Września children strike
The Września school strike, or Września children strike, refers to the 1901–1904 protests in Września of Polish children and their parents against Germanisation of the schools.[1]
Background
In all of Greater Poland, which was annexed by Germany during the late-18th-century partitions of Poland, German was the language of instruction in schools from 1873 except in two subjects: religion and music.[2]
In March 1901, the German administration ordered the religion classes to switch to German.[3]
Strike
In April, a number of students (one source gives the number at 118
Polish activists formed two committees to support families whose members were imprisoned. The German administration soon disbanded the committees and, in turn, charged the activists.[3]
Despite the trials, the protests continued. Some parents moved their children to other schools, and the school officials constructed barracks, where the protesting children were isolated.[3] Use of the Polish language was banned on the school grounds, and police were in charge of enforcing student attendance.[3]
After an amnesty for children was declared in 1903, the number of children still refusing to take the German religion lessons diminished. The last striking children gave up by the summer of 1904.[3]
Aftermath
The strike gained international attention.
The Września strike inspired another large strike of Polish students in 1907.[5]
The issue was documented in what has been described as the oldest Polish film, Prussian Culture, made in 1908 by Mojżesz Towbin.[4] Another movie about the events, Wizja lokalna, 1901, was made in 1981 by Filip Bajon.[8]
References
- ^ "The children who were flogged to within an inch of their lives for refusing to pray in German". Retrieved 20 May 2021.
- ^ ISBN 0-253-11028-9.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Witamy w serwisie: Muzeum Regionalne im. Dzieci Wrzesińskich we Wrześni - www.muzeum.wrzesnia.pl - Zapraszamy!". Retrieved 18 March 2015.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-9819693-3-6.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-57542-856-7.
- ISBN 978-1-55753-675-4.
- ^ "Oglnopolski Konkurs Internetowy - Historia Strajku Dzieci Wrzesiskich". Retrieved 18 March 2015.
- ISBN 978-1-4422-4472-6.
Sources
- John J. Kulczycki (1981). School Strikes in Prussian Poland, 1901-1907: The Struggle Over Bilingual Education. Boulder [Colo.] : East European Monographs ; New York. ISBN 978-0-914710-76-9.
- Stanisław A. Blejwas, American Polonia and the School Strike in Września,
- (in Polish) L. Kostrzewski, "Przebieg strajku szkolnego we Wrześni w 1901 roku", w: Strajk szkolny we Wrześni w 1901 r., Września 2001
- (in Polish) Monika Warneńska, Ulica dzieci wrzesińskich. Krajowa Agencja Wydawnicza, 1983.
- (in Polish) Strajk dzieci wrzesińskich z perspektywy wieku, opracowanie zbiorowe pod redakcją Stanisława Sierpowskiego. Bogucki Wydawnictwo Naukowe, Poznań, Września 2001.