Polityka narodowościowa na Śląsku Opolskim w latach 1945–1960. Założenia – stan badań – fazy
Nationality politics in Opolian Silesia in the years 1945–1960. Assumptions – state of research – phases

Summary/Abstract: This article combines three elements connected to Polish nationality politics in Opolian Silesia (understood as the former German district of Opole) in the years 1945–1960. The first section concentrates on a presentation of Polish ideological and political assumptions stemming from the idea of Piast Poland which proclaimed the eternal attachment of these territories to Poland and which was also based on the belief in the Polish character of the native populace and the lack of any effect of German influence on this group. The second section analyses the state of research on this problem in Poland and Germany underlining its sensitivity to both political history (especially dur-ing the period of communist Poland) and the memory of various communities (post 1989, this region found itself under pressure from regional collective memories). The final section deals with the initial phases of Polish politics regarding national groups, highlighting the importance of the hiatus at the turn of 1949–1950 when the two German states returned to the political fray which decidedly limited the potential of Polish national politics regarding this group.

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