Interdisziplinäres Forschungszentrum Ostseeraum (IFZO)

This article aims to narrate and examine a unique story of ‘Polonisation’ of a certain population group in the interwar Central-European border area. It deals with the question of belonging and affi liation of a group of members of a Jewish organisation in East Upper Silesia. The area, which was transferred to Poland from Germany after WWI, experienced an intensive process of nationalisation, or Polonisation.
The article focuses mostly on the former German city Kattowitz, or Katowice, which after the border shift became the capital of Poland’s new province, the Silesian Voivodeship. A period of thirteen years has been taken into account: from
1921, the year of the plebiscite in Upper Silesia, until 1934, when Poland and Germany signed the non-aggression pact. Both the plebiscite and the signing of the non-aggression pact were crucial for the Upper Silesian minorities. At the time
of the plebiscite, these minorities had to opt for a national affi liation, while none of them considered themselves completely German or Polish. Therefore, after the plebiscite and with the borders rearranged, these groups should have been fit for
getting Polonised. The article focuses at the Jewish test case, in a wide and comparative context of international political and diplomatic background. It therefore places micro-history cases within the macro-history of Central Europe between
the two World Wars.

This book both narrates and examines the story of the nationalization of a local population in an interwar Central European border area using a wide and comparative context that relies on the international political and diplomatic background of the time. It concentrates on a time period of thirteen years, from 1921 (the year of the plebiscite in Upper Silesia) to 1934 (when Poland and Germany signed the non-aggression pact). After the plebiscite, the area of Upper Silesia was divided between Germany and Poland, and the part which was shifted to Poland experienced an intensive process of nationalization or what will be called “Polonization”. The study focuses on the city Kattowitz/Katowice, a politicized area of international importance and which after the shifting of the border became the capital of the new Polish Silesian Voivodeship.

This article deals with two little-known disputes over the national identity of a population in the interwar border area of Eastern Upper Silesia. This area was transferred from Germany to Poland after World War I as a result of a plebiscite. Its local population, the Silesians, did not consider themselves entirely German or Polish, but still underwent a process of Polonization. The plebiscite took place in Upper Silesia in 1921, prompting international controversy and internal debate within the Polish state about how to define the nationality of the Silesians in the context of their internationally protected rights as a "minority." As this article shows, the Silesians were utilized by Central and Western European politicians as objects of international diplomacy and by the Polish authorities to advance their internal policies. The story of "Maurer's children" and Silesian children born out of wedlock illustrates the reaction of the Silesian population to the interwar politics of nationalization. These cases attracted international attention from 1926 to 1928 and brought questions of national minorities, bilingual children, and self-definition of nationality vis-à-vis the state's requirements to the level of international debate.

The attire of the Jews of central and eastern Europe was depicted in paintings, caricatures and photographs and was described in Jewish and non-Jewish texts in the course of several centuries. At the same time, the diversity of the sources depicting in words or/and images the varied Jewish population of this vast region often hinders attempts to understand and analyze the development of Jewish clothing. This workshop will focus on visual and textual depictions of early modern and modern central and eastern European Jewish attire and the relationship to the attire of their non-Jewish neighbors. We invite scholars from various disciplines-design, textiles, material and visual culture, art history and fashion history-to discuss central and eastern European Jewish dress and its details in the early modern and modern periods and to compare it to the dress of the surrounding populations. We would like to stress the methodological aspects of this issue, and hope that such a discussion will contribute to the history of interaction between the Jewish and non-Jewish cultures. We envision this online workshop as a series of 10 to 15 minute presentations followed by discussion, as well as a broad conversation in which the participants will share their experiences of working with online research and digital sources and of major challenges faced by historians of Jewish dress.