„Tragedia Górnośląska” jako narzędzie tworzenia narodu śląskiego
„The Upper Silesian Tragedy” as a tool for creating a Silesian nation

Summary/Abstract: The Upper Silesian Tragedy in 1945 may be analyzed on three levels: as a scientific one, its regional remembrance and as a tool of political competition. The article is devoted to the latter aspect, which analyzes it as an element of competition of the central and regional Polish authorities and the Silesian Autonomy Movement - the main creator of the Silesian nation. The Silesian Autonomy Movement aims to create a separate language and an antagonistic historical memory. Its invoked vision of the history combines mainly the elements of German tradition and the traditions of Upper Silesia with a distance to the Polish threads. However, it lacks of expressive threads and heroic characters, hence the emphasis on the Upper Silesian Tragedy. The commemoration of that event consists of marches and political declarations, led by the resolutions of Upper Silesian assemblies, and the annual days of memory. Polish authorities and environments that accentuate the Soviet crimes, and strive to introduce those commemorations to the national memory, also joined these celebrations.

• Details
• Contents