Prussians
The Prussians (or Old Prussians) are Balts that formerly inhabited the area stretching from the modern cities of Klaipeda (Memel) to Gdansk (Danzig) along the southeast Baltic Sea and who formerly spoke an Indo-European language called Old Prussian. Their lands were once called "East Prussia." The name Prussian may be cognate to "Rus" or may mean "fair-haired." Prussians are a distinct ethnic group related to Latvians and Lithuanians and are neither Germanic nor Slavic. Like other indigenous peoples such as the Slovincians, their language and culture have been replaced by dominant groups. Nonetheless, there is currently interest in cultural and linguistic revival among the Prussians themselves today. As stated in the article on Indigenous people, "In the mid 20th century, Europeans began to recognize that indigenous and tribal peoples should have the right to decide for themselves what should happen to their ancient cultures and their ancestral lands."Their first mention by this name is in connection with Adalbert of Prague who was slain in 997 during a crusade to the Prussians. By the late 13th century, missionaries such as the Teutonic Knights had converted the Baltic lands &mdash including the Prussians &mdash to Christianity. Under the rule of these soldier-monks, the Prussians planted farms, built fine cities, and established universities. Their culture merged with western Europe, and by the beginning of the 18th century, their language was mostly superseded by German. Like the Baltic States, their religion became Protestant Christian during the Reformation. The philosopher Immanuel Kant was born in Prussia, and is buried in Kaliningrad (KÃÂönigsberg).
A current movement among the exiled Prussians in Germany hopes to make the world aware of their plight particularly since WWII. In November 1943, at the Teheran Conference, all German possessions east of the Oder-Neisse Line, were awarded to Joseph Stalin in thanks for his participation in WWII. This included the lands of the original Prussians. After the war, it was left to Stalin alone to decide the fate of the native Prussians who inhabited their part of the territory. In 1947, all of Prussia was outlawed, and the Prussians' patrimony was divided among Lithuania, Russia, and Poland. Prussians had voted overwhelmingly in plebiscites to stay as part of Germany. Stalin gave them 24 hours to leave in the middle of the Baltic winter &mdash to Germany. More than 2.6 million died during the Soviet invasion and removal.
Exiles, most Prussians now intermingle with the population of Germany. Although there is little call ever to regain their lost ancestral lands, there is interest among surviving Prussians to revive their native culture and language and resist extinction resulting from assimilation into Germany (see links below).
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