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Another problem that Polish authorities were faced with was the disposition of the so-called "Germanized Poles" or "autochthons". Of close to three million residents of Masuria (Masurs), Pomerania (Kashubians) and Upper Silesia (Silesians) of Slavic descent, many did not identify with Polish nationality, were either bilingual or spoke German or Germanized dialects only. Large numbers of these had registered with the German Deutsche Volksliste during the war. While those who had signed Volksliste category "I" were expelled, the Polish government aimed to retain as many "autochthons" as possible, as they were needed both for economic reasons and also for propaganda purposes, as their presence on former German soil was used to indicate an intrinsic "Polishness" character of the area and justify its incorporation into the Polish state as "recovered territories". "Verification" and "national rehabilitation" processes were set up to reveal a "dormant Polishness" and to determine which were redeemable as Polish citizens, few were actually expelled. "Autochthons" not only disliked the subjective and often arbitrary verification process, but they also faced discrimination even once verified. Polish settlers coveted autochthon property, and they resented and distrusted the verified autochthons. Many autochthons fled to occupied Germany in despair at their treatment, although the situation in Germany was little better. As one Silesian wrote, "In Poland, I'm a German. In Germany, a Pole. Perhaps they should create a state for us on the moon. There we might finally feel at home".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight_and_expulsion_of_Germans_from_Pola nd_during_and_after_World_War_II#.22Autochthones.22
What do you think should have happened to these "autochthons"?
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