Śląśk jako przedmiot zapytań i interpelacji niemieckich deputowanych w 12. kadencji Bundestagu
Silesia as an object of queries and questions put down by German deputies of the 12th term of the Bundestag

Summary/Abstract: The twelfth term of the Bundestag was the first one after the unification of two German states and lasted from 20 December 1990 till 10 November 1994. The author attempts to answer the following questions: is it possible, on the basis of available documents released by the Bundestag (queries and questions put down by the deputies as well as the answers to them), to determine whether Silesia is an important element of the German policy towards Poland? And Was Silesia, as a region, significant in the internal politics of Germany? In the light of the analysis carried out, it follows that Silesia was an object of strong interest on the part of German deputies for historical reasons (as a land which used to be part of the German state in the past, where traces of German cultural heritage have remained); also, due to the fact that the region is inhabited by the largest group of the German minority in Europe, who live in homogeneous concentrations and whose existence had been questioned in Poland until the turn of the 1980s and the 1990s. An additional fact was that it is a region from which a large number of native inhabitants had been displaced or were forced to emigrate. After settling down in Germany, they cultivated, very often up to this day, the German culture, traditions and customs, staying active in various organizations, circles and societies which, in turn, are subsidized in most cases from the state central budget.

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