Zaolzie

Audio|Zaolzie.ogg|Zaolzie ( _cs. Zaolší (Zaolží), _pl. Zaolzie, Śląsk zaolziański, literally: "Trans-Olza River Silesia", _de. Olsa-Gebiet) is an area in the present-day Czech Republic, which was disputed between Poland and Czechoslovakia. Zaolzie is part of the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia, the region which was divided in 1920 between Czechoslovakia and Poland. Zaolzie forms the eastern part of the Czech portion of Cieszyn Silesia.

Historically, the largest ethnic group inhabiting this area were the Poles. [Zahradnik 1992, 16-17.] Under Austrian rule, Cieszyn Silesia was divided into four districts. One of them, Frýdek, had a mostly Czech population, the other three were mostly inhabited by Poles. [Watt 1998, 161.] During the 19th century the number of Germans grew. After decline at the end of the 19th century,The 1880, 1890, 1900 and 1910 Austrian censuses asked people about the language they use. (Siwek 1996, 31.)] at the beginning of the 20th century and later from 1920 to 1938, the Czech population grew significantly (mainly as a result of immigration and the assimilation of locals) and Poles became a minority, which they are to this day. Another significant ethnic group were the Jews, but almost the entire Jewish population was exterminated during World War II.

Name and territory

The term "Zaolzie" is used predominantly in Poland (literally meaning "lands beyond the Olza River") and also commonly by the Polish minority living on this territory. In Czech it is more frequently referred to as "České Těšínsko"/"Českotěšínsko", by "Zaolží"/"Zaolší" or by the neutral "Těšínsko" and "Těšínské Slezsko" (meaning Cieszyn Silesia). The term "Zaolzie" is also used by some Czech historians and the foreign scholars, including American ethnolinguist Kevin Hannan. [Hannan 1999, 191-203.]

The term "Zaolzie" denotes the territory of the former districts of Český Těšín and Fryštát, in which the Polish population formed a majority according to the 1910 Austrian census.Szymeczek 2008, 63.] It is "de facto" eastern part of the Czech portion of Cieszyn Silesia. Historian Józef Szymeczek however notes that the term is often mistakenly used for the whole Czech part of Cieszyn Silesia.

Since the 1960 reform of administrative divisions of Czechoslovakia it has been made up of Karviná District and the eastern part of Frýdek-Místek District.

History

Initially a part of Great Moravia [Žáček 2004, 12-13.] , from 950 till 1060 under rule of Principality of Bohemia [Žáček 2004, 14-20.] , from 1060 part of Poland, from 1327 the whole area of the Duchy of Cieszyn became an autonomic fiefdom of the Bohemian crown. [Panic 2002, 7.] Upon the death of Elizabeth Lucretia, its last ruler from the Polish Piast dynasty in 1653, it passed to the Habsburgs together with the rest of the Duchy of Cieszyn. [Zahradnik 1992, 13.]

From 1848 to the end of the 19th century, local Polish and Czech people co-operated, united against the Germanization tendencies of the Austrian Empire and later of Austria-Hungary. [Zahradnik 1992, 40.] At the end of the century, ethnic tensions appeared as the area's economic significance grew. This growth caused an immigration wave from Galicia. About 60,000 people arrived between 1880 and 1910. [Zahradnik 1992, 48.] [cite journal
last = Baron
first = Roman
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Czesi i Polacy - zaczarowany krąg stereotypów
journal = Zwrot
volume = 8
issue = 2007
pages = 32–34
date =
doi =
id = ] The new immigrants were Polish and poor, about half of them being illiterate. They worked in coal mining and metallurgy. For these people the most important factor was material well-being; they cared little about the homeland from which they had fled. Almost all of them assimilated into the Czech population. [Zahradnik 1992, 51.] Many of them settled in Ostrava (west of the ethnic border), as the heavy industry was spread in the whole western part of Cieszyn Silesia. Even today, etnographers traced about 25,000 Polish surnames in Ostrava (about 8% of the population). [cite web
last = Siwek
first = Tadeusz
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Statystyczni i niestatystyczni Polacy w Republice Czeskiej
work =
publisher = Wspólnota Polska
date = not dated
url = http://www.wspolnota-polska.org.pl/index.php?id=kw3_3_06
format =
doi =
accessdate = ] The Czech population (settled mainly in the northern part of the area, Bohumín, Orlová etc.) numerically declined at the end of the 19th century,The 1880, 1890, 1900 and 1910 Austrian censuses asked people about the language they use. (Siwek 1996, 31.)] assimilating with the prevalent Polish population. This process shifted with the industrial boom in the area.

Decision time (1918-1920)

Originally, both national councils (the Polish "Rada Narodowa Księstwa Cieszyńskiego" in its declaration "Ludu śląski!" of 30 October 1918 and the Czech "Národní výbor pro Slezsko" in its declaration of 1 November 1918) claimed the whole Cieszyn Silesia for themselves.Gawrecká 2004, 21.]

On 31 October 1918, at the dusk of World War I and the dissolution of Austria-Hungary, the majority of the area was taken over by local Polish authorities supported by armed forces. [Kovtun 2005, 51.] The interim agreement of 2 November 1918 reflected the inability of the two national councils to come to final delimitation. On 5 November 1918, the area was divided between Poland and Czechoslovakia by an interim agreement of two local self-government councils (Czech "Národní výbor pro Slezsko" and Polish "Rada Narodowa Księstwa Cieszyńskiego"). [Zahradnik 1992, 52.] Before that, the majority of the area was taken over by Polish local authorities. In 1919 both councils were absorbed by the newly created and independent central governments in Prague and Warsaw. The former was not satisfied with this compromise and on 23 January 1919 invaded the area [Długajczyk 1993, 7.] [Zahradnik 1992, 59.] while Poland was engaged in its war against the West Ukrainian National Republic.

The reason for the Czech invasion in 1919 was primarily the organisation of elections to the Sejm (parliament) of Poland in the disputed area. [Gawrecká, 23, in particular the quotation of Dąbrowski: "Czesi uderzyli na nas kilka dni przed 26 stycznia 1919, w którym to dniu miały się odbyć wybory do Sejmu w Warszawie. Nie chcieli bowiem między innemi dopuścić do przeprowadzenia tych wyborów, któreby były wykazały bez wszelkiej presyi i agitacyi, że Śląsk jest polskim.".] The elections were to be held in the whole Cieszyn Silesia. Czechs claimed that the polls must not be held in the disputed area as the delimitation is only interim and no sovereign rule should be executed there by any party. Czech demand was rejected by the Poles and, following the rejection, Czechs decided to solve the issue with force.

Czech units were stopped near Skoczów and a cease-fire was signed on 3 February. The new Czechoslovakia claimed the area partly on historic and ethnic grounds, but especially on economic grounds. Mamatey 1973, 34.] The area was important for the Czechs as the crucial railway line connecting Czech Silesia with Slovakia crossed the area (the Košice-Bohumín Railway, which was one of only two railroads that linked the Czech provinces to Slovakia at that time). The area is also very rich in black coal. Many important coal mines, facilities and metallurgy factories are located there. The Polish side based its claim to the area on ethnic criteria: a majority of the area's population was Polish according to the last (1910) Austrian census. [Zahradnik 1992, 178-179.]

In this very tense climate it was decided that a plebiscite would be held in the area asking people which country this territory should join. Plebiscite commissioners arrived there at the end of January 1920 and after analyzing the situation declared a state of emergency in the territory on 19 May 1920. The situation on the territory remained very tense. Mutual intimidation, acts of terror, beatings and even killings affected the area. [Zahradnik 1992, 62-63.] A plebiscite could not be held in this atmosphere. On 10 July both sides renounced the idea of plebiscite and entrusted the Conference of Ambassadors with the decision.Zahradnik 1992, 64.] Eventually 58.1% of the area of Cieszyn Silesia and 67.9% of the population was taken over by Czechoslovakia on 28 July 1920 by a decision of the Spa Conference. This division practically created Zaolzie.

Richard M. Watt

Historian Richard M. Watt gives an account on the situation in 1918-1919. He writes that "On 5 November 1918, the Poles and the Czechs in the region disarmed the Austrian garrison (...) The Poles took over the areas that appeared to be theirs, just as the Czechs had assumed administration of theirs. Nobody objected to this friendly arrangement (...) Then came second thoughts in Prague. It was observed that under the agreement of 5 November, the Poles controlled about a third of the duchy's coal mines. The Czechs realized that they had given away rather a lot (...) It was recognized that any takeover in Teschen would have to be accomplished in a manner acceptable by the victorious Allies (...), so the Czechs cooked up a tale that the Teschen area was becoming Bolshevik (...) The Czechs put together a substantial body of infantry - about 15,000 men - and on 23 January 1919, they invaded the Polish-held areas. To confuse the Poles, the Czechs recruited some Allied officers of Czech background and put these men in their respective wartime uniforms at the head of the invasion forces. After a little skirmishing, the tiny Polish defense force was nearly driven out." [Watt 1998, 161-162.]

According to Watt, the Allies were not fooled by this, even Lloyd George (who as a rule was not appreciative of the Poles), was in this case on Polish side (on 16 April 1919, Lloyd George complained to the Commons: "How many members have ever heard of Teschen? I do not mind saying that I have not" . [Watt 1998, 160.] ). During 1919 the matter of Cieszyn Silesia was studied by the Allies, who wanted to draw a just frontier line. Both Poles and Czechs were invited to Paris to present their views. The Poles based their claims on ethnographical reasons and the Czechs had a more difficult task. They stated that they needed the Teschen coal in order to influence the actions of Austria and Hungary, whose capitals were fueled by coal from the duchy. Also, the Czechs held that the large Polish population in Teschen should not influence its partition. They claimed that these Poles were only relatively recent arrivals in a territory that was historically Bohemian. [Watt 1998, 162-163.]

The Allies finally decided that the Czechs should get 60 percent of the coal fields, and the Poles were to get most of the people and the strategic rail line. Then something unusual happened – Czech envoy Edvard Beneš proposed a plebiscite. The Allies were shocked, arguing that the Czechs were bound to lose it. However, Beneš was insistent and a plebiscite was announced in September 1919. As it turned out, Beneš knew what he was doing. A plebiscite would take some time to set up, and a lot could happen in that time – particularly when a nation's affairs were conducted as cleverly as were Czechoslovakia's.Watt 1998, 163.]

In July 1920, while the Allies held a meeting in Spa in Belgium, Polish Prime Minister Władysław Grabski came there asking for help in Poland's war with Soviet Russia (see: Polish-Soviet War). It was obvious that a country so desperate as Poland would accept any dictate of the Allies. And this was the moment Beneš had been waiting for.

As Watt writes, "Over the dinner table, Beneš convinced the British and French that the plebiscite should not be held and that the Allies should simply impose their own decision in the Teschen matter. More than that, Beneš persuaded the French and the British to draw a frontier line that gave Czechoslovakia most of the territory of Teschen, the vital railroad and all the important coal fields. With this frontier, 139,000 Poles were to be left in Czech territory, whereas only 2,000 Czechs were left on the Polish side".

"The next morning Beneš visited the Polish delegation at Spa. By giving the impression that the Czechs would accept a settlement favorable to the Poles without a plebiscite, Beneš got the Poles to sign an agreement that Poland would abide by any Allied decision regarding Teschen. The Poles, of course, had no way of knowing that Beneš had already persuaded the Allies to make a decision on Teschen. After a brief interval, to make it appear that due deliberation had taken place, the Allied Council of Ambassadors in Paris imposed its "decision". Only then did it dawn on the Poles that at Spa they had signed a blank check. To them, Beneš' stunning triumph was not diplomacy, it was a swindle (...) As Polish Prime Minister Wincenty Witos warned: "The Polish nation has received a blow which will play an important role in our relations with the Czechoslovak Republic. The decision of the Council of Ambassadors has given the Czechs a piece of Polish land containing a population which is mostly Polish... The decision has caused a rift between these two nations which are ordinarily politically and economically united" (...). [Watt 1998, 164.]

The Cieszyn Silesia affair was indeed a tragedy. It poisoned relations between two nations that had every reason to act in concert. The Poles could never forget how they had been duped. They swore that the day would come when the Czechs would find themselves in the same desperate position as the Poles had been in Spa. Then, there would be a different end to the story of Teschen. And eventually that day did come. [Watt 1998, 163-164.]

Victor S. Mamatey

A different account on the situation in 1918–1919 is given by historian Victor S. Mamatey. He notes that when the French government recognised Czechoslovakia's right to the "boundaries of Bohemia, Moravia, and Austrian Silesia" in its note to Austria of 19 December, the Czechoslovak government thought it had French support for its claim to Cieszyn Silesia. However, the French government gave that assurance only against German-Austrian claims, not Polish. It viewed both Czechoslovakia and Poland as potential allies against Germany, but regarded Poland as more important than Czechoslovakia and refused to back the Czechoslovak claim. Mamatey writes: " [After the Czech invasion, the Poles] brought the matter before the peace conference that had opened in Paris on 18 January. On 29 January, the Council of Ten summoned Beneš and the Polish delegate Roman Dmowski to explain the dispute, and on 1 February obliged them to sign an agreement redividing the area pending its final disposition by the peace conference. Czechoslovakia thus failed to gain her objective in Teschen." [Mamatey 1973, 34.]

With respect to the arbitration decision itself, Mamatey writes that "On 25 March, to expedite the work of the peace conference, the Council of Ten was divided into the Council of Four (The "Big Four") and the Council of Five (the foreign ministers). Early in April the two councils considered and approved the recommendations of the Czechoslovak commission without a change – with the exception of Teschen, which they referred to Poland and Czechoslovakia to settle in bilateral negotiations." [Mamatey 1973, 36.] When the Polish-Czechoslovak negotiations failed, the Allied powers proposed plebiscites in the Cieszyn Silesia and also in the border districts of Orava and Spiš (now in Slovakia) to which the Poles had raised claims. In the end, however, no plebiscites were held due to the rising mutual hostilities of Czechs and Poles in Cieszyn Silesia. Instead, on 28 July 1920 the Spa Conference (also known as the Conference of Ambassadors) divided each of the three disputed areas between Poland and Czechoslovakia.

Part of Czechoslovakia (1920-1938)

The local Polish population felt that Warsaw had betrayed them and they were not satisfied with the division of Cieszyn Silesia. About 12,000 to 14,000 Poles emigrated to Poland by choice or forcibly.Gabal 1999, 120.] It is not quite clear how many Poles were in Zaolzie in Czechoslovakia. Estimates (depending mainly whether the Silesians are included as Poles or not) range from 110,000 to 140,000 people in 1921. [Zahradnik 1992, 72.] The 1921 and 1930 census numbers are not accurate since nationality depended on self-declaration and many Poles filled in Czech nationality mainly as a result of fear of the new authorities and as compensation for some benefits. Czechoslovak law guaranteed rights for national minorities but reality in Zaolzie was quite different.Zahradnik 1992, 76-79.] Local Czech authorities made it more difficult for local Poles to obtain citizenship, while the process was expedited when the applicant pledged to declare Czech nationality and send his children to a Czech school. [Zahradnik 1992, 76.] Newly built Czech schools were often better supported and equipped, thus inducing some Poles to send their children there. Czechs schools were built in ethnically almost entirely Polish municipalities. [Zahradnik 1992, 75-76.] This and other factors contributed to the cultural assimilation of Poles and also to significant emigration to Poland. After few years, the heightened nationalism typical for the years around 1920 receded and local Poles increasingly co-operated with Czechs. Still, Czechization was supported by Prague, which did not follow certain laws related to language, legislative and organizational issues. Polish deputies in Czechoslovak National Assembly frequently tried to put that issues on agenda. One way or the other, increasingly local Poles thus assimilated into the Czech population.

Part of Poland (1938–1939)

On 1 October 1938 the area was annexed by Poland following the Munich Conference. [Nowa Encyklopedia Powszechna PWN 1997, vol. VI, 981.] The Polish Army, commanded by General Władysław Bortnowski, annexed an area of 801.5 km² with a population of 227,399 people. Within the region originally demanded by Nazi Germany was the important railway junction city of Bohumín. The Poles regarded the city as of crucial importance to the area. Polish leader, Colonel Józef Beck believed that he must act rapidly to forestall the German occupation of the city. At noon on 30 September, Poland gave an ultimatum to the Czech government. It demanded the immediate evacuation of Czech troops and police and gave Prague time until noon the following day. At 11:45 a.m. on 1 October the Czech foreign ministry called the Polish ambassador in Prague and told him that Poland could have what it wanted. The Germans were delighted with this outcome. They were happy to give up a provincial rail centre to Poland; it was a small sacrifice indeed. It spread the blame and confused the issue. Poland was accused of being an accomplice of Germany – a charge that Warsaw was hard put to deny. [Watt 1998, 386.]

The Polish side argued that Poles in Zaolzie deserved the same rights as Germans in the Munich Agreement. The vast majority of the local Polish population enthusiastically welcomed the change, seeing it as a liberation and a form of historical justice. [Zahradnik 1992, 86.] But they quickly changed their mood. The new Polish authorities appointed people from Poland to various key positions from which Czechs were fired.Gabal 1999, 123.] The Polish language became the official language. Using Czech (or German) by Czechs (or Germans) in public was prohibited and Czechs and Germans were being forced to leave the annexed area. Rapid Polonization followed. Czech organizations were dismantled and their activity was prohibited. Czech education ceased to exist. [Zahradnik 1992, 87.] About 35,000 Czechs emigrated to Czechoslovakia by choice or forcibly. [Zahradnik 1992, 89-90.] The behaviour of the new Polish authorities was different but similar in nature to that of the Czech ones before 1938. Two political factions appeared: socialists (the opposition) and rightists (loyal to the new authorities). Leftist politicians and sympathizers were discriminated against and often fired from work. [Zahradnik 1992, 88-89.] The Polish political system was artificially implemented in Zaolzie. Local Polish people continued to feel like second-class citizens and a majority of them were dissatisfied with the situation after October 1938. [Zahradnik 1992, 96.] Zaolzie remained a part of Poland for only 11 months.

Richard M. Watt describes the Polish capture of Teschen in these words: "Amid the general euphoria in Poland – the acquisition of Teschen was a very popular development – no one paid attention to the bitter comment of the Czech general who handed the region over to the incoming Poles. He predicted that it would not be long before the Poles would themselves be handing Teschen over to the Germans." [Watt 1998, 386.]

Watt also writes that "The Polish 1938 ultimatum to Czechoslovakia and its acquisition of Teschen were gross tactical errors. Whatever justice there might have been to the Polish claim upon Teschen, its seizure in 1938 was an enormous mistake in terms of the damage done to Poland's reputation among the democratic powers of the world." [Watt 1998, 458.]

World War II

On 1 September 1939 Zaolzie was annexed by Germany after it invaded Poland. During World War II Zaolzie was a part of Nazi Germany. During the war, strong Germanization was introduced by the authorities. The Jews were in the worst position, followed by the Poles.Zahradnik 1992, 99.] Poles received lower food rations, they were supposed to pay extra taxes, they were not allowed to enter theatres, cinemas, etc. Polish and Czech education ceased to exist, Polish organizations were dismantled and their activity was prohibited. The German authorities introduced terror into Zaolzie. The Nazis especially targeted the Polish intelligentsia, many of whom died during the war. Mass killings, executions, arrests, taking locals to forced labour and deportations to concentration camps all happened on a daily basis. The most notorious war crime was a murder of 36 villagers in and around Żywocice on 6 August 1944. [Zahradnik 1992, 102-103.] This massacre is known as Tragedia Żywocicka (the Żywocice tragedy). The resistance movement, mostly composed of Poles, was fairly strong in Zaolzie. Volkslists – a document in which a non-German citizen declared that he had some German ancestry by signing it; refusal to sign this document could lead to deportation to a concentration camp – were introduced. Local people who took them were later on enrolled in the Wehrmacht. Many local people with no German ancestry were also forced to take them. The World War II death toll in Zaolzie is estimated at about 6,000 people: about 2,500 Jews, 2,000 other citizens (80% of them being Poles)Zahradnik 1992, 103.] and more than 1,000 locals who died in the Wehrmacht (those who took the Volksliste). Also a few hundred Poles from Zaolzie were murdered by Russians in the Katyń massacre. [cite video
people = Borák, Mečislav and Petra Všelichová
title = Zločin jménem Katyň
url = http://ct1streaming.visual.cz/new/asx/high/Katyn-110107.asx
medium = documentary
publisher = Česká televize
location = Czech Republic
year = 2007 ] Percentage-wise, Zaolzie suffered the worst human loss from the whole of Czechoslovakia – about 2.6% of the total population.

Since 1945

Immediately after World War II, Zaolzie was returned to Czechoslovakia within its 1920 borders, although local Poles hoped it would again be given to Poland. [Zahradnik 1992, 116.] The local Polish population again suffered discrimination, as many Czechs blamed them for the discrimination by the Polish authorities in 1938-1939. [Zahradnik 1992, 111.] Polish organizations were banned, and Czech authorities conducted many arrests and firings from work. [Zahradnik 1992, 116-120.] The situation had somehow improved when the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia took power in February 1948. Polish properties stolen by the Germans during the war were never returned. Poland signed a treaty with Czechoslovakia in Warsaw on 13 June 1958 confirming the border as it existed on 1 January 1938. After the Communist takeover of power, the industrial boom continued and many immigrants arrived to the area (mostly from the other parts of Czechoslovakia, mainly from Slovakia). The arrival of Slovaks significantly changed the ethnic structure of the area when almost all the Slovak immigrants assimilated into the Czech majority in the course of time. [Hannan 1996, 163-164.] The number of self-declared Slovaks is rapidly declining. The last Slovak elementary school was closed in Karviná several years ago. [ [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/
] ] Zaolzie continued to be part of Czechoslovakia until the latter's dissolution in 1993, and since then has been part of the Czech Republic.

A significant Polish minority in Zaolzie still persists to date.

In the European Union

The entry of both the Czech Republic and Poland to the European Union in May 2004, and especially the entry of the countries to the EU's passport-free Schengen zone in late 2007, reduced the significance of territorial disputes, ending systematic controls on the border between the countries. Signs prohibiting passage through the state border were removed, with individuals now allowed to cross the border freely at the point of their choosing.

Census data

Ethnic structure of Zaolzie based on census results:Sources: Zahradnik 1992, 178-179. Siwek 1996, 31-38.

See also

* History of Cieszyn and Těšín

Footnotes

References

* cite book
last = Długajczyk
first = Edward
authorlink=Edward Długajczyk
coauthors =
title = Tajny front na granicy cieszyńskiej. Wywiad i dywersja w latach 1919-1939
publisher = Śląsk
date = 1993
location = Katowice
pages =
doi =
isbn = 83-85831-03-7

* cite book
last = Gabal
first = Ivan
authorlink=
coauthors = and collective
title = Etnické menšiny ve Střední Evropě
publisher = G plus G; supported by the Nadace rozvoje občanské společnosti of the European Commission
date = 1999
location = Praha
pages =
doi =
isbn = 80-86-103-23-4

*cite book
last = Gawrecká
first = Marie
authorlink=
coauthors =
title = Československé Slezsko mezi světovými válkami 1918-1938
publisher = Silesian University in Ostrava
date = 2004
location = Opava
pages =
doi =
isbn = 80-7248-233-5

* cite book
last = Hannan
first = Kevin
authorlink = Kevin Hannan
coauthors =
title = Borders of Language and Identity in Teschen Silesia
publisher = Peter Lang
date = 1996
location = New York
pages =
doi =
isbn = 0-8204-3365-9

*cite journal
last = Hannan
first = Kevin
authorlink = Kevin Hannan
coauthors =
title = Language and Ethnicity among Students in Teschen Silesia
journal = Nationalities Papers
volume = 27
issue = 2
year = 1999
pages = 191–203
date =
doi =
id =

*cite book
last = Kovtun
first = Jiří
authorlink=
coauthors =
title = Republika v nebezpečném světě; Éra prezidenta Masaryka 1918-1933
publisher = Torst; published in co-operation with Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic
date = 2005
location = Praha
pages =
doi =
isbn = 80-7215-254-8

* cite book
last = Mamatey
first = Victor S.
authorlink=Victor S. Mamatey
coauthors = and Radomír Luža
title = A history of the Czechoslovak Republic 1918-1948
publisher = Princeton University Press
date = 1973
location = Princeton, New Jersey
pages =
url =
doi =
isbn = 0-691-05205-0

* cite book
last = Panic
first = Idzi
authorlink= Idzi Panic
coauthors =
title = Poczet Piastów i Piastówien cieszyńskich
publisher = Urząd Miejski
date = 2002
location = Cieszyn
pages =
language = Polish
url =
doi =
oclc = 55650394
isbn = 83-917095-4-X

* cite book
last = Siwek
first = Tadeusz
authorlink=
coauthors =
title = Česko-polská etnická hranice
publisher = Filozofická fakulta Ostravské univerzity
date = 1996
location = Ostrava
pages =
doi =
isbn = 80-7042-457-5

* cite book
last = Szymeczek
first = Józef
chapter= Polacy na Zaolziu
coauthors =
editor= Janusz Spyra
title = Śląsk Cieszyński. Granice - przynależność - tożsamość
publisher = Muzeum Śląska Cieszyńskiego
date = 2008
location = Cieszyn
pages = 63-72
url =
doi =
isbn = 978-83-922005-4-3

* cite book
last = Watts
first = Richard M.
authorlink=
coauthors =
title = Bitter Glory. Poland and its fate 1918-1939.
publisher = Hippocrene Books
date = 1998
location = New York
pages = 511
url =
doi =
isbn = 0-7818-0673-9

* cite book
last = Žáček
first = Rudolf
authorlink=
coauthors =
title = Dějiny Slezska v datech
publisher = Libri
date = 2004
location = Praha
pages =
doi =
oclc =
isbn = 80-7277-172-8

* cite book
last = Zahradnik
first = Stanisław
authorlink=
coauthors = and Marek Ryczkowski
title = Korzenie Zaolzia
publisher = PAI-press
date = 1992
location = Warszawa - Praga - Trzyniec
pages =
url =
doi =
oclc = 177389723

* cite encyclopedia
title = Zaolzie
encyclopedia = Nowa Encyklopedia Powszechna PWN
volume = VI
pages =
publisher = PWN
location= Warszawa
date = 1997
isbn = 83-01-11969-1

Further reading

* cite book
last = Badziak
first = Kazimierz
coauthors = Giennadij Matwiejew and Paweł Samuś
title = "Powstanie" na Zaolziu w 1938 r.: Polska akcja specjalna w świetle dokumentów Oddziału II Sztabu Głównego WP
publisher = ADIUTOR
date = 1997
location = Warszawa
pages =
doi =
isbn = 83-86100-21-4

External links

* [http://www.kc-cieszyn.pl/zaolzie1938/zaolzie.htm Documents and photographs about the situation in Zaolzie in 1938]
* [http://www.blisty.cz/files/isarc/9901/19990115g.html Interview of professor Jerzy Tomaszewski by Aleksander Kaczorowski]