Angela Merkel's voters in Lower Silesia
Eastern approaches 2013-09-17
Summary:
AS GERMANS prepare to cast their vote in federal elections on September 22nd, in neighbouring Poland a group of Polish citizens are also debating whether or not to give Angela Merkel, the chancellor, a few more years in office.
For the first time Poland’s tiny German minority is allowed to vote in German elections. The freedom stems from a decision last year by Germany’s constitutional court allowing Germans living outside the country to vote, even if they were not born there.
The decision has been gratefully received by Poland’s German community, estimated to be around 350,000 strong. Living almost exclusively in Lower Silesia—an area of Poland that formed part of Germany until 1945—they escaped the fate of westward deportation that befell most of the German population, often by claiming Polish citizenship. Since then, and despite the war’s bitter history, they have lived in relative obscurity with their Polish neighbours.
Yet ties with Germany have remained strong with many German-Poles working or studying in Germany, and the minority is often dependent on Berlin for the funding of cultural and linguistic...Continue reading