = 14 | url = http://books.google.com/books?id=WoKQWem2yl4C&pg=PA14&lpg=PA14&ots=pLgq3por17&sig=R4N2us9hfrMcUwz_HMSGuywI8AI}}
</ref> Millions of "non-Poles" (mainly Germans and Ukrainians) had to be expelled from the new Poland, while the Poles east of the Curzon line had to be expelled from the Kresy. The expellees were termed "repatriates".<ref name="Geoffrey Hosking 1997, p.153"/> The result was the largest exchange of population in European history.<ref name="Geoffrey Hosking 1997, p.153"/> The picture of the new western and northern territories being recovered Piast territory was used to forge Polish settlers and ] arriving there into a coherent community loyal to the new regime,<ref name="soccap79">Martin Åberg, Mikael </ref> Millions of "non-Poles" (mainly Germans and Ukrainians) had to be expelled from the new Poland, while the Poles east of the Curzon line had to be expelled from the Kresy. The expellees were termed "repatriates".<ref name="Geoffrey Hosking 1997, p.153"/> The result was the largest exchange of population in European history.<ref name="Geoffrey Hosking 1997, p.153"/> The picture of the new western and northern territories being recovered Piast territory was used to forge Polish settlers and ] arriving there into a coherent community loyal to the new regime,<ref name="soccap79">Martin Åberg, Mikael
Sandberg, ''Social Capital and Democratisation: Roots of Trust in Post-Communist Poland and Ukraine'', Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2003, ISBN 0754619362, </ref> and to justify the previous ] of the area.<ref name="Geoffrey Hosking 1997, p.153"/> Largely excepted from the ] were the "autochthons", close to three million ethnically Slavic inhabitants of ] (]), ] (], ]) and ] (]), of whom many did not identify with Polish nationality.<ref name="cadmus.iue.it">Tomasz Kamusella in Prauser and Reeds (eds), ''The Expulsion of the German communities from Eastern Europe'', p.28, EUI HEC 2004/1 </ref> The Polish government aimed to retain as many autochthons as possible for propaganda purposes, as their presence on ] was used to indicate the intrinsic "Polishness" of the area and justify its incorporation into the Polish state as "recovered" territories.<ref name="cadmus.iue.it"/> "Verification" and "national rehabilitation" processes were set up to reveal a "dormant Polishness" and to determine which were redeemable as Polish citizens; few were actually expelled<ref name="cadmus.iue.it"/> The "autochthons" not only disliked the subjective and often arbitrary verification process, but they also faced discrimination even after completing it,<ref>Philipp Ther, Ana Siljak, ''Redrawing Nations: Ethnic Cleansing in East-Central Europe, 1944-1948'', 2001, p.114, ISBN 0742510948, 9780742510944</ref> such as the Polonization of their names.<ref>Gregor Thum, ''Die fremde Stadt. Breslau nach 1945", 2006, pp.363, ISBN 3570550176, 9783570550175</ref> In the ] (former ]), the local authorities conceded already in 1948 that what the PZZ claimed to be a recovered "autochton" Polish population were in fact Germanized migrant workers, who had settled in the region in the late 19th and early 20th centuries - with the exception of one village, ], just across the pre-war border.<ref>{{cite book|title=A clean sweep?: the politics of ethnic cleansing in western Poland, 1945-1960|first=T. David|last=Curp|publisher=Boydell & Brewer|year=2006|isbn=1580462383|pages=84–85|url=http://www.google.de/books?id=ARxnK1u_WOEC&pg=PA84|accessdate=2009-08-04}}</ref> Sandberg, ''Social Capital and Democratisation: Roots of Trust in Post-Communist Poland and Ukraine'', Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2003, ISBN 0754619362, </ref> and to justify the previous ] of the area.<ref name="Geoffrey Hosking 1997, p.153"/> Largely excepted from the ] were the "autochthons", close to three million ethnically Slavic inhabitants of ] (]), ] (], ]) and ] (]).Controversial author ] claimed that many did not identify with Polish nationality.<ref name="cadmus.iue.it">Tomasz Kamusella in Prauser and Reeds (eds), ''The Expulsion of the German communities from Eastern Europe'', p.28, EUI HEC 2004/1 </ref> The Polish government aimed to retain as many autochthons as possible for propaganda purposes, as their presence on ] was used to indicate the intrinsic "Polishness" of the area and justify its incorporation into the Polish state as "recovered" territories.<ref name="cadmus.iue.it"/> "Verification" and "national rehabilitation" processes were set up to reveal a "dormant Polishness" and to determine which were redeemable as Polish citizens; few were actually expelled<ref name="cadmus.iue.it"/> The "autochthons" not only disliked the subjective and often arbitrary verification process, but they also faced discrimination even after completing it,<ref>Philipp Ther, Ana Siljak, ''Redrawing Nations: Ethnic Cleansing in East-Central Europe, 1944-1948'', 2001, p.114, ISBN 0742510948, 9780742510944</ref> such as the Polonization of their names.<ref>Gregor Thum, ''Die fremde Stadt. Breslau nach 1945", 2006, pp.363, ISBN 3570550176, 9783570550175</ref> In the ] (former ]), the local authorities conceded already in 1948 that what the PZZ claimed to be a recovered "autochton" Polish population were in fact Germanized migrant workers, who had settled in the region in the late 19th and early 20th centuries - with the exception of one village, ], just across the pre-war border.<ref>{{cite book|title=A clean sweep?: the politics of ethnic cleansing in western Poland, 1945-1960|first=T. David|last=Curp|publisher=Boydell & Brewer|year=2006|isbn=1580462383|pages=84–85|url=http://www.google.de/books?id=ARxnK1u_WOEC&pg=PA84|accessdate=2009-08-04}}</ref>

===Public appeals for emigration to liberated lands===
After at the end of the Second World War the Polish territory of the ] - located east to the ] - had been annexed by the Soviet Union, the ethnic minorities in these outskirts of Poland, including the ethnic Poles, were encouraged in public appeals to move west. In the framework of the campaign, posters were exhibited at public places which contained messages such as:<ref>Norman Davies and Roger Moorhouse: ''Die Blume Europas. Breslau, Wrocław, Vratislava. Die Geschichte einer mitteleuropäischen Stadt''. Droemer, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-426-27259-8, pp. 533-534 (in German, ''The Flower of Europe. Breslau, Wrocław, Vratislava. The History of a Town in Central Europe'')</ref> {{cquote|Western territories. Eldorado. In bloody battles the Polish soldier has liberated very old Polish territories. Polish territory for Poland. 5,000 lorries are kept availabe in order to bring settlers to the west.}}


===Removing signs of Germanisation===
===Removal of German population and heritage===
{{multiple image {{multiple image
| footer = The baroque interior of ] was removed and transferred to Inner Poland. The choir stalls are now in ]. The abbey is a important testimony of the ] in Silesia. | footer = The baroque interior of ] was removed and transferred to Inner Poland. The choir stalls are now in ]. The abbey is a important testimony of the Germanisation during ] in Silesia.
| direction = vertical | direction = vertical
| width = 200 | width = 200
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The "Recovered Territories" after the transfer still hosted a substantial German population. The Polish administration set up a "Ministry for the Recovered Territories", headed by the then deputy prime minister ].<ref name="Karl Cordell 2000, p.167">Karl Cordell, Andrzej Antoszewski, ''Poland and the European Union'', 2000, p.167, ISBN 0415238854, 9780415238854</ref> A "Bureau for Repatriation" was to supervise and organize the expulsions and resettlements. According to the national census of 14 February 1946, the population of Poland still included 2,288,000 Germans, of which 2,075,000 - nearly 91 per cent - lived in the 'Recovered Territories'. By this stage Germans still constituted more than 41 per cent of the inhabitants of these regions. However, by 1950 there were only 200,000 Germans remaining in Poland, and by 1957 that number had fallen to 65,000.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iz.poznan.pl/.../91_Mniejszości%20Narodowe.%20A.%20Sakson1.pdf|title=National minorities in northern and western Poland|last=Sakson|first=Andrzej|accessdate=21 December 2009}} {{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}}</ref> The "Recovered Territories" after the transfer still hosted a substantial German population. The Polish administration set up a "Ministry for the Recovered Territories", headed by the then deputy prime minister ].<ref name="Karl Cordell 2000, p.167">Karl Cordell, Andrzej Antoszewski, ''Poland and the European Union'', 2000, p.167, ISBN 0415238854, 9780415238854</ref> A "Bureau for Repatriation" was to supervise and organize the expulsions and resettlements. According to the national census of 14 February 1946, the population of Poland still included 2,288,000 Germans, of which 2,075,000 - nearly 91 per cent - lived in the 'Recovered Territories'. By this stage Germans still constituted more than 41 per cent of the inhabitants of these regions. However, by 1950 there were only 200,000 Germans remaining in Poland, and by 1957 that number had fallen to 65,000.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iz.poznan.pl/.../91_Mniejszości%20Narodowe.%20A.%20Sakson1.pdf|title=National minorities in northern and western Poland|last=Sakson|first=Andrzej|accessdate=21 December 2009}} {{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}}</ref>


The ] in the first post-war years presaged a broader campaign to remove the footprints of centuries of German history and culture from public view.<ref name=Curp83/> As David Curp (2006) put it: The ] in the first post-war years presaged a broader campaign to remove signs of former German control.<ref name=Curp83/>


More than 30.000 German placenames were replaced with Polish<ref name="Dan Diner p.164"/> or Polonized medieval Slavic ones.<ref name="Gregor Thum 2006, p.344"/><ref name="Cordell_1999-2">Tomasz Kamusella and Terry Sullivan in Karl Cordell, ''Ethnicity and Democratisation in the New Europe'', 1999, pp.175ff, ISBN 0415173124, 9780415173124</ref> Previous Slavic and Polish names before Germanisation were used; in the cases when one was absent either the German name was translated or new names were invented.<ref>Gregor Thum, ''Die fremde Stadt. Breslau nach 1945", 2006, p.344, 349, ISBN 3570550176, 9783570550175</ref> In January 1946, a ] was set up to assign new official toponymes.<ref name =Yoshioka ></ref> The German language was banned from public schools, government media and church services.<ref name="Dan Diner p.164"/><ref name="Cordell_1999-2"/> Many German monuments, graveyards, buildings or entire ensembles of buildings etc. were demolished.<ref>Marek Zybura, ''Impressionen aus der Kulturlandschaft Schlesien, Band 3, Der Umgang mit dem deutschen Kulturerbe in Schlesien nach 1945", 2005, p.65, ISBN 3-935330-19-7</ref> Objects of art were moved to other parts of the country.<ref>Gregor Thum, ''Die fremde Stadt. Breslau nach 1945", 2006, p.520, ISBN 3570550176, 9783570550175</ref> All German inscriptions were erased, including those on religious objects, in churches and in cemeteries.<ref name=Curp83>{{cite book|title=A clean sweep?: the politics of ethnic cleansing in western Poland, 1945-1960|first=T. David|last=Curp|publisher=Boydell & Brewer|year=2006|isbn=1580462383|page=83|url=http://www.google.de/books?id=ARxnK1u_WOEC&pg=PA83|accessdate=2009-08-04}}</ref> In ] "Socialist competitions" were organized to search and destroy final German traces.<ref name=Curp83/> The overall damages in Silesia equaled the destructions caused by WW2.<ref>Zybura, p.58</ref>
<blockquote>"The ethnic erasure of persons, places and things was a further and even more aggressive mutual effort of the Polish regime, its people, and the Catholic Church to overwrite the region's German history and forge a Polish past - not only in the abstract sphere of Polish memories, but in the realm of physical objects."<ref name=Curp84>{{cite book|title=A clean sweep?: the politics of ethnic cleansing in western Poland, 1945-1960|first=T. David|last=Curp|publisher=Boydell & Brewer|year=2006|isbn=1580462383|page=84|url=http://www.google.de/books?id=ARxnK1u_WOEC&pg=PA84|accessdate=2009-08-04}}</ref></blockquote>

More than 30.000 German placenames were replaced with Polish<ref name="Dan Diner p.164"/> or Polonized medieval Slavic ones.<ref name="Gregor Thum 2006, p.344"/><ref name="Cordell_1999-2">Tomasz Kamusella and Terry Sullivan in Karl Cordell, ''Ethnicity and Democratisation in the New Europe'', 1999, pp.175ff, ISBN 0415173124, 9780415173124</ref> If no Slavic name existed, then either the German name was translated or new names were invented.<ref>Gregor Thum, ''Die fremde Stadt. Breslau nach 1945", 2006, p.344, 349, ISBN 3570550176, 9783570550175</ref> Names with a German relation, like roads named after German towns, were given new names.<ref>Thum, p.356</ref> In January 1946, a ] was set up to assign new official toponymes.<ref name =Yoshioka ></ref> The German language was banned from public schools, government media and church services.<ref name="Dan Diner p.164"/><ref name="Cordell_1999-2"/> Many German monuments, graveyards, buildings or entire ensembles of buildings etc. were demolished.<ref>Marek Zybura, ''Impressionen aus der Kulturlandschaft Schlesien, Band 3, Der Umgang mit dem deutschen Kulturerbe in Schlesien nach 1945", 2005, p.65, ISBN 3-935330-19-7</ref> Objects of art were moved to other parts of the country.<ref>Gregor Thum, ''Die fremde Stadt. Breslau nach 1945", 2006, p.520, ISBN 3570550176, 9783570550175</ref> Collective points were established to organize the removal of the cultural assets.<ref name="Zybura, p.24">Zybura, p.24</ref> Already in 1945 28 railway cars and 118 trucks transported countless Silesian objects of arts to the ] in Warsaw.<ref name="Zybura, p.24"/> Protestant churches were either converted into Catholic ones, used for other purposes or provided building materials for Catholic churches.<ref>Zybura, p.16</ref> All German inscriptions were erased, including those on religious objects, in churches and in cemeteries.<ref name=Curp83>{{cite book|title=A clean sweep?: the politics of ethnic cleansing in western Poland, 1945-1960|first=T. David|last=Curp|publisher=Boydell & Brewer|year=2006|isbn=1580462383|page=83|url=http://www.google.de/books?id=ARxnK1u_WOEC&pg=PA83|accessdate=2009-08-04}}</ref> In ] "Socialist competitions" were organized to search and destroy final German traces.<ref name=Curp83/> The overall damages in Silesia equaled the destructions caused by WW2.<ref>Zybura, p.58</ref>


===Resettlement=== ===Resettlement===
Line 96: Line 148:


==Role of the Recovered Territories in the Communists' rise to power== ==Role of the Recovered Territories in the Communists' rise to power==
The Communist government, not democratically legitimized but supported only by the sought to legitimize itself through anti-German propaganda.<ref name="Karl Cordell 2000, p.167"/> <!-- Please verify page number. Page 167 is a bibliography. The book is available through Google books --> The German "revanchism" was played up as a permanent German threat, with the Communists being the only guarantors and defenders of Poland's continued possession of the "Recovered Territories". Gomułka asserted that:{{cquote|The western territories are one of the reasons the government has the support of the people. This neutralizes various elements and brings people together. Westward expansion and agricultural reform will bind the nation with the state. Any retreat would weaken our domestic position.<ref name="Dan Diner p.164"/><ref>Aleksander Kochański, ''Protokół obrad KC PPR w maju 1945 roku [The Minutes of the Session of the Central Committee of The Communist government, not democratically legitimized but supported only by the sought to legitimize itself through anti-German propaganda.<ref name="Karl Cordell 2000, p.167"/> <!-- Please verify page number. Page 167 is a bibliography. The book is available through Google books --> The German "revanchism" was played up as a permanent German threat, with the Communists being the only guarantors and defenders of Poland's continued possession of the "Recovered Territories". Gomułka asserted that:<blockquote> "The western territories are one of the reasons the government has the support of the people. This neutralizes various elements and brings people together. Westward expansion and agricultural reform will bind the nation with the state. Any retreat would weaken our domestic position."<ref name="Dan Diner p.164"/><ref>Aleksander Kochański, ''Protokół obrad KC PPR w maju 1945 roku [The Minutes of the Session of the Central Committee of
the Polish Workers' Party in May 1945], Dokumenty do dziejów PRL, 1 (Warsaw: Instytut Studiów Politycznych PAN)'', 1992.</ref>}}The redistribution of "ownerless property" among the people by the regime brought it broad-based popular sympathy.<ref name="Dan Diner p.164"/> the Polish Workers' Party in May 1945], Dokumenty do dziejów PRL, 1 (Warsaw: Instytut Studiów Politycznych PAN)'', 1992.</ref> </blockquote>The redistribution of "ownerless property" among the people by the regime brought it broad-based popular sympathy.<ref name="Dan Diner p.164"/>


==Legal status of the territories== ==Legal status of the territories==
]
]. ''Pink area on the l. h. s.'': ] and the region around of ] in the north, ] in the south. ''Pink area in the middle'': southern part of ]. ''Grey area'': region at the eastern outskirts of Poland, referred to as the ], which was annexed by Poland between 1919 and 1923 and was annexed after ] by the ].]]
{{Main|Oder-Neisse line}} {{Main|Oder-Neisse line}}


Line 107: Line 159:
Until the '']'', the West German government regarded the status of the German territories east of the Oder-Neisse rivers as that of areas "temporarily under Polish or Soviet administration". To facilitate wide international acceptance of ] in 1990, the German political establishment recognized the "]" and accepted the clauses in the ''Treaty on the Final Settlement'' whereby Germany renounced all claims to territory east of the Oder-Neisse line. This allowed the treaty to be negotiated quickly and for unification of democratic West Germany and communist East Germany to go ahead quickly. In the same year as the Final Settlement came into effect, 1990, Germany signed a separate treaty with Poland, the ], confirming the two countries' present borders. Until the '']'', the West German government regarded the status of the German territories east of the Oder-Neisse rivers as that of areas "temporarily under Polish or Soviet administration". To facilitate wide international acceptance of ] in 1990, the German political establishment recognized the "]" and accepted the clauses in the ''Treaty on the Final Settlement'' whereby Germany renounced all claims to territory east of the Oder-Neisse line. This allowed the treaty to be negotiated quickly and for unification of democratic West Germany and communist East Germany to go ahead quickly. In the same year as the Final Settlement came into effect, 1990, Germany signed a separate treaty with Poland, the ], confirming the two countries' present borders.


==History of the "Recovered Territories" before 1945==
===Piast realm===
{{See|History of Poland (966-1385)}}
]
]

Numerous ] had inhabited most of the area of present-day Poland since the 6th century. ] of the ] from his stronghold in the ] area subdued various neighboring tribes in the second half of the 10th century, creating the first Polish state and becoming the first historically recorded ] duke. His realm roughly included all of the area of the "Recovered Territories" except for ]. His son and successor, ], expanded the southern part of the realm, but lost control over ]. After fragmentation, pagan revolts and a Bohemian invasion in the 1030s, ] again united most of the former Piast realm, including ] and the ], but without Pomerania. Pomerania was subdued again temporarily by ] in 1116-1121. On his death in 1138, Poland was divided into several ], ruled by Bolesław's sons and later their successors, who were often in conflict with each other. Partial reunification was achieved by ], crowned king of Poland in 1320, although the ] and ] duchies remained independent.

In the course of the 12th to 14th centuries, large numbers of ], ] and ] settlers moved into East ] and ] (a process known as the ]). In Pomerania, ], ] and Silesia, the former ] (] and ]) or ] population became extinguished or dissimilated except for small minorities. In Poland and ] (West Prussia), German settlers formed a minority.

Despite the actual loss of several provinces, medieval lawyers of the Kingdom of Poland created a specific claim to all formerly Polish provinces that were not reunited with the rest of the country in 1320. It based on the theory of the '''Corona Regni Poloniae''' according to which the state (the Crown) and its interests were no longer strictly connected with the person of the ]. Because of that no monarch could effectively renounce Crowns claims to any of the territories that were historically and/or ethnically Polish. Those claims were reserved for the state (the Crown) which in theory still covered all of the territories that were part, or dependent of, the Polish Crown in 1138. Some of the territories (Pomerelia, Masovia) were reunited with Poland during the 15th and 16th centuries. However all of the ], until the end of the ], had to promise to do everything that is possible to reunite the rest of those territories with the Crown<ref name= "Historia Ustroju i Prawa Polskiego">{{pl icon}} {{cite book | author = ], Bogusław Leśnodorski, Michał Pietrzak | editor = ]| title = Historia Ustroju i Prawa Polskiego| url = | format = | year = 2001 | publisher = | location = Warszawa | isbn = 83-88296-02-7| chapter = | chapterurl = | quote = | page = :85–86}}</ref>

===Pomerania===
{{Main|History of Pomerania}}
]

The ]n parts of the Recovered Territories were subject to continuous Piast expeditions from the late 10th century. ] had conquered at least significant parts of the area, and a ] by his son ] in 1000–1005/07, before the area was lost again. Despite attempts to again subdue the ], this was only managed by ] in several campaigns lasting from 1116 to 1121. There were successful Christian missions in 1124 and 1128, but by the time of Bolesław's death in 1138, most of Pomerania (the ]) had again regained independence. The Griffin duchy joined the ] after the 1164 ], and became part of the ] in 1181. This period also marks the onset of the ] in Pomerania: the first village recorded as German was ] in 1170. Except for a period of ] rule from the 1180s to 1227, the ] remained with the Holy Roman Empire until the last Griffin duke died in 1648. At that time the area had been under ] since 1630. From 1648 to 1720 Sweden kept the ] including ], while ] was made a province of ] (later ], ]). In 1720 the Stettin area was transferred from ] to the Prussian ]. In 1815, the ] area of the ] was attached to the province, as was the ] (Piła) area of the former ] in 1938.

====Gdańsk (Danzig) and the Lauenburg and Bütow Land====
] (to 1525 ]) as fief of the ] 1466-1657]]
{{See|History of Gdańsk|Lauenburg and Bütow Land}}
] (orange) in the "Recovered Territories" (green)]]

The history of the Eastern ]n areas around ] and ] (] and ]), which are also within the "Recovered Territories", differs somewhat from the history of the bulk of Pomerania. They are situated in the former region of ], which was ruled by the ] dynasty who, unlike the Griffins, did not join the Holy Roman Empire and remained under Piast control, loosening in the course of the 13th century. After the death of ] in 1294, the Polish kings ] and ] and ] for a short period ruled Pomerelia<ref>A. Chwalba, Kalendarium Dziejów Polski, p. 72, ISBN 8308031366</ref> in conflict with ], who also claimed the region. The ] followed in 1308, and after that Danzig and Lauenburg-Bütow became part of the ] until the ] (1466), when Danzig as a part of ] became subject to the Polish Crown (though with substantial autonomy). Lauenburg-Bütow was handed over to the Griffin dukes and was a Polish fief for most of the time until the ] (1772). Danzig became a part of ] in the ] (1793), and was made the ] after ].

===Lubusz Land===
{{Main|Lubusz Land|Brandenburg}} {{See|Neumark}}
] (orange) in the "Recovered Territories" (green)]]
]

The medieval ], including Lubusz (]) itself, was also part of Mieszko's realm. Poland lost the bishopric of Lebus to ] ] in 1252, who made it part of their ]. During this period, ] had already begun in the area. The Ascanian margraves expanded their territory east by marriage politics: The ] region with the future town of ] was added to Neumark in 1254 after a marriage of margrave ] with a daughter of ], and further northeastern areas were added after the 1277 ] with the ] ] in return for financing this duke's marriage. Neumark was a pawn of the ] from 1402 to 1429, when it became the knights' possession. In 1454 however, the knights pawned the area to Brandenburg again until it was finally sold to the margraves in 1463. From 1535 to 1571, the area was ruled independently by ], thereafter it remained with Brandenburg until 1945. In the 18th century, the area saw a new colonisation effort by Germans and ]. In 1815, some smaller northeastern areas around the town of ] were integrated into the ], and in 1938, a small area around the town of ] was made part of the province. The present-day Polish Lubusz Land comprises most of the former Neumark territory east of the Oder River.

===Former Province of Posen-West Prussia===
]
{{See|Province of Posen-West Prussia}}
]

A small portion of the Recovered Territories east of the Lubusz Land had previously formed the western parts of the Polish provinces of ] and ] (''Polonia Maior''), being lost to Prussia in the ] (the Pomerelian parts) and the ] (the remainder). During ]ic times the Greater Poland territories were part of the ], but after the ] they were returned to Prussia as part of the ] (Poznań), later ]. After ] those parts of the former Province of Posen and of ] which were not made part of the ] were administered as ] (Province of Posen–West Prussia) until 1938.

===Silesia===
{{Main|History of Silesia}}
] (orange) in the "Recovered Territories" (green)]]

Silesia continued to be ruled by Piast dukes following the 12th-century ]. The ] retained power in most of the region until the early 16th century, the last (], duke of ]) dying in 1675. The first German colonists arrived in the late 12th century, and large-scale German settlement started in the early 13th century with the reign of ].<ref>Hugo Weczerka, ''Handbuch der historischen Stätten: Schlesien'', 2003, p.XXXVI, ISBN 3-520-31602-1</ref> While Lower and Middle Silesia in the late Middle Ages became German-speaking except for some areas along the northeastern frontier, Upper Silesia retained a Polish character.<ref>Ernst Badstübner, ''Dehio - Handbuch der Kunstdenkmäler in Polen: Schlesien'', 2003, p.4, ISBN 342203109X</ref> Here, the Germans who arrived during the Middle Ages were mostly ]; Germans dominated in large cities and Poles mostly in rural areas. The province came under the control of ], in the 14th century. Silesia passed to the ] of ] in 1526, and was mostly conquered by Prussia's ] in 1742. A part of ] became part of Poland after World War I, but the bulk of Silesia formed part of the post-1945 Recovered Territories.

===Warmia and Masuria===
{{See|Prussia (region)|East Prussia}}
] (orange) in the "Recovered Territories" (green)]]


Unlike the remainder of the Recovered Territories, the northern territories of ] and ] did not form part of the Piasts' kingdom. Originally inhabited by pagan ], these regions were incorporated into the state of the ] in the 13th and 14th centuries. By the ] (1466), an area of Warmia around ] was awarded to the Polish crown as part of ], though with considerable autonomy. The remainder of today's Warmia-Masuria region became part of ], formally a Polish fief. The region was taken by Prussia in the ] (1772). It formed the southern part of ] after World War I, becoming part of Poland after World War II, with northern East Prussia going to the ] to form the ].


==See also== ==See also==

Revision as of 16:47, 28 January 2011

Recovered or Regained Territories (Template:Lang-pl) was the official term first used by the Second Polish Republic in 1938 in regards to Cieszyn Silesia and later adopted by Communist Polish post-war authorities to describe those areas of Nazi Germany which were assigned by the Big Three allies to Poland after World War II. The rationale given for the term Recovered Territories was that these territories had been initially part of Polish state and were integral part of Poland especially duringmedieval Piast times, of which the People's Republic of Poland was the legitimate heir.The territories were either part of Poland uner Piast dynasty,Polish fiefs and areas lost in Partitions of Poland. They were lost in part due to Germanisation and due German Drang nach Osten towards the East.

The population transfer of German was started and gradually the previous Polish minority became the majority on the territories, although a small German remnant remains in some areas. While the majority of Polish settlers moved in voluntarily from Central Poland and the wartime Polish diaspora, the Communist authorities also forcibly resettled Ukrainians and other minorities as well as Polish "repatriants" from former Eastern Poland.

The Oder-Neisse frontier was formally recognized by East Germany in the Treaty of Zgorzelec (1950) and by West Germany in the Treaty of Warsaw (1970), and was affirmed by the re-united Germany in the German-Polish Border Treaty (1990).

Borders of Poland

Area nad history of Recovered territories before 1945

Further information: Piast Poland Further information: Partitions of Poland Further information: History of Poland (966-1385)
Early Piast Poland at her greatest extents around 1000 (dark red) and 1018 (within red line)
Polish map published in 1917 in United States. Poland at the time of death of Boleslaw the Wrymouth

Numerous West Slavic tribes had inhabited most of the area of present-day Poland since the 6th century. Mieszko I of the Polans from his stronghold in the Gniezno area united various neighboring tribes in the second half of the 10th century, creating the first Polish state and becoming the first historically recorded Piast duke. His realm roughly included all of the area of what would later be named Recovered Territories except for Warmia-Masuria. His son and successor, Bolesław I, expanded the southern part of the realm, but lost control over Pomerania. After fragmentation, pagan revolts and a Bohemian invasion in the 1030s, Casimir I the Restorer again united most of the former Piast realm, including Silesia and the Lubusz Land, but without Pomerania. Pomerania became part of Polish state again under Bolesław III in 1116-1121. On his death in 1138, Poland was subjected to , and ruled by Bolesław's sons and later their successors, who were often in conflict with each other. Partial reunification was achieved by Władysław I, crowned king of Poland in 1320, although the Silesian and Masovian duchies remained independent Piast holdings.

In the course of the 12th to 14th centuries, Germanic, Dutch and Flemish settlers moved into East Central and Eastern Europe (a process known as the Ostsiedlung). In Pomerania, Brandenburg, East Prussia and Silesia, the former West Slav (Polabian Slavs and Poles) or Balt population became minorities throughout the following centuries, although substantial numbers of original inhabitants remained in areas like Upper Silesia. In Poland and Pomerelia (West Prussia), German settlers formed a minority.

Despite the actual loss of several provinces, medieval lawyers of the Kingdom of Poland created a specific claim to all formerly Polish provinces that were not reunited with the rest of the country in 1320. It based on the theory of the Corona Regni Poloniae according to which the state (the Crown) and its interests were no longer strictly connected with the person of the monarch. Because of that no monarch could effectively renounce Crowns claims to any of the territories that were historically and/or ethnically Polish. Those claims were reserved for the state (the Crown) which in theory still covered all of the territories that were part, or dependent of, the Polish Crown in 1138. Some of the territories (Pomerelia, Masovia) were reunited with Poland during the 15th and 16th centuries. However all of the Polish monarchs, until the end of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, had to promise to do everything that is possible to reunite the rest of those territories with the Crown

In general the areas of Recovered Territories can be divided into three categories:

  • Parts of Polish state during the Polish Piast dynasty:
  • Polish fiefs
  • Territories of Poland lost during Partitions of Poland:

Warmia (1772), parts of Royal Prussia (1772), Piła(1772) Wałcz(1772) Złotów(1772) Międzyrzecz County (1793), Gdańsk(1793) Wschowa (1793).


Pomerania

Main article: History of Pomerania
Location of Pomerania (orange) in the "Recovered Territories" (green)

The Pomeranian parts of the Recovered Territories were subject to Polish rule several times from the late 10th century. Mieszko I had acquired at least significant parts of the area, and a bishopric was established in the Kołobrzeg area by his son Bolesław I in 1000–1005/07, before the area was lost again. Despite attempts to again control the Pomeranian tribes, this was only managed by Bolesław III in several campaigns lasting from 1116 to 1121. There were successful Christian missions in 1124 and 1128, however by the time of Bolesław's death in 1138, most of West Pomerania (the Griffin-ruled areas) was lost to Poland. Following centuries would see Germanisation of the area and discrimination of Slavic population. Despite this, a Polish minority existed till XX centuryand was active in several organisations upkeeping the Polish cultural and national existance before the Second World War.

Gdańsk (Danzig) and the Lauenburg and Bütow Land

Ducal Prussia (to 1525 Monastic state of the Teutonic Knights) as fief of the Crown of the Polish Kingdom 1466-1657
Further information: History of Gdańsk and Lauenburg and Bütow Land
Location of the former Free City of Danzig (orange) in the "Recovered Territories" (green)

The history of the Eastern Pomeranian areas around Gdańsk and Lauenburg-Bütow (Lębork and Bytów), which are also within the Recovered Territories, differs somewhat from the history of the bulk of Pomerania. They are situated in the former region of Pomerelia, which was ruled by the Samborides dynasty who, unlike the Griffins, did not join the Holy Roman Empire and remained part of Polish state, loosening in the course of the 13th century. After the death of the last Samboride in 1294, the Polish kings Przemysł II of Poland and Wenceslaus II and Władysław I for a short period ruled Pomerelia in conflict with Brandenburg, who also claimed the region. The Teutonic takeover of Gdańsk (Danzig) followed in 1308, and after that Danzig and Lauenburg-Bütow became part of the monastic state of the Teutonic Knights until the Second Peace of Thorn (1466), when Royal Prussia became subject to the Polish Crown (though with substantial autonomy). Lauenburg-Bütow was handed over to the Griffin dukes and was a Polish fief for most of the time until the First Partition of Poland (1772). Danzig became a part of West Prussia in the Second Partition (1793), and was made the Free City of Danzig after World War I.

Lubusz Land

Main articles: Lubusz Land and Brandenburg Further information: Neumark
Location of East Brandenburg (orange) in the "Recovered Territories" (green)
File:Ziemia Lubuska (Lubusz Land).JPG
Lubusz Land during the Piast period (marked in yellow).

The medieval Lubusz Land, including Lubusz (Lebus) itself, was also part of Mieszko's realm. Poland lost the bishopric of Lebus to Ascanian Brandenburg in 1252, who made it part of their Neumark. The present-day Polish Lubusz Land comprises most of the former Neumark territory east of the Oder River.

Parts of Greater Poland and Kuyavia

File:Bevölkerungsverteilung Ostmitteleuropa um 1918.jpg
Polish atlas showing ethnic groups in 1918. Concentrations of Polish minority in Wrocław, Szczecin and in German held Pomerania are shown.
Further information: Province of Posen-West Prussia
Location of Posen-West Prussia (orange) in the "Recovered Territories" (green)

A portion of the Recovered Territories east of the Lubusz Land had previously formed the western parts of the Polish provinces of Pomerelia and Greater Poland (Polonia Maior), being lost to Prussia in the First Partition (the Pomerelian parts) and the Second Partition (the remainder). During Napoleonic times the Greater Poland territories were part of the Duchy of Warsaw, but after the Congress of Vienna they were taken over again by Prussia as part of the Grand Duchy of Posen (Poznań), later Province of Posen. After World War I those parts of the former Province of Posen and of West Prussia which were not restored part of the Poland were administered as Grenzmark Posen-Westpreußen (Province of Posen–West Prussia) until 1938.

Silesia

Main article: History of Silesia
Location of Silesia (orange) in the "Recovered Territories" (green)

Silesia continued to be ruled by Piast dukes following the 12th-century fragmentation of Poland. The Silesian Piasts retained power in most of the region until the early 16th century, the last (George William, duke of Legnica) dying in 1675. The first German colonists arrived in the late 12th century, and large-scale German settlement started in the early 13th century with the reign of Henry I. While Lower and Middle Silesia in the late Middle Ages became German-speaking except for some areas along the northeastern frontier, Upper Silesia retained a Polish character. Here, the Germans who arrived during the Middle Ages were mostly Polonized; Germans dominated in large cities and Poles mostly in rural areas. The province came under the control of Kingdom of Bohemia, in the 14th century. Silesia passed to the Habsburg Monarchy of Austria in 1526, and was mostly conquered by Prussia's Frederick the Great in 1742. A part of Upper Silesia became part of Poland after World War I, but the bulk of Silesia formed part of the post-1945 Recovered Territories.

Warmia and Masuria

Further information: Prussia (region) and East Prussia
Location of southern East Prussia (orange) in the "Recovered Territories" (green)

The northern territories of Warmia and Masuria form the areas of Recovered Territories that were Polish fiefs . Originally inhabited by pagan Old Prussians, these regions were incorporated into the state of the Teutonic Knights in the 13th and 14th centuries. By the Second Peace of Thorn (1466), an area of Warmia around Lidzbark was awarded to the Polish crown as part of Royal Prussia, though with considerable autonomy. The remainder of today's Warmia-Masuria region became part of Ducal Prussia, formally a Polish fief. The region was taken by Prussia in the First Partition of Poland (1772). It formed the southern part of East Prussia after World War I, becoming part of Poland after World War II, with northern East Prussia going to the Soviet Union to form the Kaliningrad Oblast.



Origin and use of the term

Polish communist Władysław Gomułka, Minister of Recovered Territories

The term "Recovered Territories" was officially used for the first time in the Decree of the President of the Republic of 11 October 1938 after the annexation of Zaolzie by the Polish army. It became the official propaganda term coined in the aftermath of World War II to denote the former eastern territories of Germany that were being handed over to Poland. The underlying concept was to define post-war Poland as the heir of the medieval Piasts' realm, which was simplified into a picture of an ethnically homogeneous state matching the post-war borders, as opposed to the later Jagiellon Poland, which was multi-ethnic and located further east. One reason for post-war Poland's favoring a Piast rather than a Jagiellon tradition was Stalin's refusal to withdraw from the Curzon line and the Allies' readiness to satisfy Poland with German territory instead. However the original argument for awarding formerly German territory to Poland – compensation – was complemented by the argument that this territory in fact constituted former areas of Poland. Also, the Piasts were perceived to have defended Poland against the Germans, while the Jagiellons' main rival had been the growing Duchy of Moscow, making them a less suitable basis for post-war Poland's Soviet-dominated situation. The PRL and PPR thus supported the idea of Poland based on old Piast lands. In fact, the question of the Recovered Territories was one of the few issues that did not divide the Polish Communists and their opposition, and there was unanimity regarding the western border. Even the underground anti-Communist press called for the Piast borders, that would end Germanisation and Drang nach Osten.


Great efforts were made to propagate the view of recovered Piast territory, which were actively supported by the Catholic Church. The sciences were responsible for the development of this perception of history. In 1945 the Western Institute (Template:Lang-pl) was founded to coordinate the scientific activities. Its director, Zygmunt Wojciechowski, characterized his mission as an effort to present the Polish history of the region, and project current Polish reality of these countries upon a historical background.". Historical scientists, archaeologists, linguists, art historians and ethnologists worked in an interdisciplinary effort to legitimize the new borders. Their findings were popularised in monographs, periodicals, schoolbooks, travel guides, broadcasts and exhibitions. Official maps were drawn showing that the Polish frontiers under the first known Piast princes matched the new ones. According to Norman Davies the young post war generation received education informing them about the fact that the boundaries of the People's Republic were the same as those on which the Polish nation had developed for centuries. Furthermore, they were instructed that the Polish "Motherland" has always been in the same location, even when occupied for long periods of time by foreigners or as political boundaries shifted. The official view was that the Poles had always had the inalienable and inevitable right to inhabit the Recovered Territories, even if prevented from doing so by higher powers. As a consequence, the Piast concept was accepted by millions of Poles and is still believed by many. Furthermore, the Piast concept was used to persuade the Allied Powers, who found it difficult to define a Polish "ethnographic territory", to assume that it would be an intolerable injustice to not "give the territories back".

Due to fact that the Recovered Territories had been under German and Prussian rule for many centuries, many events of this history were perceived as part of "foreign" rather than "local" history in post-war Poland. Polish scholars thus concentrated on the Polish aspects of the territories:mediaeval Piast history of the region, the cultural, political and economic bonds to Poland, the history of the Polish-speaking population in Prussia and the "Drang nach Osten" as a historical constant since the Middle Ages.

By 1949 the term "Recovered Territories" had been dropped from Polish communist propaganda, but it is still used occasionally in common language. On the grounds that those areas should not be regarded as unique territories within the Polish state, the authorities began to refer to them instead as the "Western and Northern Territories".German political scientist Steffan Wolff and Karl Cordell have alledged that that along with the debunking of communist historiography, the recovered territories thesis has been discarded,claiming that the territories acquired in 1945 had a wholly German character(despite existance of Polish minority), and that this view is not necessarily one that has been transmitted to the whole of Polish society. The term was also in use outside Poland. In 1962 pope John XXIII referred to those territories as the western lands after centuries recovered and did not revise his statement even under pressure of the German embassy. The term is still sometimes considered useful, due to the Polish existence in those lands that was still visible in 1945, by some prominent scholars, such as Krzysztof Kwaśniewski .

After at the end of Second World War the Polish territories in the east had been annexed by the Soviet Union, the Polish population from the region was encouraged by local authorities to move west or forcibly transferred. In the framework of the campaign, posters were exhibited at public places, which contained messages promising better life in the West

Reverting Germanisation of Recovered Territories

Marking the new Polish-German border in 1945

Along with the establishment of the People's Republic as the heir of the Piasts, the population had to be made to fit the new frontiers. With its eastern territories (the Kresy) annexed by the Soviet Union, Poland was effectively moved westwards and its area reduced by almost 20% (from 389,000 km² to 312,000 km²). Millions of "non-Poles" (mainly Germans and Ukrainians) had to be expelled from the new Poland, while the Poles east of the Curzon line had to be expelled from the Kresy. The expellees were termed "repatriates". The result was the largest exchange of population in European history. The picture of the new western and northern territories being recovered Piast territory was used to forge Polish settlers and "repatriates" arriving there into a coherent community loyal to the new regime, and to justify the previous ethnic cleansing of the area. Largely excepted from the expulsions of Germans were the "autochthons", close to three million ethnically Slavic inhabitants of Masuria (Masurs), Pomerania (Kashubians, Slovincians) and Upper Silesia (Silesians).Controversial author Tomasz Kamusella claimed that many did not identify with Polish nationality. The Polish government aimed to retain as many autochthons as possible for propaganda purposes, as their presence on former German soil was used to indicate the intrinsic "Polishness" of the area and justify its incorporation into the Polish state as "recovered" territories. "Verification" and "national rehabilitation" processes were set up to reveal a "dormant Polishness" and to determine which were redeemable as Polish citizens; few were actually expelled The "autochthons" not only disliked the subjective and often arbitrary verification process, but they also faced discrimination even after completing it, such as the Polonization of their names. In the Lubusz region (former East Brandenburg), the local authorities conceded already in 1948 that what the PZZ claimed to be a recovered "autochton" Polish population were in fact Germanized migrant workers, who had settled in the region in the late 19th and early 20th centuries - with the exception of one village, Babimost, just across the pre-war border.

Removing signs of Germanisation

Choir stalls (Engelsgestühl)from 1680, collegiate church, Lubiąż abbeyEmpty collegiate church, Lubiąż abbeyThe baroque interior of Lubiąż abbey was removed and transferred to Inner Poland. The choir stalls are now in Stężyca. The abbey is a important testimony of the Germanisation during Ostsiedlung in Silesia. Further information: Flight and expulsion of Germans from Poland during and after World War II and Committee for Settling of Place Names See also: Emigration from Poland to Germany after World War II

The "Recovered Territories" after the transfer still hosted a substantial German population. The Polish administration set up a "Ministry for the Recovered Territories", headed by the then deputy prime minister Władysław Gomułka. A "Bureau for Repatriation" was to supervise and organize the expulsions and resettlements. According to the national census of 14 February 1946, the population of Poland still included 2,288,000 Germans, of which 2,075,000 - nearly 91 per cent - lived in the 'Recovered Territories'. By this stage Germans still constituted more than 41 per cent of the inhabitants of these regions. However, by 1950 there were only 200,000 Germans remaining in Poland, and by 1957 that number had fallen to 65,000.

The expulsion of the remaining Germans in the first post-war years presaged a broader campaign to remove signs of former German control.

More than 30.000 German placenames were replaced with Polish or Polonized medieval Slavic ones. Previous Slavic and Polish names before Germanisation were used; in the cases when one was absent either the German name was translated or new names were invented. In January 1946, a Committee for Settling of Place Names was set up to assign new official toponymes. The German language was banned from public schools, government media and church services. Many German monuments, graveyards, buildings or entire ensembles of buildings etc. were demolished. Objects of art were moved to other parts of the country. All German inscriptions were erased, including those on religious objects, in churches and in cemeteries. In Ziemia Lubuska "Socialist competitions" were organized to search and destroy final German traces. The overall damages in Silesia equaled the destructions caused by WW2.

Resettlement

Further information: Repatriation of Poles (1944–1946)

According to the 1939 German census, the territories were inhabited by 8,855,000 people, including a Polish minority in the territories' easternmost parts. While the German census placed the number of Polish-speakers and bilinguals below 700,000 people, Polish demographers have estimated that the actual number of Poles in the former German East was between 1.2 and 1.3 million. In the 1.2 million figure, approximately 850,000 were estimated for the Upper Silesian regions, 350,000 for southern East Prussia and 50,000 for the rest of the territories.

People from all over Poland quickly moved in to replace the former German population in a process parallel to the expulsions. First settlers arrived already in March, 1945. These settlers took over farms and villages close to the pre-war frontier when the Red Army was still advancing. In addition to the settlers, other Poles went for "szaber" or looting expeditions, soon affecting all former eastern territories of Germany. On 30 March 1945, the Gdansk Voivodeship was established as the first administrative Polish unit in the "recovered" territories. While the Germans were interned and expelled, close to 5 million settlers were either attracted or forced to settle the areas between 1945 and 1950. An additional 1,104,000 people had declared Polish nationality and were allowed to stay (851,000 of those in Upper Silesia), bringing up the number of Poles to 5,894,600 as of 1950. The settlers can be grouped according to their background:

  • settlers from Central Poland moving voluntarily (the majority)
  • Poles that had been freed from forced labor in Nazi Germany (up to two million)
  • so-called "repatriants": Poles expelled from the areas east of the new Polish-Soviet border were preferably settled in the new western territories, where they made up 26% of the population (up to two million)
  • non-Poles forcibly resettled during the Operation Vistula in 1947. Large numbers of Ukrainians were forced to move from south-eastern Poland under a 1947 Polish government operation aimed at dispersing, and therefore assimilating, those Ukrainians who had not been expelled eastward already, throughout the newly acquired territories. Belarusians living around the area around Białystok were also pressured into relocating to the formerly German areas for the same reasons. This scattering of members of non-Polish ethnic groups throughout the country was an attempt by the Polish authorities to dissolve the unique ethnic identity of groups like the Ukrainians, Belarusians and Lemkos, and broke the proximity and communication necessary for strong communities to form.
  • Tens of thousands of Jewish Holocaust-survivors, most of them "repatriates" from the East, settled mostly in Lower Silesia, creating Jewish cooperatives and institutions – the largest communities were founded in Wrocław (Breslau, Lower Silesia), Szczecin (Stettin, Pomerania) and Wałbrzych (Waldenburg, Lower Silesia). However most of them left Poland in 1968 due to antisemitic governmental campaign
A black-and-white photograph showing a group of cyclists, with a banner above them
"Xth stage, Zgorzelec to Wrocław, leads you through primeval Polish lands." Photograph from the 1955 Peace Race

Polish and Soviet newspapers and officials encouraged Poles to relocate to the west – "the land of opportunity". These new territories were described as a place where opulent villas abandoned by fleeing Germans waited for the brave; fully furnished houses and businesses were available for the taking. In fact, the areas were devastated by the war, the infrastructure largely destroyed, suffering high crime rates and looting by gangs. It took years for civil order to be established.

In 1970, the Polish population of the Northern and Western territories for the first time caught up to the pre-war population level (8,711,900 in 1970 vs 8,855,000 in 1939). In the same year, the population of the other Polish areas also reached its pre-war level (23,930,100 in 1970 vs 23,483,000 in 1939).

While the estimates of how many Germans remained vary, a constant German exodus took place even after the expulsions. In the years of 1956-1985, 407,000 people from Silesia and about 100,000 from Warmia-Masuria declared German nationality and left for Germany. In the early 1990s, after the Polish Communist regime had collapsed 300,000-350,000 people declared themselves German.

Today the population of the territories is predominantly Polish, although a small German minority still exists in a few places, including Olsztyn (Template:Lang-de), Masuria, and Upper Silesia, particularly in Opole Voivodeship.

Role of the Recovered Territories in the Communists' rise to power

The Communist government, not democratically legitimized but supported only by the sought to legitimize itself through anti-German propaganda. The German "revanchism" was played up as a permanent German threat, with the Communists being the only guarantors and defenders of Poland's continued possession of the "Recovered Territories". Gomułka asserted that:

"The western territories are one of the reasons the government has the support of the people. This neutralizes various elements and brings people together. Westward expansion and agricultural reform will bind the nation with the state. Any retreat would weaken our domestic position."

The redistribution of "ownerless property" among the people by the regime brought it broad-based popular sympathy.

Legal status of the territories

Poland's old and new borders, 1945
Main article: Oder-Neisse line

During the Cold War the official position in the First World was that the concluding document of the Potsdam Conference was not an international treaty, but a mere memorandum. It regulated the issue of the German eastern border, which was to be the Oder-Neisse line, but the final article of the memorandum said that the final status of the German state and therefore its territories were subject to a separate peace treaty between Germany and the Allies of World War II. During the period from 1945 to 1990 two treaties between Poland and both East and West Germany were signed concerning the German-Polish border. In 1950 the German Democratic Republic and the People's Republic of Poland signed the Treaty of Zgorzelec, recognizing the Oder-Neisse line, officially designated by the Communists as the "Border of Peace and Friendship". On 7 December 1970 the Treaty of Warsaw between the Federal Republic of Germany and Poland was signed concerning the Polish western border. Both sides committed themselves to nonviolence and accepted the existing de facto border - the Oder-Neisse line. However a final treaty was not signed until 1990 as the "Treaty on the Final Settlement With Respect to Germany".

Until the Treaty on the Final Settlement, the West German government regarded the status of the German territories east of the Oder-Neisse rivers as that of areas "temporarily under Polish or Soviet administration". To facilitate wide international acceptance of German reunification in 1990, the German political establishment recognized the "facts on the ground" and accepted the clauses in the Treaty on the Final Settlement whereby Germany renounced all claims to territory east of the Oder-Neisse line. This allowed the treaty to be negotiated quickly and for unification of democratic West Germany and communist East Germany to go ahead quickly. In the same year as the Final Settlement came into effect, 1990, Germany signed a separate treaty with Poland, the German-Polish Border Treaty, confirming the two countries' present borders.


See also

References

  2. ^ An explanation note in "The Neighbors Respond: The Controversy Over the Jedwabne Massacre in Poland", ed. by Polonsky and Michlic, p.466
  3. ^ Joanna B. Michlic, Poland's Threatening Other: The Image of the Jew from 1880 to the Present, 2006, pp.207-208, ISBN 0803232403, 9780803232402
  4. ^ Norman Davies, God's Playground: A History of Poland in Two Volumes, 2005, pp.381ff, ISBN 0199253404, 9780199253401
  5. ^ Geoffrey Hosking, George Schopflin, Myths and Nationhood, 1997, p.153, ISBN 0415919746, 9780415919746
  6. ^ Jan Kubik, The Power of Symbols Against the Symbols of Power: The Rise of Solidarity and the Fall of State Socialism in Poland, 1994, pp.64-65, ISBN 0271010843, 9780271010847
  7. Norman Davies, God's Playground: A History of Poland in Two Volumes, 2005, pp.381ff, p.395, ISBN 0199253404, 9780199253401
  8. Karl Cordell, Andrzej Antoszewski, Poland and the European Union, 2000, p.166, ISBN 0415238854, 9780415238854
  9. ^ Dierk Hoffmann, Michael Schwartz, Geglückte Integration?, p.142
  10. ^ Karl Cordell, Andrzej Antoszewski, Poland and the European Union, 2000, p.168, ISBN 0415238854, 9780415238854: gives 4.55 million in the first years
  11. ^ Dan Diner, Raphael Gross, Yfaat Weiss, Jüdische Geschichte als allgemeine Geschichte, p.164
  12. ^ Gregor Thum, Die fremde Stadt. Breslau nach 1945", 2006, p.344, ISBN 3570550176, 9783570550175
  13. Template:Pl icon Juliusz Bardach, Bogusław Leśnodorski, Michał Pietrzak (2001). Lexis Nexis (ed.). Historia Ustroju i Prawa Polskiego. Warszawa. p. :85–86. ISBN 83-88296-02-7. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |chapterurl= (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  14. A. Chwalba, Kalendarium Dziejów Polski, p. 72, ISBN 8308031366
  15. Hugo Weczerka, Handbuch der historischen Stätten: Schlesien, 2003, p.XXXVI, ISBN 3-520-31602-1
  16. Ernst Badstübner, Dehio - Handbuch der Kunstdenkmäler in Polen: Schlesien, 2003, p.4, ISBN 342203109X
  17. Template:Dziennik Ustaw
  18. Tomasz Kamusella and Terry Sullivan in Karl Cordell, Ethnicity and Democratisation in the New Europe, 1999, p.169: " christened so by the Polish communist-cum-nationalist propaganda", ISBN 0415173124, 9780415173124
  19. Jan Kubik, The Power of Symbols Against the Symbols of Power: The Rise of Solidarity and the Fall of State Socialism in Poland, 1994, pp.65, ISBN 0271010843, 9780271010847
  20. ^ Rick Fawn, Ideology and national identity in post-communist foreign policies, 2003, p.190, ISBN 0714655171, 9780714655178
  21. Alfred M. De Zayas, Nemesis at Potsdam, p.168
  22. ^ Joanna B. Michlic, Poland's Threatening Other: The Image of the Jew from 1880 to the Present, 2006, p.208, ISBN 0803232403, 9780803232402
  23. ^ Jan Kubik, The Power of Symbols Against the Symbols of Power: The Rise of Solidarity and the Fall of State Socialism in Poland, 1994, p.65, ISBN 0271010843, 9780271010847
  24. Redrawing Nations: Ethnic Cleansing in East-Central Europe 1944-1948 By Philipp Ther, Ana Siljak Page 81
  25. Gregor Thum, Die fremde Stadt. Breslau nach 1945", 2006, pp.287, ISBN 3570550176, 9783570550175
  26. Gregor Thum, Die fremde Stadt. Breslau nach 1945", 2006, pp.282, ISBN 3570550176, 9783570550175
  27. Gregor Thum, Die fremde Stadt. Breslau nach 1945", 2006, pp.281, ISBN 3570550176, 9783570550175
  28. Gregor Thum, Die fremde Stadt. Breslau nach 1945", 2006, pp.283, ISBN 3570550176, 9783570550175
  29. ^ Norman Davies, God's Playground: A History of Poland in Two Volumes, 2005, pp.386, ISBN 0199253404, 9780199253401
  30. Norman Davies, God's Playground: A History of Poland in Two Volumes, 2005, p.393, ISBN 0199253404, 9780199253401
  31. Gregor Thum, Die fremde Stadt. Breslau nach 1945", 2006, p.281, ISBN 3570550176, 9783570550175
  32. ^ Gregor Thum, Die fremde Stadt. Breslau nach 1945", 2006, p.298, ISBN 3570550176, 9783570550175
  33. Martin Åberg, Mikael Sandberg, Social Capital and Democratisation: Roots of Trust in Post-Communist Poland and Ukraine, Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2003, ISBN 0754619362, Google Print, p. 51
  34. ^ Karl Cordell, Stefan Wolff, Germany's Foreign Policy Towards Poland and the Czech Republic: Ostpolitik Revisited, 2005, p.139: "In addition it has been relatively easy for Polish historians and others to attempt to debunk communist historiography and present a more balanced analysis of the past - and not only with respect to Germany. It has been controversial, and often painful, but nevertheless it has been done. For example, Poland's acquisition in 1945 of eastern German territories is increasingly presented as the price Germany paid for launching a total war, and then having lost it totally. The 'recovered territories' thesis previously applied in almost equal measures by the communists and Catholic Church has been discarded. It is freely admitted in some circles that on the whole 'the recovered territories' in fact had a wholly German character. The extent to which this fact is transmitted to other groups than the socially and politically engaged is a matter for some debate. " ISBN 0415369746, 9780415369749
  35. Krzysztof Kwaśniewski, Smutek anegdot, 2010, p.93, ISBN 9788386944750, also his previous work Adaptacja i integracja kulturowa ludności Śląska po drugiej wojnie światowej 1969
  36. Norman Davies and Roger Moorhouse: Die Blume Europas. Breslau, Wrocław, Vratislavia. Die Geschichte einer mitteleuropäischen Stadt. Munich 2002, ISBN 3-426-27259-8, pp. 533-534.
  37. Paczkowski, Andrzej (2003). The Spring Will Be Ours: Poland and the Poles from Occupation to Freedom. translation Jane Cave. Penn State Press. p. 14.
  38. Martin Åberg, Mikael Sandberg, Social Capital and Democratisation: Roots of Trust in Post-Communist Poland and Ukraine, Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2003, ISBN 0754619362, Google Print, p.79
  39. ^ Tomasz Kamusella in Prauser and Reeds (eds), The Expulsion of the German communities from Eastern Europe, p.28, EUI HEC 2004/1
  40. Philipp Ther, Ana Siljak, Redrawing Nations: Ethnic Cleansing in East-Central Europe, 1944-1948, 2001, p.114, ISBN 0742510948, 9780742510944
  41. Gregor Thum, Die fremde Stadt. Breslau nach 1945", 2006, pp.363, ISBN 3570550176, 9783570550175
  42. Curp, T. David (2006). A clean sweep?: the politics of ethnic cleansing in western Poland, 1945-1960. Boydell & Brewer. pp. 84–85. ISBN 1580462383. Retrieved 2009-08-04.
  43. ^ Karl Cordell, Andrzej Antoszewski, Poland and the European Union, 2000, p.167, ISBN 0415238854, 9780415238854
  44. Sakson, Andrzej. "National minorities in northern and western Poland" (PDF). Retrieved 21 December 2009.
  45. ^ Curp, T. David (2006). A clean sweep?: the politics of ethnic cleansing in western Poland, 1945-1960. Boydell & Brewer. p. 83. ISBN 1580462383. Retrieved 2009-08-04.
  46. ^ Tomasz Kamusella and Terry Sullivan in Karl Cordell, Ethnicity and Democratisation in the New Europe, 1999, pp.175ff, ISBN 0415173124, 9780415173124
  47. Gregor Thum, Die fremde Stadt. Breslau nach 1945", 2006, p.344, 349, ISBN 3570550176, 9783570550175
  48. Jun Yoshioka: Imagining Their Lands as Ours: Place Name Changes on Ex-German Territories in Poland after World War II
  49. Marek Zybura, Impressionen aus der Kulturlandschaft Schlesien, Band 3, Der Umgang mit dem deutschen Kulturerbe in Schlesien nach 1945", 2005, p.65, ISBN 3-935330-19-7
  50. Gregor Thum, Die fremde Stadt. Breslau nach 1945", 2006, p.520, ISBN 3570550176, 9783570550175
  51. Zybura, p.58
  52. ^ Piotr Eberhardt, Jan Owsinski, Ethnic Groups and Population Changes in Twentieth-century Central-Eastern Europe: History, Data, Analysis, 2003, pp.142ff, ISBN 0765606658, 9780765606655
  53. Wojciech Roszkowski "Historia Polski 1918-1997" page 157
  54. ^ Curp, T. David (2006). A clean sweep?: the politics of ethnic cleansing in western Poland, 1945-1960. Boydell & Brewer. p. 42. ISBN 1580462383. Retrieved 2009-08-04.
  55. Roos, Hans (1966). A history of modern Poland: from the foundation of the State in the First World War to the present day. Knopf. Retrieved 2009-08-04.
  56. Piotr Eberhardt, Jan Owsinski, Ethnic Groups and Population Changes in Twentieth-century Central-Eastern Europe: History, Data, Analysis, 2003, p.142 gives 4,79 million as of 1950, ISBN 0765606658, 9780765606655
  57. Thum, p.129
  58. Selwyn Ilan Troen, Benjamin Pinkus, Merkaz le-moreshet Ben-Guryon, Organizing Rescue: National Jewish Solidarity in the Modern Period, pp.283-284, 1992, ISBN 0714634131, 9780714634135
  59. Thum, p.127 + p.128
  60. Aleksander Kochański, Protokół obrad KC PPR w maju 1945 roku [The Minutes of the Session of the Central Committee of the Polish Workers' Party in May 1945], Dokumenty do dziejów PRL, 1 (Warsaw: Instytut Studiów Politycznych PAN), 1992.
  61. Why is the Oder-Neiße Line a Peace Border? (1950)
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