Video

I had German ancestors who lived in Polish Silesia. They fully assimilated and were proud Polish citizens even as III Reich tried to force them to reclaim German citizenship

"The Germans used the massacre for propaganda purposes" Do you ever say such things for other ethnicities ?

4:37 - someone is making fun of "German agglutination gone haywire" again... ;-) But even if these words may look like some kind of monstrosity, "a wall of letters" if you will, for anyone with just decent exposure to German all these individual "bricks" in that "wall" stand out just as clear as regular bricks in an ordinary wall. In English words are either typed separately or "joined" with a hyphen (semi-automatic or basic allowance) while German sticks them together, with an occasional "s-glue" (i.e. letter "s") thrown in for better... look? Sound? Feck, dunno, but my German education was a rather lousy and mediocre high school teacher hammering into our heads, class in, class out, twice a week, for four years, how... lousy and mediocre students we are, and what a waste of time it is... on which I'd agree as all her efforts got all of us (her students) basically nowhere as far as speaking German was concerned, but then I can still, more than forty years latter, recognise all these words easily (and smaller "blocks" within them - like grund-stück or zu-ständig-keit or über-tragung). So, here we go: grundstück [s] verkehr [s] genehmigung [s] zuständigkeit [s] übertragung [s] verordnung property (lit. a piece of land) - traffic/ transport - approval/ authorisation/ permit - responsibility/ jurisdiction/ competence - transmission/ transfer - regulation/ ordinance/ by-law HOWEVER, making sense of it is totally different kettle of fish, and my wild guess is it is probably some regulation/ bylaw about transfer of "responsibility" or authority over issuing some permits for transport of goods over particular piece of land/ property...? Google Translate throws a towel here, for _grundstücksverkehrsgenehmigung_ it says "property traffic permit" and for _zuständigkeitsübertragungsverordnung_ it says "transfer of responsibility regulation", so cut the _grundstücksverkehrsgenehmigungszuständigkeitsübertragungsverordnung_ any way you like and torture GT to yer heart content... : ) Anyway, rindfleich - etikettierung [s] überwachung [s] aufgaben übertragung [s] gesetz beef meat - labelling - supervision - task - tranfer - law Verkehr [s] infrastruktur finanzierung [s] gesselschaft traffic - infrastructure - financing - company (in "business" sense) Gleich gewicht [s] dichte gradienten zentrifugation even/ equall/ same - weight - density - gradient - centrifugation (I suspect it should be "zertifikation", certification, but what do I know...) Elektrizität [s] wirtschaft [s] organization [s] gesetz electricity - business/ economy - organisation - law/ regulation Yes, I know - fork, WHO CARES! I guess "no one" would be the most accurate answer but nonetheless that was the topic no-one (so far) touched upon (and the only one untouched left...), so I guess "someone had to to that", right? ;-)

Fuck Poland

This story reminds of what's happening to Russian speaking minorities in Baltic Countries. Their existence itself poses an existential danger. They could be used as excuse for an invasion. Older Russians speak only Russian and consume a lot of Russian content which makes them more vu to propaganda. There's a push towards asimilation although it's nothing like what had happened in the Interwar period. In the way the history repeats itself. You allow those Russians to stay "Russian" (loyal to Russian state) and you're in trouble. You try to balticanize them too hard and they'll start cooperating with Russian state to spite you. It's a complicated issue and I hope it will never devolve like it happened a hundret years ago

Germans east of the Border of the German State always suffered under the tyranny of the Poles :(

Could we get a video on the Greek minority in interwar Poland please?

Hey man! GO watch Najdłuższa Wojna Nowoczesnej Europy 1979-1981 (Longest War of Modern Europe), communist Poland TV show about the topics you're talking about

why do you call Dmowski antisemite and germanophobe? Did you read any of his works? then you should know that Dmowski was not prejudiced against any nation and had no ‘’likes" or "dislikes". he was simply calculating logically which nations had common or conflicting interests with Poland. He correctly calculated that Germans interests could not be reconciled with Polish (mainly because of Poland need to have access to sea which could not be reconciled with Germans willingness to keep East Prussia connected with Germany) but this does not mean at all that he was germanophobic.

Feeling Victoria 2 vibes <3.

Only because of the wonder of the Internet we can learn real history, so probably sooner then latter videos like this will disappear...

It ended because we wanted independence after a couple centuries of being under rule by another country

Very misleading video. You are talking about the german minority like they don't have a huge hostile country supporting them right next to them. Like they don't have schools and freedom of expression. This is one of your worst videos.

Poland was not "created" it was rather restored after 123 years of partition by her neighbors.

15:56 I had an Ancestor in Marienwerder from the 1780s. He moved his whole Family deep into Germany before Fighting Napoleon.

A really great video! Too bad you didn't mention and highlight the warlord policy of Silesian Governor (who was the face of the fight against 'Germanness') Michal Grazynski, which consisted of complete removal of German capital and German industrialists from every kind of establishment, almost complete removal of German education, fought against German culture and people and much more. It would also be interesting to mention the polocy of German removal (not landowners, but anyone and everyone) from the Pomeranian area by the Navy, and relocating them inland.

5 column in Poland

Excellent as always sir ❤🥰👍

Very educational video, thank you very much! Would there be any chance you could discuss in a future video about the German and Hungarian minorities in Greater Romania in the interwar period? I think this is also a topic that would make a great video! All the best and I cannot wait to watch your future videos! Liebe Grüße!

As a descended of the Ruhrpoles, who tries to learn a bit of the jęzik polski, I love every video which includes the countries of my forefathers. Well done indeed, bravo

I'm an American whose family is Polish from Poznan. Needless to say, my grandfather had little nice to say about Germans

Quite thorough video, well done ! Unfortunately, one thing is missing when discussing the German minority in Poland as a "fifth column" in the lead up to WW2: while indeed cases of direct para-military or sabotage action against Polish forces were rare, the German minority was critical for intelligence-collection, especially to prepare the Sonderfahndungsbuch Polen, a list drafted by the Gestapo immediately before the invasion of Poland containing more than 61,000 members of Polish elites: activists, intelligentsia, scholars, actors, former officers, landowners, teachers, entrepreneurs, social workers, army veterans, members of national organizations, priests, judges and prominent others. It was compiled from the clandestine human intelligence supplied by members of German minority in Poland involved in the Volksdeutscher Selbstschutz. People on the list were then targeted for execution during the subsequent Intelligenzaktion and AB-Aktion.

It must be mentioned that many of the pogroms that happened in Eastern Galicia were perpetrated by Ukrainian soldiers of Symon Petliura.

Thanks for this little known history The poles and Germans hated each other

thank you for opening a curtain onto something that I have had little previous knowledge of.

Poland could have been Germanys ally and given back Danzig for sooo much more land in the east. What a bunch of retards... Instead of winning the war they got fucked on both sides then fucked over. Fuck poland

Fuck poland

I love that you responsibly point out when images you use have been used for propaganda and how you never shy away from the more uncomfortable parts of these histories.

You should try doing a video on the Post-War treaties between Denmark and West Germany to show an example of how to actually solve issues with ethnic minorities. It has worked out really well and has lead to the two countries having incredibly warm relations and the Danish minority party even managed to get into the Reichstag during the last election.

Can we do a video on the Danube Swabians in pre-WW1 Serbia.

I almost turned this off right away when you said the German minority was often PERCEIVED as a hostile element within the polish state. You almost make it sound like the poles some how were getting this wrong. I think the events of ww2 prove they were right as Germans soon turned rabid

I would like to remind you that the official investigation conducted by the envoys of the US Congress with Henry Morgenthau, who was the ambassador of the USA to the Sublime Porte during the Armenian Genocide, cleared Poland and the Polish authorities of the accusation of pogroms, and stated that the word "pogrom" was inappropriate, because excluded Polish and Ukrainians victims. It is an official US Congress document. Murders occurred on both sides of the conflict, Ukrainians killed much more often and much more brutally, and the fact is that the Jews in Lwów sided with the Ukrainians.

It's heinous how the awful treatment of Germans after both world wars is swept under the rug or is attempted to be justified by international elements.

07:20 "Berleen" 😌👌

Hey 👋🏻 as a suggestion for a future video, maybe a video on Gustav Stresemann. Imo a very interesting figure in German politics!

Great video like always. Honestly big praises for the usage of sources! More videos on CZcams should have this approach 👌🏻

That quip about Polish having a point at about 10 mins 30 I thought was funny, good job good video man. I am a history student myself

Watched every video, I love all the small topics around Europe and the 16th century especially in eastern europe that only a few CZcamsrs make content on like sandrhoman

Great video in light of recemt popularity of the channel "Zoomer Historian" who constantly claims that Germany was justified in its invasion of Poland because of massive ethnic clenses conducted by Polish government on Germans...

another great video topic, and it's talked about so well. thank You for Your continuous work, Sir Manatee!

"Germanized Polish Minority".

Another precious bit of insight into this neglected area of history, thank you very much!

I remind you: problem of Germans originated from unification in 1871. Before German could live in Poland, Russia or Transylvania and be loyal to country of settlement. More over problem of Germans was unification by Prussia. This meant that Germany and Poland are enemies. The 3rd problem was that Germany was too strong to be not dangerous for everyone and to weak to conquer Europe. Polish problem with German minority was only reflection of overall German problem in 20th century. You need to find roots for every problem among Germans and not among Poles. Poles only reacted to Germans. Poles tried to copy German example for example.

Your first mistake: if you wanted to learn what Poles believed about common cohabitation with Germans, you should read this book. This is because in Poland famous intellectuals have say in such things. Wiatr od morza - książka Stefana Żeromskiego. Ukazała się w 1922 roku. Żeromski otrzymał za nią Nagrodę im. Orzeszkowej, Państwową Nagrodę Literacką (Ministra Wyznań Religijnych i Oświecenia Publicznego)[1]. Książka doczekała się ponad dziesięciu wydań[2].

Sir, your pronounciation of Polish names is outstaning. May the Lord bless you! 😏

Isn’t it interesting that the overwhelmingly popular narrative is that the collapse of the Habsburg Empire was due almost entirely to multiculturalism. Yet, all of the states that were created out of the Habsburg Empire were multicultural….

It’s quite sad that Vienna and Prague didn’t grow much closer since they are both in the EU: I think there’s so much more potential and I would love an increased cultural mixing between them. Also with Ljubljana - I always feel that these three cities (and countries) are culturally the closest you can get, yet pleasantly unique. The shared history is fascinating and offers a lot of potential, yet often it feels it’s completely dormant, perhaps buried. But also Budapest, Bratislava, Trieste, Zagreb, Krakow, Lviv, Timisoara, Cluj… It all feels like one civilisation and the EU offers so much opportunity for a deeper integration and revival of the historical connection between these places, at least in culture. But I’m not sure there’s much apetite for it apart from a few of us… But I’m certain the viewers of this channel are among them :)

What a fantastic and fascinating video, I really enjoy your channel and as a Prague-born with a German surname who loves Vienna, this video was a personal favourite. I’m not sure if you accept recommendations but I think a related video on the Germans in Prague would be equally interesting. For anyone interested, the American historian of Central Europe, Chad Bryant has a fascinating book called “Prague: Belonging in the Modern City” where each chapter describes the city throughout its history through the eyes of one (actual historical but not super well known) person from a minority (ethnic, political etc.). The chapter on the Germans in Prague is super interesting. Bryant also wrote a few academic papers on the issue of Germans and Czechs, and discusses their cohabitation and national struggles brilliantly in his book Prague in Black (which focuses on the Nazi period but it’s a much wider discussion with fascinating and well-balanced insights; in general, I find that well-meaning and interested American historians often tell the least biased histories of our region). But there are of course many other sources.

My grandfather was an ethnic German conscripted into the Polish Army 1922-1924. He knew that minorities were not well received and kept his mouth shut and played along. What he witnessed was how brutal the Polish Sergeants were towards Orthodox Jews. Caught between a Russian and German vice; there was little tolerance of recruits who refused to shave and get a haircut. After the German invasion of 1939 it took the German police only a few months to photograph and issue a "Stammblatt" of every adult in the region of Kieselowka (Mariendorf).

Another problem: I don’t believe that refugee crisis in wake of Nazi invasion of Poland was a genuine one. It was for sure Goebbels organized crisis that was to provide pretext for invasion.