Września children strike

The Września children strike, or Września school strike, refers to the 1901–1904 protests of Polish children and their parents in Września against Germanisation of the schools.[1]

Background

Further information: Germanisation of Poles during the Partitions

In all of Greater Poland, which had been 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, resulting in outrage from Polish communities.[3]

Strike

In April 1901, a number of students (one source gives the number at 118[4]) in the People's Catholic School in Września (Katolicka Szkoła Ludowa we Wrześni), attended by about 650 pupils, refused to accept new German textbooks and to participate in the class activities. The teachers responded with detention and corporal punishment.[3] Over the coming weeks, the students' parents became increasingly vocal in protesting the punishment of their children. On 20 May 1901, a group of 100 to 200 people were protesting in front of the school until they were dispersed by police, who were called for by the school.[3] The German administration threatened that the students would not be allowed to finish school. Adults involved in the protests were put on trial for public disturbance, preventing the officials from carrying out their duties, trespassing, and similar crimes, with 26 people officially charged. On 19 November 1901, 20 individuals were sentenced to imprisonment from several weeks to over two years.[2][3]

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 had given up by the summer of 1904.[3]

Recognition and impact

The strike gained international attention.[2][5] In late 1901, Polish composer Ignacy Jan Paderewski declared that the proceeds from his concert in Germany would be donated to Września activists, and was, in turn, was booed and boycotted by German audiences. As a result, he refused to perform in Germany.[6] The cause was taken up by other Polish cultural figures, such as writers Henryk Sienkiewicz.

After learning about the strikes, Maria Konopnicka began organising an international movement of women, specifically mothers, to send directly to the then Queen of Prussia, Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein, signed protest letters that oppose the treatment of striking Polish children.[7] A statue of Maria Konopnicka was erected in Września as a recognition of her active defense of the movement.

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, Pruska kultura, made in 1908 by Mordechaj Towbin.[4] Another movie about the events, Wizja lokalna 1901, was made in 1981 by Filip Bajon.[8]

References

  1. ^ "The children who were flogged to within an inch of their lives for refusing to pray in German". Retrieved 20 May 2021.
  2. ^ a b c Patrice M. Dabrowski (21 September 2004). Commemorations and the Shaping of Modern Poland. Indiana University Press. p. 160. ISBN 0-253-11028-9.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ a b Maja Trochimczyk (9 December 2009). A Romantic Century in Polish Music. Lulu.com. p. 96. ISBN 978-0-9819693-3-6.
  5. ^ a b Barbara A. Lewis (15 December 2007). The Teen Guide to Global Action: How to Connect with Others (Near & Far) to Create Social Change. Free Spirit Publishing. p. 18. ISBN 978-1-57542-856-7.
  6. ^ Philipp Ther (2014). Center Stage: Operatic Culture and Nation Building in Nineteenth-Century Central Europe. Purdue University Press. p. 73. ISBN 978-1-55753-675-4.
  7. ^ Grzebałkowska, Magdalena (13 November 2024). Dezorientacje. Biografia Marii Konopnickiej. Kraków: Wydawnictwo Znak. p. 325. ISBN 978-83-240-6879-1. Retrieved 15 January 2026.
  8. ^ Marek Haltof (30 January 2015). Historical Dictionary of Polish Cinema. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 20. ISBN 978-1-4422-4472-6.

Sources

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