Regarding the comment: "The Poles were also not Germanic."
I understood we were not referring even to the last millennium but back to
the one before that.
Saying the Poles are not Germanic is like saying the Italians are not
Germanic. Yet, Germanic tribesmen settled in such large numbers IN WHAT IS
TODAY ITALY that they even left their name to large regions, viz. Lombardy.
In point of fact, when the Teutonic Knights returned from the crusades, the
Pope sent them to conquor Poland. They not only conquored Poland, they
occupied it much as the Normans did England. The headquarters of the Teutonic
Knights, Malbork, is an impressive massive castle in Poland. And just as the
Normans arrogantly declared French to be the official language of England,
the Germans lorded it over those conquored. They so dominated the region
they called the non-Germans "Slavs," the old German word for "slaves."
Hitler airily dismissed the Slavs as Geschichtelos, or "historyless." Hitler
also referred repeatedly to the Germans as the Herrenvolk. Allied propaganda
in World War II translated that as "the Master Race" or even "the super
race." It is better translated as "the governing race" or even "the
governing people." And, historically, that is what they were for vast Slavic
regions such as Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary. (Yes, the
Maygars are different). Whatever the position of authority, be it archbishop,
bishop, provincial governor, garrison commander, or burgomeister, the person
in charge was almost invariably German.
In sum, the governance of Poland in inspiration, and all too often
unfortuately in substance as well, was Germanic.
End of history lecture.
Dane Bowen in Alexandria, Va., researching Bowen, Bacon, Carlton (Carleton),
Luker, Sanders (Saunders), Chaudoin (Chaudoins), Maverick, Richey (Ritchie,
Richie, Ritchey), Spence, Sumner, Way, and Wells families.
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