[The Image of the German Minority in Polish history textbooks]
The following book chapter takes a critical look at the image of the German minority in Polish educational media and represents the only current inventory of this kind to date. The findings focus on Polish history textbooks that were published after the socio-political change of 1989/90. Why? The answer here is relatively simple: First: the topic "German minority in Poland” was virtually non-existent until 1989. The minority was only recognized after the fall of the Wall. Second: Ideas, images and attributions about the German minority in Poland from the interwar period, which were definitely transferred to Polish school books before 1989, can often be found – and often verbatim – in Polish educational media that appeared after 1989. To this day, Polish schoolchildren learn, especially in the context of the Second World War, that the German minority in Poland took part in this war as the "fifth column" through acts of sabotage and supported the advance of the Wehrmacht. The schoolboy learns next to nothing about a German minority, which organized itself in Poland under democratic auspices after 1989 and has been well positioned in terms of local politics ever since.
The book chapter is published in German.
