Everything about Silesians totally explained
Silesians (
Silesian:
Ślůnzoki; ; ; ) are the inhabitants of
Silesia in
Poland,
Germany and the
Czech Republic.
There has been some debate over whether or not the Silesians who speak a
West Slavonic language constitute a distinct
ethnic group. In recent history, they've been often pressured to declare themselves to be either German or Polish. Nevertheless, more than 170,000 people declared Silesian nationality in the Polish national census in 2002, making them the largest minority group in Poland and more than 10,000 people declared Silesian nationality in the Czech national census in 2001.
The term
Silesian can also be applied in a more general manner to describe an inhabitant of Silesia, regardless of
ethnicity.
History
Inhabited from
time immemorial and exceptionally rich in natural resources, Silesia has been long contested by various peoples, states and principalities. The constant shifting of Silesia between (alphabetically) Austrian, Czech, German and Polish control over several centuries resulted in the multilingual Silesians developing a separate culture that borrowed heavily from (alphabetically) Czech, German and Polish (and vice versa).
In the
Middle Ages, Silesia was a
Piast duchy, which subsequently became a possession of the
Bohemian crown under the
Holy Roman Empire in the 14th century and passed with that crown to the
Habsburg Monarchy of
Austria in 1526. In 1742, most of Silesia was seized by King
Frederick the Great of
Prussia in the
War of the Austrian Succession. This part of Silesia constituted the
Province of Silesia (later the Prussian provinces of
Upper and
Lower Silesia) until 1945.
Following
World War II, the majority of Silesia was incorporated into Poland, with smaller regions remaining in
East Germany and
Czechoslovakia. Millions of
ethnic German Silesians were subsequently
expelled, but those Silesians classified by the Polish authorities as "
autochthons" or "ethnic Poles insufficiently aware of their Polishness" were allowed to remain, after being sifted out from the ethnic Germans by a process of "national verification". In order to qualify, it was enough to speak some of the
Upper Silesian dialect, or just to have a Slavic-sounding surname. Many such Silesians were allowed to remain in the city of
Opole.
During the Communist era, nearly 600,000 Silesians emigrated to
West Germany.
Since the end of
Communist rule in Poland, there have been calls for greater political representation for the Silesian ethnic minority. In 1997, a
Katowice law court registered the
Union of People of Silesian Nationality (ZLNS) as the political representative organization of the Silesian ethnic minority, but after two months the registration was revoked by a regional court.
Language
Silesian language (Upper Silesian) is spoken by the Silesian ethnic group or nationality. According to the last census in Poland (2002), some 60,000 people declared Silesian as their native language.
There is some contention over whether Silesian is a dialect or a language in its own right. Part of Polish linguists consider Silesian to be merely a prominent regional dialect of
Polish. However, many Silesians regard it as a separate language belonging to the
West Slavic branch of
Slavic languages, together with Polish, Upper and Lower
Sorbian, and other
Lekhitic languages, as well as
Czech and
Slovak. In July
2007 year Silesian language was recognized by
Library of Congress and
SIL International. Language was attributed
ISO code:
SZL. The first official dictation contest of the Silesian language took place in August 2007.
Famous Silesians
Silesia produced scores of highly accomplished individuals, particularly chemists, physicists, mathematicians and soccer players. World-wide, the most recognizable perhaps are
Gregor Mendel (the father of genetics) and
Manfred von Richthofen (the "Red Baron" pilot).
Further Information
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