Editing Masuria (section)

==== Polish Masuria — the Działdowo county ====
[[File:Działdowo widok z lotu ptaka.jpg|thumb|right|Aerial view of [[Działdowo]]]]
The region of [[Działdowo]] (Soldau), where according to the official German census of 1910 ethnic Germans formed a minority of 37.3%,<ref>{{cite book|url=http://web.ku.edu/~eceurope/hist557/lect11.htm|title=The Rebirth of Poland; History 557 Lecture Notes|first1=Anna M.|last1=Cienciala|author-link=Anna M. Cienciala|year=2002|access-date=2012-02-01|archive-date=2013-05-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130515153155/http://web.ku.edu/~eceurope/hist557/lect11.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> was excluded from the plebiscite and became part of Poland. This was reasoned with placing the railway connection between [[Warsaw]] and [[Danzig]] (Gdańsk), of vital importance to Poland as it connected central Poland with its recently obtained seacoast, completely under Polish sovereignty. Działdowo itself counted about 24,000 people of which 18,000 were Masurians.<ref>Andrzej Sakson, ''Mazurzy: Społeczność pogranicza'', Instytut Zachodni, 1990, page 59.</ref>

According to the municipal administration of [[Gmina Rybno, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship|Rybno]], after World War I Poles in Działdowo believed that they will be quickly joined with Poland,<ref name="Koszelewy page 5">Plan odnowy miejscowości Koszelewy, Rys historyczny, page 5 Załącznik do Uchwały Nr XLII/9 /10 Rady Gminy Rybno z dnia 23 lutego 2010 r.</ref> they organised secret gatherings during which the issue of rejoining Polish state with help of Polish military was discussed.<ref name="Koszelewy page 5"/> According to the Rybno administration, most active Poles in that subregion included Jóżwiakowscy, Wojnowscy, Grzeszczowscy families working under the guidance of politician Leon Wojnowski who protested German attempts to remain Działdowo a part of Germany after the war; other local pro-Polish activists were Alfred Wellenger, Paczyński, Tadeusz Bogdański, Jóźwiakowski.<ref name="Koszelewy page 5"/><ref>Słownik biograficzny Warmii, Mazur i Powiśla XIX i XX wieku(do 1945 roku), Tadeusz Oracki, page 334, Instytut Wydawniczy Pax 1983</ref><ref>Interludium mazurskie:wspomnienia 1920-1939, Karol Małłek, page 11, Czytelnik, 1968</ref>

The historian Andreas Kossert describes that the incorporation happened despite protests of the local populace, the municipal authorities and the German Government,<ref>Andreas Kossert: Masuren - Ostpreussens vergessener Süden, 2006, page 284: "Als in Soldau bekannt wurde, dass das Gebiet ohne Abstimmung an Polen fallen sollte, entluden sich Wut, Trauer und Bestürzung. Hilflos sah sich die Soldauer Bevölkerung ohne jede Mitsprache der Entscheidung des Siegers ausgesetzt. Alle Proteste blieben vergeblich. Kommunale Körperschaften verwahrten sich einhellig gegen die Abtretung, führende deutsche Politiker - allen voran Reichspräsident Friedrich Ebert - versuchten noch bis zur letzten Minute die alliierte Entscheidung rückgängig zu machen" (When it became known in Soldau that the area should fall to Poland without a vote, anger, sadness and dismay erupted. The Soldau population saw themselves helplessly and without a voice exposed to the decision of the winners. All protests were in vain. Local authorities unanimously opposed the cession, leading German politicians - led by President Friedrich Ebert - tried until the last minute to reverse the Allied decision.)</ref> According to Kossert, 6,000 inhabitants of the region soon left the area.<ref>{{cite book|title=Masuren, Ostpreussens vergessener Süden|first1=Andreas|last1=Kossert|publisher=Pantheon |year=2006|isbn=3-570-55006-0|pages=283, 284|language=de}}</ref>

In 1920, the candidate of the German Party in Poland, Ernst Barczewski, was elected to the [[Sejm]] with 74.6 percent of votes and to the [[Polish Senate]] with 34.6% of votes for the [[Bloc of National Minorities]] in 1928.<ref>Andreas Kossert, Masuren - Ostpreussens vergessener Süden, 2006, p.284</ref> During the [[Polish–Soviet War]] Działdowo was briefly occupied by the [[Red Army]] regarded as liberator from the Polish authority by the local German population, which hoisted the German flag,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1920/08/16/96892651.pdf|title=NY Times report|access-date=14 August 2018|archive-date=23 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230323210722/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1920/08/16/96892651.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=80r6Mbnxf8IC&q=soldau&pg=PA37|title=Orphans of Versailles: The Germans in Western Poland, 1918-1939|first=Richard|last=Blanke|publisher=University Press of Kentucky|access-date=14 August 2018|via=Google Books|isbn=0813130417}}</ref> but it was soon recovered by the [[Polish Army]].

During the interwar period many native inhabitants of Działdowo subregion left and migrated to Germany.