Polonia mon amour

Germany: Controversies over the Nazi laws regarding the Polish minority
ANALYTICAL NEWSLETTER FOR CENTRAL EUROPE, GERMANY, THE BALkANS & THE BALTIC STATES – OŚRODEK STUDIÓW WSCHODNICH IM. MARKA KARPIA – CENTRE FOR EASTERN STUDIES – issue 36(48) – 21.10.2009
On 15 October, the Germany Ministry of Justice refused to make voida Nazi decree of 1940. According to the ministry, the regulation ordering the liquidation of the Polish minority in the Third Reich has been invalid for a long time. In this way Germany is trying to protect itself against potential demands to restore national minority status to Poles in Germany.
The Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities has been applicable in Germany since 1 February 1998. According to detailed Ger¬man regulations accompanying the convention, the national minority status is granted to those national groups which fulfil the following conditions: (1) their representatives are German citizens; (2) their language, culture and history are distinct from those of the majority of the nation; (3) they want to protect their identity; (4) they are traditional residents of Germany; and (5) they live in the areas from which they originate. The list of recognised national minorities includes Danes, Frisians, Sorbs, and Sinti and Roma people (the latter group has been treated as an exception because point 5 does not apply to it). Poles are not on the list because, according to the German authorities, they fail to fulfil the condition set out in point 4, which is a controversial interpretation.
Representatives of groups which are recognised as national minorities ac¬count for as little as approximately 0.3% of the German population. Noneof the groups has more than 100,000 members. Their organisations may count on high subsidies for activity from the federal budget. Separate elec¬toral regulations also apply to them. If such status was granted to Poles, who number approximately 2 million people in Germany, the budget expenses would automatically grow and a new political force based on ethnic origin and using preferences reserved for minorities would be created.