Beginnings and Development of Polish Education in Romania Until 1939
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Maria Radziszewska BHE 39/2018 Department of Didactics and History of Education ISSN 2544-7899 University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn DOI: 10.14746/bhw.2018.39.6 ORCID: 0000000305727631 Beginnings and development of Polish education in Romania until 1939 Abstract Poles appeared in the area of the present-day Romania in the fourteenth century. The next influx of Polish settlers came after the fall of the Kościuszko Uprising. The aim of this study is to pres ent the history of education for the Polish minority in Romania. The work focuses on showing var ious forms of educational institutions from the beginning of the 19th century to 1939. In the analy sed period, Poles organized mainly preschools and elementary and secondary schools in Bukovina (contemporary northern Romania). They also made attempts to introduce the Polish language learn ing in teacher training institutions i.e. male and female teachers training colleges. They established their own socio-educational societies and built Polish Houses in which they developed a wide range of educational and cultural activities. In the Kingdom of Romania, Polish children could also at tend (under certain conditions) Polish language classes in Romanian public schools. Thanks to the Polish Schools in Romania, and then the Polish School Association in Romania, there appeared var ious forms of Polish private education. Keywords: Polish education, Bukovina, Romania, Polish School Union in Romania, Polish Schools in Romania Foreword Poles arrived in the territory of contemporary Romania in mid-14th century, during the reign of King Casimir the Great. They occupied an area called “Szczypin Land” in North Bukovina. Pursuant to a Polish-Hungarian-Moldavian Treaty of 1498–1499, they lost that land to Moldova. In subsequent ages, Poland competed with Hungary, then with Turkey, since late 17th century – with Habsburgs, and later with Russian Tsars for suprem acy over Moldavia. Since the beginning of the Principality of Moldavia, the political, eco nomic and cultural relations between Moldavia and Poland were lively, especially in the 86 Maria Radziszewska border and transit region of Bukovina. A new Polish diaspora in Bukovina developed in the post-partition period. In 1774, Bukovina was invaded by Austria. On the 1st of February 1787, by a decree of the Emperor Joseph II, Bukovina was annexed to Galicia as a circuit and was managed by the governorate in Lvov. Its governor was the mayor residing in Chernivtsi. During the Austrian period, Poles emigrated to Bukovina mainly for work, but also for political reasons. It should also be noted that Polish miners from Bochnia, Kałusz and Wieliczka were forced to move to the town of Cacica in south Bukovina. In the early 19th century, Bukovina was inhabited by Cadca highlanders and railway workers hired at the construc tion of the Lvov-Chernivtsi railway line. In 1849, Bukovina separated from Galicia and became a principality with separate administration and autonomy and – since 1860, with its own emblem and a state gov ernment lead by a governor1. However, in some areas of administration, Bukovina re mained linked with Galicia until 1918. The head of the state government was the pres ident appointed by the emperor, who reported to the central government in Vienna. The President of Bukovina was at the same time the Chair of the National School Council2. The Kingdom of Bukovina was divided into 11 counties (Gura Humorului, Kimpolung, Kocman, Radowce, Seret, Storozhynets, Suceava, Vashkivtsi, Vyzhnytsia and Zastavna, and one city-county – Chernivtsi). In 1918, Bukovina was annexed to Romania. The area of Greater Romania covered also Bessarabia, a part of Banat and South Dobruja3. Poles in Bukovina, and later in the Kingdom of Romania, were less numerous than Ukrainians, Romanians, Jews or Germans. According to a census of 1910, they were the 5th nationality, after the above five nationalities and before Hungarian, Russian, Czech, Slovak and Armenian nationals, and Gypsies. After World War I, many Poles returned to their homeland. “Approximately 5,000 people left Bukovina, many of them being the local elite, which significantly weakened the Polish national movement”4. According to a census of 1930, 10,000 Poles lived in Greater Romania, being the least numerous na tional minority5. Concerning education in Bukovina, the Austrian monarchy started taking adminis trative control of education in mid-18th century. In 1760, the Imperial Commission for Education (Studienhofkommission) was established to supervise education. It was to be assisted by national school commissions in provinces and departments for school af fairs in governorates. In Galicia, a school commission was established in 1776. In 1778, the Imperial Commission for Education was incorporated into the Imperial Chancellery 1 NISTOR, I, Istoria Bucovinei, București 1991, p. 107–116. 2 BIEDRZYCKI, E., Historia Polaków na Bukowinie, Warszawa–Kraków 1973, p. 23–24. 3 DEMEL, J., Historia Rumunii, wyd. II poprawione i uzupełnione, Wrocław–Warszawa–Kraków– Gdańsk–Łódź 1986, p. 358–359, 386–387. 4 NOWAK, K., Problemy szkolnictwa polskiego w Rumunii oraz Mołdawii dawniej i współcześnie, “Rocznik Stowarzyszenia Naukowców Polaków Litwy”, 2017, vol. 17, p. 235. 5 SWORAKOWSKI, W., Mniejszości narodowe w Rumunji wobec programu rządowego, “Sprawy Narodo- wościowe” 1930, no. 5–6, p. 658. Beginnings and development of Polish education in Romania until 1939 87 (Hofkanzlei)6. Emperor Joseph II introduced German as the official language, as a re sult of which Latin and Polish lost their equal status. He organised education. In 1784, teachers were brought to Bukovina and two four-grade elementary schools, so-called Hauptschulen, were opened, one in Chernivtsi and the other in Suceava. They were bi lingual schools, with German and Romanian languages. After Bukovina was annexed to Galicia, schools came under the supervision of the Governorate in Lvov. Since 1815, school affairs were supervised by the Roman Catholic consistory, and since 1851 – the Orthodox episcopal consistory in Chernivtsi. From 1860 to 1867, the Austrian Ministry of Public Enlightenment, later – of Denominations and Enlightenment, which replaced in 1848 the Imperial Commission for Education, was incorporated into the Ministry of State, and later reactivated. The Minister was responsible for: “a) agendas of the national cler ical board, b) most senior management and supervision of all the branches of education, c) promotion of science and skills”7Educational reforms of 1868–1873 transferred super vision of education to secular officers. The government budget financed local schools, only the schools in Chernivtsi were financed by the city. In 1869, schools in Bukovina were at tended by: 9.62% of German children, 5.87% of Polish children, 4.08% of Hungarian chil dren, 1.05% of Ukrainian children, 1% of Jewish and Romanian children. In late 19th cen tury, the scholarisation rate among children subject to compulsory education was almost 70%8. After World War I, Romanian became the official language across the whole Greater Romania. A regulation of 1922 imposed romanisation of the education of national minor ities in the Kingdom of Romania. The purpose of this study is to present the history of education among the Polish mi nority in the territory of contemporary Romania in the period from early 19th century to 1939, and specifically education in Bukovina. Polish education in Romania, notwithstand ing successes and failures, conditioned in particular by political, demographic and social factors, has been developing for two ages now. Its commendable traditions are an inspi ration for contemporary schools, such as, for example, the Krystyna Bochenek Primary School and Preschool no. 2 in Pojana Mikului or the Henryk Sienkiewicz Primary School in Nou Solonetu. This essay is based on a study by Emil Biedrzycki and archive materials collected in the New Files Archives in Warsaw. The names of towns are the same as they are in the source materials. 6 SALMONOWICZ, S., Podstawy prawne funkcjonowania Komisji Edukacji Narodowej, “Rozprawy z Dzie jów Oświaty”, 1980, no. 23, p. 43. 7 LEWANDOWSKA, D., C. K. Ministerstwo Wyznań i Oświaty 1848–1918, Archiwum Główne Akt Dawnych w Warszawie, https://www.archivesportaleurope.net/ead-display/-/ead/pl/aicode/PL-1/type/fa/id/PL- 1-304_SLASH_0;jsessionid=C298A68029531A0119BCC1A9E3EBCFFD [access: 10.02.2018]. 8 BIEDRZYCKI, E., Historia Polaków, p. 102–103. 88 Maria Radziszewska Beginnings of education among the Polish minority in Bukovina Polish education in Romania started developing in the 19th century, mainly in Bukovina, which was the largest diaspora of Polish minority. It has been determined that the first school, where Polish language was taught, was located in the village of Cacica, where Polish miners and civil workers constructed a salt mine. The mine started operating in 1791. “Since early 19th century, the mine had its own school with teachers speaking the three languages of the mine workers: German, Romanian and Polish”9. One of the teachers in the Cacica school in 1816 was Żurowski. One year earlier, the first school for girls was opened in Chernivtsi, with teachers speaking German and Polish and at least one teacher speaking Moldavian (Romanian)10. In the period when the autonomy of the Principality of Bukovina was formed, al though “the German language spread in Bukovina, finding fertile soil for development in German schools and German being the only official language, […] this [Polish] element, persecuted by Romanians and Germans, their allies, deprived of any national rights, not only remained strong but even grew in strength and power”11. Two examples are the triv ial school in Seret and Radowce, where, in the 1850s, Polish, alongside German, was the language of instruction12. In 1860, in Kocman, there was a school with a German division and a Polish-Ukrainian division. Meanwhile, in the Kingdom of Bukovina, the number of “entirely Polish schools or mixed schools with Polish as the language of instruction” was growing13.