Editing Sorbs (section)

==History==

===Early Middle Ages===
{{main|Sorbs (tribe)}}

[[File:BOGUSŁAWSKI(1861) Das Siedlungsgebiet der Sorben vom 7. bis 11. Jahrhundert in Mitteldeutschland.jpg|thumb|right|A map of the Sorbian-Lusatian tribes between the 7th and 11th century, by Wilhelm Bogusławski, 1861]]

The name of the Sorbs can be traced to the 6th century or earlier when [[Vibius Sequester]] recorded ''Cervetiis''  living on the other part of the river [[Elbe]] which divided them from the [[Suevi]] (''Albis Germaniae Suevos a Cerveciis dividiit'').<ref name="Simek1955">{{cite book|last=Simek|first=Emanuel|title=Chebsko V Staré Dobe: Dnesní Nejzápadnejsi Slovanské Území|url=https://digilib.phil.muni.cz/handle/11222.digilib/103713|year=1955|publisher=Vydává Masarykova Universita v Brne|language=cs|pages=47, 269|quote=O Srbech máme zachován první historický záznam ze VI. století u Vibia Sequestra, který praví, že Labe dělí v GermaniinSrby od Suevů65. Tím ovšem nemusí být řečeno, že v končinách severně od českých hor nemohli býti Srbové již i za Labem (západně od Labe), neboť nevíme, koho Vibius Sequester svými Suevy mínil. Ať již tomu bylo jakkoli, víme bezpečně ze zpráv kroniky Fredegarovy, že Srbové měli celou oblast mezi Labem a Sálou osídlenu již delší dobu před založením říše Samovy66, tedy nejméně již v druhé polovici VI. století67. Jejich kníže Drevan se osvobodil od nadvlády francké a připojil se někdy kolem roku 630 se svou državou k říši Samově68. V následujících letech podnikali Srbové opětovně vpády přes Sálu do Durinska 69... 67 Schwarz, ON 48, dospěl k závěru, že se země mezi Labem a Sálou stala srbskou asi r. 595 a kolem roku 600 že bylo slovanské stěhování do končin západně od Labe určitě již skončeno; R. Fischer, GSl V. 58, Heimatbildung XVIII. 298, ON Falk. 59, NK 69 datuje příchod Slovanů na Chebsko do druhé polovice VI. století, G. Fischer(ová), Flurnamen 218, do VI. století. Chebský historik Sieg1 dospěl v posledním svém souhrnném díle o dějinách Chebska Eger u. Egerland 4 k závěru, že Slované (myslil na Srby) přišli do Chebska již kolem roku 490, tedy před koncem V. století.}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Sułowski |first=Zygmunt |date=1961 |title=Migracja Słowian na zachód w pierwszym tysiącleciu n. e. |url=http://bazhum.pl/bib/article/273968/ |language=pl |journal=Roczniki Historyczne |volume=27 |pages=50–52 |access-date=4 August 2020}}</ref><ref name="Tyszkiewicz1990">{{cite book|last=Tyszkiewicz|first=Lech A.|title=Słowianie w historiografii antycznej do połowy VI wieku|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7ZQTAQAAMAAJ|year=1990|publisher=Wydawn. Uniwersytetu Wrocławskiego|language=pl|isbn=978-83-229-0421-3|page=124|quote=...Germaniae Suevos a Cervetiis dividit mergitur in oceanum”. Według Szafarzyka, który odrzucił emendację Oberlina Cervetiis na Cheruscis, zagadkowy lud Cervetti to nikt inny, jak tylko Serbowie połabscy.}}</ref><ref name="Dulinicz2001">{{cite book|last=Dulinicz|first=Marek|title=Kształtowanie się Słowiańszczyzny Północno-Zachodniej: studium archeologiczne|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=akYjAQAAIAAJ|year=2001|publisher=Instytut Archeologii i Etnologii Polskiej Akademii Nauk|language=pl|isbn=978-83-85463-89-4|page=17}}</ref><ref name="Moczulski2007">{{cite book|last=Moczulski|first=Leszek|author-link=Leszek Moczulski|title=Narodziny Międzymorza: ukształtowanie ojczyzn, powstanie państw oraz układy geopolityczne wschodniej części Europy w późnej starożytności i we wczesnym średniowieczu|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FY_u2_TUiFoC|year=2007|publisher=Bellona|language=pl|pages=335–336|quote=Tak jest ze wzmianką Vibiusa Sequestra, pisarza z przełomu IV—V w., którą niektórzy badacze uznali za najwcześniejszą informację o Słowianach na Polabiu: Albis Germaniae Suevon a Cervetiis dividit (Vibii Sequestris, De fluminibus, fontibus, lacubus, memoribus, paludibus, montibus, gentibus, per litteras, wyd. Al. Riese, Geographi latini minores, Heilbronn 1878). Jeśli początek nazwy Cerve-tiis odpowiadał Serbe — chodziło o Serbów, jeśli Cherue — byli to Cheruskowie, choć nie można wykluczyć, że pod tą nazwą kryje się jeszcze inny lud (por. G. Labuda, Fragmenty dziejów Słowiańszczyzny Zachodniej, t. 1, Poznań 1960, s. 91; H. Lowmiański, Początki Polski..., t. II, Warszawa 1964, s. 296; J. Strzelczyk, Vibius Sequester [w:] Slownik Starożytności Słowiańskich, t. VI, Wroclaw 1977, s. 414). Pierwsza ewentualność sygeruje, że zachodnia eks-pansja Słowian rozpoczęta się kilka pokoleń wcześniej niż się obecnie przypuszcza, druga —że rozgraniczenie pomiędzy Cheruskami a Swebami (Gotonami przez Labę względnie Semnonami przez Soławę) uksztaltowało się — być może po klęsce Marboda — dalej na południowy wschód, niżby wynikało z Germanii Tacyta (patrz wyżej). Tyle tylko, że nie będzie to sytuacja z IV w. Istnienie styku serbsko-turyńskiego w początkach VII w. potwierdza Kronika Fredegara (Chronicarum quae dicuntw; Fredegari scholastici, wyd. B., Krusch, Monu-menta Gennaniae Bisiorka, Scriptores rerum Merovingicarum, t. II, Hannover 1888, s. 130); bylby on jednak późniejszy niż styk Franków ze Slowianami (Sldawami, Winklami) w Alpach i na osi Dunaju. Tyle tylko, te o takim styku możemy mówić dopiero w końcu VI w.}}</ref> According to [[Lubor Niederle]], the Serbian district was located somewhere between [[Magdeburg]] and [[Lusatia]], and was later mentioned by the [[Ottonian dynasty|Ottonians]] as ''Ciervisti'',  ''Zerbisti'', and ''Kirvisti''.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Fomina |first=Z.Ye. |date=2016 |title=Славянская топонимия в современной Германии в лингвокультуроло-гическоми лингво-историческом аспек |trans-title=Slavonic Toponymy in Linguoculturological and Linguo-historical Aspects in Germany |url=https://www.elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=25957680 |language=ru |journal=Современные лингвистические и методико-дидактические исследования |volume=1 |issue=12 |page=30 |quote=Как следует из многотомного издания „Славянские древности“ (1953) известного чешского ученого Любора Нидерле, первым историческим известием о славянах на Эльбе является запись Вибия Секвестра «De fluminibus» (VI век), в которой об Эльбе говорится: «Albis Suevos a Cervetiis dividit». Cervetii означает здесь наименованиесербскогоокруга (pagus) на правом берегу Эльбы, между Магдебургом и Лужицами, который в позднейших грамотах Оттона I, Оттона II и Генриха II упоминается под терминомCiervisti,  Zerbisti, Kirvisti,нынешний Цербст[8]. В тот период, как пишет Любор Нидерле, а именно в 782 году, началось большое, имевшее мировое значение, наступление германцев против сла-вян. ПерейдяЭльбу, славяне представляли большую опасность для империи Карла Вели-кого. Для того, чтобы создать какой-то порядок на востоке, Карл Великий в 805 году соз-дал так называемый limes Sorabicus, который должен был стать границей экономических (торговых) связеймежду германцами и славянами[8].|access-date=4 August 2020}}</ref> The information is in accordance with the Frankish 7th-century ''[[Chronicle of Fredegar]]'' according to which the ''Surbi'' lived in the [[Saale]]-[[Elbe]] valley, [[Migration Period|having settled]] in the Thuringian part of [[Francia]] since the second half of the 6th century or beginning of the 7th century and were vassals of the [[Merovingian dynasty]].<ref name="Simek1955"/><ref name="LaetHerrmann1996">{{cite book|author1=Sigfried J. de Laet|author2=Joachim Herrmann|title=History of Humanity: From the seventh century B.C. to the seventh century A.D.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WGUz01yBumEC&pg=PA284|date=1 January 1996|publisher=UNESCO|isbn=978-92-3-102812-0|pages=282–284}}</ref><ref name="Stone2015">{{cite book|author=Gerald Stone|title=Slav Outposts in Central European History: The Wends, Sorbs and Kashubs|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ABsmCwAAQBAJ|year=2015|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=978-1-4725-9211-8|page=6}}</ref> 

The Saale-Elbe line marked the approximate limit of Slavic westward migration.{{sfn|Vlasto|1970|p=142}} Under the leadership of ''dux'' (duke) [[Dervan (duke)|Dervan]] ("Dervanus dux gente Surbiorum que ex genere Sclavinorum"), they joined the Slavic [[Samo's Empire|tribal union]] of [[Samo]], after Samo's decisive victory against Frankish King [[Dagobert I]] in 631.<ref name="LaetHerrmann1996"/><ref name="Stone2015"/> Afterwards, these Slavic tribes continuously raided [[Duchy of Thuringia|Thuringia]].<ref name="LaetHerrmann1996"/> The fate of the tribes after Samo's death and dissolution of the union in 658 is undetermined, but it is considered that they subsequently returned to Frankish vassalage.<ref name="Pronk-Tiethoff2013">{{cite book|author=Saskia Pronk-Tiethoff|title=The Germanic loanwords in Proto-Slavic|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0iWLAgAAQBAJ|year=2013|publisher=Rodopi|isbn=978-94-012-0984-7|pages=68–69}}</ref> 

According to a 10th-century source {{lang|la|[[De Administrando Imperio]]}}, they lived "since the beginning" in the region called by them as ''[[White Serbia|Boiki]]'' which was a neighbor to Francia, and when two brothers succeeded their father, one of them migrated with half of the people to the [[Balkans]] during the rule of [[Heraclius]] in the first half of the 7th century.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Živković|first=Tibor|author-link=Tibor Živković|year=2002|title=Јужни Словени под византијском влашћу (600-1025)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oE-gAAAAMAAJ|location=Belgrade|publisher=Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts|page=198|isbn=9788677430276}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Živković|first=Tibor|author-link=Tibor Živković|title=De conversione Croatorum et Serborum: A Lost Source|year=2012|location=Belgrade|publisher=The Institute of History|url=https://www.academia.edu/1231887|pages=152–185}}</ref> According to some scholars, the [[unnamed 7th-century Serbian ruler]] who led the White Serbs to the Balkans was most likely a son, brother or other relative of Dervan.<ref>{{cite book|author=Sava S. Vujić, Bogdan M. Basarić|title=Severni Srbi (ne)zaboravljeni narod|location=Beograd|year=1998|page=40}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Miloš S. Milojević|title=Odlomci Istorije Srba i srpskih jugoslavenskih zemalja u Turskoj i Austriji|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SuxEAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA59|year=1872|publisher=U državnoj štampariji|page=1}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Relja Novaković|title=Odakle su Sebl dos̆il na Balkansko poluostrvo|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5K0BAAAAMAAJ|year=1977|publisher=Istorijski institut|page=337}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Kardaras|first=Georgios|title=Byzantium and the Avars, 6th-9th Century AD: political, diplomatic and cultural relations|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1IN1DwAAQBAJ|year=2018|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-38226-8 |editor=Florin Curta |editor2=Dušan Zupka|page=95}}</ref>

[[File:Dervan.png|thumb|left|7th-century Sorbian Duchy of [[Dervan (duke)|Dervan]]]]
[[File:Marchia Wschodnia ok. 1000.svg|thumb|left|[[Saxon Eastern March]] c. 1000 AD]]
Sorbian tribes, Sorbi/Surbi, are noted in the mid-9th-century work of the [[Bavarian Geographer]].<ref name="Łuczyński">{{cite journal |last=Łuczyński |first=Michal |date=2017 |title="Geograf Bawarski" — nowe odczytania |trans-title="Bavarian Geographer" — New readings |url=https://rcin.org.pl/dlibra/show-content/publication/edition/64469?id=64469 |language=pl |journal=Polonica |volume=XXXVII (37) |page=73 |doi=10.17651/POLON.37.9 |access-date=4 August 2020}}</ref><ref>V. von Keltsch, ''Der bairische Geograph'', Alpreussische Monatsschr., 23 (1886),</ref><ref>Gerhard Billig, ''Zur Rekonstruktion der ältesten slawischen Burgbezirke im obersächsisch-meißnischen Raum auf der Grundlage des Bayerischen Geographen'', Neues Archiv für sächsische Geschichte 66 (1995), s. 27-67</ref> Having settled by the Elbe, Saale, Spree, and Neisse in the 6th and early 7th century, Sorbian tribes divided into two main groups, which have taken their names from the characteristics of the area where they had settled. The two groups were separated from each other by a wide and uninhabited forest range, one around Upper Spree and the rest between the Elbe and Saale.<ref name="Sedov">{{cite book |first=Valentin Vasilyevich |last=Sedov |year=2013 |orig-year=1995 |title=Славяне в раннем Средневековье |trans-title=Sloveni u ranom srednjem veku (Slavs in Early Middle Ages) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HD4oAAAAMAAJ |publisher=Akademska knjiga |location=Novi Sad |isbn=978-86-6263-026-1 |pages=191–205}}</ref> Some scholars consider that the contemporary Sorbs are descendants of the two largest Sorbian tribes, the [[Milceni]] (Upper) and {{ill|Lusici (tribe){{!}}Lusici|de|Lusitzi|v=sup}} (Lower), and these tribes' respective dialects have developed into separate languages.{{sfn|Stone|2015|p=9}}<ref name="Sandford2013">{{cite book|author=John Sandford|title=Encyclopedia of Contemporary German Culture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TuMsBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA412|date=3 April 2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-81603-1|page=412}}</ref> However, others emphasize differences between these two dialects and that their respective territories correspond to two different Slavic archeological cultures of [[Leipzig group]] ([[Upper Sorbian language]]) and [[Tornow group]] ceramics ([[Lower Sorbian language]]),<ref name="Sedov"/> both a derivation of [[Prague-Korchak culture|Prague(-Korchak) culture]].<ref>Paul M. Barford (2001). ''The Early Slavs: Culture and Society in Early Medieval Eastern Europe''. Cornell University Press. pp. 64–65, 77–78, 104–105. ISBN 9780801439773</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003598X00112980|doi = 10.1017/S0003598X00112980|title = The beginnings of Slavic settlement east of the river Elbe|year = 2004|last1 = Brather|first1 = Sebastian|journal = Antiquity|volume = 78|issue = 300|pages = 314–329| s2cid=163828473 }}</ref>

[[File:Raddusch 07-2017 img01.jpg|thumb|The reconstructed Lusatian ''[[gord (archaeology)|gord]]'' (fortification) of Raduš (Raddusch), near [[Vetschau]], in [[Lower Lusatia]]]]
The ''Annales Regni Francorum'' state that in 806 Sorbian Duke [[Miliduch]] fought against the Franks and was killed. In 840, Sorbian Duke [[Czimislav]] was killed. From the 9th century was organized [[Sorbian March]] by the [[East Francia]] and from the 10th century the [[Saxon Eastern March]] ([[Margravate of Meissen]]) and [[March of Lusatia]] by the [[Holy Roman Empire]]. In 932, the German king [[Henry I the Fowler|Henry I]] conquered [[Lusatia]] and [[Upper Lusatia|Milsko]]. [[Gero]], [[Margrave]] of the Saxon Eastern March, reconquered Lusatia the following year and, in 939, murdered 30 Sorbian princes during a feast.<ref>*{{cite journal |last=Pech |first=Edmund |date=2015 |title=Milzener, Lusizer und Glomaci-Daleminzer Kontroversen zur frühen Geschichte der Sorben |trans-title=Milceni, Luzici and Glomaci-Daleminci. Controversies concerning the early History of the Sorbs |url=https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=296311 |journal=LĚTOPIS. Zeitschrift für sorbische Sprache, Geschichte und Kultur. Časopis za rěč, stawizny a kulturu Łužiskich Serbow |issue=2 |pages=129}}</ref> As a result, there were many Sorbian uprisings against German rule. A reconstructed castle, at Raddusch in Lower Lusatia, is the sole physical remnant from this early period.

===High and Late Middle Ages===
In 1002, the Sorbs came under the rule of their Slavic relatives, the Poles, when [[Bolesław I of Poland]] took over Lusatia. Following the subsequent [[German–Polish War (1003–1018)|German–Polish War of 1003–1018]], the [[Peace of Bautzen]] confirmed Lusatia as part of Poland; but, it returned to German rule in 1031. In the 1070s, southern Lusatia, passed into the hands of the Sorbs' other Slavic relatives, the Czechs, within their [[Duchy of Bohemia]]. There was a dense network of dynastic and diplomatic relations between German and Slavic feudal lords, e.g. [[Wiprecht of Groitzsch]] (a German) rose to power through close links with the Bohemian (Czech) king and marriage to the king's daughter. 

The [[Kingdom of Bohemia]] eventually became a politically influential member of the [[Holy Roman Empire]] but was in a constant power-struggle with neighbouring Poland. In the following centuries, at various times, parts of Lusatia passed to [[Piast dynasty|Piast]]-ruled fragmented Poland. In the German-ruled parts, Sorbs were ousted from [[guild]]s, the Sorbian language was banned and [[Ostsiedlung|German colonisation]] and Germanisation policies were enacted.{{sfn|Golecka|2003|p=57}}

From the 11th to the 15th century, agriculture in Lusatia developed and colonization by Frankish, Flemish and Saxon settlers intensified. This can still be seen today from the names of local villages which geographically form a patchwork of typical German (ending on -dorf, -thal etc.) and typical Slavic origin (ending on -witz, -ow etc.), indicating the language originally spoken by its inhabitants, although some of the present German names may be of later origin from the time of planned name changes to erase Slavic origin, especially in the 1920s and 1930s. In 1327 the first prohibitions on using Sorbian before courts and in administrative affairs in the cities of [[Altenburg]], [[Zwickau]] and [[Leipzig]] appeared. Speaking Sorbian in family and business contexts was, however, not banned, as it did not involve the functioning of the administration. Also the village communities and the village administration usually kept operating in Sorbian.

===Early modern period===
[[File:Wendische kirche senftenberg 2018-04-07 (2).jpg|thumb|Sorbian church in [[Senftenberg]] (Zły Komorow)]]
From 1376 to 1469 and from 1490 to 1635 Lusatia was part of the [[Lands of the Bohemian Crown]] under the rule of the houses of [[House of Luxembourg|Luxembourg]], [[Jagiellonian dynasty|Jagiellon]] and [[House of Habsburg|Habsburg]] and other kings, whereas from 1469 to 1490 it was ruled by King [[Matthias Corvinus]] of Hungary. Under Bohemian (Czech) rule, Sorbs were allowed to return to cities, offices and crafts, Germanisation significantly reduced and the Sorbian language could be used in public.{{sfn|Golecka|2003|p=58}} From the beginning of the 16th century the whole Sorbian-inhabited area, with the exception of Bohemian-ruled Lusatia, underwent [[Germanization]].

During the [[Thirty Years' War]], in 1635, Lusatia became a [[fiefdom]] of [[Electorate of Saxony|Saxon electors]], but it retained a considerable autonomy and largely its own legal system (see [[Lusatian League]]). The Thirty Years' War and the [[second plague pandemic|plague of the 17th century]] caused terrible devastation in Lusatia. This led to further German colonization and Germanization.

In 1667 the Prince of [[Brandenburg]], Frederick Wilhelm, ordered the immediate destruction of all Sorbian printed materials and banned saying masses in this language. At the same time the [[Evangelical Church in Germany|Evangelical Church]] supported printing Sorbian religious literature as a means of fighting the [[Counterreformation]]. With the formation of the Polish-Saxon union in 1697, Polish-Sorbian contacts resumed, and Poles influenced the Sorbs' national and cultural activities (see ''Relationship with Poland'' below). With the [[Age of Enlightenment]], the Sorbian national revival began and resistance to Germanization emerged.{{sfn|Matyniak|1968|p=241}} In 1706 the Sorbian Seminary, the main centre for the education of Sorbian [[Catholic]] priests, was founded in [[Prague]].{{sfn|Matyniak|1968|p=241}} Sorbian preaching societies were founded by [[Evangelism|Evangelical]] students in [[Leipzig]] and [[Wittenberg]] in 1716 and 1749, respectively.{{sfn|Matyniak|1968|p=241}}

===Late modern period===
[[File:Bramborski Serbski Casnik.jpg|thumb|upright|First issue of the ''Bramborski Serbski Casnik'' Sorbian newspaper, 1848]]
The [[Congress of Vienna]], in 1815, divided Lusatia between [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussia]] and [[Kingdom of Saxony|Saxony]]. More and more bans on the use of [[Sorbian languages]] appeared from then until 1835 in Prussia and Saxony; emigration of the Sorbs, mainly to the town of [[Serbin, Texas|Serbin]] in [[Texas]] and to Australia, increased. In 1848, 5000 Sorbs signed a petition to the Saxon Government, in which they demanded equality for the Sorbian language with the German one in churches, courts, schools and Government departments. From 1871 the whole of Lusatia became a part of united Germany and was divided between two parts; Prussia ([[Province of Silesia|Silesia]] and [[Province of Brandenburg|Brandenburg]]), and Saxony.

In 1871 the industrialization of the region and German immigration began; official Germanization intensified. Persecution of the Sorbs under German rule became increasingly harsh throughout the 19th century. Slavs were labeled inferior to Germanic peoples, and in 1875, the use of Sorbian was banned in German schools. As a result, almost the entire Sorbian population was bilingual by the end of the 19th century.{{Efn|name=Remus|"[A]nti-Sorbian policies throughout the Sorbian area of settlement got increasingly aggressive and, unsurprisingly, saw their climax under Nazi rule. Sorbs were declared to be "Wendish-speaking Germans" and a "Wendenabteilung was established to monitor the process of assimilation..."{{sfn|Remus|2014|p=4}} }}
[[File:Braugasse 1 HY.JPG|thumb|The place where [[Domowina]] was founded in [[Hoyerswerda]] (''Wojerecy'') in 1912]]

During [[World War I]], one of the most venerated [[Kingdom of Serbia|Serbian generals]] was [[Pavle Jurišić Šturm|Pavle Jurišić Šturm (Paul Sturm)]], a Sorb from [[Görlitz]], [[Province of Silesia]].{{Citation needed|date=January 2023}}

===Interbellum and World War II===
{{Main|Anti-Slavic sentiment}}
Although the [[Weimar Republic]] guaranteed constitutional minority rights, it did not practice them.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Schönwälder |first=Karen |date=1996 |title=The Constitutional Protection of Minorities in Germany: Weimar Revisited |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4211979 |journal=The Slavonic and East European Review |volume=74 |issue=1 |pages=38–65 |jstor=4211979 |issn=0037-6795}}</ref>

Under [[Nazi Germany]], Sorbians were described as a German tribe who spoke a Slavic language. Sorbian costume, culture, customs, and the language was said to be no indication of a non-German origin. The Reich declared that there were truly no "Sorbs" or "Lusatians", only Wendish-speaking Germans. As such, while the Sorbs were largely safe from the Reich's policies of ethnic cleansing, the cultivation of "Wendish" customs and traditions was to be encouraged in a controlled manner and it was expected that the Slavic language would decline due to natural causes. Young Sorbs enlisted in the [[Wehrmacht]] and were sent to the front. The entangled lives of the Sorbs during [[World War II]] are exemplified by the life stories of [[Mina Witkojc]], {{Wikidata fallback link|Q159956}}<!---[[Měrčin Nowak-Njechorński]]--> and [[Jan Skala]].

Persecution of the Sorbs reached its climax under the Nazis, who attempted to completely assimilate and [[Germanization|Germanize]] them. Their distinct identity and culture and Slavic origins were denied by referring to them as "Wendish-speaking Germans". Under Nazi rule, the Sorbian language and practice of Sorbian culture was banned, Sorbian and Slavic place-names were changed to German ones,{{sfn|Golecka|2003|p=61}} Sorbian books and printing presses were destroyed, Sorbian organizations and newspapers were banned, Sorbian libraries and archives were closed, and Sorbian teachers and clerics were deported to German-speaking areas and replaced with German-speaking teachers and clerics. Leading figures in the Sorbian community were forcibly isolated from their community or simply arrested.{{Efn|name=Ramet|"Sorbs inhabiting Upper and Lower Lusatia, whose distinct identity and culture were simply denied by the Nazis, who described them as “Wendish-speaking” Germans and who, toward the end of the war, considered moving the Sorbs en masse to the mining districts of Alsace-Lorraine.".{{sfn|Ramet|2016|p=227}} }}{{Efn|name=Pynsent|"The Nazis intended to assimilate and permanently germanize these 'Wendish-speaking Germans' through integration into the 'National Socialist national community' and through the forbidding of the Sorbian language and manifestations of Sorbian culture, Sorbian and Slav place-names and local names of topographical features (fields, hills and so forth) were germanized, Sorbian books and printing presses confiscated and destroyed, Sorbian schoolteachers and clerics removed and put in German-speaking schools and parishes, and representatives of Sorbian cultural life were either forcibly isolated from their fellows or arrested."{{sfn|Pynsent|2000|p=115}} }}{{Efn|name=The Group|"[A]fter 1933, under the Nazi regime, the Sorbian community suffered severe repression, and their organizations were banned. Indeed, the very existence of the ethnic group was denied and replaced by the theory of the Sorbs as 'Slavic speaking Germans'. Plans were made to re-settle the Sorbian population in Alsace in order to resolve the 'Lusatian question'. The 12 years of Nazi dictatorship was a heavy blow for a separate Sorbian identity."{{sfn|The Group|1993|p=32}} }}{{Efn|"They pressed Sorbian associations to join Nazi organizations, often with Success, and the Domowina received an ultimatum to adopt a statute which defined it as a 'League of Wendish-speaking Germans'.” But the Domowina insisted upon the Slavonic character of the Sorbs. In March 1937 the Nazis forbade the Domowina and the Sorbian papers, all teaching in Sorbian was discontinued, and Sorbian books were removed from the school libraries."{{sfn|Zank|1998|p=173}} }}{{Efn|"[T]he programmatic re-invention of the Sorbian minority as wen- dischsprechende Deutsche under the Nazi regime..."{{sfn|Glaser|2007|p=275}} }} The Sorbian national anthem and flag were banned.{{sfn|Golecka|2003|p=60}} The specific ''Wendenabteilung'' was established to monitor the assimilation of the Sorbs.{{Efn|name=Remus}}

Towards the end of World War II, the Nazis considered the deportation of the entire Sorbian population to the mining districts of [[Alsace-Lorraine]].{{Efn|name=Ramet}}{{Efn|name=The Group}}

===East Germany===
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-R1012-0127, Berlin, Palast der Republik, Tanzgruppe.jpg|thumb|A Sorbian dance performance at the [[Palace of the Republic, Berlin]] (East German parliament), 1976]]
The first Lusatian cities were captured in April 1945, when the [[Red Army]] and the [[Second Army (Poland)|Polish Second Army]] crossed the river [[Kwisa|Queis]] (Kwisa). The defeat of [[Nazi Germany]] changed the Sorbs’ situation considerably. The regions in [[East Germany]] (the German Democratic Republic) faced heavy industrialisation and a large influx of [[Expulsion of Germans after World War II|expelled Germans]].{{Citation needed|date=January 2018}} The East German authorities tried to counteract this development by creating a broad range of Sorbian institutions. The Sorbs were officially recognized as an ethnic minority, more than 100 Sorbian schools and several academic institutions were founded, the [[Domowina]] and its associated societies were re-established and a Sorbian theatre was created. Owing to the suppression of the church and forced collectivization, however, these efforts were severely affected and consequently over time the number of people speaking Sorbian languages decreased by half.

The relationship between the Sorbs and the government of East Germany was not without occasional difficulties, mainly because of the high levels of religious observance and resistance to the nationalisation of agriculture. During the compulsory collectivization campaign, a great many unprecedented incidents were reported. Thus, throughout the [[Uprising of 1953 in East Germany]], violent clashes with the police were reported in Lusatia. A small uprising took place in three upper communes of Błot. There were also tensions between German and Sorbian parents in the 1950s and early 1960s, as many German families protested the state policy of mandatory instruction of the Sorbian language in schools located in bilingual areas.  As a consequence of the tensions, which split the local SED, Sorbian language classes were no longer mandatory after 1964, and a temporary but sharp decline in the number of learners occurred immediately thereafter. The number of learners increased again after 1968, when new regulations were adopted giving Domowina a greater role in consulting parents of schoolchildren. The number of learners did not decrease again until after German reunification.<ref>{{cite book |last=Dolowy-Rybinska |first=Nicole |author-link= |date=2023 |title=Upper Sorbian Language Policy in Education: Bringing the Language Back, or Bringing It Forward? |url= |location= |publisher=Brill |page=43 |isbn= 978-9004510746}}</ref>

Sorbs experienced greater representation in the German Democratic Republic than under any other German government. Domowina had status as a constituent member organization of the [[National Front of the German Democratic Republic|National Front]], and a number of Sorbs were members of the [[Volkskammer]] and [[State Council of East Germany]]. Notable Sorbian figures of the period include Domowina Chairmen [[Jurij Grós]] and [[Kurt Krjeńc]], State Council member [[Maria Schneider (politician)|Maria Schneider]], and writer and three-time recipient of the [[National Prize of the German Democratic Republic]] [[Jurij Brězan]].<ref>{{cite book |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=1973 |title=Absees: Soviet and East European Abstracts Series, Volume 4 |url= |location= |publisher=Oxford Microform Publications Limited |page=182 |isbn=}}</ref> 

In 1973, Domowina reported that 2,130 municipal councillors, 119 burgomasters, and more than 3,500 members of commissions and local bodies in East Germany were ethnic Sorbs registered with the organization.<ref>{{cite book |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=1973 |title=Absees: Soviet and East European Abstracts Series, Volume 4 |url= |location= |publisher=Oxford Microform Publications Limited |page=182 |isbn=}}</ref> Additionally, there was a seat reserved for a Sorbian representative in the Central Council of the [[Free German Youth]], the mass organization for young people in East Germany, and magazines for both the FDJ and the [[Ernst Thälmann Pioneer Organisation]] were published in the Sorbian language on a regular basis under the titles ''Chorhoj Měra'' and ''Plomjo'', respectively.<ref>{{cite book |last=Plum |first=Catherine |author-link= |date=2015 |title=Antifascism After Hitler: East German Youth and Socialist Memory, 1949-1989 |url= |location= |publisher=Routledge |page=51 |isbn= 978-1317599289}}</ref> As of 1989, there were nine schools with exclusively Sorbian language instruction, eighty-five schools that offered Sorbian-language instruction, ten Sorbian-language periodicals, and one daily newspaper.<ref>{{cite book |last=Ramet |first=Sabrina |author-link= |date=1995 |title=Social Currents in Eastern Europe: The Sources and Consequences of the Great Transformation|url= |location= |publisher=Duke University Press |page=69 |isbn= 0822315483}}</ref>

===After reunification===
{{multiple image |align=right |caption_align=center |total_width=340
| image1=Budyšin Serbski Dom.JPG
| image2=Am Schillerplatz03.jpg
| footer="[[Serbski dom|Houses of the Sorbs]]" (''Serbski dom''), chief Sorbian cultural institutions in [[Bautzen]] and [[Cottbus]]
}}
After the reunification of Germany on 3 October 1990, Lusatians made efforts to create an autonomous administrative unit; however, [[Helmut Kohl]]’s government did not agree to it.{{Citation needed|date=October 2021}}  After 1989, the Sorbian movement revived, however, it still encounters many obstacles. Although Germany supports national minorities, Sorbs claim that their aspirations are not sufficiently fulfilled.{{Citation needed|date=January 2011}} The desire to unite Lusatia in one of the federal states has not been taken into consideration. [[Upper Lusatia]] still belongs to Saxony and [[Lower Lusatia]] to Brandenburg. Liquidations of Sorbian schools, even in areas mostly populated by Sorbs, still happen, under the pretext of financial difficulties or demolition of whole villages to create [[lignite]] quarries.{{Citation needed|date=November 2013}}

Faced with growing threat of cultural extinction, the Domowina issued a memorandum in March 2008<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.domowina.sorben.com/pm/memorandum08.htm|title=DOMOWINA - Medijowe wozjewjenje - Pressemitteilung- Press release|work=sorben.com|access-date=18 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303204939/http://www.domowina.sorben.com/pm/memorandum08.htm|archive-date=2016-03-03|url-status=dead}}</ref> and called for "help and protection against the growing threat of their cultural extinction, since an ongoing conflict between the German government, Saxony and Brandenburg about the financial distribution of help blocks the financing of almost all Sorbian institutions". The memorandum also demands a reorganisation of competence by ceding responsibility from the [[States of Germany|Länder]] to the federal government and an expanded legal status. The call has been issued to all governments and heads of state of the [[European Union]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.tagesspiegel.de/politik/international/Kulturhoheit;art123,2489719|title=Kulturhoheit: Sorben bitten Europa um Hilfe - International - Politik - Tagesspiegel|work=tagesspiegel.de|date=7 March 2008|access-date=18 March 2015}}</ref>

Dawid Statnik, president of Domowina, the umbrella association of Sorbs in Germany, said in an interview with [[Der Tagesspiegel|Tagesspiegel]] that he considers it dangerous that the AFD defines the issue of German citizens through an ethnic aspect. He believes that there is a concrete danger for the Sorbs if the [[Alternative for Germany|AfD]] enters the governments of the federal states of Brandenburg and Saxony in the autumn elections.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lužički Srbi strahuju od uspjeha AfD-a |url=https://www.index.hr/clanak.aspx?id=2579540 |access-date=2024-07-27 |website=www.index.hr |language=hr}}</ref>