Union of Poles in Germany

Union of Poles in Germany (Polish: Związek Polaków w Niemczech, German: Bund der Polen in Deutschland e.V.) is an organisation of the Polish minority in Germany, founded in 1922. In 1924, the union initiated collaboration between other minorities, including Sorbs, Danes, Frisians and Lithuanians, under the umbrella organization Association of National Minorities in Germany. From 1939 until 1945 the Union was outlawed in Nazi Germany. After 1945 it had lost some of its influence; in 1950 the Union of Poles in Germany split into two organizations: the Union of Poles in Germany (German: Bund der Polen in Deutschland e.V.), which refused to recognize the communist Polish government of the Polish United Workers' Party, and the Union of Poles "Zgoda" (Unity) (German: Bund der Polen "Zgoda" (Eintracht)), which recognized the new communist government in Warsaw and had contacts with it. The split was healed in 1991. The organization is a member of the Federal Union of European Nationalities.