Češi a Poláci na Těšínsku během parlamentních voleb v roce 1946

Based on a study of Czech and Polish sources and the contemporary press, the article introduces one of the chapters in the relations between the Czechs and the Poles in the Těšín region immediately following World War II. The focal point is an analysis of the political parties' standpoints to solving the problems of the Polish minority in the Těšín region, which became a very hot issue particularly during the pre-election campaign in 1946. Besides characterising the Těšín situation during the first month following the end of World War II, the text concentrates on the position of citizens who were forced to accept a conditional Reichs citizenship during the war (Deutsche Volksliste) that involved many Poles. The author uses the researched material to document that the issue of the Polish minority in the Těšín region became an important tool in the pre-election campaign and in the struggle between the Communists and the national socialists. Although the communists' attitude towards the Polish minority was the most positive of all the political parties and willing to support part of the Poles' minority demands, the analysis of the election outcome suggests that part of the Poles probably decided to cast a white ballot in the ballot box, thus protesting against the minority policy of the Czechoslovak government.