According to a study conducted by Beata Laciak of the Centre for Social Research of the Institute of Applied Social Sciences at the University of Warsaw, Germans are the largest minority in Poland, concentrated in the voivodships of Opolskie (Opole), Slaskie (Silesia) and Dolno-Slaskie (Lower Silesia), with smaller numbers in Warminsko-Mazurski (Varmia-Mazuria) in north-eastern Poland (IDS 2000, 1, 2; Poland n.d.), Lubuskie (Lubus), Mazowieckie (Mazovia) and Kujawsko-Pomorskie (Kuiavia-Pomerania) (ibid.).

The estimated German population of Poland is 300,000-500,000 persons (ibid., 2; OSI 2001a, 383; Poland n.d.) and 750,000-1,100,000 (GTZ n.d.; OSI 2001b, 207), depending upon the source. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) noted that there were between 180,000 and 300,000 Polish-Germans in the province of Opole (22 Feb. 2000) where the German national minority accounts for a local majority population in some municipalities (Poland n.d.).

With respect to the treatment of this population, the Research Directorate found no reports of systematic discrimination of Polish-Germans by the state or society within the time period requested and among the sources consulted. According to a 2002 interview, Polish sociologist Danuta Berlinska considered the German population's position as returning to normal following discrimination in the communist period (Radio Prague 23 Apr. 2002). The study by Laciak, for example, noted only that there were some problems in providing German-language services in religious institutions (IDS 2000, 10), while Berlinska indicated that the key question facing Germans in Poland was in their political representation (Radio Prague 23 Apr. 2002).

The Open Society Institute (OSI) reported that Polish-Germans were an exception to the problem of economic disenfranchisement that is common among national minorities in Poland (OSI 2001b, 207). Additionally, Germans are the only national minority that have held seats in Poland's national parliament and are well represented in regional and municipal governments as a result of their "compact communities" (ibid. 214, 222-223). German-language schools are provided for children of the minority (ibid., 227) and numerous German community and cultural organizations exist in Poland (ibid. 210; IDS 2000, 8). The latter, according to the OSI, "generally ... function as NGOs" (2001b, 224). Among the organizations listed are the Supreme Council of German Associations in the Republic of Poland, which claims to represent the interests and needs of members before authorities and government institutions, the Silisean Development Fund (IDS 2000, 8-9), the Social-Cultural Society of Germans (German Social-Cultural Association) (RFE-RL 22 Feb. 2000; ibid. 12 Sept. 2002; IDS 2000, 4,7), the Reconciliation and Future group, the Council of Upper Silesian Germans (RFE/RL 12 Sept. 2002) and the Union of German Youth (ibid.; IDS 2000, 4). In some cases, the German Ministries of Internal Affairs and Foreign Affairs, the Polish Ministries of Culture and Art and National Education finance the activities of Polish German organizations and/or local governments (ibid., 9; OSI 2001b, 224).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Institute of Development Studies (IDS) [Brighton, UK]. 2000. Beata Laciak. "Case 6. German Minority NGOs' Public Influence in Poland." http://www.ids.ac.uk/ids/civsoc/final/poland/pol6.doc [Accessed 17 Mar. 2003]

Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GTZ) [Eschborn, Germany]. n.d. "Poland." (Programme for Ethnic Minorities in Eastern Europe and Central Asia) http://www.gtz.de/minderheiten/english/poland.htm [Accessed 17 Mar. 2003]

Open Society Institute (OSI). 2001a. "Minority Protection in Poland." In Monitoring the EU Accession Process: Minority Protection. http://www.eumap.org/reports/content/10/100/minority_bulgaria.pdf [Accessed 17 Mar. 2002]

_____. 2001b. Piotr Bajda, Magdalena Syposz and Dariusz Wojakowski. "Equality in Law, Protection in Fact: Minority Law and Practice in Poland." In Diversity in Action: Local Public Management of Multi-ethnic Communities. Edited by Anna-Maria Biro and Petra Kovacs. http://lgi.osi.hu/publications/books/Diversity_in_Action/2_4.PDF [Accessed 17 Mar. 2003]

Poland. n.d. Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration. "Ethnic and National Minorities in Poland." http://www.mswia.gov.pl/eng_mn_narod_1_list.html [Accessed 17 Mar. 2003]

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL). 12 September 2002. Newsline. "Polish Germans Set Up Coordination Body." http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2002/09/3-CEE/cee-120902.asp [Accessed 17 Mar. 2003]

_____. 22 February 2000. Poland, Belarus and Ukraine Report. Vol. 2, No. 8. "Polish Germans Want to Discuss Their Future with Germany." http://www.rferl.org/pbureport/2000/02/08-220200.html [Accessed 17 Mar. 2003]

Radio Prague. 23 April 2002. David Vaughan. "Ethnic German Minorities in the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia." http://www.radio.cz/print/en/27184 [Accessed 18 Mar. 2003]

Additional Sources Consulted

Countries of the World 2003

Europa 2002

Internet sites, including:

Amnesty International

Country Assessments

EUMAP

European Country of Origin Information Network

Freedom House

Human Rights Watch

International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights

MINELRES