Wymysorys (Vilamovicean) and Halcnovian: Historical and Present-Day Sociolinguistic Situation of Microlanguages in a Southern-Polish Language Island / Vilamovščina in halcnovščina: zgodovinski in sodobni sociolingvistični položaj mikrojezikov na jezikovnem otoku na jugu Poljske (EN)

Slovani od preloma 19. in 20. stoletja do danes 7 Maciej Mętrak Polish Academy of Sciences Institute of Slavic Studies (Warsaw) [email protected] Wymysorys (Vilamovicean) and Halcnovian: Historical and Present-Day Sociolinguistic Situation of Microlanguages in a Southern-Polish Language Island This article describes the history and the present situation of a Germanic language island in the southern-Polish town of Bielsko-Biała and its neighbouring settlements. While most of the inhabitants were expelled as German nationals after 1945, the town of Wilamowice, isolated from the rest of the enclave, survived and today became a “laboratory” of language revitalisation efforts. The signs of the former multilingualism in other nearby settlements, however, are almost nonexistent, as shown in the example of Hałcnów. Keywords: microlanguages, language islands, Wymysorys, Halcnovian, Wilamowice, Hałcnów, language revitalization, Germanic-Slavic linguistic relations, Poland Vilamovščina in halcnovščina: zgodovinski in sodobni sociolingvistični položaj mikrojezikov na jezikovnem otoku na jugu Poljske Članek opisuje zgodovino in sedanje stanje germanskega jezikovnega otoka v južnopoljskem mestu Bielsko-Biała in njegovih sosednjih naseljih. Medtem ko je bila večina prebivalcev germanskega porekla izgnana po letu 1945, je mesto Wilamowice, izolirano od preostanka enklave, preživelo in je danes postalo »laboratorij« prizadevanj za oživitev jezika. Vendar pa znakov nekdanje večjezičnosti v drugih bližnjih naseljih skorajda ni, kot je prikazano na primeru nekdanje vasi Hałcnów. Ključne besede: mikrojeziki, jezikovni otoki, vilamovščina, halcnovščina, Wilamowice, Hałcnów, revitalizacija jezika, Poljska The impact of German language on Slavic languages, especially those used in the areas once governed by German-speaking states, is well known and studied. Contrary to the popular belief, it’s not only Slavs who were influenced by their larger and politically stronger Germanic neighbours (with Lusatian Sorbs being the epitome of a Slavic “island” surrounded by the German “sea”). Over the years German dialects were also heavily influenced by the Slavic loanwords, grammar and morphological structures (Siatkowski 2015: 13-22). Some of the 8 6. Mednarodno znanstveno srečanje mladih humanistov most interesting cases of language contact happened in the linguistic enclaves or “language islands” (Sprachinseln), as they are called by the German dialectology. One of such enclaves surrounded by the Slavic speaking population thrived until 1945 in the southern Polish twin town of Bielsko-Biała1 (German: BielitzBiala) and its neighbouring settlements on the historical border of Silesia and Lesser Poland regions. Most of its inhabitants were expelled from communist Poland shortly after the II World War as members of the German nation. Today the only visible remnant of the former multilingualism in the area is the town of Wilamowice. As it was separated from the rest of the Germanic language enclave by Polish villages, its inhabitants developed their own ethnic and linguistic identity, distinguishing them from both the Poles and the Germans. With the number of native speakers of the local language (called Wymysiöeryś2) still dwindling, it has become a laboratory for language revitalisation efforts.3 The aim of this paper is to describe the historical and current linguistic situation of Wymysorys and to compare it with closely related but less fortunate linguistic variety (called Alznerisch or Pauerisch) spoken in the nearby village of Hałcnów, since 1977 the northeastern most district of Bielsko-Biała. The article is based on the existing literature and over 4 years of involvement in studying and documenting Vilamovicean culture, including a cursory fieldwork in Hałcnów during the Engaged Humanities Field School (18-28 September 2016), an international event coordinated by the Faculty of “Artes Liberales”, University of Warsaw. Kistöeryś fȧld (Historical background)4 The origin of the linguistic enclave near Bielsko-Biała dates back to the medieval times. First groups of Western-European settlers came to Silesia and Lesser Poland in the 12th century, but the large-scale colonisation of the area happened in the 13th century, when – according to the legend – the colonists were invited to repopulate the areas ravaged by the Tatar incursion of 1241. The exact origin of this so-called first wave of Germanic colonisation is almost impossible to establish 1 Throughout this paper I decided to use the current hyphenated form in both current and historical context for clarity, but until 1951 there were officially two separate towns: Bielsko and Biała. 2 Simplified spelling without diacritics is recommended when referring to the language in English (Andrason, Król 2016: 3) and will be used throughout this paper. The adjective Vilamovicean more closely resembles the Polish place name Wilamowice and is used to describe the local culture and people. 3 Different aspects of the Vilamovicean revival were lately described by Mętrak (2016), Wicherkiewicz, Olko (2016), Wicherkiewicz, Król, Olko (2017). 4 The section titles were translated to Wymysorys as an example of its contemporary spelling and as a proof that this microlanguage can be used in different modern contexts, including academic works. Slovani od preloma 19. in 20. stoletja do danes 9 today, but it is highly probable that the settlers were not only of German descent but also Flemish, Frisian, Dutch or even Walloon and French (Wicherkiewicz 2003: 7). While different non-German traits were sometimes preserved, all of the local Germanic dialects can be classified as East Central German (Ostmitteldeutsch) colonial varieties (Andrason, Król 2016: 4-5). The first written account of the existence of today’s Wilamowice (Wilmesau in German, Wymysoü in Wymysorys) comes from 1325. Its inhabitants must have arrived in the area sometime earlier, as the newly established village was called in Latin Novovilamovicz, in contrast with the already existing Antiquo Wilamowicz, today Polish village of Stara Wieś, originally called Wilhelmsdorf (Wicherkiewicz 2003: 5). The first information about Hałcnów is slightly more recent (1404), and in the following centuries its inhabitants were often referred to as colonists, which may be considered an evidence of their late arrival (Dolatowski 2015: 36). The whole Bielsko-Biała enclave consisted of three types of settlements: those with mixed Polish-German population, those polonised in the centuries following their establishment, and – most importantly – 14 settlements that preserved their mainly German(ic) identity until 1945.5 The whole area developed rapidly in the next centuries thanks to the growing textile industry. In 1808 the village of Wilamowice bought itself from serfdom and shortly after (in 1818) gained the town rights. Vilamoviceans became famous for their rich costumes, proficiency in weaving and their involvement in the PanEuropean textile trade. Unlike their Polish peasant neighbours, Vilamoviceans retained a strong sense of inter-group identity and preferred to marry inside the town, protecting both the accumulated wealth and their culture. As Wilamowice was separated from the closest German settlement of Hałcnów by Polish-speaking villages, their sense of ethnic and linguistic independence grew. Most of the inhabitants identified with the Austrian state but thought of themselves as descendants of Flemish or even Anglo-Saxon settlers, according to the local ethnogenetic legend. The rest of the Bielsko-Biała enclave, while speaking dialects similar to Wymysorys, identified with the larger German nation and culture. This identity is in a way reflected by the Halcnovian legend of origin, placing the original homeland of their forefathers in the Lower Franconian town of Alzenau.6 In 5 In alphabetical order: Alexanderfeld (Aleksandrowice), Altbielitz (Stare Bielsko), Alzen (Hałcnów), Batzdorf (Komorowice Śląskie), Biala (Biała), Bielitz (Bielsko), Bistrai (Bystra), Kamitz (Kamienica), Lobnitz (Wapienica), Kunzendorf (Lipnik), Nickelsdorf (Mikuszowice Śląskie), Ober Kurzwald (Międzyrzecze Górne), Ohlisch (Olszówka) and Wymysoü/Wilmesau (Wilamowice). 6 The only reason for this idea is the apparent similarity between the names Alzen/Alza (Hałcnów) and Alzenau. It is refuted by the fact that before the 15th century Alzenau was known as Wilmundsheim. 10 6. Mednarodno znanstveno srečanje mladih humanistov more urban-type settlements local Germanic dialects were gradually replaced by standard German. Traditional varieties were preserved mainly in rural communities such as Hałcnów, and referred to as Pauerisch (peasant-language). While life under Austro-Hungarian rule was fairly peaceful, modern national conflicts arrived in the region when Poland regained independence in 1918. The whole Bielsko-Biała enclave became a part of the Polish state, but as one of the centres of German minority it posed a problem for the state policies. Both Polish and German activists tried to convert the local population for their cause. In the interwar period German nationalist-oriented scholars and ideologists treated the linguistic enclave inhabitants as exemplary “Arch-Germans”, who have been struggling for centuries to preserve their identity surrounded by Slavic “barbarians”. Most of the German population of Bielsko-Biała fell for the Nazi propaganda (as seen in the voting results of the Young German Party)7, and the German army arriving to Bielsko-Biała on September 3rd, 1939 was greeted as liberators. The inhabitants of Hałcnów, however, traditionally supported the Christian Democratic Party. When the war was lost for Germany, some of the people evacuated with the fleeing Wehrmacht, others awaited the advancing Red Army. When in February 1945 Soviet troops marched into the city, its German population was subjected to harsh persecution: arrests, murders, rapes and looting. Out of almost 50 thousand Germans of Bielsko-Biała only a few “indispensable” specialists or pro-Polish activists were allowed to stay as the rest was forcibly resettled to Germany. The only settlement of the former enclave whose inhabitants were not officially persecuted was Wilamowice, due to their non-German identity.8 The price they had to pay was still extremely high, as the local language and costume were legally banned and lots of people were illegally thrown out from their houses, faced arrest and humiliation or even were sent to the Soviet penal colonies as a result of false accusations, post-war demoralisation, and general chaos. Although the ban was lifted in the 1950’s, the intergenerational transmission of Wymysorys was already severed (Wicherkiewicz, Król, Olko 2017: 181). 7 Jungdeutsche Partei in Polen (Polish: Partia Młodoniemiecka w Polsce), a National Socialist political party founded in 1931 by members of the German ethnic minority in Poland. 8 The lack of state-organised repressions has not stopped discrimination on the local level, often performed by Poles from the neighbouring villages, envying the Vilamovicean wealth. Slovani od preloma 19. in 20. stoletja do danes 11 Śpröhkontakt (Linguistic contact) As can be deduced from the brief summary of regional history, varieties spoken in the Bielsko-Biała enclave were to some extent influenced by both Polish dialects spoken in the area and literary German language (in its Austrian variety). While Wymysorys and Alznerisch/Pauerisch retained most of their Germanic traits, they have also borrowed Polish forms into their lexicon, conformed to the Slavic phonology and adapted some Polish grammatical structures. Even some of the most basic words were replaced by their equivalents based on Slavic roots, such as Wymysorys “der kłop” or Halcnovian “a klop” – a man, from Polish chłop, and Wym. “dy bow” or Halc. “a bohf” – a woman, probably from Polish baba (Dolatowski 2013: 7). As can also be seen from those examples, another possible Slavic influence is the lack of definite articles in Halcnovian. Polish language became the official language in school and public administration in 1875 and was also used by the local Catholic parish. Since the end of 19th century the percentage of Wymysorys speakers was slowly decreasing but still remained quite high. In the 1910 census 67% of Vilamoviceans declared German mother tongue (probably meaning Wymysorys, as there was no other way to describe it), while in 1921 only 1.4% claimed the German national identity. The situation was different in Hałcnów, where the percentage of German speakers was even higher (77% in 1910) and most of them identified with the German nation (66.3% in 1921). In 1943 in both places 74% of inhabitants were described as German, but the result does not show their real ethnic or national feelings, as signing of the German national list (Volksliste) was hardly refusable. Today, with less than 30 fluent Wymysorys speakers out of around 3000 total inhabitants of the town, we might say that 1% is still using the language and about 10% has some passive knowledge of it. In Hałcnów the situation is even worse with less than 10 rememberers amongst over 7700 inhabitants of the district forming less than 0.1% of the population.9 With the dominance of Polish in the media and everyday communication even fluent Wymysorys speakers tend to switch codes mid-conversation or use Germanic-Slavic hybrid words (Andrason 2015: 73). This centuries-long immersion in the framework of Polish culture and language, strengthened during the last 70 years, has even led some scholars to consider Wymysorys a Germanic-Slavic mixed language (Andrason, Król 2014, Andrason 2015). 9 Sadly these numbers are dwindling fast. Two of the native speakers actively collaborating with researchers have passed away in 2019, before this paper was published. 12 6. Mednarodno znanstveno srečanje mladih humanistov The main difference between Wilamowice and other Germanic varieties of the Bielsko-Biała island can be described using the terms developed by Heinz Kloss (1967, 29-41, Wicherkiewicz 2014: 38-43). While in the whole enclave most of the local population were bi- or trilingual (speaking Polish, local Germanic dialect and often literary German), the Dachsprache – Ausbausprache/Abstandsprache relations were different.10 For Vilamowiceans Polish became the Dachsprache and their own language – being clearly different – may be considered an Abstandsprache, which contributed to the perceived Vilamowicean “independence”. Outside of Wilamowice, however, local Germanic dialects were considered a bastardised, less prestigious spoken variety of standard German (Hochdeutsch), and not an independent fully developed language. Considered a “peasant language” they may be described as an Ausbausprache, a dialect closely related to the official Dachsprache (in this case literary German), which yet has to develop its own codified version. Śrȧjwnantrȧdycyj (Literary traditions) The described difference in language ideologies surrounding Wymysorys and Halcnovian became a reason for the different development of literature in those ethnolects. While some examples of the Bielsko-Biała German dialects were collected by the 19th and 20th century ethnographers, only in Wilamowice the language was used outside of the traditional folk culture context in a written form. The “father” of the literary Wymysorys was Florian Biesik (writing under his nickname FliöeraFliöera, “Florian son of Florian”). He was born in 1849 and after receiving education in Kraków became a railway clerk for the Austro-Hungarian Eastern Railway company. As a state servant, he moved to Trieste where – out of longing for his hometown – he started writing poems in the Wymysorys language. Married to an Italian woman he lived in Nabrežina/ Auresina until his death in 1926, and participated in the local Slovene cultural life (Wicherkiewicz 2003: 41). His greatest work was the epic poem “Uf jer wełt” (In the other World) inspired by the “Divine Comedy” and written in 1921 but almost unknown in his hometown. The discovery of the manuscript by Tomasz Wicherkiewicz in the 1980’s started modern academic interest in the language and in a way sparked the whole revitalisation movement (Wicherkiewicz, Król, Olko 2017: 182). 10 The term Dachsprache or a “roofing language” describes a variety used for formal communication and in the wider area. Ausbausprache (“language by development”) is a locally used variety with lower prestige related to the Dachsprache and considered its dialect (and as such needing a gradual development to be considered an independent language). Abstandsprache (“language by distance”) is a local variety significantly different from the Dachsprache, in which case the linguistic distance helps to preserve the autonomy of such language. Slovani od preloma 19. in 20. stoletja do danes 13 After the II World War the local language was used to write poetry by local artist Józef Gara (Tołer-Jüza, 1929-2013) who wrote his own short poems and collected traditional songs (published in 2004 and 2007). In the 2000’s larger works were published by local activists Tymoteusz Król (Tiöma fum Dökter, 2009) and Justyna Majerska (Jüśja fum Biöetuł, 2014). Australian linguist Carlo Richie, under his Vilamovicean nickname Karol Südkrojc, also published a short book for children (2014). The current spelling standard for Wymysorys, universally accepted by the writers, was developed by Król and is partially based on Gara’s orthography. Halcnovian (and other Bielsko-Biała dialects) was almost never used in a written form, as the official role was covered by literary German. There is no standardised spelling and only a few written examples exist. The only author known to use the local ethnolect in his works was Karl Olma (1914-2001), writing under the penname Michael Zöllner. He was active amongst the Halcnovian exiles living in the West Germany as a journalist and a translator, and published the compilation of traditional Halcnovian songs and poems (1988), local chronicle (1983) and a novel about the fate of a Silesian-German family “Pflüger im Nebel” (1960), where in some dialogues he used the local Pauerisch dialect. Śpröhdokumentacyj (Language documentation) Bielsko-Biała enclave and other Silesian German dialects were subject of German academic research from the 1850’s until the II World War (with works by Jacob Bukowski, Walther Kuhn etc.), and Wymysorys itself has been studied since the beginning of the 20th century (Adam Kleczkowski, Józef Latosiński, Hermann Mojmir). In addition to the published studies by the aforementioned authors, the “raw” linguistic data available from the Bielsko-Biała island comprise of pre-war Wenker’s dialectological questionnaires and post-war recordings made for the German Language Atlas – DSAr (Dolatowski 2015: 27). Modern Wymysorys is being recorded and documented since the early 2000’s by Tymoteusz Król and other young activists (today over 1000 hours of recordings are slowly being transcribed and analysed). An academic grammar of contemporary Wymysorys is available (Andrason, Król 2016) and further theoretical works are being prepared. There is currently no comprehensive dictionary, but it is also being slowly developed using the language corpus gathered in the modern recordings supported by older studies. Temporarily short word list style dictionaries are available for the interested and a picture dictionary was devised for children learning the language (Król, Majerska, Wicherkiewicz 2015). 14 6. Mednarodno znanstveno srečanje mladih humanistov While researchers and activists working in Wilamowice are trying to at least partially include Hałcnów and the last speakers of Halcnovian in their actions, both the possibilities and the local interest is much smaller. The recorded corpus includes mainly several dozen hours of recordings gathered by Marek Dolatowski, out of which less than twenty hours are Halcnovian proper, the rest being mixed Polish-German-Halcnovian conversations. Śpröhstatus (Language status) None of the Germanic varieties native to the Bielsko-Biała enclave is officially mentioned in the Polish law, only standard German is being protected as a minority language.11 Wymysorys, however, is included in various international databases (e.g. The Ethnologue) and was given an official ISO 639-3 code (wym) in 2007. The main local organisation supporting the revitalisation efforts is the Vilamowicean Society (Stowarzyszenie Wilamowianie), created during the reestablishment of the local folk ensemble “Wilamowice” in 2000. Since November 2013 there also exists a possible regulatory body for Wymysorys, the Vilamovicean Academy (Wymysiöeryśy Akademyj – Accademia Wilamowicziana), created to facilitate the cooperation between local activists, native speakers, language learners and scholars from Wilamowice, Poland and beyond. While in the current Polish political climate the chances for success are almost nonexistent, the struggle for officialising the status of Wymysorys has begun in the Polish parliament. The draft law granting Wymysorys the status of a regional language (and the resulting state support in education etc.) passed the first voting in the Committee of National and Ethnic Minorities in March 2018, due to the absence of the opposing deputies. Sadly the hope of it passing in the further votings is very slim. Halcnovian in Poland has no organisation to support it. Some of the last speakers are members of the German cultural society in Bielsko-Biała, others stay completely uninvolved in any form of cultural or political activism. The most active few often participate in the official events in Wilamowice, some efforts were also taken to arrange meetings of different Central-European Germanic minorities (in cooperation with Carpathian Germans from Slovakia). 11 This further complicates the Vilamovicean efforts of including Wymysorys as a second regional language (after Kashubian, protected by the law since 2005) in the Polish Act on Ethnic and National Minorities and the Regional Language. Its objectors, mainly from the ruling Law and Justice party, claim that it’s already being protected as a German dialect and as such does not need any more legislative (for similar examples of discrimination by forced inclusion into another group see Mętrak 2018: 10-11). Slovani od preloma 19. in 20. stoletja do danes 15 Śpröhłjyn (Language education) Intergenerational transmission in Wilamowice was severed after the II World War, and the last generation to learn the language at home are people born in the 1930’s. The only exception being Tymoteusz Król, the main Vilamovicean activist, who was raised by a Wymysorys speaking nanny (Król 2016: 55-63). As the local language was repressed and ridiculed during the communist era, the first attempts to teach it to the interested children began only in 2004-2006 when the language was taught by Józef Gara. Since 2011 the teaching was resumed by Tymoteusz Król with a small group of children meeting in a private house. In 2014 their efforts received support from the local primary school and a group of 20 children was established. Today around 30 children, not all of them from the town of Wilamowice itself, are being taught by 2 teachers and the first language exam for the new speakers was conducted at the University of Warsaw in 2015 on the B2 level. In the academic year 2015/16 and 2016/17 Wymysorys was taught at the University of Warsaw (Faculty of “Artes Liberales”) with a group of about 15 students each year, some of whom stayed involved in the documentation and revitalisation efforts afterwards. The teaching materials (such as “Heći Peći” coursebook for children) are well prepared and supported by the academic language teaching expertise. In Hałcnów there is virtually no interest in the local linguistic heritage amongst the local population. Masmediamytułn (Media presence) In the communist period, the former multinational and multilingual character of Poland was rarely brought up in the media as a threat to the mononational state ideology. The only safe element of the minority cultures seen in the media was their folklore. The situation changed after 1989 and in June 1995 Polish state TV broadcasted the first documentary about Wilamowice and Florian Biesik (“Dante z Wilamowic”, directed by Dorota Latour, produced in 1994). Different short programmes about the region and local traditions were created in the following years and since the revitalisation activities started, there is a small but steady coverage by nation-wide media (daily newspapers and magazines, television and the radio). The information is available in Polish and has a small impact on the local community, serving rather as a means of promoting the already existing culture and the language than a space for creating something new. 16 6. Mednarodno znanstveno srečanje mladih humanistov Far more interesting and useful for the community itself are the theatre plays prepared since 2014 by the local children and teenagers learning the language. The first two were based on popular literary works (“Der Kliny Fjyśt”/“The Little Prince” and “Hobbit. Hejn ȧn cyryk”/“The Hobbit”). The third text to stage – chosen by the young actors themselves – was Biesik’s poem “Uf jer wełt”, paramount for the modern Vilamovicean identity. The most recent show, prepared for the 2018 Mother Tongue Day under the title “Ymertihła” (“The shawl”), was written collectively for this occasion and tells the story of the post-war persecutions against Vilamovicean culture and language. Some of the plays were shown outside of Wilamowice in Warsaw, Bielsko-Biała and Katowice, and were an important opportunity to present the language as living and able to cope with the modern world.12 Another interesting instance of Wymysorys being publicly used and available for everyone to hear (even outside of Poland) was the 2011 movie „The Mill and the Cross” directed by Lech Majewski, a biopic about Pieter Bruegel, where the recordings of Vilamovicean extras were used to simulate the language spoken in the 16th century Flanders. Śpröhłandśoft (Linguistic landscape) The final aspect in which the minority language presence in the community can be measured is the so-called linguistic landscape: the ability and will to use the language in the public space. It helps not only to promote the language amongst the locals but also creates a tourist attraction by allowing people to see the “physical” language at any time even without organised minority celebrations and events (Ritchie 2016: 67-70). In Wilamowice the local language is getting more visible in the last few years, but its presence in the public sphere still serves more as an identity marker than a real area of language development. Although without political recognition there can be no official bilingual signs at the town limits or on streets, two unofficial welcome-signs were placed by the roads leading to the town in 2011. Apart from that Wymysorys can be seen at the main town square in form of a trilingual (Wymysorys-Polish-English) tourist information panel and (together with Polish) on the pedestal of a monument commemorating the local saint, Archbishop Józef Bilczewski (interestingly, in his lifetime unfavourable towards Vilamovicean 12 Another play, this time a comedy, entitled “Ojeruma! Czyli lepsze deko handlu niż kilo roboty”/“Oh gosh! An ounce of merchantry is better than a pound of work”, permiered in 2019. Slovani od preloma 19. in 20. stoletja do danes 17 cultural independence). Several more trilingual tourist information plaques are hanging on the main historical buildings in town: the inn, textile factory, orphanage etc. A few privately placed Wymysorys inscriptions can be seen on an insurance company sign, local graveyard and in form of a faded graffiti near the main street in the town centre – swear words written there being the first public use of the language in the 1990’s. In the case of Hałcnów the local language was never used publicly, being considered a spoken-only variety of the German language. Hochdeutsch, however, was openly used until the II World War in its written form on signs, house numbers etc. Nowadays there are only a few examples of German writings and inscriptions in the public space. The first being recently renovated crossroads shrine in the centre of the district with a 19th-century inscription mentioning its funders. The second is a plaque unveiled in 2010 in the churchyard with a bilingual, Polish and standard German description of the so-called “St Hedwig’s linden tree”, planted to commemorate the Halcnovians expelled from their hometown. Bȧjśpil fur socjolingwistyśy sytuȧcyj (Comparison of the sociolinguistic situation) The history of different settlements belonging to the former Bielsko-Biała enclave shows how some easily overlooked and seemingly unimportant factors can influence the whole future of a language. Wymysorys – while still critically endangered – is documented and popularised surprisingly well for its small size. Even if the revitalisation projects fail and the language would not survive long past its last native speakers (today mostly in their 80’s and 90’s), the knowledge of its existence and the sense of local pride will be preserved for the future generations. The main reason for that being the sense of distinctiveness gradually formed on the basis of geographical separation (smaller influence of literary German), unusually rich folk costume, and traditions different from the neighbouring Polish and German ethnographic groups. Because of that, the Vilamoviceans were able to persuade the Soviets and the Polish authorities not to treat them as Germans. Local identity, while latent in the communist period, was revived thanks to relatively strong literary traditions and a few coincidences sparking new interest in the youngest Vilamovicean generation. Without young people who decided to take the fate of their grandparents’ language into their own hands, there would be no academic interest, funding and generally positive attitudes towards Wymysorys inside the community and in the academic debate. 18 6. Mednarodno znanstveno srečanje mladih humanistov For Halcnovians and the rest of Bielsko-Biała Germans, the irredeemable breaking point was the II World War after which they had no chance to rebuilt their communities. After being resettled to Germany they abandoned their local dialects for the official state language. Those few who were able to stay in their hometown switched to Polish fleeing from the discrimination. With only a few speakers of the language left the following years are the last moment to help them be heard and to preserve their memories and what is left of their language for the future generations. 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