Silesian Autonomy Movement

Silesia had been well known for its regional sense of identity and both separatist as well as autonomists ambitions. In 1869, Polish linguist Lucjan Malinowski wrote: "Silesian people shun from the Polish population". In Silesia at the end of the 19th century, the term Pole was offensive, and associated with groups of 'vagabonds' to the inhabitants of towns. Stereotypically, Poles were associated with migrant workers from Galicia, employed for manual labour in Silesian mines and factories - they had a bad reputation and were associated with brawls, drunkenness and theft, which alienated the local Silesian population.[6] Silesians believed that they were a nation on their own and distanced themselves from Poland, often arguing that Silesian people have more in common with Germany than Poland. Szerzej Dobrowolski observed: "Our people are more similar to the German people with whom they neighbour to the west than to the Polish people in Galicia [...]. This mixed Silesian nationality is the necessary result of the historical development which our people have undergone; centuries ago they were separated from Poland, came under much better German rule, and, preserving their original language, acquired through contact with high German civilisation those qualities which make them superior to the people still under Polish rule".[7]

In the Polish literature on the subject, such an attitude of the Silesian people was explained by "a lack of normal bonds with the Polish nation", which resulted, according to some authors, in "a stronger attachment to the region, regional pride". Despite the intensive activities of the Polish national movement at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries in Silesia, and Polonisation in the interwar period, there was still a large group of Silesians who thought of themselves as a separate nation. Wojciech Korfanty believed that this was over 30 % of the population of the Silesian Voivodeship. While Silesians did not manage to create a state, they formed a clearly defined cultural and linguistic community.[8]

One of the first political organisations of separatist Silesians was the social-democratic Silesian People's Party (SPL), founded in 1909 by Józef Kożdoń, whose political goal was to promote regional culture and defend against Polish nationalism. After the First World War, states began to make claims to Silesian lands on the international arena. Silesian politicians did not look passively at the development of events, and in 1919, on the initiative of Edward Latacz and brothers Tomasz and Jan Regink, the Union of Upper Silesians was established in Bytom, which postulated the creation of an independent state in Upper Silesia with two official languages, Polish and German. After establishing contacts with Kożdoń's supporters, they wanted to include the lands of Cieszyn Silesia, Opava Silesia and the Sudetenland. The new state was to have a system similar to Switzerland. The project of the Silesian separatists was supported by industrialists and landowners including the Prince von Pless Alexander Hochberg, whose intention was to create a free Silesian state (Freistaat Schlesien). Independence and territorial integrity were to be guaranteed by the world powers, in particular the United States.[7]

An unfavourable international situation, opposition from France and the actions of Germany, Poland and Czechoslovakia led to the collapse of separatist Silesian project and the division of Silesia. Before this happened, however, a battle for the support of the Silesian population was fought by Poland and Germany. Each side promised Silesia wide autonomy within their own state. The Sejm of the Republic of Poland passed the Constitutional Act containing the Organic Statute of the Silesian Voivodeship on 15 July 1920. In turn, the Reichstag Act of 27 November 1920 on Upper Silesia provided that within two months from the date of the German takeover of the plebiscite area, a referendum would be held in the entire Upper Silesian province on the creation of an Upper Silesian state within the Reich. To this end, many Silesians partook in the Silesian uprising not for the incorporation of Silesia into Poland, but for autonomy, with most Silesians believing that autonomy within Poland would be the lesser evil.[9]

After a part of Upper Silesia was annexed to Poland, separatist activity waned. The newly created Silesian Voivodeship became an arena of struggle between German and Polish influences, with no room for a third force. Silesians were forced to take one side or the other, because, as the then Silesian Voivode Michał Grażyński stated: "we Poles like clear-cut situations and value defined characters. That is why we respect honest Czechs and Germans, but we cannot tolerate any intermediate types". However, the policy of Polonisation was not appreciated by some Upper Silesians, which was reflected in the results of the municipal elections of 19 November 1926, also known as the second Silesian plebiscite. At that time, the majority of seats were won by German groupings, e.g. in Katowice - 56.7%, in Świętochłowice - 54.3%, and in Królewska Huta (Chorzów) - as much as 70.3%. Upper Silesians voted for German minority groupings (the German minority accounted for approximately 7% of the population of the Silesian Voivodeship).[7]

The revival of Silesian regionalism did not take place until after 1989, with the collapse of the communist regime in Poland. According to some Silesians, the political breakthrough did not bring the expected changes. In 1990, the Silesian Autonomy Movement was founded, with the main aim of forcing the central authorities to change their attitude to Silesia. The association called for the restoration of the pre-war autonomy of Upper Silesia. It proposed, following the model of Western European regionalism, the introduction of strong autonomous provinces in Poland, which would be financially independent of the central government and would decide their own affairs independently. In 1993, RAŚ became a member of the League of Regions, an organisation postulating the division of Poland into 12 autonomous regions (its members also include the Upper Silesian Association, the Podhale Association and the Kashubian-Pomeranian Association).[7]

The Silesian Autonomy Movement, as an organisation claiming to represent the interests of the region and the ethnic group, initially demanded in its political programme that the organic statute of the Silesian Voivodeship from 1920 be restored. The statute was abolished in 1945 by a decision of the National National Council. The party argued that this was done in violation of the provisions of the March Constitution in force at the time. The activists of the Silesian Autonomy Movement demanded in 1995, in an open letter to the President of the Republic of Poland Lech Wałęsa, that the decision of the KRN abolishing the organic statute of the Silesian Voivodeship be annulled. Referring to the law of 15 July 1920, RAŚ wanted to establish the Silesian Treasury, which was to be funded from local taxes. Most of the tax revenue from the Silesian Voivodeship (up to 60%) was to remain in the region. Another initiative was the idea of reactivating the Silesian Sejm as a regional legislature and a popularly elected provincial governor - the regional executive. All but the last of these postulates was in fact a demand for a return to the 1920 legal status. A new idea was the direct election of a voivode, who in the pre-war Silesian Voivodeship was appointed by the President of the Republic of Poland upon the proposal of the Prime Minister.[7]

The programme of the Silesian Autonomy Movement has evolved somewhat over the years, from supporting the idea of a return to pre-World War II autonomy to the project of a modern organic statute, whose authors modelled themselves on the autonomy solutions of Catalonia. The early years of the 21st century saw a generational change in the party's authorities. The members of the new party structures felt that the organic statute of 1920 corresponded to that reality, but that in the 21st century the situation required solutions that moved with the times. An expression of these trends was the new draft organic statute for Silesia, which was announced in 2010. According to the new draft, the autonomous unit would be called the Autonomous Region of Upper Silesia, which would form part of the territory of the Republic of Poland. Executive authority would be exercised by a prime minister together with a government, elected by a bicameral parliament. The government thus elected would be appointed by the President of the Republic of Poland. In addition to these political institutions, the region is to have its own administrative court, the Upper Silesian Administrative Court, whose president would be appointed by the President of Poland. The seat of the court would be in Opole.[7]

The policy of supporting regionalism and explicitly excluding nationalist slogans in the programme caused some RAŚ members, for whom the issue of Silesian nationality was a priority, to establish a separate organisation - the Union of Silesian Nationalities. Some publicists believed that this decision was motivated by a desire to obtain the status of a national minority and thus to receive, like the German minority, a guaranteed pool of seats in parliament. Between 1997 and 2004, the founding committee was headed by the later chairman of the Silesian Autonomy Movement, Jerzy Gorzelik. In 2004, Silesian nationalist activists led by Andrzej Roczniok took over. Since then, relations between the two organisations have deteriorated. RAŚ activists claim that the ZLNŚ extreme harms the idea of regionalism. This was particularly evident in the RAŚ authorities' comments on the controversial statements made by the chairman of the Union of Silesian Nationalities, Andrzej Roczniok. Radical regionalists such as Dariusz Jerczyński would go on to create the Silesian Separatist Movement.[10]

The movement participated in the 1991 parliamentary elections and received 40,061 votes (0.36%) and two seats, one of its MPs was Kazimierz Świtoń.

In the 2001 parliamentary elections, two candidates of the movement were included on the lists of the Civic Platform (PO).

In the elections of 2005, several candidates from the movement, including its vice president Krzysztof Kluczniok, took part in the list of the Polish People's Party (PSL).

Election year	Seats won		+/–
	Sejm	Senate
1991	2 / 460	—	2
1993	0 / 460	0 / 100	2
1997	—
2001
2005
2007
2011
2015	0 / 460	—

The main representative of the party and its ideology is Jerzy Gorzelik, known for his controversial statements regarding the historical relations between Silesia and Poland.[11] One of his most known statements include "To give Poland Silesia is like giving a monkey a watch, and after eighty years one can see that the monkey broke the watch." (paraphrase of a statement by David Lloyd George from Paris Peace Conference) and "I am a Silesian, not a Pole, and I have not pledged to Poland, so I have not betrayed her and I do not feel obliged to be loyal to this country."[11] Gorzelik describes the party as being "between" nationalism and regionalism, condemning ethnic nationalism in the sense of a "perennial vision of the nation as a community shaped by the forces of history", emphasising party's belief in a "strictly modern and voluntarist nationalism" instead.[11]

The party cites Józef Kożdoń and his Silesian People's Party, as well as Ewald Latacz and his Union of Upper Silesians, as the main inspirations for the movement. According to Gorzelik, these two parties had risen at the time when Silesians already emphasised their regional identity beyond the division into Poles, Germans and Czechs. The struggle between Poland, Germany and Czechoslovakia for the ownership of the region resulted in indifference amongst the population, with many identifying themselves exclusively as Silesians and being ready to join whichever nation would give Silesia the greatest autonomy.[11] Silesian Autonomy Movement therefore defines contemporary Silesian identity as inherently pluralist, with Gorzelik stating that "The concept adopted by the animators of the Silesian national movement is at odds with the monistic image of culture and identity propagated by integral nationalism. This is because it assumes multiculturalism. A Silesian is part Czech, part Moravian, part German or part Pole, without having to become any of them. Diversity is therefore at the centre of the Silesian national ideology, and its affirmation becomes the essence of Silesianness."[11] As such, the party affirms that Silesian identity is completely compatible with Polish and European identity as well.[11]

According to party's programme, autonomy should not be the exclusive prerogative of Upper Silesia, but a right of all regions, distributed according to the principles of a regional state, citing the territorial system of Spain and its tradition of localism known as Fuero as a model to follow.[11] The party considers decentralisation and workplace democracy necessary steps towards ensuring economic prosperity of Silesia, arguing that the economy must be controlled by the local workers and community. Socially, RAŚ declares that Silesian autonomy is required for the preservation of Silesian language and culture.[11]

The party is placed on the left side of the Polish political spectrum - Katarzyna Stelmach wrote that "in its election appeal, the party used 'equality' arguments that brought it close to the rhetoric presented by SLD Left Together."[12] In 2012, liberal conservative newspaper Rzeczpospolita argued that RAŚ incorporates far-left elements into its rhetoric, such as the vehement opposition to Polish nationalism.[13] The party was also compared to left-wing nationalist movements in Catalonia in terms of both program and rhetoric.[14] Silesian Autonomy Movement did declare its support for nationalist Catalan movements, and also supports Catalan separatism.[15] In Polish politics, RAŚ consistently aligns with the Civic Coalition and formed coalition government in Upper Silesia with the Civic Platform in 2010 and then again in 2015.[16] Both parties took their cooperation further in 2019 by forming joint electoral lists for the 2019 Polish parliamentary election.[17]

• In 2000 the Polish Office For State Protection warned in its report that RAŚ may be a potential threat to Poland's interests.[22]
• In 2007, reestablishment of the 1. FC Kattowitz soccer club by the RAŚ activists caused controversy. 1. FC Kattowitz was a soccer club established in 1905 by Germans, the club played in the German football league. Following the Silesian Uprisings in 1921 and a subsequent League of Nations plebiscite, part of the region – including Kattowitz – was granted to Poland and the name of the city was changed to Katowice. With the transfer of the city of Katowice to Poland, the name of the club was Polonized in 1922 to 1. Klub Sportowy Katowice. That same year, the membership of the club successfully challenged the change in court and won the right to play as 1. FC Kattowitz. By 1924, the team was part of regional Polish competition and playing as 1. FC Katowice. Katowice faltered in 1929 and was relegated from first division Polish football, descending to play in the regional Silesian league where they became champions in 1932.

In June 1939, the club's activities were suspended by Polish authorities when they were accused of promoting and supporting the interests of Nazi Germany (through the 1930s, club was overtaken by the radical pro-Nazi nationalists from the Jungdeutsche Partei). After the German invasion of Poland which began World War II in September 1939, the team resumed play with German authorities looking to hold up 1. FC Kattowitz as a model side in Upper Silesia for propaganda purposes.[23][24]

• In 2010, controversy sparked over the controversial photo on the official RAŚ site. The photo itself showed a young man who held a trophy in his hand and diploma in the other while behind him was a commemorative plaque with words in German "Zum gedenken den gefallenen" (In memory of the fallen), above the plaque was the Iron Cross with dates 1939-1945. On the sides of the commemorative plaque were Silesian and modern Germany flags. When the scandal broke, the Silesian Autonomy Movement has been accused by some[25] of being a "Volksdeutsche organization which real goal is to break the Silesia region from Poland and return it to Germany" and also a "German fifth column in Poland". The photo vanished from the RAŚ site as soon as it was acknowledged in the media.[26][27] Ryszard Czarnecki, a Polish politician who is a Member of the European Parliament for the Lower Silesian and Opole constituency from Law and Justice, stated on his official Europarliament site that: "On the one hand it proves how contumely and effrontery are Silesian separatists, on the other Polish media can play a positive role only if they want to oppose such iniquity, such defamation of the fallen Poles [who died] from the German hands during the II World War. One must want and can place a dam on this pro-German effrontery."[28]

Meanwhile, writing in a party document entitled "The State of the Nation", the Law and Justice (PiS) leader, Jarosław Kaczyński, said “Being a Silesian is a simple way to cut ties [with a Polish identity], and indeed could be a way to camouflage a German identity”. At a later press conference, the former Prime Minister said that anybody who declared their Silesian nationality was in some way “declaring their Germaness”.[29][30]

• Jerzy Gorzelik, the current leader and representative of the Silesian Autonomy Movement, has claimed numerous times that he is not Polish by nationality but rather "Upper Silesian". He once stated: I'm Silesian, not Polish. My fatherland is Upper Silesia. I did not pledge anything to Poland nor I promised anything to it so it means that I did not betray it. The state called the Republic of Poland, of which I'm a citizen, refused to give me and my friends a right to self-determination and so that's why I do not feel obligated to loyalty towards this country.[31]

In 2010, Gorzelik was elected to the Sejmik of Silesian Voivodeship. Upon taking a councillor's seat in the Sejmik, he swore an oath (as is mandatory for every councilor of each Voivodeship Sejmik), and thus automatically pledged loyalty to the Republic of Poland (before Gorzelik was elected, oaths were always sworn collectively in the Sejmik of the Silesian Voivodeship).[32] The oath reads as follows:[33]

I do solemnly swear to honestly and diligently carry out my duties to the Polish nation, to protect the sovereignty and the interests of the Polish State, to do everything for the prosperity of the Fatherland, for the community of the autonomous government of the Voivodeship and for the good of its citizens, and to abide by the Constitution and other laws of the Republic of Poland.

• Fear of separatism, instead of officially declared autonomy, was flamed up by some publications in "Jaskółka Śląska" - RAŚ's official magazine. Articles were published that openly called for a sovereign, independent Silesian state.[34]

dr Jerzy Gorzelik

• Paweł Musioł (1991–1995)
• Zenon Wieczorek (1995–1999)
• Krzysztof Kluczniok (1999–2003)
• Jerzy Gorzelik (since 2003)

• Union of Upper Silesians
• Silesian People's Party
• Silesian Regional Party
• German Minority (political party)
• Silesians Together

• Konrad Pędziwiatr, “Silesian autonomist movement in Poland and one of its activists”, Tischner European University, 2009
• Helen Pidd, Upper Silesia flags up its call for autonomy, The Guardian Friday 8 April 2011