The Polish minority in the Czech Republic is a Polish national minority living mainly in the Trans-Olza region of western Cieszyn Silesia. The Polish community is the only national (or ethnic) minority in the Czech Republic that is linked to a specific geographical area. Trans-Olza is located in the north-eastern part of the country. It comprises Karviná District and the eastern part of Frýdek-Místek District. Many Poles living in other regions of the Czech Republic have roots in Trans-Olza as well.
Poles formed the largest ethnic group in Cieszyn Silesia in the 19th century, but at the beginning of the 20th century the Czech population grew. The Czechs and Poles collaborated on resisting Germanization movements, but this collaboration ceased after World War I. In 1920 the region of Trans-Olza was incorporated into Czechoslovakia after the Polish–Czechoslovak War. Since then the Polish population demographically decreased. In 1938 it was annexed by Poland in the context of the Munich Agreement and in 1939 by Nazi Germany. The region was then given back to Czechoslovakia after World War II. Polish organizations were re-created, but were banned by the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. After the Velvet Revolution Polish organizations were re-created again and Trans-Olza adopted bilingual signs.
History
Historically, the largest ethnic group inhabiting the Trans-Olza area was the Poles.Zahradnik 1992, 16–17. During the 19th century the number of Germans grew. At the beginning of the 20th century and later from 1920 to 1938, the Czech population grew significantly (mainly as a result of immigration and the assimilation of locals) and the Poles became a minority, which they are to this day.
From 1848, the national consciousness of the local people grew and from 1848 to the end of the 19th century local Poles and Czechs co-operated, uniting against the Germanizing tendencies of the Austrian Empire, and later of Austria-Hungary.Zahradnik 1992, 40. Various Polish clubs were founded. Most schools were Polish, followed by German and Czech.Zahradnik 1992, 37. At the end of the century, ethnic tensions appeared as the area's economic significance grew. This growth caused a wave of immigration from Galicia, when about 60,000 people arrived and settled between 1880 and 1910.Zahradnik 1992, 48. They settled mainly in the Ostrava region, but also in Trans-Olza. The new immigrants were Polish and poor, about half of them being illiterate, and worked mostly in coal mining and metallurgy. For these people, the most important factor was material well-being; they cared little about the homeland from which they had fled, more readily assimilating into the Czech population which was demographically dominant in the Ostrava region in the heart of Czech Silesia.Zahradnik 1992, 51. The social structure of the territory was generally divided along ethnic lines. Germans were economically strongest, mostly owners, Czechs were mostly clerks and other officials, and Poles were mostly manual workers, miners, and metallurgists.Zahradnik 1992, 42. This structure had changed over time but in 1921 it was still very similar, with 61.5% of Poles working as labourers.Zahradnik 1992, 73.
Decision time (1918–1920) There was a very tense climate in 1918–1920, a time of decision. It was decided that a plebiscite would be held in Cieszyn Silesia asking people which country the territory should join. Plebiscite commissioners arrived at the end of January 1920 and after analyzing the situation declared a state of emergency in the territory on 19 May 1920. The situation in the territory remained very tense. Mutual intimidation, acts of terror, beatings, and even killings affected the area. A plebiscite could not be held in this atmosphere. On 10 July both sides renounced the idea of a plebiscite and entrusted the Conference of Ambassadors with the decision. Eventually 58.1% of the area of Cieszyn Silesia and 67.9% of the population was incorporated into Czechoslovakia on 28 July 1920 by a decision of the Spa Conference.Zahradnik 1992, 62–64. This division was in practice what gave birth to the concept of the Trans-Olza — in Polish Zaolzie, which literally means "the land beyond the Olza River" (looking from Poland).
In Czechoslovakia (1920–1938) Local Czech militants forced about 5,000 local Poles, mostly from the northern part of the region, to flee to Poland already before July 1920. 4,000 of these expellees were located in a transitional camps in Oświęcim. About 12,000 Poles in total were forced to leave the region and flee to Poland in the aftermath of the division of Cieszyn Silesia. The local Polish population felt that Warsaw had betrayed them and they were not satisfied with the division. It is not quite clear how many Poles were in Trans-Olza in Czechoslovakia. Estimates range from 110,000 to 140,000 people in 1921.Zahradnik 1992, 72. The 1921 and 1930 census numbers are not accurate since nationality depended on self-declaration and many Poles declared Czech nationality mainly as a result of fear of the new authorities and as compensation for some benefits. Czechoslovak law guaranteed rights for national minorities, but the reality in Trans-Olza was quite different. The local Czech authorities made it more difficult for local Poles to obtain citizenship, while the process was expedited when the applicant pledged to declare Czech nationality and send his children to a Czech school.Zahradnik 1992, 76. Newly built Czech schools were often better supported and equipped, thus inducing some Poles to send their children there. This and other factors contributed to the assimilation of Poles and also to significant emigration to Poland. After a few years, the heightened nationalism typical of the period around 1920 receded and local Poles increasingly co-operated with the Czechs. Still, Czechization was supported by Prague, which did not abide by certain laws related to language, legislative, and organizational issues.Zahradnik 1992, 76–79. Polish deputies in Czechoslovak National Assembly frequently tried to put that issues on agenda. One way or the other, increasingly local Poles thus assimilated into the Czech population.
In Poland (1938–1939)
On 1 October 1938, Trans-Olza was annexed by Poland following the Munich Conference.Nowa Encyklopedia Powszechna PWN 1997, vol. VI, 981. The Polish Army, commanded by General Władysław Bortnowski, annexed an area of 801.5 km2 (309.5 mi2) with a population of 227,399. The Polish side argued that Poles in Trans-Olza deserved the same rights as Germans in the Munich Agreement. The vast majority of the local Polish population enthusiastically welcomed the change, seeing it as a liberation and a form of historical justice.Zahradnik 1992, 86. But they quickly changed their mood. The new Polish authorities appointed people from Poland to various positions from which Czechs had been dismissed. The Polish language became the sole official language. Rapid Polonization followed. Czech organizations were dismantled and their activity was prohibited. Czech education ceased to exist.Zahradnik 1992, 87. About 35,000 Czechs emigrated to Czechoslovakia by choice or forcibly.Zahradnik 1992, 89–90. The behaviour of the new Polish authorities was different but similar in nature to that of the Czech authorities before 1938. Two political factions appeared: socialists (the opposition) and rightists (loyal to the new authorities). Leftist politicians and sympathizers were discriminated against and often dismissed from their jobs.Zahradnik 1992, 88–89. The Polish political system was artificially implemented in Trans-Olza. Local Polish people continued to feel like second-class citizens and a majority of them were dissatisfied with the situation after October 1938.Zahradnik 1992, 96. Trans-Olza remained a part of Poland for only eleven months.
World War II During the war, strong Germanization was introduced by the Nazi authorities. The Jews were in the worst position, followed by the Poles.Zahradnik 1992, 99. Poles received lower food rations, they were supposed to pay extra taxes, and were not allowed to enter theatres, cinemas, and other venues. Polish and Czech education ceased to exist, Polish organizations were dismantled and their activity was prohibited. The Nazis especially targeted the Polish intelligentsia and many functionaries died during the war. The German authorities introduced terror into Trans-Olza. Mass killings, executions, arrests, taking locals to forced labour, and deportations to concentration camps all happened on a daily basis. The most notorious war crime was a murder of 36 villagers in and around Żywocice on 6 August 1944. Most of the victims were Poles.Zahradnik 1992, 102–103. This massacre is known as Tragedia Żywocicka (the Żywocice tragedy). The resistance movement, mostly of Poles, was fairly strong in Trans-Olza.
Volkslists, documents introduced by the Nazi authorities were soon introduced during the war. A non-German citizen declared that he had some German ancestry by signing it and refusal to sign this document could lead to deportation to a concentration camp. Local people who signed the lists were later on enrolled in the Wehrmacht. Many local people with no German ancestry were also forced to sign them. The World War II death toll in Trans-Olza is estimated at 6,000 people: about 2,500 Jews, 2,000 other citizens (80% of them being Poles), and more than 1,000 locals who died in the Wehrmacht (those who signed the Volksliste). Also a few hundred Poles from Trans-Olza were among those murdered by the Soviets in the Katyń massacre. Percentage-wise, Trans-Olza suffered the worst human loss out of the whole of Czechoslovakia – about 2.6% of the total population.
Since 1945 and during the Communist era (1948–1989)
Immediately after World War II, Trans-Olza was returned to Czechoslovakia within its 1920 borders, although local Poles hoped it would again be given to Poland.Zahradnik 1992, 116. The local Polish population again suffered discrimination, as many Czechs blamed them for the discrimination by the Polish authorities in 1938–1939.Zahradnik 1992, 111. Polish organizations were banned, and the Czech authorities made many arrests and dismissed many from their jobs.Zahradnik 1992, 116–120. Polish property stolen by the Germans during the war was never returned. The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia was the only political party defending the rights of the Polish minority.Zahradnik 1992, 114. In the 1946 elections, the majority of Poles voted for the communists. In Trans-Olza, 51% of elected communist officials were ethnic Poles. The situation of Poles improved somewhat when the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia seized power in February 1948. The Polish Cultural and Educational Union (PZKO) was created in 1947. The creation of other Polish organizations was prohibited.Zahradnik 1992, 128. This was the only Polish organization representing the Polish minority in the communist era, and was therefore under the strong influence of the Communist Party. It remains today the Polish organization with the largest membership.
During the communist era, rapid urbanization and growth of heavy industry occurred. Whole villages in the coal mining areas were destroyed by the mining activity.Zahradnik 1992, 158. These conditions quickened the assimilation of the Poles. Another cause of assimilation was the high rate of intermarriage.Zahradnik 1992, 143. Besides Poles belonging to the minority, many more commuted across the border from Polish People's Republic to work in Czechoslovakia or to take advantage of the relative abundance of consumer goods in Czechoslovakia.Country Data: Czechoslovakia