National minority protection in Poland

By

Anna Karolina Kosmatka	Beata Przybylska

Poland has been a country of many nationalities and religions. After 1918 it was a multinational country in which minorities were one-third of citizens. It caused serious political problems.

The situation changed after 1945 when Poland became a nationally uniform country. The main factor were territorial changes and relocations of the population. Processes of migration lasted until 1950 and forced over 3 millions people to emigrate.

One of such displacement actions was Vistula in 1947. 160.000 Ukrainians were deported from the south to the north of Poland. This mass migration of population created a homogeneous state.

This action was favoured by communist authorities who treated minorities as an unnecessary evil.

Authorities did not threat minorities organisations as a partner.

They had to wait for the wind of the history. It was a process of transforming into democratic state after 1980. It did not help to solve the problems. Education in national languages and cultural activities stayed in the form of rural folklore. But democratic changes gave an opportunity to be present in public life. It was really a defense of their interests.

A radical change in the geopolitical map of Central and Eastern Europe. Neighbours countries started to be interested in protection of those persons who were by region connected with them.

The most important was the programme by Tadeusz Mazowiecki ( prime minister in1989) in which he declared to the parliament that Poland was also a motherland of different minorities.

In 1997 the Polish constitution states in article 35 that the citizens belonging to national and ethnic minorities had the freedom to maintain and develop their own languages and their own culture. In the point 2 article 35 shows that national and cultural minorities should have the right to establish educational , cultural and religious institutions to protect religious identity as well as to participate in the resolution of martyrs connected with their cultural identity.

This constitutional reform is positive in that it is the first recognition of minorities rights in Poland. This constitutional evolution of common Polish society is a non discriminatory direction which allows for identity to be considered at the national and minority levels.

Minorities are also protected by the draft act of protection of minorities. (1997 this act considering equality issues in Polish society).

Bilateral treaties with international bodies also seem to protect the minority entity.

Minority bodies also play an important role in minority life .The Parliament committee on national and ethnic minorities is a governmental organisation that formulates acts relevant to the demands made by members of minorities.

Despite the well structured constitution of the Polish state, negligence of these authorities means that the important problems are not solved .For example Greek catholic /Przemysl/ minority problem in 1990 was not resolved because authorities did not favour giving back Cathedral to this region.

Another example of unresolved conflict would be the need for the German cemetery in Opole.

The same problem caused Ukrainian monument for soldiers of UIA ( Ukrainian Insurgent Army). The conflict over the monument resulted in a motion of Polish combatants in order to make the activity of Ukrainian society in Poland illegal.

Up till now bad experiences from the World War II divide Polish society , but it also give a chance for discussion about national identity and memory.

Interpretation of the common history is one of the main source of conflicts. There is also a problem with citizenship. Polish law do not recognize but German law allows every person to apply for German citizenship who had had that before World War II. This means that some persons belonging to German minority in Poland have both Polish and German citizenship.

This problem appeared in the case of the evasion of military service by young Germans who are Polish citizens.

These are only few examples of conflicts over minority monuments and problems connected with understanding of history.

At present ,the most important problems in the policy towards minorities is the protection of national minorities rights. Clear regulations concerning municipal law system could help to solve this problem to the benefit of favorable treatment for these groups.

The policy should pay attention of a tendency to prejudice on ethnic grounds on local administrative level. Minorities should not be treated as a danger .The solution depends on the financial recourses. Examples of destroying of the elements that constitute the cultural heritage show us how important this needed is.

The next challenge Poland has to face is the response of authorities to speeches of nationalist or discriminating publications.

As we see the policy towards minorities aimed at the protection of the identity of minorities. Participation of the state in legal and financial activities is one of the way to do it. Much more might have been done in this field. That is why ,at the end ,we want to answer if, at present, it's good to be the member of national minority in Poland.

In our opinion legal rules on this kind of protection let us think that also attitude and stereotypes will change and members of national minorities can be like a different but essential part of society.

The Minorities in Poland (1990)

According to this data the population of national minority is near to 1.2 millions people. It is about 2-3% of Polish citizens.