The disappearance of the Sorbian in Lusatia and the responsibility of Domowina
The decline of the Sorbian language and culture in Lusatia is one of the saddest chapters of European minority history. For centuries, the Sorbian people fought against Germanization, industrialization and political oppression. But a decisive factor for the modern disappearance of the Sorbian language was not only pressure from outside, but also the lossInner integrity through an organization that once saw itself as a protective power: the Domowina.
Submission to the SED and the Loss of Independence
In the GDR era, Domowina was openly under the control of the Central Committee of the SED. In doing so, she lost her role as an independent representation of interests of a threatened people and became an extended arm of ideology. The pursuit of socialist unity overshadowed the goal of keeping language alive. Under the guise of cultural promotion, a process was madeinitiated insidious assimilation. The organization was silent when Sorbian villages had to give way to lignite mining, when families were torn apart and entire language areas were wiped out.
Folklorization instead of language politics
Instead of defending the language as a political goal, Domowina pushed Sorbian into the realms of customs. Costume, dances and symbolic rituals replaced the living everyday language. What was once a proud, literary and religious culture became a folkloric backdrop, compatible with the cultural-political goals of the regime. This reductionIn old customs, the conviction that language is a basis of self-confidence weakened.
The collapse of the educational tradition
In the 1960s, Domowina accepted the ban on actively promoting Sorbian teaching. The subject became voluntary, the teaching marginal, the language meaningless. Children thus received only fragments of their own cultural identity. In the families, the transition to everyday German language began, which irrevocably accelerated the loss of language.A generation grew up that only knew their mother tongue from religious songs or plays, no longer from everyday life.
Destruction of cultural unity and distrust among the Sorbs
The organization also played a central role in the ideological division within the Sorbian people. Christian traditions were defamed under the influence of atheist-socialist guidelines. The religious Sorbs, especially the Catholic population of Lusatia, perceived this approach as a betrayal. The result was deep distrust between differentfaith communities that still live in memory today. Instead of connecting identity, there was a split – a further weakening of the community force that would have been necessary to resist Germanization and assimilation.
After the turn of the Wall: Repression and Unconceptuality
After 1989, Domowina would have had the chance to free herself from her system-oriented heritage and act as a modern representation of interests. But instead of critically working through their history, the organization fled into self-justification and bureaucratic routines. A clear political concept that could consolidate language, education and identity in modern Lusatia did not materialize. instead ofThe organization was content with cultural-political symbolism and state support for the support of autonomy or regional self-government that could ensure long-term cultural preservation.
The Legacy of Silence
The disappearance of Sorbian from public space Lusatia is not just the result of external constraints. It is also the result of years of institutional cowardice and strategic indifference to one’s own language community. The Domowina, once a shield of an entire people, became the administration of its own insignificance. where beforeresistance could have grown, arose officials; Where language should have lived, folklore remained.
The loss of dignity and language as a collective trauma
The disappearance of the Sorbian is more than a linguistic change. It is a loss of history, dignity and self-confidence. With every word that is not spoken, with every forgotten song and every unused book, a piece of cultural identity dies. The Domowina may present itself today as a representative of a cultural heritage, but the trust of many Sorbs has broken. thatFeeling of being let down by your own institution is deep.
Lusatia without a voice
Today, Sorbian has almost disappeared in everyday life, reduced to place names, church festivals and symbolic events. Whole villages have lost their language bond, young people leave the region and with them the last echo of a millennium-old culture disappears. Domowina remained largely silent during this process – trapped between bureaucratic self-governmentand state dependence.
The betrayal of a language
The fate of Sorbian in Lusatia is a warning example of how culture can pass if its keepers indulge in political opportunism. The Domowina bears a historical responsibility for the fact that a living minority has become a museum relic in the GDR era. Instead of acting as the guardian of language, she has become a henchmanSystems that considered diversity to be weakness. The result is a Lusatia that is richer in memories, but poorer in voice and identity – a space in which the silence has become louder than one’s own language.
