The article describes the role of the problem of national minorities (Poles in Zaolzie, Czechs mainly in Kłodzko, and Slovaks in Polish parts of Spiš and Orava) in Polish-Czechoslovakian relations during the communist era. In the light of the author’s research, the nationalist heritage of border disputes from the first half of the 20th century influenced relations between the two countries also in later years, although the minority problem in their mutual relations was marginal and officially did not exist for both sides.

Národnostní menšiny v polsko-československých vztazích v letech 1948–1989

The last slaves in modern Europe – relics of serfdom in Spisz and their abolition in the 1930s

In Polish Spiš, incorporated on 28 July 1920 into the Second Polish Republic, there were three villages (Niedzica, Falsztyn and Niżne Łapsze) which belonged to two related families (the Salamons and the Jungenfelds). These villages were relics of feudalism in the form of serfdom of one of the categories of local peasants referred to as “żelarze”. This problem, solved in two stages in Hungary in 1848 and 1896, in Polish Spiš was not eliminated until 20 March 1931 when a legal act led to enfranchisement of “żelarze” by way of purchase over the next three years.