Sorbs

The Sorbs are a relatively small west Slavic people, living as a minority in the region known as Lusatia in the German states of Saxony and Brandenburg (in former GDR territory). They are also known as Lusatians, Wends Lusatian Serbs or Serbs of Luzice.

History

Historically, the Sorbs are the last remainder of the once-mighty Polabian Slavic peoples living in most of what is now eastern Germany until the high Middle Ages. Most Slavs in the area were Germanised or driven away during the German Drang nach Osten of the 12th and 13th centuries. The Sorbs have been a much-persecuted group of western Slavs, especially in Nazi Germany, which viewed Slavs as a people designed to be slaves for the Aryan race. In today's Germany they have certain minority rights, for example the right to send their children to Sorbian-language schools, the right to use Sorbian in dealings with local government, and the right to bilingual road signs.

Related Topics:
Polabian Slavic - Middle Ages - Germanised - Drang nach Osten - Slavs - Nazi Germany - Aryan

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