Germanic or Polish Prussian?

Hello,
Iam English on my Mothers side, but on my Fathers side Iam Prussian.

My Grandmothers family was Voss from Grandenz South of Gdansk, My Grandfathers family Rossa from Rawitsch.

Now both families fled from West Prussia into Germany following the persecutions of Germanics after West Prussia was given to Poland following WW1

What I am trying to ascertain however is, what where the differences between Germanic and Polish people who had been living side by side in West Prussia for centuries, and also, the remains of the original inhabitants, the Pruzzi?

I ask because, no way do I look German, I look like Polish or Lithuanian I describe myself as Balitic, I have the long thin limbs, the boyish heart face with high cheekbones etc, the name Rossa still seems most common in Poland. So why would my family have been persecuted out of Poland?, what would have been the defining characteristics?, just the language spoken?

I also wonder what level of assimilation there would have been between Polish and Germans in Prussia?, Is it possible that Poles married with Germanics to the extend my family could be more Polish than German but have still chosen the German path?, maybe to have gained a better position or land in Germanic West Prussia but had to pay the consequences of their choice at a later date?

Do Prussian Poles have any nostalgia for Prussia or where they glad to see it assimilated by Poland for it must have had some attraction for them to have lived there when it was Royal Prussia?

How do Poles feel about Prussians who visit there today, even if my Looks are more Baltid than Germanic?

Looking to see where I fit in i the world

Hi Pete. Welcome to the forum, and good luck in ascertaining your genealogy.

Whilst I don't have any direct comments for you in relation to your queries, I strongly recommend you to read God's Playground by Norman Davies (2 Volumes). His book contains an excellent description of the Prussian partition, and life thereafter, in occupied Poland.

To understand where "Prussian's" fit into the Polish dynamic, I think you must understand the complex history. Why not have a look on Google at "Prussian homage to Poland" and Prussian partition of Poland. That will set you in the right direction.

Cheers

Thanks Ozi Dan, I just ordered Amazons only copy of Volume two.

At the moment Iam reading "The Other Prussia" by Karin Friedrich, I have plenty of books on East Prussia, but that was the first I could find on Royal Prussia.

I hadn't realized Germanic West Prussia had voluntarily pledged allegiance to the King of Poland and joined the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth in order to gain Polands help in overthrowing the Teutonic Knights who had come to rule even their own people with an Iron fist.

Seems also they had more freedoms under the King of Poland then their East Prussian brothers had under the Hohenzollern rule.

They where still able to maintain their own independence, laws and governance, in fact many of the Pheasant class of Poland moved to Royal Prussia where they where given more rights than the Polish Elite had afforded them in their own country.

Many thanks.