THE STATISTICS OF THE GERMAN MINORITY IN THE VOIVODESHIP OF LUBLIN IN THE YEARS 1918-1939 (Statystyka mniejszosci niemieckiej w województwie lubelskim w latach 1918-1939)

The origins of the German colonisation in the region of Lublin dates back to the eighteenth century. The largest German minority group in the region of Chelmno existed for almost 150 years up to the Red Army invasion in 1944. Data pertaining to the size of the German minority in the region of Lublin can be based only on four official population surveys conducted in 1897, 1916, 1921 and 1931. Up to 1897 there were no more exact data concerning German colonists in the Kingdom of Poland. The Russian survey from 1897 recorded about 407 000 German colonists in the KIngdom, with the total of approx. 30 000 in the 'gubernia' of Lublin and Siedlce. The outbreak of the WW I resulted in the enormous decline of the number of Germans due to a deportative campaign inaugurated in the summer of 1915. The one-day survey carried out in 1916 by the Austrian military authorities (MGG) confirmed that the terrains under Austrian occupation were populated by 2247 Germans, including 1139 Protestants. A mass-scale return of the German colonists took place in 1917-1921. In indeopendent Poland the number of Germans in the region of Lublin was estimated upon the basis of two surveys performed on 30 September 1931 and 9 December 1931. In 1921 there were 10933 Germans in the voivodeship of Lublin, including 10824 Protestants, and in 1931 the number rose to 15865, including 11491 Protestants. Data from the interwar period relatig to the German minority in the voivodeship of Lublin confirm the growth of this group in the discussed terrain