4 - The Weimar Gap

Summary

A decade of democratic Weimar rule in Oppeln widened the gap between nationally instrumental Upper Silesians and increasingly radical activists. New democratic freedoms and regional autonomy offered greater protection of bilingual rights. New minority protections were effectively enforced by a League of Nations treaty. Polish nationalists falsely hoped these freedoms would finally allow Upper Silesians to awaken to their national identities. Instead, Polish associational life generally declined. Families rejected new Polish minority schools and catechism instruction. Polish nationalists’ regional electoral parties declined slowly into irrelevance. By 1932, many more Polish speakers voted for Hitler than for the Polish party. Polish activists, rather than question their tactics or appeal amid rapid decline, lashed out at Polish speakers as traitors. These activists found a shared affinity with the rising Nazis in lauding forced racial separation. The regional Polish turn toward racialist politics by the 1930s, while reflecting broader Central European trends, grew locally out of frustration with nationally instrumental Upper Silesians.