LL-L "Language survival" 2003.01.03 (01) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

======================================================================
 L O W L A N D S - L * 03.JAN.2003 (01) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
 http://www.lowlands-l.net * admin at lowlands-l.net * Encoding: Unicode UTF-8
 Rules & Guidelines: http://www.lowlands-l.net/rules.htm
 Posting Address: lowlands-l at listserv.linguistlist.org
 Server Manual: http://www.lsoft.com/manuals/1.8c/userindex.html
 Archive: http://listserv.linguistlist.org/archives/lowlands-l.html
=======================================================================
 You have received this because you have been subscribed upon request.
 To unsubscribe, please send the command "signoff lowlands-l" as message
 text from the same account to <listserv at listserv.linguistlist.org> or
 sign off at <http://linguistlist.org/subscribing/sub-lowlands-l.html>.
=======================================================================
 A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian B=Brabantish D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian
 L=Limburgish LS=Lowlands Saxon (Low German) S=Scots Sh=Shetlandic
                  V=(West)Flemish Z=Zeelandic (Zeêuws)
=======================================================================

From: Thomas Byro <thbyro at earthlink.net>
Subject: LL-L "Language survival" 2003.01.02 (01) [E/German]

Ron

How thorough was the ethnic cleansing of the east German population after
World War Two?  I recall reading in Der Spiegel during the communist era
that some 2 million Germans were living in Poland but were considered to be
east German citizens.  I remember Konrad Adenauer arguing that some millions
more were ethnic Germans and should be allowed to emigrate to West Germany,
but the Polish government maintaining that they were ethnic Poles.  Are
there any Plattdeutsch speakers left in current polish and Russian
territory?

Tom Byro

----------

From: R. F. Hahn <admin at lowlands-l.net>
Subject: Language survival

Hi, Tom!

As to your questions above, I really can't answer them competently, and I
wonder if anyone can come up with a real body of actual facts.

It is commonly claimed that about 15 million persons were expelled from
Pomerania, Gdańsk (Danzig), Western Prussa, Eastern Prussia (Kaliningrad),
Eastern Brandenburg, Sudetenland and various smaller regions in Eastern
Europe.  Of these, 2.8 million are said to have perished en route, mostly of
hardships (particularly starvation and hypothermia), in some cases of random
violence.

Clearly, the populations of those areas were not neatly devided into
"Germans" and "others."  Many people were and are of mixed descent, in the
north especially of mixed Kashubian and (especially Lowlands-Saxon-speaking)
German descent, and there were many "mixed" marriages.  I assume that it was
mostly those that Poland considered Polish citizens.  Since the fall of the
Berlin Wall, I have read about some ethnic "German" community or "German"
individuals in those areas and about their past efforts to keep "German"
language and culture in the closet.  Quite a few of them got into trouble
over this.  This also applies to a "Dutch" community in Poland.  Many of
them are now "coming out" and reclaiming their heritage while reaffirming
loyalty to Poland.  I believe that most of the younger people among them
have been totally or almost totally Policized and Russianized.  I
occasionally watch the Polish news (International Cannel) and often come
across journalists and interviewers with German or LS last names and Polish
first names (females with Polish endings to their surnames).

In Germany, the Americas, Australia etc., there are several organizations of
persons of these displaced persons and their descendants.  Some of them make
efforts to keep the dialects alive or at least to record them.  This
includes both German and LS dialects.

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

==================================END===================================
* Please submit postings to <lowlands-l at listserv.linguistlist.org>.
* Postings will be displayed unedited in digest form.
* Please display only the relevant parts of quotes in your replies.
* Commands for automated functions (including "signoff lowlands-l") are
  to be sent to <listserv at listserv.linguistlist.org> or at
  <http://linguistlist.org/subscribing/sub-lowlands-l.html>.
 =======================================================================