Polscy optanci z Zagłębia Ruhry w 1924 roku. Aspekty demograficzne
Polish optants from the Ruhr region in 1924. Demographic aspects

Summary/Abstract: The rebuilding of the Polish state after World War I was accompanied by a quantitively significant number of returns to the country. One of the re-emigration streams was created by an influx of Polish optants from Germany, i.e. ethnic Poles who had decided to take up Polish citizenship under the Versailles Treaty. The principal area of emigration was the Ruhr region. The purpose of this paper is to examine the demographic structure of the people who made up this migration stream in its late phase (1925). The analysis is based on lists of optants which were drawn up for the purpose of statistical grouping and showing the optants’ spatial distribution. The research concerns a population of 1,727 people included in the source. In addition to aggregate and cartographic methods, the paper also uses the comparative method based on the available data for other areas in the state of Prussia. The research helps describe the population of Polish optants in the Ruhr area in terms of their spatial distribution, professions, feminisation, type of migration, household forms, fertility, and anthroponyms.

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