East Prussia - German Poles who lived in pre-second world war in this area

I'm researching a book about German Poles who lived in pre-second world war East Prussia. Do you know of any German Poles who left East Prussia to fight for Poland when Hitler invaded? Many thanks for your help

This may help: sz-n.com/2012/03/the-riddle-of-polish-speaking-germans-a-short-history-of-the-mazurians/

I doubt it very much. The article to which Szczecinianin points out explains it very well.

Szczecinianin, is sz-n.com your web page? I found the article you quoted very interesting and extremely informative. However, I don't agree with the statement I have marked in bold:

It was during the Nazi period that the well-known Polish journalist, Melchior Wańkowicz, made a much publicised visit to Mazuria, which he described in his journal, Na Tropach Smętka. Describing the Mazurians as 'a hopeless mongrel people', he found the Mazurians astonished to discover their 'Mazurian' was much the same as his Polish. Most Mazurians could receive radio broadcasts from Radio Warsaw, most could understand, but none listened in.

I read the book "Na tropach Smętka" by Melchior Wańkowicz a long time ago, but I still remember he said something quite opposite to "but no one listened in". In his book he also told quite a number of horrifying stories how those Masurian activists of Polish language who were for the teaching of the Polish language in some of the East Prussian schools were brutally tortured and then murdered by the Nazis (officialy by unknown murderers). So I would say the picture in this article seem to be painted in one colour only.

[BTW, Szczecinianin, how do you manage to pronounce the word 'szczecinianin'? I always have some dificulty every time I try to write it down, haha]

Mazurians aren't Poles. The Mazurians in East Prussia were Slavs and, at the same time, staunch Prussians who voted for conservative German parties, and against Poland in the East Prussian plebiscite. After WW2, when this part of East Prussia was given to Poland, almost all Mazurians left for Germany.

Their story was completely rewritten in the PRP. They were turned into a lost Polish tribe who discovered his Polishness in the 19th century and was subsequently brutally suppressed by evil Germans. In truth it was a bit more complicated.

I highly recommend not to read books published before 1989, which are all crap.

Mazurians were not Poles - they just happened to speak Polish before the Germanization was completed hehe


btw do you know in what circumstances was the plebiscite held - Poland was at the brink of being defeated by the invading Red Army - I don't know the mood among the Mazurians then but I believe this could have been the reason they didn't want to join Poland

It may also have been economic. Germany had serious economic problems, but Poland wasn't really much better, especially considering the conflicts.