Pałys, Piotr: Jurij and Pawoł Cy˛ in the Sorbian National Movement
Lětopis Abstract 2013 1: Pałys, Piotr: Jurij and Pawoł Cy˛ in the Sorbian National Movement
The author illustrates important aspects of the Sorbian national movement in the 1930s and 1940s using a range of different sources. He focuses on the
two brothers from Säuritz near Kamenz, Jurij und Pawoł Cy˛. They both studied law in the 1930s, Jurij in Prague and Leipzig, Pawoł in
Königsberg. During this time they were both active in the Sorbian student movement. Beyond that they kept in close contact with the Polish minority,
in particular with the Federation of Poles in Germany. The climax of the influence of the two brothers on the Sorbian national movement came
immediately after the end of the Second World War. Both were active in the Sorbian National Committee, Jurij as General Secretary in Prague, his
brother Pawoł as the representative of the Committee in Poland. In these capacities they supported the idea of a separate Sorbian state or
alternatively the merger of Lusatia with Czechoslovakia. Pawoł Cy˛ actively pursued this matter until March 1947, but nevertheless stayed in
Poland until 1949. He was arrested after his return to Lusatia; after his release he fled to West Germany. He lived there until his death in 1977.
Jurij worked until his early death in September 1947 as General Secretary of the Sorbian National Committee in Prague. The German authorities in the
Soviet Zone of Occupation suspected that both Sorbs were working as agents for the Polish secret service, however they were unable to produce any
clear evidence.
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