Life /
Poland's birthrate on the decline [480]
It's impossible to wrap one's mind around that number.
Quite.
That's why when some people say that Poland should resist the Soviets after WW2 and fight with arms in our hands against the Soviet domination, I tell them that they are crazy. It would amount to national suicide. We opposed Germany so fiercely and lost so many people as a result that if we had attempted the same against Soviet Union that would be the end of Poland as we know it. The national substance had to be saved and rebuilt - superficially we bowed down to Soviet occupation but deep inside we remained proud and free nation, history teachers did their jobs well, writers and intellectuals (most of them anyway) remained faithful to Poland and that's why we are a free nation today.
Nature truly is amazing.
Indeed. :)
Contrast that to post-war Poland which is remarkable for its homogeneity.
Poles were roughly 70% in 1939 Poland. 3 millions ethnic Poles died as a result of the war and oppression, 3 millions Polish citizens of Jewish origin were murdered as well. Millions remained outside our borders or ran away to various places all over the world. There isn't a single country in the world where you wouldn't meet Poles :) A survival strategy in its own right, I suppose.
30.8% of the population in the minority
That is correct, but you have to remember that majority of this 30.8% were assimilated. They were still registered as people of Lithuanian, German, Ukrainian or Belarussian origin, but they were loyal citizens, spoke Polish, had Polish names and fought for Poland with arms in their hands (this applies also to many Polish Germans, not only common soldiers but also commanders, like Unrug or Rómmel for example). The Jewish community had, by and large, resisted assimilation, and the only other large minority that wasn't fully assimilated was Ukrainians. So, realistically, I'd say that only about 10% were genuine minorities.
