Niemiec, Polak niemieckiego pochodzenia czy Niemiec zagraniczny. Problematyka tożsamości ludności niemieckiej w II RP

Literature on the German minority in the Second Republic of Poland shows this community to be diverse in terms of social status as well as economic and cultural position, and as a result with a different attitude to the newly nascent Polish state. The article deals with the issue of the identity of the German population in Poland by scrutinizing ways of defining one’s own group and the group of others in the press coverage of the German minority in Poland with special emphasis on the role of stereotypes in the process of group creation and consolidation. An analysis of the press content in terms of presented criteria for defining one’s own group and modes of perceiving the Polish and Jewish population allows to draw conclusions pertaining not only to the identity of the German population but also its internal dynamism. It is noticeable that although at the beginning differences between regions (caused by the period of Poland’s partition) were the main influence on the way one’s own identity and role in the new state were defined, later on differences originating in political views gained prominence. The reasons of this change include intensified contacts within the German population as well as the policy of the German and Polish states towards it.