Editing Silesia (section)

===Demographics===
Silesia has been historically diverse in every aspect. Nowadays, the largest part of Silesia is located in Poland; it is often cited as one of the most diverse regions in that country.

The United States Immigration Commission, in its ''Dictionary of Races or Peoples'' (published in 1911, during a period of intense immigration from Silesia to the United States), considered Silesian as a geographical (not ethnic) term, denoting the inhabitants of Silesia. It is also mentioned the existence of both Polish Silesian and German Silesian dialects in that region.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/stream/dictionaryofrace00unitrich#page/128/mode/1up/search/Silesian|title=Dictionary of Races or Peoples|last1=Dillingham|first1=William Paul|last2=Folkmar|first2=Daniel|last3=Folkmar|first3=Elnora|publisher=Washington, Government Printing Office|year=1911|location=Washington, D.C.|pages=128}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/stream/dictionaryofrace00unitrich#page/105/mode/1up|title=Dictionary of Races or Peoples|last1=Dillingham|first1=William Paul|last2=Folkmar|first2=Daniel|last3=Folkmar|first3=Elnora|publisher=Washington, Government Printing Office|others=United States. Immigration Commission (1907–1910)|year=1911|location=Washington, D.C.|pages=105, 128}}</ref>

[[File:Polskie-nazwy śląskich miejscowosci z patentu Fryderyka II 1750.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|Polish names of Silesian cities, from a 1750 Prussian official document published in [[Berlin]] during the [[Silesian Wars]]<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.sbc.org.pl/dlibra/doccontent?id=26222&from=FBC |title=Śląska Biblioteka Cyfrowa – biblioteka cyfrowa regionu śląskiego – Wznowione powszechne taxae-stolae sporządzenie, Dla samowładnego Xięstwa Sląska, Podług ktorego tak Auszpurskiey Konfessyi iak Katoliccy Fararze, Kaznodzieie i Kuratusowie Zachowywać się powinni. Sub Dato z Berlina, d. 8. Augusti 1750 |journal=225240 IV |publisher=Sbc.org.pl |access-date=20 November 2013}}</ref>]]

====Ethnicity====
Modern Silesia is inhabited by [[Polish people|Poles]], [[Silesians]], [[ethnic Germans|Germans]], and [[Czechs]]. Germans first came to Silesia during the [[Late Middle Ages|Late Medieval]] [[Ostsiedlung]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_CqpCAAAAIAAJ|title=Die Verbreitung und die Herkunft der Deutschen in Schlesien|last=Weinhold|first=Karl|publisher=J. Engelhorn|year=1887|location=Stuttgart|language=de|trans-title=The Spread and the Origin of Germans in Silesia}}</ref> The last Polish census of 2011 showed that the Silesians are the largest ethnic or national minority in Poland, Germans being the second; both groups are located mostly in Upper Silesia. The Czech part of Silesia is inhabited by Czechs, [[Moravians (ethnic group)|Moravians]], Silesians, and [[Polish minority in the Czech Republic|Poles]].

In the early 19th century the population of the [[Province of Silesia|Prussian part of Silesia]] was between 2/3 and 3/4 German-speaking, between 1/5 and 1/3 Polish-speaking, with [[Sorbs]], [[Czechs]], [[Moravians]] and Jews forming other smaller minorities (see Table 1. below).

Before the Second World War, Silesia was inhabited mostly by Germans, with Poles a large minority, forming a majority in [[Upper Silesia]].<ref name="Gumpert">{{cite book|title=Polen, Deutschland|author=Jobst Gumpert|publisher=Callwey |year= 1966|pages=138|language = de}}</ref> Silesia was also the home of Czech and Jewish minorities. The German population tended to be based in the urban centres and in the rural areas to the north and west, whilst the Polish population was mostly rural and could be found in the east and in the south.<ref>Hunt Tooley, T (1997). ''National Identity and Weimar Germany: Upper Silesia and the Eastern Border, 1918–1922,'' University of Nebraska Press, p.17.</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|+Table 1. Ethno-linguistic structure of [[Province of Silesia|Prussian Silesia]] in years 1787–1823
!Ethnic group
!acc. G. Hassel in 1819<ref name="Georg Hassel"/>
!'''%'''
!acc. S. Plater in 1823<ref>{{Cite book|title=Jeografia wschodniey części Europy czyli opis krajów przez wielorakie narody sławiańskie zamieszkanych obeymujący Prussy, Xięztwo Poznańskie, Szląsk Pruski, Gallicyą, Rzeczpospolitę Krakowską, Królestwo Polskie i Litwę.|last=Plater|first=Stanisław|publisher=Wilhelm Bogumił Korn|year=1825|location=Wrocław|pages=60|language=pl}}</ref>
!'''%'''
!acc. T. Ładogórski in 1787<ref>{{Cite book|title=Ludność, in: Historia Śląska, vol. II: 1763–1850, part 1: 1763–1806|last=Ładogórski|first=Tadeusz|publisher=edited by W. Długoborski|year=1966|location=Wrocław|pages=150|language=pl}}</ref>
!'''%'''
|-
|'''Germans'''
|1,561,570
|'''75.6'''
|1,550,000
|'''70.5'''
|1,303,300
|'''74.6'''
|-
|'''Poles'''
|444,000
|'''21.5'''
|600,000
|'''27.3'''
|401,900
|'''23.0'''
|-
|'''Sorbs'''
|24,500
|'''1.2'''
|30,000
|'''1.4'''
|900
|'''0.1'''
|-
|'''Czechs'''
|5,500
|'''0.3'''
|
|
|32,600
|'''1.9'''
|-
|'''Moravians'''
|12,000
|'''0.6'''
|
|
|
|
|-
|'''Jews'''
|16,916
|'''0.8'''
|20,000
|'''0.9'''
|8,900
|'''0.5'''
|-
|'''Population'''
|'''c. 2.1&nbsp;million'''
|'''100'''
|'''c. 2.2&nbsp;million'''
|'''100'''
|'''c. 1.8&nbsp;million'''
|'''100'''
|}

Ethnic structure of Prussian [[Upper Silesia]] ([[Opole]] regency) during the 19th century and the early 20th century can be found in Table 2.:

{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed"
!! colspan="18" | Table 2. Numbers of Polish, German and other inhabitants (Regierungsbezirk Oppeln)<ref name="Georg Hassel">{{cite book |author=Georg Hassel |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=31DMAJgQV28C&pg=PA34 |title=Statistischer Umriß der sämmtlichen europäischen und der vornehmsten außereuropäischen Staaten, in Hinsicht ihrer Entwickelung, Größe, Volksmenge, Finanz- und Militärverfassung, tabellarisch dargestellt; Erster Heft: Welcher die beiden großen Mächte Österreich und Preußen und den Deutschen Staatenbund darstellt |publisher=Verlag des Geographischen Instituts Weimar |year=1823 |pages=33–34 |language=de |quote=}}</ref><ref name="Paul Weber1">{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/diepoleninobersc00webeuoft|title=Die Polen in Oberschlesien: eine statistische Untersuchung|author=Paul Weber|publisher=Verlagsbuchhandlung von Julius Springer|year=1913|location=Berlin|language=de}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Kalisch|first1=Johannes|last2=Bochinski|first2=Hans|date=1958|title=Stosunki narodowościowe na Śląsku w świetle relacji pruskich urzędników z roku 1882|url=http://sobotka.uni.wroc.pl/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Sobotka_13_1958_43-58.pdf|journal=Śląski Kwartalnik Historyczny Sobótka|location=Leipzig|volume=13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200201215644/http://sobotka.uni.wroc.pl/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Sobotka_13_1958_43-58.pdf|archive-date=1 February 2020}}</ref>
|-
!Year
!1819
!1831
!1834
!1837
!1840
!1843
!1846
!1852
!1855
!1858
!1861
!1867
!1890
!1900
!1905
!1910
|-
| '''''Polish'''''
|377,100
'''(67.2%)'''
| 418,837
'''(62.0%)'''
|468,691
'''(62.6%)'''
| 495,362
'''(62.1%)'''
| 525,395
'''(58.6%)'''
| 540,402
'''(58.1%)'''
| 568,582
'''(58.1%)'''
| 584,293
'''(58.6%)'''
|590,248
'''(58.7%)'''
| 612,849
'''(57.3%)'''
| 665,865
'''(59.1%)'''
| 742,153
'''(59.8%)'''
| 918,728 '''(58.2%)'''
| 1,048,230 '''(56.1%)'''
| 1,158,805 '''(57.0%)'''
| Census, monolingual Polish: '''1,169,340''' '''(53.0%)'''<ref name="Paul Weber2">{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/diepoleninobersc00webeuoft|title=Die Polen in Oberschlesien: eine statistische Untersuchung|author=Paul Weber|publisher=Verlagsbuchhandlung von Julius Springer|year=1913|location=Berlin|page=27|language=de}}</ref>
'''or up to''' '''1,560,000''' together with bilinguals
|-
| '''''German'''''
|162,600
'''(29.0%)'''
| 257,852
'''(36.1%)'''
|266,399
'''(35.6%)'''
| 290,168
'''(36.3%)'''
| 330,099
'''(36.8%)'''
| 348,094
'''(37.4%)'''
| 364,175
'''(37.2%)'''
| 363,990
'''(36.5%)'''
|366,562
'''(36.5%)'''
| 406,950
'''(38.1%)'''
| 409,218
'''(36.3%)'''
| 457,545
'''(36.8%)'''
| 566,523 '''(35.9%)'''
| 684,397 '''(36.6%)'''
| 757,200 '''(37.2%)'''
|'''884,045''' '''(40.0%)'''
|-
|'''''Other'''''
|21,503
'''(3.8%)'''
|13,254
'''(1.9%)'''
|13,120
'''(1.8%)'''
|12,679
'''(1.6%)'''
|41,570
'''(4.6%)'''
|42,292
'''(4.5%)'''
|45,736
'''(4.7%)'''
|49,445
'''(4.9%)'''
|48,270
'''(4.8%)'''
|49,037
'''(4.6%)'''
|51,187
'''(4.6%)'''
|41,611
'''(3.4%)'''
|92,480
'''(5.9%)'''
|135,519
'''(7.3%)'''
|117,651
'''(5.8%)'''
|Total population: 2,207,981
|}
The [[Austrian Silesia|Austrian part of Silesia]] had a mixed German, Polish and Czech population, with Polish-speakers forming a majority in [[Cieszyn Silesia]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Geschichte des deutsch-slawischen Sprachkontaktes im Teschener Schlesien|last=Chromik|first=Grzegorz|isbn=978-3-88246-398-9|pages=258–322|language=de}}</ref>

====Religion====
[[File:Verbreitung der Konfessionen im deutschen Reich.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|Confessions in the German Empire (Protestant/Catholic; c. 1890). Lower Silesia was mostly Protestant, while Glatz ([[Kłodzko]]) and Upper Silesia were mostly Catholic.]]
Historically, Silesia was about equally split between [[Protestants]] (overwhelmingly [[Lutherans]]) and [[Roman Catholics]]. In an 1890 census taken in the German part, Roman Catholics made up a slight majority of 53%, while the remaining 47% were almost entirely Lutheran.<ref>[[Meyers Konversations-Lexikon|Meyers Konversationslexikon]] 5. Auflage</ref> Geographically speaking, Lower Silesia was mostly Lutheran except for the [[Kłodzko Land|Glatzer Land]] (now [[Kłodzko County]]). Upper Silesia was mostly Roman Catholic except for some of its northwestern parts, which were predominantly Lutheran. Generally speaking, the population was mostly Protestant in the western parts, and it tended to be more Roman Catholic the further east one went. In Upper Silesia, Protestants were concentrated in larger cities and often identified as German. After World War II, the religious demographics changed drastically as Germans, who constituted the bulk of the Protestant population, [[Flight and expulsion of Germans|were forcibly expelled]]. Poles, who were mostly Roman Catholic, were resettled in their place. Today, Silesia remains predominantly Roman Catholic.

Existing since the 12th century,<ref>Demshuk, A (2012) The Lost German East: Forced Migration and the Politics of Memory, 1945–1970, Cambridge University Press P40</ref> Silesia's Jewish community was concentrated around Wrocław and Upper Silesia, and numbered 48,003 (1.1% of the population) in 1890, decreasing to 44,985 persons (0.9%) by 1910.<ref>Kamusella, T (2007). ''Silesia and Central European nationalisms: the emergence of national and ethnic groups in Prussian Silesia and Austrian Silesia, 1848–1918,'' Purdue University Press, p.173.</ref> In Polish East Upper Silesia, the number of Jews was around 90,000–100,000.<ref>Christopher R. Browning (2000). ''Nazi Policy, Jewish Workers, German Killers,'' Cambridge University Press, 2000, p.147.</ref> Historically, the community had suffered a number of localised expulsions such as their 1453 expulsion from [[Wrocław]].<ref>van Straten, J (2011) The Origin of Ashkenazi Jewry: The Controversy Unravelled, Walter de Gruyter P58</ref> From 1712 to 1820 a succession of men held the title Chief Rabbi of Silesia ("Landesrabbiner"): Naphtali ha-Kohen (1712–16); Samuel ben Naphtali (1716–22); Ḥayyim Jonah Te'omim (1722–1727); Baruch b. Reuben Gomperz (1733–54); Joseph Jonas Fränkel (1754–93); Jeremiah Löw Berliner (1793–99); Lewin Saul Fränkel (1800–7); [[Aaron Karfunkel]] (1807–16); and Abraham ben Gedaliah Tiktin (1816–20).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/7747-hirschberg |title=Silesia |author=<!--Not stated--> |website=1906 Jewish Encyclopedia |publisher=JewishEncyclopedia.com |access-date=6 December 2017}}</ref>

====Consequences of World War II====
After the German invasion of Poland in 1939, following [[Racial policy of Nazi Germany|Nazi racial policy]], the Jewish population of Silesia was subjected to Nazi genocide with executions performed by Einsatzgruppe z. B.V. led by [[Udo von Woyrsch]] and Einsatzgruppe I led by [[Bruno Streckenbach]],<ref>Popularna encyklopedia powszechna – Volume 10 – Page 660 Magdalena Olkuśnik, Elżbieta Wójcik – 2001 Streckenbach Bruno (1902–1977), funkcjonariusz niem. państwa nazistowskiego, Gruppenfuhrer SS. Od 1933 szef policji po- lit w Hamburgu. 1939 dow. Einsatzgruppe I (odpowiedzialny za eksterminacje ludności pol. i żydowskiej na Śląsku).</ref><ref>Zagłada Żydów na polskich terenach wcielonych do Rzeszy Page 53 Aleksandra Namysło, Instytut Pamięci Narodowej—Komisja Ścigania Zbrodni przeciwko Narodowi Polskiemu – 2008
W rzeczywistości ludzie Udona von Woyr- scha podczas marszu przez województwo śląskie na wschód dopuszczali się prawdziwych masakr ludności żydowskiej.</ref> imprisonment in ghettos and ethnic cleansing to the [[General Government]]. In their efforts to exterminate the Jews through murder and ethnic cleansing Nazi established in Silesia province the Auschwitz and Gross-Rosen camps. Expulsions were carried out openly and reported in the local press.<ref name="Steinbacher, S 2004 P126">Steinbacher, S. "In the Shadow of Auschwitz, The murder of the Jews of East Upper Silesia", in Cesarani, D. (2004) ''Holocaust: From the persecution of the Jews to mass murder,'' Routledge, P126</ref> Those sent to ghettos would from 1942 be expelled to concentration and work camps.<ref name="Steinbacher, S 2004 pp.110-138">Steinbacher, S. "In the Shadow of Auschwitz, The murder of the Jews of East Upper Silesia", in Cesarani, D. (2004) ''Holocaust: From the persecution of the Jews to mass murder,'' Routledge, pp.110–138.</ref> Between 5 May and 17 June, 20,000 Silesian Jews were sent to Birkenau to gas chambers<ref>The Origins of the Final Solution: The Evolution of Nazi Jewish Policy, September 1939 – March 1942 – Page 544
Christopher R. Browning – 2007
Between 5 May and 17 June, 20,000 Silesian Jews were deported to Birkenau to be gassed.</ref> and during August 1942, 10,000 to 13,000 Silesian Jews were murdered by gassing at Auschwitz.<ref>Christopher R. Browning (2007). ''The Origins of the Final Solution: The Evolution of Nazi Jewish Policy, September 1939 – March 1942,'' University of Nebraska Press, p.544.</ref> Most Jews in Silesia were exterminated by the Nazis. After the war Silesia became a major centre for repatriation of the Jewish population in Poland which survived Nazi German extermination<ref>The International Jewish Labor Bund After 1945: Toward a Global History David Slucki, page 63</ref> and in autumn 1945, 15,000 Jews were in Lower Silesia, mostly Polish Jews returned from territories now belonging to Soviet Union,<ref>A narrow bridge to life: Jewish forced labor and survival in the Gross-Rosen camp system, 1940–1945, page 229 Belah Guṭerman</ref> rising in 1946 to seventy thousand<ref>Kochavi, AJ (2001)Post-Holocaust politics: Britain, the United States & Jewish refugees, 1945–1948, University of North Carolina Press P 176</ref> as Jewish survivors from other regions in Poland were relocated.<ref name="Kochavi, AJ 2001 p.176">Kochavi, AJ (2001). ''Post-Holocaust politics: Britain, the United States & Jewish refugees, 1945–1948,'' University of North Carolina Press, p.176.</ref>

The majority of Germans fled or were expelled from the present-day Polish and Czech parts of Silesia during and after World War II. From June 1945 to January 1947, 1.77&nbsp;million Germans were expelled from Lower Silesia, and 310,000 from Upper Silesia.<ref>DB Klusmeyer & DG Papademetriou (2009). ''Immigration policy in the Federal Republic of Germany: negotiating membership and remaking the nation,'' Berghahn, p.70.</ref> Today, most German Silesians and their descendants live in the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany, many of them in the [[Ruhr area]] working as miners, like their ancestors in Silesia. One of its most notable but controversial spokesmen was the [[Christian Democratic Union (Germany)|Christian Democratic Union]] politician [[Herbert Hupka]].

The expulsion of Germans led to widespread underpopulation. The population of the town of [[Głogów]] fell from 33,500 to 5,000, and from 1939 to 1966 the population of Wrocław fell by 25%.<ref>Scholz, A (1964). ''Silesia: yesterday and today,'' Martinus Nijhoff, The Hague, p.69.</ref> Attempts to repopulate Silesia proved unsuccessful in the 1940s and 1950s,<ref>Mazower, M (1999). ''Dark Continent: Europe's 20th Century,'' Penguin, p.223.</ref> and Silesia's population did not reach pre-war levels until the late 1970s. The Polish settlers who repopulated Silesia were partly from the former Polish [[Kresy|Eastern Borderlands]], which was annexed by the [[Soviet Union]] in 1939. Wrocław was partly repopulated with refugees from the formerly Polish city of [[Lviv|Lwów]].