Changing the Names and Surnames of Indigenous Inhabitants of Lower Silesia as an Anti-German State Policy of Poland from 1945 to 1949. Some Remarks on Government Actions

Abstract

The aim of this article is to outline the enforced changes of names and surnames in Lower Silesia as a way in which the Polish authorities sought to erase the vestiges of German culture after the end of World War II. Various historical processes contributed to the fact that many inhabitants of Lower Silesia had German or German-sounding names. A number of documents produced at the level of the poviate and the voivodeship indicate that the procedure of changing the German-sounding names to Polish ones was illegal. Firstly, the process was initiated by a circular of the Ministry for Recovered Territories rather than an Act of Parliament. Secondly, the change was enforced by officials at various levels of administration, and compliance was ensured by means of administrative sanctions, fines, or in some cases interventions into the private lives of citizens. The change of names and surnames in the Recovered Territories was part of the anti-German policy of the authorities of post-World War II Poland, where anything associated with Germany was to be eradicated.