Kaszubi Pomorza Zachodniego a państwo polskie w latach 1918-1939. Próba nowego spojrzenia
West Pomeranian Kashubians and the Polish State in 1918–1939. An Attempt at a New Perspective

Summary/Abstract: The article concerns the small (ca. 6,000) group of Kashubians who, after the Polish- German border was set in 1920, remained in Germany. They lived mostly in Bytów and Lębork counties. The Polish state – for political and national reasons – considered them very significant. Teachers, instructors, consular public servants were sent there to strengthen the Polish national awareness. The Germans opposed these actions, and considered them an interference with the lives of the German citizens. They also assumed that the awareness of the Kashubian distinctiveness is not the same as the Polish national awareness. This struggle partially contributed to the strengthening of Polishness in both counties. However, for individuals in was often a source of personal tragedies (especially in the period of the Second World War and the months before it). Part of the Kashubians from the counties considered in this research have left Poland after 1945 and moved to Germany.

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