Everything about Sorbs totally explained
Sorbs (Upper Sorbian
Serbja, Lower Sorbian
Serby; also
Wends, Lusatian Sorbs), Slavonic nation settled in
Lusatia, a region on the territory of
Germany and
Poland.
Sorbs are divided into: Upper Sorbs speaking Upper Sorbian (about 30,000 people) and Lower Sorbs speaking Lower Sorbian (about 20,000 people). Some of them using in-between dialects- a mixture of these two Sorbian languages.
Toponyms
The name of the nation is probably connected with the
Polish word “stepson” (Polish: pasierb) and originally meant tribesman (the one who sucked milk of the same mother). The question of kinship of Balkan Serbs and Lusatian Sorbs isn't accidental. According to one of the hypotheses, in the 5th century, after leaving their proto-Slavonic homeland, common ancestors of all
Serbs and Sorbs divided into two groups. One of the groups (the ancestors of the Serbs), known as the
White Serbs, reached the
Balkans through the
Carpathian Mountains under the leadership of the
Unknown Archont, whilst the others settled in the middle part of the
Elbe and become 'Sorbs'. The story depicted in Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitos'
De Administrando Imperio tells that a brother of the Archont had remained in what is today Lusatia with a part of the Serb people. It is possible that the name Serb developed in both of these two groups separately. The name
Lusatia (German: Lausitz), originally meaning marshy ground probably derives from the Slavic word
ług (grove, young forest), at the same time indicating that the regions surroundings were rich in forest.
Tribal division
Having settled by the
Elbe, Spree and Neisse in the 6th century, Sorbian tribes divided into two main groups, which have taken their names from the characteristics of the area where they'd settled. Sorbs living on the swampy broads of the Lower
Spree have taken their name from the word
marsh. The
Milceni (ancestors of Upper Sorbs) settled on fertile soil around Upper
Spree, the name derives from the word měl’ (loess soil). Both groups were separated from each other by a wide and uninhabited forest range. The rest of the tribes settled themselves between the
Elbe and
Saale.
History of the Sorbs
During the 6th century A.D. Sorbs arrived in the area extending between the rivers in the East: the
Bober (Czech: Bobr, Polish: Bóbr), Kwisa and
Oder (Polish: Odra) to rivers in the West: the
Saale and
Elbe. In the North, the area of their settlement reached Berlin. In 631 A.D., for the first time, the Fredegar’s Chronicle described them as Surbi. Annales Regni Francym mentions that in 806 A.D., Miliduch (the Serbian King) fought against the Francs and was killed. In 932 Henry I conquered
Lusatia and Milsko. In 933
Lusatia was again conquered by
Gero II – the Margrave of the Saxon
Ostmark, who in 939 cunningly murdered 30 Sorbian princes during the feast. As a result, there were many Sorbian uprisings against the Germans. From this early period there remained only a reconstructed castle- Raddusch in Lower
Lusatia.
During the reign of
Boleslaw I of Poland (Polish: Bolesław Chrobry) in 1002-1018 A.D., three Polish-German wars were waged which caused
Lusatia to come from one ruler to another. In 1018, on the strength of peace in
Bautzen,
Lusatia became a part of
Poland; however, before 1031 it was returned to
Germany. From 11th to 15th century, in Lusatian development of agriculture and intensification of colonization took place by Frankish, Flemish and Saxon settlers. In 1327 first prohibitions of using Sorbian in
Altenburg,
Zwickau and
Leipzig appeared. Between 1376 - 1635
Lusatia again became a part of an Empire, in the rule of the Bohemian Luxembourgs (a component part of Saint Waclav’s Crown. At the beginning of 16th century the whole Sorbian tribes’ area, with the exception of
Lusatia, underwent
Germanization. From 1635
Lusatia became a feudality of Saxon electorates.
The Thirty Years War and epidemic of
the Black Death led
Lusatia to terrible devastation: almost half of Sorbs died. This led to further German colonization and
Germanization. In 1667 the Prince of
Brandenburg- Frederick Wilhelm ordered the immediate destruction of all Sorbian printed materials and banned saying masses in this language. At the same time the
Evangelical Church supported printing Sorbian religious literature as a means of fighting with the
Counterreformation. In
1706 Sorbian Seminary, the main quarter of educating Sorbian
Catholic priests, was founded in
Prague.
Evangelical students of theology formed Sorbian College of Ministers.
The Congress of Vienna in
1815 gave part of
Upper Lusatia to
Saxony, but most of
Lusatia to
Prussia. More and more bans limiting the use of
Sorbian languages appeared until
1835 in
Saxony and
Prussia; emigration of the Sorbs mainly to
Texas (to place called Serbin) and
Australia increased. In
1848, 5000 Sorbs signed the petition to the Saxon Government, in which they demanded equality of the Sorbian language with the German one in churches, courts, schools and Government departments. From
1871 the whole territory/terrain of
Lusatia became a part of united
Germany and was divided into three parts:
Silesia,
Prussia and
Saxony.
From
1871 the industrialization of the region and German immigration began; official
Germanization intensified. Although the
Weimar Republic guaranteed constitutional minority rights, it didn't practice it.
The Third Reich spread ruthless terror against the Sorbs.
Heinrich Himmler devised a plan to displace the Slovians from
Lusatia to
Poland. The
Nazi Government in
Germany caused the Sorbian nation heavy casualties. It has been estimated that between
1933-
1945 about 20,000 Lusatians were killed. Furthermore, the fascist propaganda stated that the Sorbians were a German tribe and their national poet
Handrij Zejler was German as well. Young Sorbians were enrolled in the
Wehrmacht and sent to the front. Many young Sorbian activists were sent to concentration camps. For instance, father
Jan Čyž was a prisoner in the
Dachau concentration camp, publicist
Marja Grólmusec was killed in the
Ravensbrück concentration camp and
Alojs Andricki was murdered with an injection of phenol. Entangled lives of the Sorbs during
World War II are exemplified by life story of
Mina Witkojc,
Mĕrčin Nowak-Njechorński or
Jan Skala.
First Lusatian cities were captured in April
1945, when
the Red Army with the
Polish Second Army crossed the river
Queis (pol:Kwisa). Defeating
Nazi Germany changed the Sorbs’ situation considerably: those to the east of Neisse and Oder were expelled or assimilated by Poland. The regions in
East Germany (the German Democratic Republic) faced a large influx of
expelled Germans and heavy industrialisation, which both forced
Germanization. The East German authorities tried to counteract this development by creating a broad range of Sorbian institutions. The Sorbs were officially recognized as an ethnic minority, more than 100 Sorbian schools and several academic institutions were founded, the Domowina and its associated societies were reestablished and a Sorbian theatre was created. Owing to the repression of the church and forced collectivization, however, these efforts were severely affected and consequently over time the number of people speaking Sorbian languages decreased by half.
Sorbian Slovians caused the communistic government of the
GDR (the German Democratic Republic) plenty of trouble, mainly because of the high levels of religiousness and resistance to the nationalizing of agriculture. During the campaign of compulsory collectivization, a great deal of unprecedented incidents were reported. Thus, throughout the
Uprising of 1953 in East Germany in
Lusatia, violent clashes with militia were reported. An open uprising took place in three upper communes of Błot.
After another unification of
Germany, on October 3rd
1990, Lusatians made efforts for creating an autonomous administrative unit, however
Helmut Kohl’s government didn't agree to it. After
1989 the Sorbian movement revived, however it still does encounter many obstacles. Although
Germany supports national minorities, Sorbs’ aspirations are not sufficiently fulfilled. Postulates of uniting
Lusatia into one country were not taken into consideration.
Upper Lusatia still belongs to
Saxony and
Lower Lusatia to
Brandenburg. Liquidations of Sorbian schools even on the area mostly populated by Sorbs still happen, under the pretence of financial difficulties or demolition of whole villages to create quarries of lignite.
Today (2008) Sorbian institutions serving 60,000 Sorb people receive less money for preservation of their culture in face of Germanisation then one German theater's yearly budget in Berlin<, an annual state grant of 15.6 million Euro by the Federal and the Saxon government Faced with growing threat of cultural extincton the Domowina issued a memorandum in March 2008. and called for "help and protection against the growing threat of their cultural extinction, since an ongoing conflict between the German government, Saxony and Brandenburg about the financial distribution of help blocks the financing of almost all Sorbian institutions". The memorandum also demands a reorganisation of competence by ceding responsibility from the
Länder to the federal government and an expanded legal status. The call has been issued to all governments and heads of state of the
European Union.
Besides the memorandum Sorbs also called on Poland and Polish President Lech Kaczynski for protection and to represent them in talks with German state as unlike for example Danes have no state to help them against German authorities, as Jan Nuck stated "I think if Angela Merkel speaks about German minority rights in Poland to Lech Kaczynski, then Polish President should demand the same about us". Nuck also said that the rights of Sorb people are not respected in German "Federal government and land government don't respect them(rights)"
(External Link
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Further appeal has been made to Polish Embassy in Berlin starting with "Help us. Do something for us. Our culture is dying. We are dying out. Slavs should help each other". Jan Nuck says it's difficult to judge if the situation comes from indifference of officials or if it's a concentrated effort aiming against existence of Sorb national identity in Germany.
On April 14, 2008, the Sorbian politician
Stanislaw Tillich has been nominated as prospective Minister President of the State of
Saxony by the governing
Christian Democrats.
Language and culture
The oldest known relic of Sorbian literature originated in about
1530 -
Bautzen townsmen’ oath. In 1548 Mikołaj Jakubica – Lower Sorbian vicar, from the village called Lubanice, wrote the first unprinted translation of
the New Testament into Lower Sorbian.
In
1574 the first Sorbian book was printed: Albin Mollers’ songbook. In 1688 Jurij Kawštyn Swětlik translated
the Bible for
Catholic Sorbs. In
1706-
1709 the New Testament was printed in the Upper Sorbian translation was done by Michał Frencel and in Lower Sorbian by Jan Bogumił Fabricius.
In
1709 for the short period of time, there was the first printed Sorbian newspaper. In
1767 Jurij Mjeń publishes the first secular Sorbian book. Between
1841 and
1843, Jan Arnošt Smoler and Leopold Haupt published two-volume collection of Wendish folk-songs in Upper and Lower
Lusatia.
From
1842, the first Sorbian publishing companies started to appear: the poet Handrij Zejler set up a weekly magazine, the precursor of today’s Serbian News. In
1845 in
Bautzen the first festival of Sorbian songs took place.
In
1875, Jakub Bart-Čišinski- the poet and classicist of Upper Sorbian literature and Karol Arnošt Muka created a movement of young Sorbians influencing Lusatian art, science and literature for the following 50 years.
Similar movement in
Lower Lusatia was organized around the most prominent Lower Lusatian poets Mato Kósyka and Bogumił Šwjela.
In
1904, mainly thanks to the Sorbs’ contribution, the most important Sorbian cultural centre (the Sorbian House) was built in
Bautzen. In
1912, the social and cultural organization of Lusatian Sorbs was created, the
Domowina Institution - the union of Sorbian organizations. In
1919 it had 180,000 members. In
1920 Jan Skala set up a Sorbian party and in
1925 in Berlin, Skala started Kulturwille- the newspaper for the protection of national minorities in
Germany. In
1920 the
Sokol Movement was founded (youth movement and gymnastic organization). From
1933 the
Nazi party started to repress the Sorbs. At that time the
Nazi also dissolved the
Sokol Movement and began to combat every sign of Sorbian culture. In
1937 activities of the
Domowina Institution and other organizations were banned as anti-national. Sorbian clergymen and teachers were forcedly deported from
Lusatia;
The Third Reich confiscated the Sorbian House, other buildings and crops.
On May 10th, in
Crostwitz, after
The Red Army’s invasion, the
Domowina Institution renewed its activity. In
1948 Landtag of
Saxony passed an Act guaranteeing protection to Sorbian Lusatians; in 1949
Brandenburg resolved a similar law. In the times of the
GDR, Sorbian organizations were financially supported by the country, but at the same time the authorities encouraged
Germanization of Sorbian youth as a means of incorporating them into the system of “building
Socialism”. Sorbian language and culture could only be publicly presented as long as they promoted
Socialistic ideology.
For over 1000 years the Sorbs were able to maintain and even develop their national culture, despite of escalating
Germanization and
Polonization, mainly due to the high level of religiousness, cultivating their tradition and strong families (until now a Sorbian family often has 5 children).
In the middle of the 20th century, the revival of the
Central European nations included some Sorbs, who became strong enough to twice attempt to regain their independence. After
World War II, the Lusatian National Committee in Prague claimed the right to self-govern and separate from
Germany and create a Lusatian Free State or be attached to
Czechoslovakia. The majority of the Sorbs was organized in the Domowina though and didn't intend to split from Germany. Claims asserted by Lusatian National movement were postulates of joining
Lusatia to
Poland or
Czechoslovakia. Between
1945 –
1947 they postulated about ten memorials to
the UN,
the USA, the
USSR,
Great Britain,
France,
Poland and
Czechoslovakia, however, it didn't bring any results. On April 30th
1946, the Lusatian National Committee also postulated a proper petition to the Polish Government, signed by Paweł Cyż – the minister and an official Sorbian delegate in Poland. There was also a project of proclaiming a Lusatian Free State, whose Prime Minister was supposed to be a Polish archaeologist of Lusatian origin- Wojciech Kóčka. The most radical postulates in this area were expressed by the Lusatian youth organization- Narodny Partyzan Łužica.
Similarly, in
Czechoslovakia, where before the
Potsdam Conference in
Prague, 300.000 people manifested for the independence of
Lusatia. The endeavours to separate
Lusatia from
Germany didn't succeed because of the individual and geopolitical interests. After
1918,
David Lloyd George didn't intend to impoverish
Germany and
Stalin, after
World War II, desired to conquer the whole of
Germany.
The statistics might prove the progression of
Germanization among Sorbs: by the end of the 19th century, about 150,000 people spoke Sorbian languages. In 1920 almost all Sorbs mastered Sorbian and German at the same degree. The last Sorb who very slightly knew German died in Műschen village in
1954. Nowadays, in 2004, the number of people using Sorbian languages has been estimated to no more than 50,000.
Regions of Lusatia
There are 3 main regions of
Lusatia that differ in the language, religion and customs.
Region of Catholic Lusatia
Catholic Lusatia encompasses 85 towns in the districts of
Bautzen,
Kamenz and
Hoyerswerda. This is where the Upper Sorbian Language, customs and tradition are still being cultivated. In some of the places (for example
Radibor/ Radwor,
Crostwitz/Chrósćicy, and /Róžant) Sorbs are the majority of the population, basically only in this region one can still hear children speaking Sorbian.
On Sundays, during holidays and weddings people wear women’s (and men’s) regional costumes (children and young people wear it as well) rich in decoration, embroidery and encrusted with pearls.
There are many traditions cultivated, such as: Bird Wedding (25th of January),
Easter Cavalcade of Riders, Witch Burning (30th April), Maik, singing on
Saint Martin’s Day (Nicolay), celebration of
Saint Barbara’s Day and
Saint Nicolas’ Day.
Region of Hoyerswerda (Wojerecy) and Schleife (Slepo)
In this region (the area from
Hoyerswerda to
Schleife) the dialect with characteristic features of both Upper and Lower Sorbian is still in use. This is a Protestant region, highly devastated by the brown coal mining industry, sparsely populated and to a great extend Germanized (Sorbian is only used by few people over 60 years old).
The region can be distinguished by many
Slavic wooden architecture monuments (churches, houses), regional costumes’ diversity (mainly worn by older women) with white knitted and black cross-like embroidery and the tradition of playing
bagpipes.
In several villages residents cultivate traditions such as: expelling of winter,
Maik,
Easter and
Great Friday singing, celebrating dźěćetko (disguised child or young girl giving
Christmas presents)
Region of Lower Lusatia
There are 60 towns from the area of
Cottbus belonging to this region, where most of the older people (over 60), but few young people and children, can speak the Lower Sorbian language, often with many borrowings from the German language (when talking to young people, they generally use German). In the regione some primary schools still teach bilingual, and in Cottbus there's an important gymnasium who still have Lower Sorbian as the main language of education. This is a Protestant region, again highly devastated by the brown coal mining industry. The biggest tourist attraction of the region (and in the whole
Lusatia) are the marshlands, with many
Spreewald/Błóta canals, picturesque broads of the
Spree.
Regional costumes are colourful and characteristic (worn mainly by older but on holydays by young woman as well). A big, rich in golden embroidering headscarf lapa is a part of regional costume that differs in every village.
In some villages following traditions are cultivated: Shrovetide,
Maik,
Easter bonfires, Roosters catching/hunting. In Jänschwalde (Sorbian: Janšojcach) so called Janšojki bog (disguised young girl) gives
Christmas presents.
Lusatian anthem
in Lower Sorbian
Rědna Łužyca
Rědna Łužyca,
spšawna, pśijazna,
mojich serbskich woścow kraj,
mojich glucnych myslow raj,
swěte su mě twoje strony.
Cas ty pśichodny,
zakwiś radostny!
Och, gab muže stanuli,
za swoj narod źěłali,
godne nimjer wobspomnjeśa!
in Upper Sorbian
Rjana Łužica
Rjana Łužica,
sprawna přećelna,
mojich serbskich wótcow kraj,
mojich zbóžnych sonow raj,
swjate su mi twoje hona!
Časo přichodny,
zakćěj radostny!
Ow, zo bychu z twojeho
klina wušli mužojo,
hódni wěčnoh wopomnjeća!
The Sorbs and Poland
One of the pioneers of the cooperation between the two nations was Polish historian Wilhelm Bogusławski who lived in the 19th century and wrote the first book on Polish-Sorbian history
Rys dziejów serbołużyckich (Polish title), it was published in
Saint Petersburg in
1861. The book was expanded and published again in cooperation with Michał Hórnik in
1884 in
Bautzen, under a new title
Historije serbskeho naroda. Alfons Parczewski was another friend of Sorbs, who from
1875 was involved in Sorbs' rights protection, participating in Sorbian meetings in
Bautzen. It was thanks to him, among others, that
Józef Ignacy Kraszewski founded a scholarship for Sorbian students. An association of friends of Sorbian Nation was established at the
University of Warsaw in
1936 (Polish full name: Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Narodu Serbo-Łużyckiego). It gathered people not only from the university. Its president was Professor Stanisław Słoński, and the deputy president was Julia Wieleżyńska. The association was a legal entity. There were 3 individual organizations devoted to Sorbian matters. Prołuż founded in Krotoszyn, expanded to all Poland (3000 members). It was biggest noncommunist organization that dealt with foreign affairs. This youth organization was created during the soviet occupation and its motto was “Polish guard over Lusatia” (pl. Nad Łużycami polska straż). Its highest activity was in
Greater Poland (Polish: Wielkopolska, a district of western Poland).
After the creation of
East Germany, Prołuż was dissolved, and its president historian from Poznań Alojzy Stanisław Matyniak was arrested.
Bibliography
- Filip Gańczak Mniejszość w czasach popkultury, Newsweek, nr 22/2007, 03.06.2007.
- W kręgu Krabata. Szkice o Juriju Brězanie, literaturze, kulturze i językach łużyckich, pod red. J.Zarka, Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego, Katowice, 2002.
- Mirosław Cygański, Rafał Leszczyński Zarys dziejów narodowościowych Łużyczan PIN, Instytut Śląski, Opole 1997.
- Die Sorben in Deutschland, pod red. M.Schiemann, Stiftung für das sorbische Volk, Görlitz 1997.
- Mały informator o Serbołużyczanach w Niemczech, pod red. J.Pětrowej, Załožba za serbski lud, 1997.
- Dolnoserbske nałogi/Obyczaje Dolnych Łużyc, pod red. M.Stock, Załožba za serbski lud, 1997.
- "Rys dziejów serbołużyckich" Wilhelm Bogusławski Piotrogród 1861
- "Prołuż Akademicki Związek Przyjaciół Łużyc" Jakub Brodacki. Polska Grupa Marketingowa 2006 ISBN: 83-60151-00-8.
- "Polska wobec Łużyc w drugiej połowie XX wieku. Wybrane problemy", Mieczkowska Małgorzata, Szczecin 2006 ISBN: 83-7241-487-4.
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