The registered German minority in Poland (; ) is a group of

German people Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...

that inhabit

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, being the largest minority of the country. As of 2021, it had a population of 144,177. The

German language German (, ) is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family, mainly spoken in Western Europe, Western and Central Europe. It is the majority and Official language, official (or co-official) language in Germany, Austria, Switze ...

is spoken in certain areas in

Opole Voivodeship Opole Voivodeship ( , , ), is the smallest and least populated voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship (province) of Poland. The province's name derives from that of the region's capital and largest city, Opole. It is part of Silesia. A relatively lar ...

, where most of the minority resides, and in

Silesian Voivodeship Silesian Voivodeship ( ) is an administrative province in southern Poland. With over 4.2 million residents and an area of 12,300 square kilometers, it is the second-most populous, and the most-densely populated and most-urbanized region of Poland ...

. German speakers first came to these regions (present-day Opole and Silesian Voivodeships) during the late Middle Ages. However, there are no localities in either

Upper Silesia Upper Silesia ( ; ; ; ; Silesian German: ; ) is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, located today mostly in Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic. The area is predominantly known for its heav ...

or Poland as a whole where German could be considered a language of everyday communication. The predominant home or family language of Poland's German minority in Upper Silesia used to be the Silesian German language (mainly (Upper Silesian dialect), but also (dialect of the land of Brieg-Grottkau) was used west of Opole), but since 1945

Standard German Standard High German (SHG), less precisely Standard German or High German (, , or, in Switzerland, ), is the umbrella term for the standard language, standardized varieties of the German language, which are used in formal contexts and for commun ...

replaced it as these Silesian German dialects went generally out of use except among the oldest generations which have by now completely died off. The German Minority electoral committee benefits from the provision in Polish election law which exempts national minorities from the 5% national threshold. In the school year of 2014/15 there were 387 elementary schools in Poland (all in Upper Silesia), with over 37,000 students, in which German was taught as a minority language (that is, at least for three periods of 45 minutes in a week), hence ''de facto'' as a subject. There were no minority schools with German as the language of instruction, though there were three asymmetrically bilingual (Polish–German) schools, where most subjects were taught through the medium of Polish. Most members of the German minority are

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

, while some are

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

Protestants Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

(the Evangelical-Augsburg Church).

Germans in Poland today

According to the 2021 census, most of the Germans in Poland (67.2%) live in

Silesia Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...

: 59,911 in the

, i.e. 41.6% of all Germans in Poland and a share of 6.57% of the local population; 27,923 in the

, i.e. 19.4% of all Germans in Poland and 0.66% of the local population; plus 8,978 in the

Lower Silesian Voivodeship Lower Silesian Voivodeship (, ) in southwestern Poland, is one of the 16 Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeships (provinces) into which Poland is divided. It covers an area of and has a total population of 2,899,986. It is one of the wealthiest ...

, i.e. 6.2% of all Germans in Poland, though only 0.31% of the local population. Towns with particularly high concentrations of German speakers in

include:

Strzelce Opolskie Strzelce Opolskie () is a town in southern Poland with 17,900 inhabitants (2019), situated in the Opole Voivodeship. It is the capital of Strzelce County. Etymology The name of the town is of Polish origin and comes from the old Polish word ''s ...

; Dobrodzien;

Prudnik Prudnik (, , , ) is a town in southern Poland, located in the southern part of Opole Voivodeship near the border with the Czech Republic. It is the administrative seat of Prudnik County and Gmina Prudnik. Its population numbers 21,368 inhabitant ...

;

Głogówek Głogówek (, , , ) is a small historic town in southern Poland. It is situated on the Osobloga River, in Opole Voivodeship of the greater Silesian region. The city lies approximately from Opole, the capital of the voivodeship, and is about fro ...

; and

Gogolin Gogolin is a town in southern Poland, in Opole Voivodeship, in Krapkowice County. It has 6,682 inhabitants (2019). It is the seat of Gmina Gogolin. Geology and palaeontology Gogolin gives its name to the Gogolin Formation whose strata were fi ...

. Poland was the third most frequent destination for migrant Germans in 2009, after the United States and Switzerland, dropping to 8th most frequent in 2015. Germans in Silesia

History of Germans in Poland

German migration into areas that form part of present-day Poland began with the medieval (see also in the Subcarpathian region). Regions which subsequently became part of the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...

–

Lower Silesia Lower Silesia ( ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ) is a historical and geographical region mostly located in Poland with small portions in the Czech Republic and Germany. It is the western part of the region of Silesia. Its largest city is Wrocław. The first ...

East Brandenburg The Neumark (), also known as the New March () 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 except some villages of ...

Pomerania Pomerania ( ; ; ; ) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The central and eastern part belongs to the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, West Pomeranian, Pomeranian Voivod ...

and

East Prussia East Prussia was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1772 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 1871); following World War I it formed part of the Weimar Republic's ...

– were predominantly German speaking by the

High Middle Ages The High Middle Ages, or High Medieval Period, was the periodization, period of European history between and ; it was preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages, which ended according to historiographical convention ...

. In other areas of modern-day Poland there were substantial German populations, most notably in the historical regions of

Pomerelia Pomerelia, also known as Eastern Pomerania, Vistula Pomerania, and also before World War II as Polish Pomerania, is a historical sub-region of Pomerania on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in northern Poland. Gdańsk Pomerania is largely c ...

, and Posen or

Greater Poland Greater Poland, often known by its Polish name Wielkopolska (; ), is a Polish Polish historical regions, historical region of west-central Poland. Its chief and largest city is Poznań followed by Kalisz, the oldest city in Poland. The bound ...

. In the 19th century, Germans became actively involved in developing the clothmaking industry in what is now central Poland. Over 3,000 villages and towns within Russian Poland are recorded as having German residents. Many of these Germans remained east of the Curzon line after World War I ended in 1918, including a significant number in

Volhynia Volhynia or Volynia ( ; see #Names and etymology, below) is a historic region in Central and Eastern Europe, between southeastern Poland, southwestern Belarus, and northwestern Ukraine. The borders of the region are not clearly defined, but in ...

. In the late 19th century, some Germans moved westward during the , while a Prussian Settlement Commission established others in Central Poland. According to the 1931 census, around 740,000 German speakers lived in Poland (2.3% of the population). Their minority rights were protected by the

Little Treaty of Versailles Little Treaty of Versailles () or the Polish Minority Treaty () was one of the bilateralism, bilateral Minority Treaties signed between minor powers and the League of Nations in the aftermath of the First World War. The Polish treaty was signed ...

of 1919. The right to appeal to the

League of Nations The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...

however was renounced by the League of Nations in 1934, officially due to Germany's withdrawal from the League (September 1933) after

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

became German Chancellor in January 1933.

World War II

After Nazi Germany's invasion of the Second Polish Republic in September 1939, many members of the German minority (around 25%">"Kampania Wrześniowa 1939.pl"
) joined the

ethnic German Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The constitution of Germany, implemented in 1949 following the end of World War ...

paramilitary organisation . When the

German occupation of Poland German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

began, the took an active part in

Nazi crimes against ethnic Poles Crimes against the Polish nation committed by Nazi Germany and Axis collaborationist forces during the invasion of Poland, along with auxiliary battalions during the subsequent occupation of Poland in World War II, included the genocide of ...

. Due to their pre-war interactions with the Polish majority, they were able to prepare lists of Polish intellectuals and civil servants whom the Nazis selected for extermination. The organisation actively participated in and was responsible for the deaths of about 50,000 Poles. Following the outbreak of World War II in September 1939, the Soviets annexed a massive portion of the eastern part of Poland (November 1939) in the wake of an August 1939 agreement between the Reich and the USSR. During the German occupation of Poland during the war (1939-1945), the Nazis forcibly resettled ethnic Germans from other areas of Central Europe (such as the

Baltic states The Baltic states or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term encompassing Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, and the OECD. The three sovereign states on the eastern co ...

) in the pre-war territory of Poland. At the same time the Nazi authorities expelled, enslaved and killed Poles and

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

Cold War

After the Nazis' defeat in 1945, Poland did not regain its Soviet-annexed territory; instead, Polish communists, directed by the Soviets, expelled the remaining Germans who had not already been evacuated or fled from the areas of

Farther Pomerania Farther Pomerania, Hinder Pomerania, Rear Pomerania or Eastern Pomerania (; ), is a subregion of the historic region of Pomerania in north-western Poland, mostly within the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, while its easternmost parts are within the Po ...

, and

and made Poles take their place, some of whom were expelled from Soviet-occupied areas that had previously formed part of Poland. About half of East Prussia became the newly created Soviet territory of

Kaliningrad Oblast Kaliningrad Oblast () is the westernmost federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of the Russian Federation. It is a Enclave and exclave, semi-exclave on the Baltic Sea within the Baltic region of Prussia (region), Prussia, surrounded by Pola ...

(officially established in 1946), where Soviet citizens replaced the former German residents. Claims to a border along the Oder-Neisse line were presented at the Potsdam Conference of August 1945 by a delegation of Polish politicians. However the conference eventually specified or endorsed the shifting of borders pending a later peace treaty. In the following years, the communists and activists inspired by the

Myśl zachodnia Western Thought (''Myśl zachodnia'') was a school of thought in Polish historical and political science. In the 1920s and 1930s Myśl zachodnia was organized in opposition to Ostforschung. A main center of Western Thought was the association P ...

("Western thought") strove to "de-Germanize" and to "re- Polonize" the huge land, propagandistically termed "

Recovered Territories The Recovered Territories or Regained Lands () are the lands east of the Oder–Neisse line, Oder-Neisse line that over the centuries were gradually lost by Poland and colonized by the Germans, and that returned to Poland after World War II. T ...

". Since the downfall of the Polish Communist regime in 1989, the German minorities' political situation in modern-day Poland has improved, and after Poland joined the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

in the 2004 enlargement and was incorporated into the

Schengen Area The Schengen Area ( , ) encompasses European countries that have officially abolished border controls at their common borders. As an element within the wider area of freedom, security and justice (AFSJ) policy of the European Union (EU), it ...

, German citizens are now allowed to buy land and property in the areas where they or their ancestors used to live, and can return there if they wish. However, none of their properties have been returned after being confiscated. A possible demonstration of the ambiguity of the Polish-German minority position can be seen in the life and career of

Waldemar Kraft Waldemar Kraft (19 February 1898 – 12 July 1977) was a German politician. A member of the Schutzstaffel, SS in Nazi Germany, he served as Managing Director of the Reich Association for Land Management in the Annexed Territories from 1940 to 19 ...

, a

minister without portfolio A minister without portfolio is a government minister without specific responsibility as head of a government department. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet with decision-making authorit ...

in the

West German West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republic after its capital c ...

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the lower house of the Germany, German Federalism in Germany, federal parliament. It is the only constitutional body of the federation directly elected by the German people. The Bundestag wa ...

during the 1950s. However, most of the German minority had not been as involved in the Nazi system as Kraft was. There is no clear-cut division in Poland between the Germans and some other minorities, whose heritage is similar in some respects due to centuries of assimilation,

Germanisation Germanisation, or Germanization, is the spread of the German language, people, and culture. It was a central idea of German conservative thought in the 19th and the 20th centuries, when conservatism and ethnic nationalism went hand in hand. In l ...

and intermarriage, but differs in other respects due to either ancient regional West Slavic roots or

Polonisation Polonization or Polonisation ()In Polish historiography, particularly pre-WWII (e.g., L. Wasilewski. As noted in Смалянчук А. Ф. (Smalyanchuk 2001) Паміж краёвасцю і нацыянальнай ідэяй. Польскі ...

. Such minorities include the

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 ...

(), the

Masurians The Masurians or Mazurs (; ; Masurian dialects, Masurian: ''Mazurÿ''), historically also known as Prussian Masurians (Polish language, Polish: ''Mazurzy pruscy''), are an ethnic group originating from the region of Masuria, within the Warmian- ...

and the

Silesians Silesians (; Silesian German: ''Schläsinger'' ''or'' ''Schläsier''; ; ; ) is both an ethnic as well as a geographical term for the inhabitants of Silesia, a historical region in Central Europe divided by the current national boundaries o ...

. While in the past these people have been claimed for both Polish and German ethnicity, it really depends on their self-perception which they choose to belong to.

German Poles

The term "German Poles" (, ) may refer to either

Poles Pole or poles may refer to: People *Poles (people), another term for Polish people, from the country of Poland * Pole (surname), including a list of people with the name * Pole (musician) (Stefan Betke, born 1967), German electronic music artist ...

of German descent or sometimes to Polish citizens whose ancestors held German citizenship before World War II, regardless of their ethnicity. After the

flight and expulsion of Germans from Poland The flight and expulsion of Germans from Poland was the largest of a series of flights and expulsions of Germans in Europe during and after World War II. The German population fled or was expelled from all regions which are currently within ...

, the largest of a series of flights and expulsions of Germans in Europe during and after World War II, over 1 million former citizens of Germany were naturalized and granted Polish citizenship. Some of them were forced to stay in Poland, while others wanted to stay because these territories were inhabited by their families for hundreds of years. The lowest estimate by West German

Schieder commission ''Documents on the Expulsion of the Germans from Eastern-Central Europe'' is the abridged English translation of a multi-volume publication that was created by a commission of West German historians between 1951 and 1961 to document the populatio ...

of 1953, is that 910,000 former German citizens were granted Polish citizenship by 1950. Higher estimates say that 1,043,550PDFs by chapter
(se
contents
or 1,165,000 were naturalized as Polish citizens by 1950.

Post-World War II

After the end of expulsions, Polish sources of 1948–49 report that 125,000 to 160,000 lived on what was now Polish territory, but according to West German information, the number was 430,000 or even 900,000. It can be assumed today that the Polish figures were vastly understated and the West German figures were probably exaggerated, but ultimately closer to reality. In order to understand the reported numbers it must be borne in mind that many former German citizens were "verified" as Polish, as they were alleged to be of Polish ancestry but subjected to centuries of Germanization. The Polish referred to these people using the propagandistic term “autochthonous”, as opposed to those Germans whose ancestors came to the region in the Middle Ages. In West Germany, and, internally, also for

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

, these "autochthons" counted as Germans. Also, in 1951 those "autochthons" who had emphatically resisted verification were compulsorily given Polish citizenship; but many “verified autochthons” resisted the Polish assimilation policy, which was often accompanied by discrimination. In 1951, Polish law restored equal rights to Germans in Poland in working life and in cultural and educational matters. However, this decision was not fully implemented until 1956. Germans of Poland at the time hence consisted of: *citizens of the German Reich who had always been residents of the territories now annexed to Poland; *members of the German minority in the

Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 7 October 1918 and 6 October 1939. The state was established in the final stage of World War I ...

; *Germans who had been resettled by the German authorities in Polish areas during the war, including evacuees due to bombing; *Germans who were married to Poles, their children and grandchildren; and *the so-called autochthons. At the end of the 1950s, regional concentrations of Germans in Poland existed in the new Polish western and northern areas and in the Silesian area, especially in the regions of Olsztyn, Wrocław, Gdansk and Katowice and Opole. However, the vast majority of Germans were the so-called "autochthons" who were allowed to stay in post-war Poland after declaring Polish ethnicity in a special verification process.Steffen Prauser, Steffen and Rees, Arfon
"The Expulsion of 'German' Communities from Eastern Europe at the end of the Second World War"
. Florence: European University Institute. HEC No. 2004/1. p.28 Thus most of them were inhabitants of Polish descent of the pre-war border regions of

and

Warmia Warmia ( ; Latin: ''Varmia'', ''Warmia''; ; Warmian subdialect, Warmian: ''Warńija''; Old Prussian language, Old Prussian: ''Wārmi'') is both a historical and an ethnographic region in northern Poland, forming part of historical Prussia (reg ...

Masuria Masuria ( ; ; ) is an ethnographic and geographic region in northern and northeastern Poland, known for its 2,000 lakes. Masuria occupies much of the Masurian Lake District. Administratively, it is part of the Warmian–Masurian Voivodeship (ad ...

. Sometimes they were called or . These people were allowed to reclaim their former German citizenship on application, and under

German Basic Law The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany () is the constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany. The West German Constitution was approved in Bonn on 8 May 1949 and came into effect on 23 May after having been approved by the oc ...

were "considered as not having been deprived of their German citizenship if they have established their domicile in Germany after May 8, 1945, and have not expressed a contrary intention". Because of this, many of them left the

People's Republic of Poland The Polish People's Republic (1952–1989), formerly the Republic of Poland (1947–1952), and also often simply known as Poland, was a country in Central Europe that existed as the predecessor of the modern-day democratic Republic of Poland. ...

due to its undemocratic political system and economic problems. Also, a great many of families, due to war, flight, and expulsion, had been torn apart by the border shift and now pressured the German authorities to support their relatives to leave Poland. During the 1950s, negotiations for family reunions were conducted between Poland and

. However, anything that went beyond the reunification of separated spouses or minor children with their parents was rejected by the Polish authorities. From 1956 on, family reunions to both

(GDR) and West Germany were handled more liberally, but the more generous exit policy for Germans from Poland was flanked by massive attempts by the Polish and GDR authorities to influence the German minority to stay in Poland or move to the GDR rather than to West Germany. In 1959/1960, as had been the case several times in the 1950s, family reunifications were declared complete by the Polish. In yet another phase of emigration negotiated in 1964, the number of applications to move to the GDR surprised both the Polish and the East German sides, and the Polish authorities now strove to limit the emigration. The European policy of détente at the beginning of the 1970s, and in particular the signing of the Warsaw Treaty, ushered in the next phase of family reunions and departures of Germans, particularly the "autochthonous" population, from Poland, especially to the Federal Republic of Germany. Eventually, the Polish had to realize that their assimilation policy towards the German minority (both the German citizens and the so-called "autochthons" who insisted on their German ethnicity) had failed. In total, in the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

era, hundreds of thousands of Polish citizens decided to emigrate to West Germany and, to a lesser extent, to East Germany.Manfred Görtemaker (1999), , Munich: C. H. Beck, p. 169, Levitin, Michael (February 26, 2009)
"Germany provokes anger over museum to refugees who fled Poland during WWII"
''The Telegraph''. Despite that, hundreds or tens of thousands of former German citizens remained in Poland. Some of them created families with other

, who, in the vast majority, were settlers from central Poland or were resettled from the

former eastern territories of Poland Eastern Borderlands (), often simply Borderlands (, ) was a historical region of the eastern part of the Second Polish Republic. The term was coined during the History of Poland (1918–1939), interwar period (1918–1939). Largely agricultural ...

by the

Soviets The Soviet people () were the citizens and nationals of the Soviet Union. This demonym was presented in the ideology of the country as the "new historical unity of peoples of different nationalities" (). Nationality policy in the Soviet Union ...

to the

(

Former eastern territories of Germany In present-day Germany, the former eastern territories of Germany () refer to those territories east of the current eastern border of Germany, i.e. the Oder–Neisse line, which historically had been considered German and which were annexed b ...

). Since the

fall of communism in Poland Autumn, also known as fall (especially in US & Canada), is one of the four temperate seasons on Earth. Outside the tropics, autumn marks the transition from summer to winter, in September (Northern Hemisphere) or March ( Southern Hemispher ...

, several socio-cultural organisations to promote German culture and language among the German minorities in Poland were created, including the German Socio-Cultural Organisation in

Wrocław Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...

and other organisations in cities such as

Opole Opole (; ; ; ) is a city located in southern Poland on the Oder River and the historical capital of Upper Silesia. With a population of approximately 127,387 as of the 2021 census, it is the capital of Opole Voivodeship (province) and the seat of ...

Education

There is one German international school in Poland, Willy-Brandt-Schule in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

Notable Poles of German descent

Władysław Anders Władysław Albert Anders (11 August 1892 – 12 May 1970) was a Polish military officer and politician, and prominent member of the Polish government-in-exile in London. Born in Krośniewice-Błonie, then part of the Russian Empire, he serv ...

(1892–1970), general, leader of the Polish 2nd Corps during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and prominent member of the

Polish government-in-exile The Polish government-in-exile, officially known as the Government of the Republic of Poland in exile (), was the government in exile of Poland formed in the aftermath of the Invasion of Poland of September 1939, and the subsequent Occupation ...

in London *

Grzegorz Braun Grzegorz Michał Braun (born 11 March 1967) is a Polish politician. He served as a member of the Sejm, the lower house of Poland's parliament, for Rzeszów from 2019 to 2024. He has been Chairman of the Confederation of the Polish Crown (abbrev ...

(born 1967), journalist, academic lecturer, movie director, screenwriter and

far-right Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on the far end of the ...

politician *

Izabela Czartoryska Elżbieta "Izabela" Dorota Czartoryska ( Flemming; 31 March 1745 – 15 July 1835) was a Polish princess, writer, art collector, and prominent figure in the Polish Enlightenment. She was the wife of Adam Kazimierz Czartoryski and a member ...

(1746–1835), noblewoman, née

Flemming Flemming is a surname and a male given name referring, like the more common '' Fleming'', to an inhabitant (or descendant thereof) of Flanders,Czartoryski Museum The Princes Czartoryski Museum ( ) – often abbreviated to Czartoryski Museum – is a historic museum in Kraków, Poland, and one of the country's oldest museums. The initial collection was formed in 1796 in Puławy by Princess Izabela Czartor ...

in Kraków *

Jan Henryk Dąbrowski Jan Henryk Dąbrowski (; also known as Johann Heinrich Dąbrowski (Dombrowski) in German and Jean Henri Dombrowski in French; 2 August 1755 – 6 June 1818) was a Polish general and statesman, widely respected after his death for his patri ...

(1755–1818), general and Polish national hero * Stanisław Ernest Denhoff (1673–1728),

noble A noble is a member of the nobility. Noble may also refer to: Places Antarctica * Noble Glacier, King George Island * Noble Nunatak, Marie Byrd Land * Noble Peak, Wiencke Island * Noble Rocks, Graham Land Australia * Noble Island, Gr ...

, politician and military leader *

Karol Estreicher (senior) Karol Józef Teofil Estreicher (22 November 1827 in Kraków – 30 September 1908 in Kraków) was a Polish bibliographer and librarian who was a founder of the Polish Academy of Learning. While he is known as the "father of Polish bibliography ...

(1827–1908), father of Polish

bibliography Bibliography (from and ), as a discipline, is traditionally the academic study of books as physical, cultural objects; in this sense, it is also known as bibliology (from ). English author and bibliographer John Carter describes ''bibliograph ...

and founder of the

Polish Academy of Learning The Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences or Polish Academy of Learning (, PAU), headquartered in Kraków and founded in 1872, is one of two institutions in contemporary Poland having the nature of an academy of sciences (the other being the Po ...

Adam Fastnacht Adam Fastnacht (27 July 1913, in Sanok – 16 February 1987, in Wrocław) doctor hab., historian, editor.Anna Fastnacht-Stupnicka. Obecność przeszłości (''O Adamie Fastnachcie''). Rocznik Sanocki, Sanok, 2006 He was a Polish historian, researc ...

(1913-1987), historian and member of

Armia Krajowa The Home Army (, ; abbreviated AK) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) established in the ...

* Jan Fethke (1903–1980), film director, author and proponent of

Esperanto Esperanto (, ) is the world's most widely spoken Constructed language, constructed international auxiliary language. Created by L. L. Zamenhof in 1887 to be 'the International Language' (), it is intended to be a universal second language for ...

language * Emil August Fieldorf (1895–1953), Polish general during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and World War II *

Franciszek Fiszer Franciszek Fiszer (better known as Franc Fiszer; March 25, 1860 – April 9, 1937) was a Polish metaphysician and alchemist, a friend of the most notable writers and philosophers of contemporary Warsaw and one of Warsaw's semi-legendary people. De ...

(1860–1937), author, bon-vivant and philosopher * Mark Forster (born 1983), singer, songwriter and TV personality *

Anna German Anna Wiktoria German-Tucholska (, 14 February 1936 – 26 August 1982) was a Polish singer (lirico-spinto), immensely popular in Poland and in the Soviet Union in the 1960s–1970s. She released over a dozen music albums with songs in Polish l ...

(1936–1982), popular singer *

Małgorzata Gersdorf Małgorzata Maria Gersdorf (; born 22 November 1952) is a Polish lawyer and judge who served as the First President of the Supreme Court of Poland. She was appointed in 2014 and her six-year term ended on 30 April 2020. Biography She graduated f ...

(born 1952), lawyer, judge, Head of

Supreme Court of Poland The Supreme Court ( ) is the highest court in the Poland, Republic of Poland. It is located in the Krasiński Square, Warsaw. The legal basis for the competence and activities of the Supreme Court is the Constitution of Poland, Polish Consti ...

Wanda Gertz Major Wanda Gertz (13 April 1896 – 10 November 1958) was a Polish woman of noble birth, who began her military career in the Polish Legion during World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), als ...

(1896–1958), decorated officer in the Polish Army during World War II *

Krystian Getinger Krystian Getinger (born 29 August 1988) is a Polish professional footballer who plays as a left-back for II liga club Stal Stalowa Wola. Career In 2007, Getinger signed for Polish top flight side Zagłębie Lubin after playing for Stal Mielec ...

(born 1989), footballer *

Roman Giertych Roman Jacek Giertych (; born 27 February 1971) is a Polish political figure and advocate. Giertych served in a PiS-led government as Deputy Prime Minister of Poland and Minister of National Education from May 2006 to August 2007. He was a mem ...

(born 1971), lawyer, advocate, former Deputy Prime Minister *

Kamil Glik Kamil Jacek Glik (Polish pronunciation: ; born 3 February 1988) is a Polish professional association football, footballer who plays as a centre-back for Ekstraklasa club KS Cracovia, Cracovia. The previous clubs Glik played for include Piast Gl ...

(born 1988), footballer * Henryk Grohman (1862–1939), industrialist *

Jan Albin Goetz-Okocimski Baron, Jan Albin Goetz-Okocimski (né Jan Albin Götz; born 18 July 1864, Okocim, Galicia – died 24 April 1931, Okocim, Poland) was a Polish brewer of German ancestry, head of Okocim Brewery, a philanthropist and patron of the arts, a "Freihe ...

(1864–1931),

brewer Brewing is the production of beer by steeping a starch source (commonly cereal grains, the most popular of which is barley) in water and fermenting the resulting sweet liquid with yeast. It may be done in a brewery by a commercial brewer, ...

, head of

Okocim Brewery Okocim Brewery (), in Brzesko in southeastern Poland, is a brewery founded in 1845. History The brewery was established in 1845 by Johann Evangelist Götz (1815-1893), a German beer maker born in Wirtemberg, Joseph Neumann from Austria-Hungar ...

Józef Haller Józef Haller (''de Hallenburg''; 13 August 1873 – 4 June 1960) was a Polish lieutenant general and legionary in the Polish Legions during the First World War. He was a harcmistrz (the highest Scouting instructor rank in Poland), the p ...

(1873–1960), Polish general, political and social activist *

Marek Jędraszewski Marek Jędraszewski (born 24 July 1949) is a Polish Catholic prelate who has served as Archbishop of Kraków since 2016. He served as Archbishop of Łódź from 2012 to 2017. He has also been vice president of the Polish Episcopal Conference si ...

(born 1949),

Archbishop of Kraków The archbishop of Kraków is the head of the archdiocese of Kraków. A bishop of Kraków first came into existence when the diocese was created in 1000; it was promoted to an archdiocese on 28 October 1925. Due to Kraków's role as Poland's politic ...

since 2016 (his mother was connected with Bambers) *

Miroslav Klose Miroslav Josef Klose (, ; born Mirosław Marian Klose; 9 June 1978) is a German professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who currently serves as head coach of 1. FC Nürnberg. A Forward (as ...

(born 1978), footballer *

Maximilian Kolbe Maximilian Maria Kolbe (born Raymund Kolbe; ; 8 January 1894 – 14 August 1941) was a Polish Roman Catholic priest, Conventual Franciscan friar, missionary, saint, martyr, and a Nazi concentration camp victim, who volunteered to die in place ...

(1894–1941), Polish

Conventual Franciscan The Order of Friars Minor Conventual (O.F.M. Conv.) is a male religious fraternity in the Catholic Church and a branch of the Franciscan Order. Conventual Franciscan Friars are identified by the affix O.F.M. Conv. after their names. They are ...

friar, murdered in

Auschwitz Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It consisted of Auschw ...

and subsequently

canonised Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon catalogue of sai ...

Henryk Korowicz Henryk Korowicz (born 1888 in Malinówka (disambiguation), Malinówka – July 12, 1941 in Lviv, Lwów) was a Polish economist, professor and rector of the Academy of Foreign Trade in Lwów. Biography His father was Joachim Kornreich-Korowicz ...

(1888–1941), professor, economist, and rector of Academy of Foreign Trade in Lwów, murdered by the Gestapo *

Sławomir Mentzen Sławomir Jerzy Mentzen (; born 20 November 1986) is a Polish politician, entrepreneur and tax advisor. He placed third in the 2025 Polish presidential election. He serves as the chairman of the libertarian political party New Hope and as one ...

(born 1986), Polish right-wing libertarian politician *

Janusz Korwin-Mikke Janusz Ryszard Korwin-Mikke (; born 27 October 1942), also known by his initials JKM or simply as Korwin, is a Polish far-right politician, paleolibertarian and author. He was a member of the European Parliament from 2014 until 2018. He was the ...

(born 1942), controversial politician and writer *

Gustaf Kossinna Gustaf Kossinna (28 September 1858 – 20 December 1931) was a German philologist and archaeologist who was Professor of German Archaeology at the University of Berlin. Along with Carl Schuchhardt he was the most influential German prehisto ...

(1858–1931), linguist and archaeologist * Juliusz Karol Kunitzer (1843–1905), industrialist, economic activist and industrial magnate in

Congress Poland Congress Poland or Congress Kingdom of Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. It was established w ...

Karolina Lanckorońska Countess Karolina Maria Adelajda Franciszka Ksawera Małgorzata Edina Lanckorońska (Polish pronunciation: a.rɔˈlʲi.na lant͡skɔˈrɔɲska11 August 1898 — 25 August 2002) was a Polish noble, World War II resistance fighter, philanthropist ...

(1898–2002), like her father (

Count Karol Lanckoroński Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

) an art collector and

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

Joachim Lelewel Joachim Lelewel (22 March 1786 – 29 May 1861) was a Polish historian, geographer, bibliographer, polyglot and politician. Life Born in Warsaw to a Polonized Prussian family, Lelewel was educated at the Imperial University of Vilna, where in ...

(1786–1861), Polish historian and politician *

Samuel Linde Samuel Bogumił Linde (born Samuel Gottlieb Linde; Toruń, 11 or 24 April 1771 – 8 August 1847, Warsaw) was a Polish linguist, librarian, and lexicographer of Swedish-German extraction. He was director of the Prussian-founded Warsaw Lyceum dur ...

(1771–1847), linguist, librarian and lexicographer of the Polish language *

Tadeusz Manteuffel Tadeusz Manteuffel or Tadeusz Manteuffel-Szoege (1902–1970) was a Polish historian, specializing in the medieval history of Europe. Manteuffel was born in Rēzekne, Vitebsk Governorate, Russian Empire (now Latvia). His brothers were Leon ...

(1902–1970), historian *

Joachim Marx Joachim Jerzy Marx (born 31 August 1944) is a Polish former professional footballer who played as a striker. Besides Poland, he has played in France. At international level, he played for Poland national team, scoring 10 goals in 23 appearanc ...

(born 1944), football player and coach * Jakub Moder (born 1999), footballer * Suzanna von Nathusius (born 2000), child actor * Tomasz Neugebauer (born 2003), footballer *

Wilhelm Orlik-Rückemann Wilhelm Orlik-Rückemann (1894–1986) was a Polish general, military commander and one of the pioneers of armoured warfare in Poland. Early life Wilhelm Orlik-Rückemann was born on 1 August 1894 in Lemberg, Austria-Hungary (later Lwów, Secon ...

(1894–1986), Polish general and military commander *

Emilia Plater Countess Emilia Broel-Plater (; 13 November 1806 – 23 December 1831) was a Polish-Lithuanian (adjective), Polish–Lithuanian szlachta, noblewoman and revolutionary from the lands of the partitions of Poland, partitioned Polish–Lithuanian C ...

(1806–1831), noblewoman and revolutionary *

Lukas Podolski Lukas Josef Podolski (; born Łukasz Józef Podolski, , 4 June 1985) is a professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward or attacking midfielder for Ekstraklasa club Górnik Zabrze. He is kno ...

(born 1985), footballer * Nelli Rokita (born 1957), politician of

Law and Justice Law and Justice ( , PiS) is a Right-wing populism, right-wing populist and National conservatism, national-conservative List of political parties in Poland, political party in Poland. The party is a member of European Conservatives and Refo ...

party in Poland *

Raphael Schäfer Raphael Schäfer (Polish:'' Rafał Szaefer''; born 30 January 1979) is a German former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. Biography Early years Raphael Schäfer was born ...

(born 1979), footballer *

Piotr Steinkeller Piotr Antoni Steinkeller (); 15 February 1799 – 11 February 1854) was a German-Polish entrepreneur, banker and pioneering industrialist. He was known as the "King of Zinc" and opened the ''London Zinc Works'' in Hoxton in 1837. Life Of German ...

(1799–1854), early industrialist and banker *

Jerzy Stuhr Jerzy Oskar Stuhr (; 18 April 1947 – 9 July 2024) was a Polish film actor, film and theatre actor. Considered one of the most popular, influential and versatile Polish actors and an icon of Polish cinema, he also worked as a screenplay, screen ...

(1947–2024), film actor and director *

Romuald Traugutt Romuald Traugutt (16 January 1826 – 5 August 1864) was a Polish military officer and politician who served as the last dictator of the January Uprising. Following a career in the Imperial Russian Army that included service in Hungary and Crim ...

(1826–1864), "dictator" of the

January Uprising The January Uprising was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at putting an end to Russian occupation of part of Poland and regaining independence. It began on 22 January 1863 and continued until the last i ...

Donald Tusk Donald Franciszek Tusk (born 22 April 1957) is a Polish politician and historian who has served as the prime minister of Poland since 2023, previously holding the office from 2007 to 2014. Tusk served as the president of the European Council (20 ...

(born 1957), politician, from 2023

Prime Minister of Poland A prime number (or a prime) is a natural number greater than 1 that is not a product of two smaller natural numbers. A natural number greater than 1 that is not prime is called a composite number. For example, 5 is prime because the only wa ...

Jozef Unrug Jozef ( Creole, Dutch, Breton, and Slovak) or Józef ( Polish) are variants of the masculine given name Joseph in several European languages. A selection of people with that name follows. For a comprehensive list, see and . * Józef Beck (1894� ...

(1884–1973), Prussian-born Polish admiral who helped to form the

Polish Navy The Polish Navy (; often abbreviated to ) is the Navy, naval military branch , branch of the Polish Armed Forces. The Polish Navy consists of 46 ships and about 12,000 commissioned and enlisted personnel. The traditional ship prefix in the Polish ...

in independent Poland, inmate of

Colditz Colditz () is a small town in the district of Leipzig (district), Leipzig, in Saxony, Germany. It is best known for Colditz Castle, the site of the Oflag IV-C prisoner-of-war camp, POW camp for officers in World War II. Geography Colditz is situa ...

* Karol Ernest Wedel (1813–1902),

confectioner Confectionery is the art of making confections, or sweet foods. Confections are items that are rich in sugar and carbohydrates, although exact definitions are difficult. In general, however, confections are divided into two broad and somewh ...

* Edward Werner (1878–1945), economist, judge and politician in the

German media in Poland

Schlesisches Wochenblatt The Wochenblatt.pl (''Weekly'')—until January 2011 "Schlesisches Wochenblatt" (Silesian Weekly)—is a German newspaper published weekly in Opole, Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends ...

* Polen-Rundschau * Schlesien Aktuell – a German-language radio station from

Polskie Radio The Polish Radio (PR; Polish: ''Polskie Radio'', PR) is a national public-service radio broadcasting organization of Poland, founded in 1925. It is owned by the State Treasury of Poland. On 27 December 2023, the Minister of Culture and Nationa ...

– public-service radio with online German edition (Deutsche Redaktion), as well as broadcasts in German * Polen am Morgen –

online newspaper An online newspaper (or electronic news or electronic news publication) is the electronic publishing, online version of a newspaper, either as a stand-alone publication or as the online version of a printed periodical literature, periodical. Goin ...

, published daily since 1998

Notes

References

*
Dual Citizenship in Opole Silesia in the Context of European Integration
', Tomasz Kamusella, Opole University, in ''Facta Universitatis'', series Philosophy, Sociology and Psychology, Vol 2, No 10, 2003, pp. 699–716 * * *