The German minority in Poland in the Second Republic of Poland constituted about 740 thousand
people, which gave it the fifth place after the Ukrainians, Jews, Russians and Belarusians. Real power and
role of Germans in Poland were far beyond a demographic factor. Germans inhabited mainly western
and northern voivodeships in Poland, and had a pretty big economic potential at their disposal. They
were also a political power in their attempts to a parliament and local self‑governments.
German minority
was well‑organised,
acted in numerous associations and societies of professional and cultural profiles.
Except for Germans living in eastern voivodeships of the Second Republic of Poland, Germans, literate
in majority, were active participants in a cultural life. Four factors played an indirect role in maintaining
and reinforcing national identity, namely family, school, church and media.
The aim of the text is to present the role of book in the very process. Deliberations will cover these
German books which from the point of view of Polish authorities spread revisionist and Pole‑destructive
opinions among Germans and were eliminated by them. The subject of analysis constitutes the literature
gathered in German school and public libraries, educational and academic ones. A special emphasis was
put on spreading books propagating the Nazist ideology in German libraries.
Zdzisław Gębołyś
Verbotenes un
