Territorial Association of Silesia
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Landsmannschaft Schlesien - Nieder- und Oberschlesien e.V. (the Territorial Association of Silesia - Lower and Upper Silesia) is a federation of Germans born in the former Prussian provinces of Lower and Upper Silesia, or their descendants, who currently live in present-day Germany. The association consists of people who were expelled or evacuated during World War II or after, as well as people who emigrated in more recent times, exercising their right to German citizenship, based on a 1913 German law.
The current president is Rudi Pawelka, who succeeded Dr. Herbert Hupka, who was president from 1968 to 2000. The Landsmannschaft Schlesien is a member of the Federation of Expellees, and has its seat in Königswinter.
According to the Landsmannschaft, respect for the human rights and the Geneva protocols is an important goal. However, certain advocates consider it a "reactionary" organization. In 1985 it planned to hold a congress under the motto Schlesien bleibt unser ("Silesia remains ours"), which was only modified after the intervention of Chancellor Helmut Kohl. At the 2001 congress, Interior Minister Otto Schily was booed when he said that the expulsions were the consequence of German aggression.
There is also another Silesian Landsmannschaft, the Upper Silesian Landsmannschaft der Oberschlesier e.V. (Bundesverband)
