A bumpy road to independence. Strike of the children of Wrzesiński cz.1. - from the archive
date:17 May 2018 Editor: Agnes
The loudest and most pregnant events occurred on 20 May 1901 erstwhile German teacher Schölzchen sentenced 14 children to refuse to answer German in class Religion. In consequence to this, an angry crowd gathered outside school. These participants were punished by the German authorities by prison and fines.
Wrzesinski children - participants of the strike
In the year of regaining independence, we present events from our history, whose combined influence led our nation to freedom. We start with the strike of school children in September and in episodes we will print a survey prepared on the basis of the material on the website www.sdw.icpnet.pl/history
Background and causes of Wrzesiński events
The land of occupied Poland was not usually inhabited by the best representatives of the German people. They were alternatively fanatics who wanted to rehabilitate in the eyes of their authorities or Germans hungry for merit. Therefore, these relations could not work out well, as these invaders treated Poles like slaves, wishing to make them “prusacs of Polish origin”.
The 1901 Wrzesiński Strike gained worldwide publicity, yet it was not the only or even the first event of this type. Earlier, there was Jarocin (1883), where students refused to respond in German during the show's spiritual lesson during the teaching conference. This clash was won by the students due to the fact that they were ordered to halt the pointless lesson. The students from Osieczna (1890 – 1892) besides struck twice.
September 1900 was a town of 5535 inhabitants, of which about 75% were Poles. The Germans there accounted for only a twelve percent of the population, and at the time of the highest German presence there. However, this number powerfully influenced the city's economical and cultural life, which was supported by the presence of the German army - the 3rd Battalion of the 46th Infantry Regiment.
The patriotic part of the Polish community in September cultivated the memory of heroic fights with Polish past by organising anniversary manifestations under commemorative obelisk. The sense of patriotism increased with increased germanization pressure.
In the summertime of 1900, a paper was introduced, according to which since the 1901 school year, religion and church singing should be taught besides in German. For another subjects, the language was already a teaching language, and it could be assumed that the students were fluent in it. The German teachers, therefore, went on to vote against the Polish language from schools in order to show themselves to their superiors and receive financial congratulations.
A prominent school year began on April 1, 1901. Predicting the opposition of Polish students, Germans purchased German catechisms at the expense of the government, which they planned to give to children.
