Editing Sorbs (section)

====Early 20th century====
[[File:Klettwitz kath. Kirche Herz Jesu.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Sacred Heart church in [[Klettwitz]] (Klěśišća), built by Polish Catholics in the 1900s<ref name=lpn/>]]
In the early 20th century, Polish slavist and professor {{ill|Henryk Ułaszyn|pl|v=sup}} met several prominent Sorbs, including [[Jan Skala]], [[Jakub Bart-Ćišinski]] and [[Arnošt Muka]].{{sfn|Lewaszkiewicz|2015|pp=91–92}}

After [[World War I]] and the restoration of independent Poland, Polish linguist [[Jan Baudouin de Courtenay]] supported the Sorbs' right to self-determination and demanded that the [[League of Nations]] assume protection over them.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Orzechowski|first=Marian|year=1976|title=Kwestia serbołużycka w polskiej myśli politycznej w latach 1939–1947|journal=Śląski Kwartalnik Historyczny Sobótka|publisher=Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich, Wydawnictwo [[Polish Academy of Sciences|Polskiej Akademii Nauk]]|location=Wrocław|language=pl|volume=XXXI|issue=2|page=379}}</ref> In the interbellum, the Poles and Sorbs in Germany closely cooperated as part of the [[Association of National Minorities in Germany]], established at the initiative of the [[Union of Poles in Germany]] in 1924. Sorbian journalist, poet and activist [[Jan Skala]] was a member of the press headquarters of the Union of Poles in Germany, and was one of the authors of the ''Leksykon Polactwa w Niemczech'' ("Lexicon of Poles in Germany").<ref>{{cite journal|last=Smołka|first=Leonard|year=1978|title=Centrala prasowa Związku Polaków w Niemczech (1923–1939)|journal=Kwartalnik Historii Prasy Polskiej|language=pl|volume=XVII|issue=2|pages=52, 59}}</ref> In 1935–1936, Sorb Jurij Cyž was employed as a legal advisor of the First District of the Union of Poles in Germany, before he left for Poland under pressure of the Nazi authorities of Germany.{{sfn|Pałys|2008|p=133}} There were also notable Polish communities in Lusatia, such as [[Klettwitz]] ({{langx|hsb|link=no|Klěśišća}}, {{langx|pl|link=no|Kletwice}}).<ref name=lpn>{{cite book|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Leksykon Polactwa w Niemczech|year=1939|language=pl|publisher=Związek Polaków w Niemczech|location=Opole|page=364}}</ref>

In Poland, Antoni Ludwiczak, founder of the [[folk high school]] in [[Dalki, Gniezno]], offered Sorbs five tuition-free spots for each course at the school, however, after the [[Nazi Party]] came to power in Germany in 1933, enrollment of Sorbs in the school was almost completely halted.{{sfn|Lewaszkiewicz|2015|p=93}} Several Sorbs studied in Poland in the interbellum.{{sfn|Lewaszkiewicz|2015|p=94}} In 1930, the Association of Friends of the Sorbs was established in Poznań with Henryk Ułaszyn as its president.{{sfn|Lewaszkiewicz|2015|p=92}} Similar associations, the Polish Association of Friends of the Sorbian Nation (''Polskie Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Narodu Łużyckiego'') at the [[University of Warsaw]] and the Association of Friends of Lusatia (''Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Łużyc'') in [[Katowice]] were established in 1936.{{sfn|Pałys|2008|p=133}} The Warsaw-based organization gathered people not only from the university. Its president was Professor Stanisław Słoński, and the deputy president was Julia Wieleżyńska. The association was a legal entity. The association in Warsaw issued the Polish-language ''Biuletyn Serbo-Łużycki'' ("Sorbian Newsletter"), which reported on Serbian affairs. The association in Katowice was led by {{ill|Karol Grzesik|pl|Karol Grzesik (1890–1940)}}, who was murdered by the Russians in the [[Katyn massacre]] during [[World War II]].{{sfn|Pałys|2008|pp=133–134}}<ref>{{cite book|title=Listy katyńskiej ciąg dalszy. Straceni na Ukrainie.|year=1994|location=Warszawa|publisher=Niezależny Komitet Historyczny Badania Zbrodni Katyńskiej, Polska Fundacja Katyńska, Centralna Biblioteka Wojskowa|page=30|language=pl}}</ref>

[[File:Pomnik.Jana.Skali-Namyslow.JPG|thumb|upright|[[Jan Skala]] monument in [[Namysłów]], Poland]]
During [[World War II]], the Poles postulated that after the defeat of Germany, the Sorbs should be allowed free national development either within the borders of Poland or Czechoslovakia, or as an independent Sorbian state in alliance with Poland.<ref>Orzechowski, pp. 380–381</ref> On 22 January 1945, Jan Skala was murdered by a Soviet soldier in [[Dziedzice, Namysłów County|Dziedzice]], and his grave at the local cemetery is now a [[Cultural property protection in Poland|Polish protected cultural heritage monument]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://zabytek.pl/pl/obiekty/g-254345|title=Grób Jana Skali|website=Zabytek.pl|author=Joanna Banik|access-date=5 November 2023|language=pl}}</ref> There is also a memorial to Skala in nearby [[Namysłów]]. In 1945, Polish troops fought against German forces in several battles in Lusatia, including the largest [[Battle of Bautzen (1945)|Battle of Bautzen]]. There are memorials to Polish soldiers in Bautzen (''Budyšin''), [[Crostwitz]] (''Chrósćicy'') and [[Königswartha]] (''Rakecy'') with inscriptions in Sorbian, Polish and German.

After 1945, the Sorbs that historically lived in the eastern part of Lusatia (now again part of Poland) were [[Flight and expulsion of Germans from Poland during and after World War II|expelled]], as they were German citizens. Eastern Lusatia was resettled by Poles expelled from [[Territories of Poland annexed by the Soviet Union|former eastern Poland annexed by the Soviet Union]] and has by now lost its Sorbian identity.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.bpb.de/apuz/304341/verwaistes-erbe-die-lausitz-und-die-sorbische-kultur-in-polen | title=Verwaistes Erbe | date=31 January 2020 }}</ref>