Herczawa-Hrčava: the most Czech or the most pragmatic village in Zaolzie?

Abstract

Topic of the paper is Herczawa (in Czech Hrčava), only one village in Cieszyn Silesia, that tried hard to join itself to Czechoslovakia during the Czech-Polish conflict of Cieszyn Silesia (1919–1920). Local inhabitants were not ethnic Czechs and they were not influenced by the Czech culture in a school or in a church. The text of their petition for joining to Czechoslovakia is an evidence, that their motivation was predominantly economic, with communication demands as the first. It was the most remote village in the heart of the Beskydy Mts. and so communication with the rest of the world was crucial. Their inhabitants tried to keep connection with their district centre town Jablunkov (assigned eventually to Czechoslovakia) and a chance to use railways at the territory of Slovakia, that was surprisingly the closest. After successful shift of the new border and joining Herczawa to Czechoslovakia, their population have started to declare Czech ethnicity till now, in contrary of speaking Polish-Silesian dialect.