Slovince

The slovince is an extinct dialect of the language poméranienne, spoken between the Gardno lakes and Lebsko in Poméranie. The slovince became a Dead language because the daily language of the community was replaced by low-German at the beginning of the 20th century, even if isolated words and expressions survived until the Second world war. At that time one could still inform oneself near the old ones which was able to hold a simple dialog in their dialect.

The slovince was at this point close to the Cachoube which one could regard it as a dialect of this last. One discusses even between scholars to know if Slovinces themselves were recognized like such, because this name their was given by the Russian scientist Aleksander Hilferding. Some scholars believe that Slovinces simply regard themselves as of Cachoubes Lutherans and that their language is cachoube. Nevertheless, the term “slovince” prevails in the literature and it is used officially ( Slowinski Park Narodowy - National park slovince, in Poméranie).

The ancestors of Slovinces probably arrived in this area there is 1 500 years, but it may be that they lived the area well before, as a part of the large tribe of Slavic the poméraniens. Following their forced christianization (Crusade of North), the dominant classes of the Western poméraniens were germanisés little by little. The adoption of the Lutheranism in 1525 and 1538 broke many bonds with the Poles and Cachoubes. Moreover, it made that German was used in the Church of Poméranie, in the place of the local indigenous language.

The relative insulation of the settlements slovinces compared to the big cities delayed this process until the end of the 19th century. With the S Michal Mostnik (also known under the name of Pontanus or of Michael Brüggeman) and Szimon Krofej tried to introduce the slovince with the Church Lutheran, representing and publishing several religious work with the use of Slovinces.

Their efforts did not stop the process of germanisation of the Slavic population of Poméranie. After the German unification in 1871, the old Prussian province of Poméranie became German territory, so much so that any language except German was rigorously prohibited in the churches, the schools and the public places. The Slavic language poméranienne declined to be replaced little by little by low German. The same process, although slower, also occurred among catholics cachoubes in the Prussian province of Western Prussia.

Nevertheless, Cachoubes still remained when the Traité of Versailles placed them under Polish authority . The slovince part was left inside the German borders.

The areas inhabited by Slovinces became part of Poland after the Second world war in 1945. The new made Polish colonists of Poland Orientale transfer in the local population only Germans, more especially as they were Protestant. The goods of the German citizens were confiscated by the State, unless they proved their right to ask naturalization. In Slovinces the possibility was refused of adopting the Polish citizenship. Some Polish intellectuals wrote letters of protest against the treatment inflicted to the indigenous populations of Poméranie by the communist authorities, but without hardly of effect. Slovinces were thus expelled after the war, just like the Germans. Those which had remained started to seek to emigrate in Germany and practically all the families did it in the decade 1980.

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