Současný stav evangelického reformovaného sboru v Zelově na příkladu smíšených manželství

The contribution based on a field research pays its attention to changes in understanding the ethnicity and religious affiliation with the people of Czech origin in Polish Zelów. The original concept connecting these two elements of identity survives only with the people born few years before the second re-emigration in 1945. Younger members of the evangelic reformed church with Czech ancestors consider themselves to be Poles of Czech origin. The cohesiveness has got looser since the 1960s when the people began to enter into mixed marriages. This fact shifted the language to the preferred use of Polish as their mother tongue. It was the newly founded Society of Czechs in Poland and its Czech Club presenting the Czech traditions in Zelów that has pointed out the Czech origin of individuals recently. However, the religious affiliation still remains the most important element in the life of Poles of Czech origin. The conversion as well as mixed marriages, which predominate nowadays, can be understood as elements regenerating the evangelic reformed church and ensuring its continuity.