Mniejszości narodowe i etniczne na Wybrzeżu Gdańskim
National and Ethnic Minorities on the Gdańsk Coast

Summary/Abstract: According to the data of census in 2002, national and ethnic minorities form 0,26% of the society of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. They are among others: Belarusians, the Romani, Greeks, Karaims, Lithuanians, Lemkos, Macedonians, Germans, Armenians, Russians, Turks, Ukrainians, Jews and (since lately) Vietnamese. Their position underwent a positive change after 1989. In the past decades they experienced all sorts of restrictions. The activity of the particular minorities centers around matters such as: using and teaching the languages of the minority, keeping names and surnames written in the minority language, practising their religion and organizational activity. The basis for the national and ethnic minorities living on the Gdańsk Coast form largely the newcomers from the widely understood frontier lands. The Greeks and Macedonians who came to Poland in the years 1949‒1952 form an interesting exception. People coming to the so-called recovered lands, as a rule, hid their real origin. It was the result of the two facts: 1. the policy of the Polish government, the aim of which was to create a uniform state as regards nation and ethnics. 2. fear of being recognized as the citizens of the USSR due to the risk of deportation. The first decade of the post war period was especially unfavourable for the minorities. Since 1956 the situation has loosened – organizational and religious life start to develop. Up to the present time national and ethnic minorities have been the subject of scientific research.

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