buchwäldchen
From Buchwäldchen (the Forest Book) to Bersdorf
(the Village of Bärs [bears]).
|Familienortslage|The
Antipodean Grossers|eMaps|
Last Updated 01/02/01
by R.Grosser [email protected]
Erstens entschuldigen zu allen deutschen Lesern, das dieser Artikel
auf englisch ist.
I am deeply indebted to Uwe-Karsten Krickhahn ([email protected])
for providing me with part details of Buchwalchen (note Bienowitz
or Bienau to the south) and Bersdorf maps based on the Preußen
Reich of 1871, annotated with further incremental information at the time
of reproduction in 1936. These large details are 1:1 from the originals,
at a scale of 1:100 000 (metric). Note, all of the maps have water
wells, annoted as 'Gut'. They are identified only, as follows -
* Fig 1. Großblatt 103 Liegnitz - Hirschberg i. Rsgb. (large
detail):
With thanks to my friends and associates, around the globe,
I trust that I can share a richer knowledge of our ancestors, in the Großer
Family.
mit freunlichen Grüßen,
Rickard Großer
Family Homepage: http://freepages.family.rootsweb.com/~rgrosser/
Poland - A Country Study: Library of Congress/ Federal
Research Division/ Country Studies/ Area Handbook Series/ Poland
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/pltoc.html
Poland
Germans
The German population of Poland is centered in the southern industrial
region of Silesia, but a small population remains in the northeastern region
that had been East Prussia in the nineteenth century. As was the case with
other ethnic minorities, only approximate estimates of numbers were available
in 1991. Definition and quantification of the German population of Polish
Silesia vary greatly according to the time and the source of statistics.
The communist regimes of Poland counted only 2,500 Germans through 1989.
In 1992 German minority organizations, whose activities increased markedly
after 1990, claimed that over 300,000 Silesians, concentrated in Opole
District, were ethnic Germans (see fig. 1).
The official Polish estimate at that time, however, was 100,000 ethnic
Germans.
The constant shifting of Silesia between Polish and German control during
several centuries created a unique ethnic amalgam and regional self-consciousness.
Whatever the original ethnic composition of the region, the Silesians themselves
developed a separate culture that borrowed liberally from both Polish and
German. The predominant spoken language is a heavily Germanized dialect
of Polish.
Although the Silesians retained close traditional ties with their locality
and their own group, in the early 1990s they could not ignore the difference
between their standard of living and that of nearby Germany. Many non-German
Silesians very likely declared themselves ethnic Germans to receive preferential
treatment from the German government; this practice played a major role
in the diversity of minority population estimates.
Some Silesians were bitter over the resettlement policy of the postwar
communist governments and other forms of anti-German discrimination. Immediately
following the end of Polish communist rule, a well-organized German faction
in Silesia demanded that dual citizenship and other privileges be guaranteed
the German minority in Poland by the forthcoming Polish-German friendship
treaty (see Foreign
Relations , ch. 4). In this demand they were joined by German citizens
who had been expelled from the German territory awarded Poland after World
War II. Ratification of the Polish-German treaty of friendship and cooperation
in 1991 blunted the impact of radicals, however, and promoted pragmatic
local cooperation rather than confrontation between Poles and Germans in
Silesia.
Postcommunist Polish governments established no firm criteria for proving
German nationality; in most cases, oral declarations were accepted as sufficient
proof. Beginning in 1989, the Social Cultural Association began propagating
German culture in Silesia. By 1992 the group had initiated German instruction
in 260 schools, stocked libraries with German materials, and arranged technical
instruction in Germany for Silesian health and education workers. The special
ties with Germany make Opole one of the most prosperous regions in Poland;
the Silesian Germans provide important resources to the local economy,
and the lifestyle of many Silesian communities resembles that of Germany
more than that of Poland. Although many non-German Silesians feared that
the spread of German economic and cultural influences would erase the unique
ethnic qualities of their region and the idea of German dominance retained
some negative historical associations, in the early 1990s postcommunist
aspirations for the prosperity promised by German connections remained
an important factor in public opinion on the German ethnic issue.
A smaller concentration of Germans became active and visible for the
first time in 1990 in Olsztyn District in northeastern Poland, although
the resettlement of the 1950s and ongoing emigration had reduced the German
population there substantially between 1956 and 1980. In 1992 estimates
of the group's size ranged from 5,000 to 12,000. Beginning in 1990, several
German cultural associations appeared in the region with the aims of preventing
discrimination and preserving German culture. Association members received
transportation to and employment opportunities in Germany, and the German
government contributed money to support association activities in the early
1990s.
Data as of October 1992
Topographical Links:
* Brittanica.com
POLAND (article)
http://www.britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/7/0,5716,115127+1+108558,00.html
POLAND
map
Legnica
http://www.britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/8/0,5716,48768+1+47648,00.html?query=legnica
- Dedicated to all of the Antipodean Grosser's -
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