Silesia[a] (see namesbelow) is ahistorical region of Central Europe that lies mostly withinPoland, with small parts in theCzech Republic andGermany. Its area is approximately 40,000 km2 (15,400 sq mi), and the population is estimated at 8,000,000. Silesia is split into two main subregions,Lower Silesia in the west andUpper Silesia in the east.
Situated along theOder River, with theSudeten Mountains extending across the southern border, Silesia is a heavily industrialised region rich in mineral andnatural resources. The largest city and Lower Silesia's capital isWrocław; the historic capital of Upper Silesia isOpole. The biggest metropolitan area is theKatowice metropolitan area, the centre of which isKatowice. Parts of the Czech city ofOstrava and the German city ofGörlitz are situated within Silesia's borders.
Silesia’s culture reflects its complex history and diverse influences, comprising Polish, Czech, and German elements. The region is known for its distinctiveSilesian language (still spoken by a minority in Upper Silesia), richly decorated folkcostumes, hearty regionalcuisine, and a mix of Gothic, Baroque, and industrial-eraarchitecture seen in its cities and towns. The region contains many historical landmarks andUNESCO World Heritage Sites. Silesia's borders and national affiliation have changed over time, both when it was a hereditary possession ofnoble houses and after the rise of modernnation-states, resulting in an abundance ofcastles and strongholds, especially in theJelenia Góra valley.
First held byGreat Moravia at the end of the 9th century andBohemia in the early 10th century, Silesia was incorporated into theearly Polish state, and after itsfragmentation in the 12th century it formed theDuchy of Silesia. As a result of further fragmentation, it was divided into individualduchies, ruled by various lines of the PolishPiast dynasty. In the 14th century, it became a constituent part of theBohemian Crown Lands under theHoly Roman Empire, which passed to the AustrianHabsburg Monarchy in 1526; however, a number of duchies remained under the rule of Polish dukes (Piast,Jagiellon,Sobieski) as formal Bohemian fiefdoms. As a result of theSilesian Wars, the region was annexed byPrussia from Austria in 1742 and subsequently became a part of theGerman Empire in 1871.
As the result of theforced population shifts of 1945–48, today's inhabitants of Silesia speak the national languages of their respective countries. Previously German-speakingLower Silesia has developed a new mixed Polish dialect and novelcostumes. There is ongoing debate about whether theSilesian language, common in Upper Silesia, should be considered a dialect ofPolish or a separate language. TheLower Silesian German dialect is nearing extinction due to its speakers' expulsion.
In Polish common usage, "Śląsk" refers to traditionally Polish Upper Silesia and today'sSilesian Voivodeship, but less to Lower Silesia, which is different from Upper Silesia in many respects as its population was predominantly German-speaking from around the mid-19th century until 1945–48.[9]
GermanicLugii tribes were first recorded within Silesia in the 1st century BC.West Slavs andLechites arrived in the region around the 7th century,[11] and by the early ninth century, their settlements had stabilized. Local West Slavs started to erect boundary structures like theSilesian Przesieka and theSilesia Walls. The eastern border ofSilesian settlement was situated to the west of theBytom, and east fromRacibórz andCieszyn. East of this line dwelt a closely related Lechitic tribe, theVistulans. Their northern border was in the valley of theBarycz River, north of which lived theWestern Polans tribe who gavePoland its name.[12]
The first granting ofmunicipal privileges in Poland took place in the region, in the town ofZłotoryja by Henry the Bearded. Medieval municipal rights modeled afterLwówek Śląski andŚroda Śląska, both established by Henry the Bearded, became the basis of municipal form of government for several cities and towns in Poland, and two of five local Polish variants of medieval town rights. TheBook of Henryków, which contains the earliest known sentence written in the Polish language, as well as a document which contains the oldest printed text in Polish, were created inHenryków and Wrocław in Silesia, respectively.
In 1241, theMongols conducted theirfirst invasion of Poland, causing widespread panic and mass flight. They looted much of the region and defeated the combined Polish, Moravian and German forces led by DukeHenry II the Pious at theBattle of Legnica, which took place atLegnickie Pole near the city ofLegnica. Upon the death ofOrda Khan, the Mongols chose not to press forward further into Europe, but returned east to participate in the election of a new Grand Khan (leader).
Between 1289 and 1292, Bohemian kingWenceslaus II becamesuzerain of some of theUpper Silesian duchies. Polish monarchs had not renounced their hereditary rights to Silesia until 1335.[14] The province became part of theBohemian Crown which was part of the Holy Roman Empire; however, a number of duchies remained under the rule of the Polish dukes from the houses of Piast,Jagiellon andSobieski as formal Bohemianfiefdoms, some until the 17th–18th centuries. In 1469, sovereignty over the region passed toHungary, and in 1490, it returned to Bohemia. In 1526 Silesia passed with the Bohemian Crown to theHabsburg monarchy.
In the 15th century, several changes were made to Silesia's borders. Parts of the territories that had been transferred to the Silesian Piasts in 1178 were bought by thePolish kings in the second half of the 15th century (theDuchy of Oświęcim in 1457; theDuchy of Zator in 1494). The Bytom area remained in the possession of the Silesian Piasts, though it was a part of theDiocese of Kraków.[12] The Duchy ofKrosno Odrzańskie (Crossen) was inherited by theMargraviate of Brandenburg in 1476 and with the renunciation of KingFerdinand I and the estates of Bohemia in 1538, became an integral part of Brandenburg. From 1645 until 1666, theDuchy of Opole and Racibórz was held in pawn by the PolishHouse of Vasa as dowry of the Polish queenCecylia Renata.
In 1742, most of Silesia was seized by KingFrederick II of Prussia in theWar of the Austrian Succession, eventually becoming the PrussianProvince of Silesia in 1815; consequently, Silesia became part of theGerman Empire when it was proclaimed in 1871. The Silesian capital Breslau became at that time one of the big cities in Germany. Breslau was a center of Jewish life in Germany and an important place of science (university) and industry (manufacturing of locomotives). German mass tourism started in the Silesian mountain region (Hirschberg, Schneekoppe).
After World War I, a part of Silesia,Upper Silesia, was contested by Germany and the newly independentSecond Polish Republic. TheLeague of Nations organized aplebiscite to decide the issue in 1921. It resulted in 60% of votes being cast for Germany and 40% for Poland.[15] Following the thirdSilesian uprising (1921), however, the easternmost portion of Upper Silesia (including Katowice), with a majority ethnic Polish population, was awarded to Poland, becoming theSilesian Voivodeship. The Prussian Province of Silesia within Germany was then divided into the provinces ofLower Silesia andUpper Silesia. Meanwhile,Austrian Silesia, the small portion of Silesia retained by Austria after theSilesian Wars, was mostly awarded to the new Czechoslovakia (becoming known as Czech Silesia andTrans-Olza), although most ofCieszyn and territory to the east of it went to Poland.
ThePotsdam Conference of 1945 defined theOder-Neisse line as the border between Germany and Poland, pending a final peace conference with Germany which never took place.[19] At the end of WWII, Germans in Silesia fled from the battle ground, assuming they would be able to return when the war was over. However, they could not return, and those who had stayed were expelled and a new Polish population, including people displaced fromformer Eastern Poland annexed by the Soviet Union and from Central Poland, joined the surviving native Polish inhabitants of the region. After 1945 and in 1946, nearly all of the 4.5 million Silesians of German descent fled, or were interned in camps and expelled, including some thousand German Jews who survived the Holocaust and had returned to Silesia.The newly formedPolish United Workers' Party created aMinistry of the Recovered Territories that claimed half of the available arable land for state-run collectivized farms. Many of the new Polish Silesians who resented the Germans for their invasion in 1939 and brutality in occupation now resented the newly formed Polish communist government for their population shifting and interference in agricultural and industrial affairs.[20]
Mother Tongues of Silesia, according to the 1905 Census
Modern Silesia is inhabited byPoles,Silesians,Germans, andCzechs. Germans first came to Silesia during theLate MedievalOstsiedlung.[21] The last Polish census of 2011 showed that the Silesians are the largest ethnic or national minority in Poland, Germans being the second; both groups are located mostly in Upper Silesia. The Czech part of Silesia is inhabited by Czechs,Moravians, Silesians, andPoles.
In the early 19th century the population of thePrussian part of Silesia was between 2/3 and 3/4 German-speaking, between 1/5 and 1/3 Polish-speaking, withSorbs,Czechs,Moravians and Jews forming other smaller minorities (see Table 1. below).
Before the Second World War, Silesia was inhabited mostly by Germans, with Poles a large minority, forming a majority inUpper Silesia.[22] Silesia was also the home of Czech and Jewish minorities. The German population tended to be based in the urban centres and in the rural areas to the north and west, whilst the Polish population was mostly rural and could be found in the east and in the south.[23]
Table 1. Ethno-linguistic structure ofPrussian Silesia in years 1787–1823
Historically, Silesia was about equally split betweenProtestants (overwhelminglyLutherans) andRoman Catholics. In an 1890 census taken in the German part, Roman Catholics made up a slight majority of 53%, while the remaining 47% were almost entirely Lutheran.[31] Geographically speaking, Lower Silesia was mostly Lutheran except for theGlatzer Land (nowKłodzko County). Upper Silesia was mostly Roman Catholic except for some of its northwestern parts, which were predominantly Lutheran. Generally speaking, the population was mostly Protestant in the western parts, and it tended to be more Roman Catholic the further east one went. In Upper Silesia, Protestants were concentrated in larger cities and often identified as German. After World War II, the religious demographics changed drastically as Germans, who constituted the bulk of the Protestant population,were forcibly expelled. Poles, who were mostly Roman Catholic, were resettled in their place. Today, Silesia remains predominantly Roman Catholic.
Existing since the 12th century,[32] Silesia's Jewish community was concentrated around Wrocław and Upper Silesia, and numbered 48,003 (1.1% of the population) in 1890, decreasing to 44,985 persons (0.9%) by 1910.[33] In Polish East Upper Silesia, the number of Jews was around 90,000–100,000.[34] Historically, the community had suffered a number of localised expulsions such as their 1453 expulsion fromWrocław.[35] From 1712 to 1820 a succession of men held the title Chief Rabbi of Silesia ("Landesrabbiner"): Naphtali ha-Kohen (1712–16); Samuel ben Naphtali (1716–22); Ḥayyim Jonah Te'omim (1722–1727); Baruch b. Reuben Gomperz (1733–54); Joseph Jonas Fränkel (1754–93); Jeremiah Löw Berliner (1793–99); Lewin Saul Fränkel (1800–7);Aaron Karfunkel (1807–16); and Abraham ben Gedaliah Tiktin (1816–20).[36]
After the German invasion of Poland in 1939, followingNazi racial policy, the Jewish population of Silesia was subjected to genocide with executions performed by Einsatzgruppe z. B.V. led byUdo von Woyrsch and Einsatzgruppe I led byBruno Streckenbach,[37][38] imprisonment in ghettos, and ethnic cleansing of theGeneral Government. In their efforts to exterminate the Jews through murder and ethnic cleansing, the Germans established the Auschwitz and Gross-Rosen camps in the province of Silesia. Expulsions were carried out openly and reported in the local press.[39] Those sent to ghettos would from 1942 be expelled to concentration and work camps.[40] Between 5 May and 17 June, 20,000 Silesian Jews were sent to Birkenau to gas chambers[41] and during August 1942, 10,000 to 13,000 Silesian Jews were murdered by gassing at Auschwitz.[42] Most Jews in Silesia were exterminated by the Nazis. After the war Silesia became a major centre for repatriation of the Jewish population in Poland which survived Nazi German extermination[43] and in autumn 1945, 15,000 Jews were in Lower Silesia, mostly Polish Jews returned from territories now belonging to Soviet Union,[44] rising in 1946 to seventy thousand[45] as Jewish survivors from other regions in Poland were relocated.[46]
The majority of Germans fled or were expelled from the present-day Polish and Czech parts of Silesia during and after World War II. From June 1945 to January 1947, 1.77 million Germans were expelled from Lower Silesia, and 310,000 from Upper Silesia.[47] Today, most German Silesians and their descendants live in the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany, many of them in theRuhr area working as miners, like their ancestors in Silesia. One of its most notable but controversial spokesmen was theChristian Democratic Union politicianHerbert Hupka.
The expulsion of Germans led to widespread underpopulation. The population of the town ofGłogów fell from 33,500 to 5,000, and from 1939 to 1966 the population of Wrocław fell by 25%.[48] Attempts to repopulate Silesia proved unsuccessful in the 1940s and 1950s,[49] and Silesia's population did not reach pre-war levels until the late 1970s. The Polish settlers who repopulated Silesia were partly from the former PolishEastern Borderlands, which was annexed by theSoviet Union in 1939. Wrocław was partly repopulated with refugees from the formerly Polish city ofLwów.
First map of Silesia byMartin Helwig, 1561; north at the bottomPhysical map of Silesia in 1905
Most of Silesia is relatively flat, although its southern border is generally mountainous. It is primarily located in a swath running along both banks of the upper and middleOder (Odra) River, but it extends eastwards to the upperVistula River. The region also includes many tributaries of the Oder, including theBóbr (and its tributary theKwisa), theBarycz and theNysa Kłodzka. TheSudeten Mountains run along most of the southern edge of the region, though at its south-eastern extreme it reaches theSilesian Beskids andMoravian-Silesian Beskids, which belong to theCarpathian Mountains range.
Historically, Silesia was bounded to the west by theKwisa andBóbr Rivers, while the territory west of the Kwisa was in UpperLusatia (earlierMilsko). However, because part of Upper Lusatia was included in theProvince of Silesia in 1815, in GermanyGörlitz,Niederschlesischer Oberlausitzkreis and neighbouring areas are considered parts of historical Silesia. Those districts, along with Poland's Lower Silesian Voivodeship and parts of Lubusz Voivodeship, make up the geographic region of Lower Silesia.
Silesia has undergone a similar notional extension at its eastern extreme. Historically, it extended only as far as theBrynica River, which separates it fromZagłębie Dąbrowskie in theLesser Poland region. However, to many Poles today, Silesia (Śląsk) is understood to cover all of the area around Katowice, including Zagłębie. This interpretation is given official sanction in the use of the name Silesian Voivodeship (województwo śląskie) for the province covering this area. In fact, the wordŚląsk in Polish (when used without qualification) now commonly refers exclusively to this area (also calledGórny Śląsk or Upper Silesia).
As well as the Katowice area, historical Upper Silesia also includes theOpole region (Poland's Opole Voivodeship) and Czech Silesia. Czech Silesia consists of a part of theMoravian-Silesian Region and theJeseník District in theOlomouc Region.
Silesia is a resource-rich and populous region. Since the middle of the 18th century, coal has been mined. The industry had grown while Silesia was part of Germany, and peaked in the 1970s under thePeople's Republic of Poland. During this period, Silesia became one of the world's largest producers of coal, with a record tonnage in 1979.[50] Coal mining declined during the next two decades, but has increased again following the end of Communist rule.
The 41 coal mines in Silesia are mostly part of theUpper Silesian Coal Basin, which lies in the Silesian Upland. The coalfield has an area of about 4,500 km2 (1,700 sq mi).[50] Deposits in Lower Silesia have proven to be difficult to exploit and the area's unprofitable mines were closed in 2000.[50] In 2008, an estimated 35 billion tonnes oflignite reserves were found near Legnica, making them some of the largest in the world.[51]
From the fourth century BC, iron ore has been mined in the upland areas of Silesia.[50] The same period had lead, copper, silver, and gold mining. Zinc, cadmium, arsenic,[52] anduranium[53] have also been mined in the region. Lower Silesia features large copper mining and processing between the cities ofLegnica,Głogów,Lubin, andPolkowice. In the Middle Ages, gold (Polish:złoto) and silver (Polish:srebro) were mined in the region, which is reflected in the names of the former mining towns ofZłotoryja,Złoty Stok andSrebrna Góra.
The region is known for stone quarrying to produce limestone,marl, marble, and basalt.[50]
The region also has a thriving agricultural sector, which produces cereals (wheat, rye, barley, oats, corn), potatoes, rapeseed, sugar beets and others. Milk production is well developed. The Opole Silesia has for decades occupied the top spot in Poland for their indices of effectiveness of agricultural land use.[59]
Mountainous parts of southern Silesia feature many significant and attractive tourism destinations (e.g.,Karpacz,Szczyrk,Wisła). Silesia is generally well forested. This is because greenness is generally highly desirable by the local population, particularly in the highly industrialized parts of Silesia.
Silesia has been historically diverse in every aspect. Nowadays, the largest part of Silesia is located in Poland; it is often cited as one of the most diverse regions in that country.
The United States Immigration Commission, in itsDictionary of Races or Peoples (published in 1911, during a period of intense immigration from Silesia to the United States), considered Silesian as a geographical (not ethnic) term, denoting the inhabitants of Silesia. It is also mentioned the existence of both Polish Silesian and German Silesian dialects in that region.[60][61]
The emblems of Lower Silesia and Upper Silesia originate from the emblems of the Piasts of Lower Silesia and Upper Silesia. The coat of arms of Upper Silesia depicts the golden eagle on the blue shield. The coat of arms of Lower Silesia depicts a black eagle on a golden (yellow) shield.
^Zbigniew Babik, "Najstarsza warstwa nazewnicza na ziemiach polskich w granicach średniowiecznej Słowiańszczyzny", Uniwersitas, Kraków, 2001.
^Rudolf Fischer. Onomastica slavogermanica. Uniwersytet Wrocławski. 2007. t. XXVI. 2007. str. 83
^Jankuhn, Herbert; Beck, Heinrich; et al., eds. (2006). "Wandalen".Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde (in German). Vol. 33 (2nd ed.). Berlin, Germany; New York City: de Gruyter.Da die Silingen offensichtlich ihren Namen im mittelalterlichen pagus silensis und dem mons slenz – möglicherweise mit dem Zobten gleichzusetzen [...] – hinterließen und damit einer ganzen Landschaft – Schlesien – den Namen gaben [...]
^Andreas Lawaty, Hubert Orłowski (2003).Deutsche und Polen: Geschichte, Kultur, Politik (in German). C.H.Beck. p. 183.
^R. Żerelik(in:) M. Czpliński (red.) Historia Śląska, Wrocław 2007, pp. 34–35
^R. Żerelik(in:) M. Czpliński (red.) Historia Śląska, Wrocław 2007, pp. 37–38
^abcR. Żerelik(in:) M. Czpliński (red.) Historia Śląska, Wrocław 2007, pp. 21–22
^Zientara, Benedykt (1975). "Walonowie na Śląsku w XII i XIII wieku".Przegląd Historyczny (in Polish). No. 66/3. pp. 353, 357.
^R. Żerelik(in:) M. Czpliński (red.) Historia Śląska, Wrocław 2007, p. 81
^Ładogórski, Tadeusz (1966).Ludność, in: Historia Śląska, vol. II: 1763–1850, part 1: 1763–1806 (in Polish). Wrocław: edited by W. Długoborski. p. 150.
^Demshuk, A (2012) The Lost German East: Forced Migration and the Politics of Memory, 1945–1970, Cambridge University Press P40
^Kamusella, T (2007).Silesia and Central European nationalisms: the emergence of national and ethnic groups in Prussian Silesia and Austrian Silesia, 1848–1918, Purdue University Press, p.173.
^Christopher R. Browning (2000).Nazi Policy, Jewish Workers, German Killers, Cambridge University Press, 2000, p.147.
^van Straten, J (2011) The Origin of Ashkenazi Jewry: The Controversy Unravelled, Walter de Gruyter P58
^"Silesia".1906 Jewish Encyclopedia. JewishEncyclopedia.com. Retrieved6 December 2017.
^Popularna encyklopedia powszechna – Volume 10 – Page 660 Magdalena Olkuśnik, Elżbieta Wójcik – 2001 Streckenbach Bruno (1902–1977), funkcjonariusz niem. państwa nazistowskiego, Gruppenfuhrer SS. Od 1933 szef policji po- lit w Hamburgu. 1939 dow. Einsatzgruppe I (odpowiedzialny za eksterminacje ludności pol. i żydowskiej na Śląsku).
^Zagłada Żydów na polskich terenach wcielonych do Rzeszy Page 53 Aleksandra Namysło, Instytut Pamięci Narodowej—Komisja Ścigania Zbrodni przeciwko Narodowi Polskiemu – 2008W rzeczywistości ludzie Udona von Woyr- scha podczas marszu przez województwo śląskie na wschód dopuszczali się prawdziwych masakr ludności żydowskiej.
^Steinbacher, S. "In the Shadow of Auschwitz, The murder of the Jews of East Upper Silesia", in Cesarani, D. (2004)Holocaust: From the persecution of the Jews to mass murder, Routledge, P126
^Steinbacher, S. "In the Shadow of Auschwitz, The murder of the Jews of East Upper Silesia", in Cesarani, D. (2004)Holocaust: From the persecution of the Jews to mass murder, Routledge, pp.110–138.
^The Origins of the Final Solution: The Evolution of Nazi Jewish Policy, September 1939 – March 1942 – Page 544Christopher R. Browning – 2007Between 5 May and 17 June, 20,000 Silesian Jews were deported to Birkenau to be gassed.
^Christopher R. Browning (2007).The Origins of the Final Solution: The Evolution of Nazi Jewish Policy, September 1939 – March 1942, University of Nebraska Press, p.544.
^The International Jewish Labor Bund After 1945: Toward a Global History David Slucki, page 63
^A narrow bridge to life: Jewish forced labor and survival in the Gross-Rosen camp system, 1940–1945, page 229 Belah Guṭerman
^Kochavi, AJ (2001)Post-Holocaust politics: Britain, the United States & Jewish refugees, 1945–1948, University of North Carolina Press P 176
^Kochavi, AJ (2001).Post-Holocaust politics: Britain, the United States & Jewish refugees, 1945–1948, University of North Carolina Press, p.176.
^DB Klusmeyer & DG Papademetriou (2009).Immigration policy in the Federal Republic of Germany: negotiating membership and remaking the nation, Berghahn, p.70.
^Scholz, A (1964).Silesia: yesterday and today, Martinus Nijhoff, The Hague, p.69.
^Mazower, M (1999).Dark Continent: Europe's 20th Century, Penguin, p.223.
^S.Z. Mikulski, "Late-Hercynian gold-bearing arsenic-polymetallic mineralization within Saxothuringian zone in the Polish Sudetes, Northeast Bohemian Massif". In: "Mineral Deposit at the Beginning of the 21st Century", A. Piestrzyński et al. (eds). Swets & Zeitinger Publishers(Google books)
^Dillingham, William Paul; Folkmar, Daniel; Folkmar, Elnora (1911).Dictionary of Races or Peoples. Washington, D.C.: Washington, Government Printing Office. p. 128.
^Dillingham, William Paul; Folkmar, Daniel; Folkmar, Elnora (1911).Dictionary of Races or Peoples. United States. Immigration Commission (1907–1910). Washington, D.C.: Washington, Government Printing Office. pp. 105, 128.
^Łęknica and Bad Muskau were considered part of Silesia in years 1815–1945.
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