History of Pomerania (1945–present) covers the

history of Pomerania The history of Pomerania starts shortly before 1000 AD with ongoing conquests by newly arrived Polans rulers. Before that, the area was recorded nearly 2000 years ago as Germania, and in modern-day times Pomerania is split between Germany and Po ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

aftermath, the Communist and since 1989 Democratic era. After the post-war border changes, the German population that had not yet fled was expelled. The area east of the Oder, known as

Farther Pomerania Farther Pomerania, Hinder Pomerania, Rear Pomerania or Eastern Pomerania (german: Hinterpommern, Ostpommern), is the part of Pomerania which comprised the eastern part of the Duchy and later Province of Pomerania. It stretched roughly from the Od ...

(german: Hinterpommern), and the Szczecin (''Stettin'') area were resettled primarily with Poles. Some of the German cultural heritage was removed and some reconstructed.Dan Diner, Raphael Gross, Yfaat Weiss, ''Jüdische Geschichte als allgemeine Geschichte'', p.164Gregor Thum, ''Die fremde Stadt. Breslau nach 194'', 2006, p.344, Most of

Western Pomerania Historical Western Pomerania, also called Cispomerania, Fore Pomerania, Front Pomerania or Hither Pomerania (german: Vorpommern), is the western extremity of the historic region of Pomerania forming the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, Weste ...

remained in

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

and was later merged into

Mecklenburg Mecklenburg (; nds, label= Low German, Mękel(n)borg ) is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The largest cities of the region are Rostock, Schweri ...

. With the consolidation of

Communism Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a ...

and People's Republic of Poland,

Pomerania Pomerania ( pl, Pomorze; german: Pommern; Kashubian: ''Pòmòrskô''; sv, Pommern) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The western part of Pomerania belongs to ...

became part of the communist Eastern Bloc. In the 1980s, the

Solidarność Solidarity ( pl, „Solidarność”, ), full name Independent Self-Governing Trade Union "Solidarity" (, abbreviated ''NSZZ „Solidarność”'' ), is a Polish trade union founded in August 1980 at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk, Poland. Subseq ...

movement in Poland that started in the city of Gdańsk and the Wende movement in

forced the Communists out of power and led to the establishment of

democracy Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which people, the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation ("direct democracy"), or to choo ...

in both the

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

parts of

. The name ''Pomerania'' comes from Slavic ''po more'', which means "land by the sea".

Post World War II

Soviet occupation

Soviet occupation of Pomerania had started just after the East Pomeranian Offensive, at the time of the northern campaigns of the Battle of Berlin by the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army ( Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, afte ...

and

First Polish Army First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

, in March and April 1945. The Soviet's administrative installation basically followed the existing previous German administrative structures.Jan M Piskorski, Pommern im Wandel der Zeiten, p.371, Every-day life, however, was dictated according to Soviet decrees. Outside of civilian administration, this newly assembled local Soviet administration aimed to secure the hinterland regions, just beyond the frontline. In so doing, German property was referred to as "post-German". Items that could be carried were transported to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

. This included largely domestic household furniture, instruments such as pianos, and textiles such as carpets. In some instances, the livestock and some machinery were sent to Russia as well. Most significantly, the industrial and manufacturing buildings and their shipyards were literally all deconstructed. Likewise, they too were simply transported to the Soviet Union.Jan M Piskorski, Pommern im Wandel der Zeiten, p.373, Vast areas of

were vacated as the ethnic German population had fled the advancing

. This was primarily the case with the areas around the Netze (

Noteć Noteć (; , ) is a river in central Poland with a length of (7th longest) and a basin area of .Oder rivers. For example, in the town of Arnswalde (now

Choszczno Choszczno (german: Arnswalde) is a town in West Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland. As of December 2021, the town has a population of 14,831. The town is in a marshy district between the river Stobnica and Klukom lake, southeast of Stargard and on t ...

) with a previous population of 14,000 only a few dozen German civilians remained. In other areas, a heterogeneous population remained, consisting of Pomeranians as well as stranded refugees from areas further east and evacuees from the industrial centers. For example, there were 330,000 Germans in the counties of Stolp, Schlawe, Köslin, and Belgard. The ethnic German population was ordered to participate in the acquisition and transportation of Soviet war loot, and to live in assigned to them neighbourhoods of the towns. Some were also employed by the Soviet authorities in industry or its deconstruction, in agriculture, and in the clean-up of the wartime destruction, and were paid a low salary. There were numerous examples of mistreatment of the ethnic German populations by the occupying Soviets including: manhunts, arrests and deportations for slave labor, holdups, forays, and often

rapes Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, Abusive power and control, ...

Formation of Polish communist administration in Farther Pomerania

First Polish communist officials arrived in

in April 1945. The provisional government of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

on March 14 had created the Polish administrative district of Pomerania, which included Farther Pomerania and the northern

Neumark The Neumark (), also known as the New March ( pl, Nowa Marchia) or as East Brandenburg (), was a region of the Margraviate of Brandenburg and its successors located east of the Oder River in territory which became part of Poland in 1945. Call ...

. This was based on a decision of the Soviet state council for defense in February to place some eastern territories of Germany under Polish administration, and a subsequent order of the military council of the

First Belorussian Front The 1st Belorussian Front ( Russian: Пéрвый Белорусский фронт, ''Perviy Belorusskiy front'', also romanized " Byelorussian") was a major formation of the Soviet Army during World War II, being equivalent to a Western army ...

in early March requiring a solely Polish civilian administration in the territories that were handed over and also required the Soviet military to assist in the Polish administration's establishment. The Polish plenipotentiary for the new Pomeranian district since April 11 was colonel Leonard Borkowicz.Jan M Piskorski, Pommern im Wandel der Zeiten, pp.374,375, Subordinate to Borkowicz were forty county assignees ( starosts). Borkowicz and the starosts had a very limited knowledge of the area they were to govern, and were sent in only with an official attestation of their position, sketches of the counties, 500 zlotys, and alcohol to use as valuta. Their primary objective was the preparation of the area for Polish settlement. The Polish officials were regarded no more than auxiliary personnel by the Soviet military administration, which was in charge of most of industry, bakeries, most of the farmland, and fishery. The Polish administrators concentrated on reinstating electricity, gas, and water supply and on stockpiling groceries for the expected Polish settlers. Conflicts arose when they tried to charge the Soviets for power, gas, or water. Also they failed to have the Soviet authorities inhibit the forays of

soldiers and officers. Overall Soviet attitude toward the Polish administrators ranged from providing aid to neglect.

Deportations of Germans before the Potsdam Agreement

In two weeks of June 1945, the

Polish Army The Land Forces () are the land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 62,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military history stre ...

under the Soviet command deported 110,000 ethnic Germans from the areas adjacent to the eastern bank of the Oder river, and the counties of Stargard, Labes, Pyritz (Pyrzyce), and

Arnswalde Choszczno (german: Arnswalde) is a town in West Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland. As of December 2021, the town has a population of 14,831. The town is in a marshy district between the river Stobnica and Klukom lake, southeast of Stargard and o ...

(now Choszczno), all in

. Many German civilians were deported to

labor camps A labor camp (or labour camp, see spelling differences) or work camp is a detention facility where inmates are forced to engage in penal labor as a form of punishment. Labor camps have many common aspects with slavery and with prisons (espec ...

Vorkuta Vorkuta (russian: Воркута́; kv, Вӧркута, ''Vörkuta''; Nenets for "the abundance of bears", "bear corner") is a coal-mining town in the Komi Republic, Russia, situated just north of the Arctic Circle in the Pechora coal basin ...

in the

, where a large number of them perished or were later reported missing.

Border shift and consequences

In the Potsdam Agreement, the allies decided to move the Polish-German border west to the Oder-Neisse line, pending a final peace conference with Germany. Since a peace conference never took place, the provisions of the Agreement effectively defined the new border. Most of the remaining German population was expelled. In case of Pomerania, the Free City of Danzig and most of the pre-war German province of Pomerania, including the city of Swinemünde (Swinoujscie), became Polish. In addition, a strip of land 20 km west of Stettin/Szczecin, and a small part of the Usedom island also became part of Poland in order to facilitate the growth of these cities. The remainder of Pomerania west of Stettin/Szczecin and the Oder River was joined with

and formed

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MV; ; nds, Mäkelborg-Vörpommern), also known by its anglicized name Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania, is a state in the north-east of Germany. Of the country's sixteen states, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern ranks 14th in po ...

. In Potsdam, the border was defined as leaving the Oder river at a bridge some three kilometers west of Greifenhagen and from that point running north as a straight line to the church of

Ahlbeck Ahlbeck is a village (''Ortsteil'') of the Heringsdorf municipality on the island of Usedom on the Baltic coast. It is the easternmost of the so-called ''Kaiserbäder'' ("Imperial Spas") seaside resorts on the German part of the island, situa ...

. On September 21, 1945, the Polish plenipotentiary Borkowicz and the Polish president of Szczecin, Piotr Zaremba, adjusted the border in the Treaty of Schwerin. The border now started at a point in the

Bay of Pomerania The Bay of Pomerania ( pl, Zatoka Pomorska; german: Pommersche Bucht; csb, Pòmòrskô Hôwinga) is a basin in the southwestern Baltic Sea, off the Pomeranian shores of Poland and Germany. It stretches between the northernmost tip of the island ...

3 miles (5,5 kilometers) off the shore, from which it ran south through the

Szczecin Lagoon Szczecin Lagoon ( pl, Zalew Szczeciński, german: Stettiner Haff, since 1945 sometimes also ''Oderhaff'' (Oder lagoon) or ''Pommersches Haff'' (Pomeranian lagoon)) is a lagoon in the Oder estuary, shared by Germany and Poland. It is separated f ...

and left Camminke on the East German and Papart on the Polish side. In January 1951, the border was again adjusted. The potable water reservoir of Swinoujscie, which was on the German side since the Treaty of Schwerin, and the islands of the Oder River were assigned to Poland, and a small part of Usedom to

. Also, the border within the Pomeranian Bay was extended to 6 miles.

Polish part of Pomerania - Szczecin Voivodship

The Soviet Army kept

proving ground A proving ground (US) is an installation or reservation in which technology such as weapons, military tactics and automobile prototypes are experimented with or tested. Proving grounds can be operated by government bodies or civilian industries. ...

s and naval bases in Pomerania; the areas were excluded from Polish jurisdiction until 1992. Russia used the area to store

nuclear warheads A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...

. In the summer of 1945, the Soviets started to dissolve their administrative institutions in Pomerania. In 14 towns, the civilian administration was handed over to Polish officials.Jan M Piskorski, Pommern im Wandel der Zeiten, p.379, In October, the counties of Stettin and Swinemünde were handed over to Polish administration. The areas on the Oder's left bank ( Pölitz area) stayed under Soviet control until 1946. There, a provisional Soviet county was set up on order of marshal

Zhukov Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov ( rus, Георгий Константинович Жуков, p=ɡʲɪˈorɡʲɪj kənstɐnʲˈtʲinəvʲɪtɕ ˈʐukəf, a=Ru-Георгий_Константинович_Жуков.ogg; 1 December 1896 – ...

, where 25,000 Germans had to completely deconstruct an industrial facility used to produce synthetic fuels. Also the Stettin port stayed directly under Soviet control, and was only handed over to Poland from February 1946 to September 1947, officially only in May 1954. The Oder waterway was handed over to Poland in September 1946. Farmland and estates were handed over until 1949 - in February 1946, half of the farmland was still Soviet property. The

started to increase the withdrawal of troops from the Polish part of Pomerania in the fall of 1945.Jan M Piskorski, Pommern im Wandel der Zeiten, p.381,

Polonization

With its eastern territories (the

Kresy Eastern Borderlands ( pl, Kresy Wschodnie) or simply Borderlands ( pl, Kresy, ) was a term coined for the eastern part of the Second Polish Republic during the History of Poland (1918–1939), interwar period (1918–1939). Largely agricultural ...

) 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). With the establishment of the People's Republic of Poland followed sweeping changes in population, a "repatriation" of millions that resulted in what Geoffrey Hosking describes as "the biggest population exchange in European history."Geoffrey Hosking, George Schopflin, ''Myths and Nationhood'', 1997, p.153, Germans, Ukrainians and others who were not perceived as Polish were shuffled out of the new boundaries, while the Poles east of the Curzon line were shuffled in. 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.Martin Åberg, Mikael Sandberg, ''Social Capital and Democratisation: Roots of Trust in Post-Communist Poland and Ukraine'', Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2003,
Google Print, p.79
/ref> Largely excepted from the expulsions of Germans were the "autochthons", close to three million ethnically Slavic inhabitants of

, the

Kashubians The Kashubians ( csb, Kaszëbi; pl, Kaszubi; german: Kaschuben), also known as Cassubians or Kashubs, are a Lechitic ( West Slavic) ethnic group native to the historical region of Pomerania, including its eastern part called Pomerelia, in nor ...

and

Slovincians Slovincians, also known as Łeba Kashubians, is a near-extinct ethnic subgroup of the Kashubian people, who originated from the north western Kashubia, located in the Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland, from the area around the lakes of Łebsko and G ...

, of whom however many did not identify with Polish nationality.Tomasz Kamusella in Prauser and Reeds (eds), ''The Expulsion of the German communities from Eastern Europe'', p.28, EUI HEC 2004/

The Polish government aimed to retain as many "autochthons" as possible for propaganda purposes, as their presence on former eastern territories of Germany, 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.

=Treatment and expulsion of Germans after the Potsdam Agreement

= The remaining Germans were to be expelled from the now Polish areas of Pomerania.Jan M Piskorski, Pommern im Wandel der Zeiten, pp.381,383, The major staging area from which the Germans were deployed to post-war Germany was the Stettin-Scheune railway station. The station became notorious due to the frequent raids by armed gangs, composed of German, Polish and Russian deserters, who raped and looted those who were leaving. Germans were either transported by ship from Stettin to

Lübeck Lübeck (; Low German also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the state ...

or sent in trains to the British occupation zone. In one month-long period, lasting from November 20 to December 21, 1945, 290,000 Germans were expelled; a subsequent, lengthier movement from February 1946 to October 1947 saw the expulsion of 760,000 more. Germans deported in the latter period, which has been named "Jaskolka" (swallow), were prioritized in five groups according to the risks they were perceived to represent or the value they offered, with those termed "obstructive" the first to go.Jan M Piskorski, Pommern im Wandel der Zeiten, p.383, According to Piskorski, expellees were often not even allowed to carry household articles with them, and the few items they managed to take along were often robbed on the way. Piskorski notes that the Germans who were not yet expelled were legally "considered troublesome foreigners, temporarily residing in Poland" and were both disallowed communication devices like telephones or radios and restricted in their movements. According to Werner Buchholz, during the Soviet capture of

and the subsequent expulsions of Germans until 1950, 498,000 people from the part of the province east of the Oder-Neisse line died, making up for 26,4% of the former population. Of the 498,000 dead, 375,000 were civilians, and 123,000 were

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...

soldiers. Low estimates give a million expellees from the then Polish part of the province in 1945 and the following years. Only 7,100 km2 remained with

, about a fourth of the province's size before 1938 and a fifth of the size thereafter. In 1949, the refugees from

West Prussia The Province of West Prussia (german: Provinz Westpreußen; csb, Zôpadné Prësë; pl, Prusy Zachodnie) was a province of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and 1878 to 1920. West Prussia was established as a province of the Kingdom of Prussia in 177 ...

and the Province of Pomerania established the non-profit Landsmannschaft Westpreußen and

Landsmannschaft Pommern A Landsmannschaft (; Latin ''natio'', plural nationes) is a German fraternity of several fraternity forms called ''Studentenverbindung''. The older forms of ''Landsmannschaften'' were part of corporations and are closely aligned with the beginnin ...

, respectively, to represent West Prussians and Pomeranians in the

Federal Republic of Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated between ...

=Removal of German population and heritage

= The

Recovered Territories The Recovered Territories or Regained Lands ( pl, Ziemie Odzyskane), also known as Western Borderlands ( pl, Kresy Zachodnie), and previously as Western and Northern Territories ( pl, Ziemie Zachodnie i Północne), Postulated Territories ( pl, Z ...

after the assignment to Poland still hosted a substantial ethnic German population. This had to be changed quickly, as the territories' legal status was uncertain at the end of the war, and left room for different interpretations even after the Potsdam Agreement. The Polish administration set up a "Ministry for the Recovered Territories", headed by communist prime minister

Władysław Gomułka Władysław Gomułka (; 6 February 1905 – 1 September 1982) was a Polish communist politician. He was the ''de facto'' leader of post-war Poland from 1947 until 1948. Following the Polish October he became leader again from 1956 to 1970. G ...

. A "Bureau for Repatriation" was to supervise and organize the expulsions and resettlements. The expulsion of the remaining Germans in the first post-war years presaged a broader campaign to remove the footprints of centuries of German history and culture. All German place names were replaced with Polish or Polonized medieval Slavic ones.Tomasz Kamusella and Terry Sullivan in Karl Cordell, ''Ethnicity and Democratisation in the New Europe'', 1999, pp.175ff, If no Slavic name existed, then either the German name was translated or Polish assigned. The German language was banned, and many German monuments, graveyards, buildings etc. were demolished. Objects of art were moved to other parts of the country. Since Poles were predominantly Roman Catholic most Protestant churches were converted into Catholic ones. Official communist propaganda spread all-round anti-German sentiment, which was shared by many of the opposition as well as many in the Catholic Church. A Polish law of May 1945 declared German property "abandoned". Only a decision of March 1946 declared it "state property" and prohibited further removal by the public. Many institutions in Central Poland ordered art, furniture, machines, bureau equipment, cars and construction material from the regional authorities. Over years, bricks were sent to Warsaw.

=Resettlement

= People from all over Poland moved in to replace the former German population in a process parallel to the expulsions. The settlers can be grouped according to their background: *settlers from Central Poland moving voluntarily (the majority) more than half a million in 1950. *Poles that had been freed from

forced labor Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, violence including death, or other forms of ex ...

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

Dierk Hoffmann, Michael Schwartz, ''Geglückte Integration?'', p142
/ref> and Poles from other European countries, about 47,000 people.Jan M Piskorski, Pommern im Wandel der Zeiten, p.406, *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

Operation Vistula Operation Vistula ( pl, Akcja Wisła; uk, Опера́ція «Ві́сла») was a codename for the 1947 forced resettlement of 150,000 Ukrainians (Boykos and Lemkos) from the south-eastern provinces of post-war Poland, to the Recovered Te ...

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 Lemkos ( rue, Лeмкы, translit= Lemkŷ; pl, Łemkowie; uk, Лемки, translit=Lemky) are an ethnic group inhabiting the Lemko Region ( rue, Лемковина, translit=Lemkovyna; uk, Лемківщина, translit=Lemkivshchyna) of Car ...

, and broke the proximity and communication necessary for strong communities to form. 53,000 people were forced to settle in the Szczecin Voivodship in 1947. *

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

-survivors, most of them " repatriates" from the East, creating Jewish cooperatives and institutions – the largest community was founded in Szczecin (Stettin). About 30,000 Jews from the

settled in the Szczecin Voivodship, but most emigrated soon after. Most had left Poland by 1968 due to communist governmental antisemitic campaign, with the first mass flight of Jews from Poland taking place as a consequence of postwar anti-Jewish violence culminating in the

Kielce pogrom The Kielce pogrom was an outbreak of violence toward the Jewish community centre's gathering of refugees in the city of Kielce, Poland on 4 July 1946 by Polish soldiers, police officers, and civilians Greeks The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, oth ...

, Macedonians, and

Romani people The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sig ...

settled in the Szczecin Voivodship, with the Romani first sticking to their nomadic way of life. 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. In fact, the areas were devastated by the war, most of the infrastructure largely destroyed, suffering high crime rates and looting by criminal gangs. It took years for civil order to be established. The newly created society, first binational and multi-cultural, quickly became subject to homogenisation decreed by the state. This new Pomeranian society was tied to the Polish one, and failed to develop a local or regional identity.Jan M Piskorski, Pommern im Wandel der Zeiten, p.407,

=Demography

= In the fall of 1945, 230,000 Poles had settled in the Szczecin Voivodship, and more than 400,000 Germans remained.Jan M Piskorski, Pommern im Wandel der Zeiten, p.402, In the spring of 1946, Polish and German population were about equal in number. By the end of 1947, 900,000 Poles and 59,000 Germans lived in the Szczecin Voivodship.

German part of Pomerania

Western part of the former Province of Pomerania (Vorpommern, red) in modern Germany

In May 1945, the armies of the

and the western allies met east of

Schwerin Schwerin (; Mecklenburgian Low German: ''Swerin''; Latin: ''Suerina'', ''Suerinum'') is the capital and second-largest city of the northeastern German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern as well as of the region of Mecklenburg, after Rostock. It ...

. Following the Potsdam Agreement, the western allies handed over the western part of

to the Soviets. Mecklenburg-Vorpommern was established on July 9, 1945, per order Nr. 5 of

marshal

, head of the Soviet administration ( SMAD), as the ''Province of Mecklenburg and West Pomerania (sapadnoi Pomeranii)''. The post-war period was characterized by the extreme difficulties arising from the need of housing and feeding the occupation forces as well as the refugees, while simultaneously state and private property was carried to the

. Furthermore, many of the towns had suffered severe war damages.

Demographic changes

During and after the war, the make-up of Mecklenburg and Vorpommern's population changed due to wartime losses and the influx of evacuees (mainly from the Berlin and Hamburg metropolitan areas that were subject to air raids) and people who fled and were expelled from the

former eastern territories of Germany The former eastern territories of Germany (german: Ehemalige deutsche Ostgebiete) refer in present-day Germany to those territories east of the current eastern border of Germany i.e. Oder–Neisse line which historically had been considered Ger ...

east of the Oder-Neisse line, which became the eastern border of Mecklenburg Vorpommern. After the war, the population had doubled with more than 40% of the population being refugees. Before the war,

and

had a population of 1,278,700, of whom many perished during the war and another share moved west in the course of the Red Army's advance. In October 1945, the authorities counted 820,000 refugees in

, of whom a number of 30,000 and 40,000 moved about without destination. Before the war, the about 7,100 km² of

Vorpommern Historical Western Pomerania, also called Cispomerania, Fore Pomerania, Front Pomerania or Hither Pomerania (german: Vorpommern), is the western extremity of the historic region of Pomerania forming the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, Weste ...

that would remain German were inhabited by about half a million people. After the war, 85,000 of these were either dead, had fled or were imprisoned. In 1946, the influx of 305,000 refugees raised the population to 719,000.Werner Buchholz, Pommern, Siedler, 1999, p.515, In 1946, the refugees in Vorpommern made up for 42,4% of the population. In the Stralsund and Grimmen counties, half of the population were refugees. The towns of Stralsund and

Greifswald Greifswald (), officially the University and Hanseatic City of Greifswald (german: Universitäts- und Hansestadt Greifswald, Low German: ''Griepswoold'') is the fourth-largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania after Rosto ...

had the lowest rates of refugees.Werner Buchholz, Pommern, Siedler, 1999, p.518, More than half of the refugees in Vorpommern were expellees from the former eastern parts of the Province of Pomerania, the other ones were from any other former eastern territory. In 1947, some 1,426,000 refugees were counted in

, 1 million of which was from post-war

. Most of them were settled in rural communities, but also the towns' population increased, most notably in

from 65,000 (1939) to 99,518 (January 1947), in

Wismar Wismar (; Low German: ''Wismer''), officially the Hanseatic City of Wismar (''Hansestadt Wismar'') is, with around 43,000 inhabitants, the sixth-largest city of the northeastern German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and the fourth-largest city ...

from 29,463 to 44,173, and in

from 29,488 to 43,897.Beatrice Vierneisel, ''Fremde im Land: Aspekte zur kulturellen Integration von Umsiedlern in Mecklenburg und Vorpommern 1945 bis 1953'', 2006, p.12, In 1949, out of

's population of 2,126,000, refugees accounted for 922,088. Yet, many people - both refugees and pre-war locals - moved towards the western allies' occupation zones, causing the number of inhabitants to decrease within the following decades.

Land reform

Following the

land reform Land reform is a form of agrarian reform involving the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership. Land reform may consist of a government-initiated or government-backed property redistribution, generally of agricultural ...

of 1945/46, all farms larger than 100 ha were seized by the administration. Two thirds of the seized farms, making up for 54% of the overall seized farmland, were distributed among the refugees, who had become the majority in many rural communities. The remaining large farms not distributed among the population were run by the administration as so-called "People-owned farm" (''Volkseigenes Gut, VEG''). After the reform, one out of two refugees was assigned to an own small farm. The new partitions of land were usually of a size of five

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100- metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is ...

Administration

On June 5, 1946, a law enacted by the Soviets led to the constitution of a provisional German administration (''Beratende Versammlung'') under Soviet supervision on June 29, 1946. After the unfree elections of October 20, 1946, a ''

Landtag A Landtag (State Diet) is generally the legislative assembly or parliament of a federated state or other subnational self-governing entity in German-speaking nations. It is usually a unicameral assembly exercising legislative competence in non ...

'' replaced the ''Beratende Versammlung'' and worked out the constitution of January 16, 1947, for the ''

Land Land, also known as dry land, ground, or earth, is the solid terrestrial surface of the planet Earth that is not submerged by the ocean or other bodies of water. It makes up 29% of Earth's surface and includes the continents and various isla ...

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern''. On March 1, 1947, the state's name was shortened to ''Land Mecklenburg'' following a Soviet order. Earlier attempts by local politicians like Otto Kortüm, mayor of Stralsund, to have the Pomeranian part of the new state organized in a separate administrative subdivision such as "

Regierungsbezirk A ' () means "governmental district" and is a type of administrative division in Germany. Four of sixteen ' ( states of Germany) are split into '. Beneath these are rural and urban districts. Saxony has ' (directorate districts) with more res ...

Stralsund, or to have a representative of the state's administration in

had all failed."

Parties

In April 1946,the social-democratic party (

SPD The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been t ...

) party was forced by the communists and the SMAD (Soviet administration) to merge with the communist party ( KPD), resulting in the creation of the

SED sed ("stream editor") is a Unix utility that parses and transforms text, using a simple, compact programming language. It was developed from 1973 to 1974 by Lee E. McMahon of Bell Labs, and is available today for most operating systems. sed w ...

, which in the following years would act on Moscow's behalf. image:Germany Laender 1947 1990 DDR.png,

within

, black: 1947 border, red: 1990 border image:DDR Verwaltungsbezirke farbig.svg,

dissolved (northern districts Rostock, Schwerin, Neubrandenburg, 1947-1990 image:Tal_der_Ahnungslosen.png, In most of German

, it was not possible to receive

West German West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

TV programs (red area), thus referred to as "''Tal der Ahnungslosen''" ("Valley of the Clueless")

Communist era

Polish part of Pomerania

The situation changed for the worse in 1948, when all countries of the Eastern Bloc had to adopt Soviet economic principles. Private shops were banned and most farmers were forced to join agricultural cooperatives, managed by local communists. In 1953 Poland was forced to accept the end of

war reparations War reparations are compensation payments made after a war by one side to the other. They are intended to cover damage or injury inflicted during a war. History Making one party pay a war indemnity is a common practice with a long history. ...

, which previously were solely placed on

, while

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

enjoyed the benefits of the

Marshall Plan The Marshall Plan (officially the European Recovery Program, ERP) was an American initiative enacted in 1948 to provide foreign aid to Western Europe. The United States transferred over $13 billion (equivalent of about $ in ) in economic re ...

. In 1956 Poland was on the verge of a Soviet invasion, but the crisis was solved and the Polish government's communism developed a more human face with

as the head of politburo. Poland developed the

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as H ...

s of Pomerania and restored the destroyed shipyards of Gdańsk,

Gdynia Gdynia ( ; ; german: Gdingen (currently), (1939–1945); csb, Gdiniô, , , ) is a city in northern Poland and a seaport on the Baltic Sea coast. With a population of 243,918, it is the 12th-largest city in Poland and the second-largest in th ...

and Szczecin. These were organised as two harbour complexes: one of Szczecin port with Swinoujscie avanport and the other was Gdańsk-Gdynia set of ports. Gdańsk and Gdynia, along with the spa of Sopot located between them, became one metropolitan area called Tricity and populated by more than 1,000,000 inhabitants. In 1970, after putting an end to the uncertain border issue with West Germany under

Willy Brandt Willy Brandt (; born Herbert Ernst Karl Frahm; 18 December 1913 – 8 October 1992) was a German politician and statesman who was leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) from 1964 to 1987 and served as the chancellor of West Ge ...

, the massive unrest in the coastal cities marked the end of Władysław Gomułka's rule. The new leader, Edward Gierek, wanted to modernize the country by the wide use of western credits. Although the policy failed, Poland became one of the main world players in the shipyard industry. Polish open sea

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

scientists discovered new

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of ...

for the fishing industry. Unfortunately, countries with direct access to the open seas declared 200 mile (370 km) economic zones that finally put the end to the Polish fishing industry. Shipyards also came under growing pressure from the subsidized Japanese and

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

n enterprises. During 1970, Poland built also the Northern Harbour in rebuilt Gdańsk, which allowed the country independent access to oil from OPEC countries. The new

oil refinery An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial process plant where petroleum (crude oil) is transformed and refined into useful products such as gasoline (petrol), diesel fuel, asphalt base, fuel oils, heating oil, kerosene, lique ...

had been built in Gdańsk, and an oil pipeline connected both with main Polish pipeline in

Płock Płock (pronounced ) is a city in central Poland, on the Vistula river, in the Masovian Voivodeship. According to the data provided by GUS on 31 December 2021, there were 116,962 inhabitants in the city. Its full ceremonial name, according to th ...

. The

West Pomeranian Voivodeship The West Pomeranian Voivodeship, also known as the West Pomerania Province, is a voivodeship (province) in northwestern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Szczecin. Its area equals 22 892.48 km² (8,838.84 sq mi), and in 2021, it was ...

's rural countryside from 1945 until 1989 remained underdeveloped and often neglected, as the pre-1945 German structures of Prussian-style nobility leading and steering agricultural cultivation had been destroyed by expulsion and communism.

Reorganisation of Catholic Church in Polish Pomerania

According to the ''Prussian

Concordat A concordat is a convention between the Holy See and a sovereign state that defines the relationship between the Catholic Church and the state in matters that concern both,René Metz, ''What is Canon Law?'' (New York: Hawthorn Books, 1960 st Edi ...

'' of 1929

Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

Pius XI Pope Pius XI ( it, Pio XI), born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti (; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939), was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 to his death in February 1939. He was the first sovereign of Vatican City f ...

assigned all of then German Pomerania either to the new Catholic Diocese of Berlin (est. on 13 August 1930) or to the new '' Territorial Prelature of Schneidemühl'' (german: Prälatur Schneidemühl), also comprising the Pomeranian districts of Bütow and Lauenburg in Pommern. Diocese and prelature became part of the new ''East German

Ecclesiastical Province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian Churches with traditional hierarchical structure, including Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity. In general, an ecclesiastical province consists of seve ...

'' as suffragans of the prior exempt Diocese of Breslau simultaneously elevated to archdiocese. After

Berlin's diocesan territory east of the Oder-Neiße line ( East Brandenburg and central and

) - with 33 parishes and chapels of ease - came under Polish control. Most of the Catholic parishioners and priests there had either fled the invading Soviet

or were subsequently expelled by Polish authorities. Cardinal

August Hlond August Hlond (July 5, 1881 – October 22, 1948) was a Polish cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, who was Archbishop of Poznań and Gniezno in 1926 and Primate of Poland. He was then appointed as the Archbishop of Gniezno and Warsaw in 194 ...

demanded the diocesan territory east of the new border for the creation of new Catholic dioceses, he appointed a

diocesan administrator :''See: Catholic Church hierarchy#Equivalents of diocesan bishops in law'' A diocesan administrator is a provisional ordinary of a Roman Catholic particular church. Diocesan administrators in canon law The college of consultors elects an admin ...

for Berlin's eastern diocesan territory seated in Gorzów Wielkopolski (Landsberg an der Warthe). Pope Pius XII refused to acknowledge these claims. But most of the churches and ecclesiastical premises of the Pomerania ecclesiastical province of the

Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union The Prussian Union of Churches (known under multiple other names) was a major Protestant church body which emerged in 1817 from a series of decrees by Frederick William III of Prussia that united both Lutheran and Reformed denominations in Pr ...

within now Polish Pomerania were taken by newly established Catholic congregations, since the Poles who had been transferred to the area via the Soviet demands of the Potsdam Agreement were predominantly Roman Catholic. In 1951, when the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

- similar to

- still asserted that Farther Pomerania would be returned to Germany at a near date, the Pope appointed Teodor Bensch (1903–1958), titular bishop of Tabuda, as auxiliary bishop responsible for the Polish part of the diocese of Berlin and the Prelature of Schneidemühl. His office was titled ''Apostolic Administration of Cammin, Lebus and the Prelature of Schneidemühl'' ( pl, Administracja Apostolska Kamieńska, Lubuska i Prałatury Pilskiej). This name referred to the prelature and Catholic bishoprics such as Cammin and

Lebus Lebus ( pl, Lubusz) is a historic town in the Märkisch-Oderland District of Brandenburg, Germany. It is the administrative seat of '' Amt'' ("collective municipality") Lebus. The town, located on the west bank of the Oder river at the border wi ...

, which existed prior the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and ...

. On 27 June 1972, however, - in response to West Germany's change in

Ostpolitik ''Neue Ostpolitik'' (German for "new eastern policy"), or ''Ostpolitik'' for short, was the normalization of relations between the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG, or West Germany) and Eastern Europe, particularly the German Democratic Republ ...

and the Treaty of Warsaw -

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his death in Augus ...

redrew the diocesan boundaries along the post-war political borders. The Apostolic constitution ''Episcoporum Poloniae coetus'' disentangled the Polish Pomeranian diocesan area of Berlin, becoming the new westerly Diocese of Szczecin-Kamień and the easterly Diocese of Koszalin-Kołobrzeg).Paulus VI: Const. Apost.
Episcoporum Poloniae coetus
', AAS 64 (1972), n. 10, pp. 657seq.

East German part of Pomerania

The part of Pomerania west of the

Oder Neisse line The Oder ( , ; Czech, Lower Sorbian and ; ) is a river in Central Europe. It is Poland's second-longest river in total length and third-longest within its borders after the Vistula and Warta. The Oder rises in the Czech Republic and flows thr ...

was attached to

by a SMAD order of 1946 to form the

. This Land was renamed ''Mecklenburg'' in 1947, became a constituent state of the

German Democratic Republic German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **G ...

(East Germany) in 1949 and was dissolved by the GDR government in 1952, when the East Berlin government abandoned "states" in favour of districts (German: ''Bezirke''). The area of

was split into the eastern Kreis districts of the newly established ''Bezirk'' administrative GDR subdivisions ''Bezirk Rostock'' and ''Bezirk Neubrandenburg'', Gartz (Oder) joined ''Bezirk Frankfurt (Oder)''. The administrative changes also made the historical border between Mecklenburg and Pomerania vanish from the maps.Werner Buchholz, Pommern, Siedler, 1999, p.519, The Pomeranian counties had already undergone changes in 1950: Randow county, recreated in 1945, was dissolved, the southern parts with Gartz (Oder) joined

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an area of 29,480 sq ...

. Thus,

lost the last link with the Oder river, the historical eastern border. Ueckermünde county was renamed Pasewalk county and 22 Brandenburgian communities were merged in. The Pomeranian town

Damgarten Ribnitz-Damgarten () is a town in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany, situated on Lake Ribnitz (''Ribnitzer See''). Ribnitz-Damgarten is in the west of the district Vorpommern-Rügen. The border between the historical regions of Mecklenburg and P ...

was fused with the

ian town

Ribnitz Ribnitz-Damgarten () is a town in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany, situated on Lake Ribnitz (''Ribnitzer See''). Ribnitz-Damgarten is in the west of the district Vorpommern-Rügen. The border between the historical regions of Mecklenburg and P ...

Ribnitz-Damgarten Ribnitz-Damgarten () is a town in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany, situated on Lake Ribnitz (''Ribnitzer See''). Ribnitz-Damgarten is in the west of the district Vorpommern-Rügen. The border between the historical regions of Mecklenburg and ...

, thus Western Pomerania's historical western border (

Recknitz The Recknitz (historically known as ''Raxa'') is a river in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in northeastern Germany. The Recknitz's glacial valley stretches as far south as the heights at Glasewitz near Güstrow. The river has no definite source, but rath ...

river, flowing between Ribnitz and Damgarten) vanished from the administrative maps. In 1952, another county reform made other parts of the historical Mecklenburgian and Pomeranian frontier vanish from the maps. The name "Pomerania" was now only used by the

Pomeranian Evangelical Church The Pomeranian Evangelical Church (german: link=no, Pommersche Evangelische Kirche; PEK) was a Protestant regional church in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, serving the citizens living in Hither Pomerania. The Pomeranian Evangelical C ...

, which had to change this name in "Evangelical Church Greifswald" in 1968.Werner Buchholz, Pommern, Siedler, 1999, p.521, Throughout the 1950s, small farms including those created in the previous land reform were forced to group to Socialist-style LPG units. In 1986, 90 LPGs ran close to 90% of the farmland, in addition there were the state estates (VEG, "Volkseigenes Gut"). An LPG had an average size of 4,700, a VEG 5,000 hectares. Agriculture was characterized by huge fields up to a hundred hectares, the use of large machines and an industrial way to work. Fertilizer was in many cases applied by planes. In Aktion Rose, private property of housing was turned over to the state. From this stock, various state organizations ran the GDR's seaside resort, serving 75% of the East German Baltic coast tourists. The East German policy of industrialization led to the establishment of a nuclear power plant in

Lubmin Lubmin () is a coastal resort in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Lubmin is situated near Greifswald and on the Bay of Greifswald. Apart from tourism, Lubmin is a major transport and industry hub and investment location in the German e ...

near

, the Stralsund

Volkswerft Volkswerft (german: Volkswerft Stralsund GmbH) is a shipyard in the Hanseatic city of Stralsund on the Strelasund. It is part of the German Hegemann-group. The Volkswerft was founded in 1948 as ''Ingenieurbau Ges.m.b.H.''. On April 25 the first t ...

shipyard, and the

Sassnitz Sassnitz (, before 1993 in german: Saßnitz) is a town on the Jasmund peninsula, Rügen Island, in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. The population as of 2012 was 9,498. Sassnitz is a well-known seaside resort and port town, a ...

ferry terminal directly linking Western Pomerania to the

via Klaipeda. The

was the main industry of Western Pomerania with 8,000 employees. One third of the Soviet fish trawlers were built in Stralsund. Another shipyard set up during the Communist era was the Peenewerft in

Wolgast Wolgast (; csb, Wòłogòszcz) is a town in the district of Vorpommern-Greifswald, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is situated on the bank of the river (or strait) Peenestrom, vis-a-vis the island of Usedom on the Baltic coast that can b ...

, where East German navy ships were built. In

, industry constructing electronic supplies for the shipyards was settled, employing 4,000 people.Werner Buchholz, Pommern, Siedler, 1999, pp.521,522,

Democratic era

Polish part of Pomerania

In 1980, Polish Pomeranian coastal cities, notably Gdańsk, became the place of birth for the anticommunist movement, Solidarity. Gdańsk become the capital for the Solidarity

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ...

. In 1989 it was found that the border treaty with the Communist

had one mistake, concerning the naval border. Subsequently, a new treaty was signed.

German part of Pomerania

In October 1990, after the GDR regime was overthrown by the peaceful Wende revolution of 1989, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern was reconstituted and joined the

, with

being a constituent region of the Bundesland with a special status, but not an administrative one. Since then, the region suffers from a population drain as mostly young people migrate to the West due to high unemployment rates.

Pomerania euroregion

The Pomerania euroregion was set up in 1995 as one of the euroregions, thought to connect regions divided between states of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

. The name EUROREGION POMERANIA is taken from the region of

, yet the euroregion is of a different shape than the historical region. It comprises German

and

Uckermark The Uckermark () is a historical region in northeastern Germany, straddles the Uckermark District of Brandenburg and the Vorpommern-Greifswald District of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Its traditional capital is Prenzlau. Geography The region is nam ...

, Polish Zachodniopomorskie, and

Scania Scania, also known by its native name of Skåne (, ), is the southernmost of the historical provinces (''landskap'') of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conterminous with Skåne ...

in Sweden.

Sources

Werner Buchholz Werner Buchholz (24 October 1922 – 11 July 2019) was a German-American computer scientist. After growing up in Europe, Buchholz moved to Canada and then to the United States. He worked for International Business Machines (IBM) in New York. In ...

et al., ''Pommern'', Siedler, 1999/2002, , 576 pages; this book is part of the ''Deutsche Geschichte im Osten Europas'' series and primarily covers the history of the

Duchy of Pomerania The Duchy of Pomerania (german: Herzogtum Pommern; pl, Księstwo Pomorskie; Latin: ''Ducatus Pomeraniae'') was a duchy in Pomerania on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, ruled by dukes of the House of Pomerania (''Griffins''). The country ha ...

and Province of Pomerania from the 12th century to 1945, and

after 1945. * Jan Maria Piskorski et al. (Werner Buchholz, Jörg Hackmann, Alina Hutnikiewicz, Norbert Kersken, Hans-Werner Rautenberg, Wlodzimierz Stepinski, Zygmunt Szultka, Bogdan Wachowiak, Edward Wlodarczyk), ''Pommern im Wandel der Zeiten'', Zamek Ksiazat Pomorskich, 1999, . This book is a co-edition of several German and Polish experts on Pomeranian history and covers the history of Pomerania, except for

Pomerelia Pomerelia,, la, Pomerellia, Pomerania, pl, Pomerelia (rarely used) also known as Eastern Pomerania,, csb, Pòrénkòwô Pòmòrskô Vistula Pomerania, prior to World War II also known as Polish Pomerania, is a historical sub-region of Pome ...

, from the earliest appearance of humans in the area until the end of the second millennium. It is also available in a Polish version, .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:History of Pomerania (1945-present) 9 Polish People's Republic History of Poland (1989–present) de:Geschichte Pommerns