Yevgeni OSADCHY

Head of Apparatus

The RF State Duma Commission for Studies of Practical Observance of Human Rights and Basic Freedoms, Supervision over their Observance in Foreign States

"We live in a democracy, so it must be self-evident that we should have a right to self-government. In our past, the fate of Lusatians has very often been in other people's hands... Every sensible man should understand that we cannot live without our schools. We insist that there should be Lusatian schools, especially in villages. It is only the public of our villages and school that are able to create a necessary inner spiritual atmosphere for our children. This is why I do not understand the actions of Saxon authorities. In the times of social transformations in our country I hoped we would be able to decide for ourselves. Unfortunately, this is still only a dream".

Jurij Brezan

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The problem of ensuring basic civil rights and freedoms in Central and Western Europe is still high on the political agenda. Moreover, one is forced to refer to exacerbation of this problem in EU founding states. Acting as flagships of democracy and proponents of human rights in other parts of the world, they, when at home, are unfortunately not always, by far, guided by the principles which they developed in their time. A striking example of these "double standards" is FRG's policy with regard to one of the oldest indigenous peoples of Europe, Lusatian Serbs, whose destiny in the past 15 years has been truly dramatic. According to statistics, the number of Lusatians had gone down 20 per cent over the decade starting in 1990. What are the causes of this alarming development? Are German authorities concerned about these figures? Is there a way out of the existing situation for the people which has been living in this area for 1,500 years?

In Europe Since the Times of Samo

In German, this people is called the Sorbs (Wends). It is a Slavic people currently inhabiting two FRG states - Brandenburg and Saxony. They refer to themselves as "Ja sym Syrb" ("I'm Serb") or "Serbja". In Poland, Czechia and Russia, they are known under three different names - Serbs of Luzice, Lusatians or Lusatian Serbs. This is one of the four officially recognized national minorities in the FRG (Gypsies, Frisians, Danes, and Sorbs).

Lusatians resettled to this area in the 5th century A.D. from the Vistula and Oder River. In the 7th century, they, led by Samo (633 - 662), battled against Avars and Franks. At the time of Charles the Great, Lusatians fell

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under the German rule; later, under his successors, they several times threw off the German yoke. Under Henry I and Otto I, they were once again completely enslaved by Germans, and their lands were distributed among knights and monasteries. Under Boleslaw I the Brave, Lusatians were occupied by Poland (1002 - 1033); under Emperor Conrad II, Lusatia was divided among his margraves; in 1373 - 1635, Lusatians were part of the Czech Kingdom; since 1635, they have shared the lot of Saxony. Lusatians are religious people - primarily Protestants, and partly Catholics. Lusatian Serbs speak the Lusatian language, as well as German. The Lusatian language belongs to the western branch of the Slavic languages. It falls into two groups of dialects, Upper Sorbian (in the south) and Lower Sorbian (in the north) with a wide stretch of border-line subdialects. Paradoxically, Lusatians may have survived as a people primarily because they lived in isolation in "alien lands", among people speaking a different language. The Lusatian language has retained its ancient, archaic properties. Linguists refer to this as a miracle. Existing in the midst of strong German culture over many centuries, Lusatians have retained and developed their own cultural heritage. Prior to emergence of literature in their native language, Lusatians, like many West Europeans, had used Latin. The most ancient record in the Lusatian language, dating back to the early 16th century, is "Budysin oath". The founder of national Lusatian literature was poet and prose writer Handrij

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Zejler (1804 - 1872). Modern Lusatian literature is represented by prose writers Jurij Brezan (1916 - 2006) and Jurij Koch (born in 1936), poet Kito Lorenc (born in 1938) and others.

The blossom of folk applied and decorative arts came in the 18th - 19th centuries, with some branches of it being developed into the first half of the 20th century. Decorative weaving (blue-colored printed fabrics with a white floral pattern) and embroidery, with ornaments similar to those of other Slavic people, became widely common in the 18th - 19th centuries. Even in the early 20th century, brightly painted handicraft carved furniture and household wooden utensils were widely used in Lusatian houses. Other varieties of applied arts included painted Easter eggs ("pisanki"), brightly painted ceramics, wickerwork, gingerbread boards. In the GDR, Lusatians got all they needed for professional arts development. The leading Lusatian painters M. Novak and Hanka Kravcec specialized in graphic arts and book illustrations, drawing upon history and folklore of their people for themes and subjects.

Since the 17th century, corporations of folk musicians sprang up in the area of Girlitz, Guben, Lukkau. There were the well-known singer Bartolomej, performer of church music (17th c), composer Jurij Rak (18th c). Until mid-19th century, Lusatian music was represented by folk vocal arts. Professional music emerged in the 1840s. Its founder was composer Korla Awgust Kocor, the author of the first Lusatian opera "Jakub and Kata" (1861), oratorios, chamber music and numerous musical adaptations of folk songs. In 1845, Kocor organized "Lusatian song festivals", which became important national cultural

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events. The prominent representatives of music arts in the early 20th century were Jan Krawc-Schneider and K. Karnavka; since the late 1940s, Jurij Winar, an author of popular Lusatian songs, adaptations of folk songs. In the early 1970s, composers J. Raup, Jan Bulank, H. Nagel worked in the symphony and chamber instrument genres.

In 1862, the first theater performance 'was conducted in Bautzen on the initiative of poet J. Cesla, after which amateur theatrical companies became widely popular. With the establishment of the fascist dictatorship in Germany, Lusatian theater was banned. After liberation from fascism, Lusatian amateur theater played an important role in GDR's folk arts; since 1945, numerous theatrical companies were set up in villages, and afterwards, also in Bautzen. In 1972 - 73, the first Lusatian ballet was staged, "Peasant legend, or Girl Ganka". The well-known Lusatian playwrights include Jurij Brezan, Ju. Wjela-Kubscan, Ja. Krajan, M. Kubasec.

For Equal Rights and Opportunities

The multi-century history of Lusatian Serbs' struggle for equal rights in Germany, for the right to inhabit their home land, preserving their traditional way of life, became an object of serious studies.

"Polabian Slavs were the indigenous population of Luzice, a region in the east of modern Germany, along the Laba River, around the present-day town of Cottbus. Since the 12th century, this territory has been, as a rule, part of German states - and Czechia, for a certain period of time. Right until the mid 20th century, the legal status of the Sorbs was not defined, and, depending on the political situation, oppression and bans on

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the use of the Sorbian Lusatian language were alternating with periods of liberalization, when it was allowed to publish books in the Sorbian language, teach this language in schools, use it in church services, etc. The Sorbs were mostly peasants, and language and cultural regulation was not so stringent with regard to peasants, as it was for tradesmen, merchants, or higher social groups. Besides, Sorbs used their native language in everyday life, at home, shifting to German when it came to official relations. Education and socialization of Lusatians in the framework of German statehood was conducted on the basis of the German language ... There have never existed even relatively accurate statistics for the Sorbian population. In the first place, in adverse and unfavorable political circumstances, Sorbs did not seek to emphasize their Slavic origin. Secondly, in official statistics, only those who did not speak German were regarded as Sorbs, whereas bilingual Sorbs were considered to be Germans, so, as German-language education became more common, the official numbers of Sorbs steadily decreased from over 140,000 in 1849 to only 71,000 in 1925. Sorbian organizations referred to respectively bigger figures, yet even they admitted that the number of Sorbs was decreasing", - says Galina Andreyeva, researcher of the Lusatian history, in her article, "Sorbs in FRG: valuable experience of legal regulation of the national minority status".

The growing Sorbian national consciousness revealed itself during the 1848 revolution in Germany. Nearly 5,000 Lusatians signed a petition to the king, calling for political and social rights. Later, various other proposals were put forward, aimed at finding a solution for the Lusatian problem. Sorbs

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themselves in November 1918 elected a Sorbian National Committee. During the revolution, resolutions were adopted on self-determination for Luzice. On the international level, various proposals were discussed, too - from reunification with Czechoslovakia to establishment of a united Lusatian state within Germany under the League of Nations protectorate- these plans, however, were never realized. As the process of Sorbian assimilation continued and their numbers decreased, European Slavic researchers in May 1922 addressed the League of Nations, calling for special steps to preserve the Lusatians as a relict ethnos. The establishment of the fascist dictatorship resulted in a ban on all forms of social activity of the Lusatians as a Slavic people. Hitler declared the Sorbs "Serbian-speaking Germans", or "Wendish-speaking Germans", who do not constitute a national minority.

In 1945, after the Second World War, when the foundations of a post-war world were being laid down in Europe, Lusatian activists once again proposed various forms of autonomy, including autonomy within Czechoslovakia, while the most radical groups went so far as to suggest creating an independent state.

Sorbs expected to get the backing of the Soviet government, which, however, ignored these proposals for fear of weakening East Germany, which was at the time considered a more staunch outpost of the Soviet block than the neighboring East European states. Nevertheless, on March 23, 1948, the Landtag of Saxony adopted a Law on protecting the rights of the Lusatian Serb population, which guaranteed for all Lusatians the right to a free development of their language and culture, with support from the State.

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Article 11 of the 1949 Constitution of the GDR guaranteed for foreign language-speaking population groups support and assistance in development of their languages and culture. Various government acts were afterwards adopted on the basis of this constitutional provision - in particular, Resolution #1 of September 12, 1950 on assistance to the Sorbian population group, and Instruction ^# 4 to the Law on the unified socialist education system of December 20, 1968, remaining in effect until the early '90s.

As a result of the 1952 administrative reform, which canceled division into states and made the GDR a unitary state, Lusatian lands were split up between two different administrative territorial units (Dresden and Cottbus), which led to a further disintegration of the small ethnos. The resettlement to Lusatian lands of ethnic Germans from other countries disrupted the ethnic balance in the region. A similar effect was produced by industrialization, which called for additional workforce and, consequently, inflow of German population. Development of the coal industry resulted in disappearance of dozens of villages. At the same time, steps were taken to preserve and develop the Sorbian language and culture - these included establishment of the institute of Lusatian Serb studies, a Sorbian publishing house, a Sorbian folk theater, a Sorbian museum, Sorbian media, a system of national education in the Sorbian language, and introduction of bilingual signs in places of Sorbian compact settlement. Article 40 of the 1968 Constitution of the GDR (and its revised version of 1974) did not only guarantee for Sorbs the right to protection of their language and culture, but also for the first time in German constitutional history used the notion

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"citizens of Sorbian nationality". Based on these constitutional provisions, diverse state support was given to development of Sorbian culture.

The GDR authorities, however, were not consistent in their policies. Thus, the government's energy sector development plans for Cottbus district envisaged demolition of numerous villages, leading to destruction of Sorbian traditional settlement places. Membership in the Socialist Unity Party was one of prerequisites enabling Lusatians to influence the processes of elaboration of legislation and by-laws that were going to determine the status and future of their people.

"The start of perestroika in the USSR provided an added impetus for the growth of Sorbian national consciousness. A German-Sorbian working group elaborated a draft GDR law on protection of and assistance to the Lusatian Serb people, which was proposed for public discussion in May 1989- In July 1990, it was introduced into the democratically elected People's Chamber, but for various reasons did not become a law. In 1990, prior to reunification of Germany, the former administrative territorial division into states was restored in the GDR, with the Sorbs once again being split up between Brandenburg and Saxony. Their interests, however, were reflected in Protocol 14 to Article 35 of the Treaty on reunification of the FRG and GDR, which currently constitutes one of the grounds for land regulation".

Invaluable Experience of Survival

Analyzing the current situation, Galina Andreyeva comes to a conclusion that Sorbs may not be regarded as a typical minority.

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"Firstly, unlike other national minorities in the FRG, Sorbs are not compactly settled in other countries, Germany is their home land, so they cannot reckon upon any outside help in supporting and developing their language and culture. This circumstance accounts for both numerous Sorbian problems, and the specifics of legal regulation of their status. Secondly, despite serious problems, the Sorbs are one of the "wealthiest" minorities in the world, meaning the material contribution of the State to protection of their language and culture. Thirdly, their legal status is meticulously and scrupulously, with a typical German thoroughness, regulated by numerous laws and state by-laws". It is the latter that makes Sorbian experience so valuable for ethnic Russians and Russian-speaking people living in CIS states. All legal aspects of the life of Lusatians on German soil are so pedantically mapped out! These materials are actually a goldmine of information for Russian communities living today in newly independent post-Soviet states.

Despite the detailed elaboration of the regulatory legislation, it has numerous contradictions and ambiguous provisions, which allow of different interpretations of effective norms. "The FRG Basic Law, - writes Galina Andreyeva, - lacks explicit references to the rights of national minorities. All rights and freedoms of FRG citizens are extended to representatives of minorities, including freedom of assembly, the right to set up associations and societies, freedom of religion, conscience, freedom of religious beliefs and world outlook. Of special importance for national minorities are the Basic Law provisions specifying that "no person shall be favored or disfavored because of sex, parentage, race, language, homeland and origin,

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faith, or religious or political opinions". However, Lusatians themselves show a negative attitude to this circumstance. They believe it would be fairer to have corresponding provisions guaranteeing their specific rights and freedoms. Benefits are conferred upon national minorities, including political ones. The adoption of the CE Framework convention on protection of national minorities and ratification of the European charter for regional or minority languages did not basically lead to further development of German and state legislation. The emergence of these documents as such does not ensure protection of the Lusatian Serb people, where it is needed.

It appears, therefore, that the FRG policy with regard to minorities has an ambivalent nature. On one hand, minorities do get a certain support as regards preservation of their language and culture, but on the other hand, despite several Lusatian attempts, they failed to attain what they used to have in the GDR times, - a special Article in the FRG Constitution, referring to protection of the Lusatian Serb people. The German federal government regards as national minorities the population groups that meet the following criteria - their members should be FRG citizens; they should differ from the majority of the FRG population by their language, culture and history, as well as self-identification; they should wish to preserve it; they should traditionally live in the FRG, being an indigenous population; and should occupy definite territories. Sorbs (Wends) meet all these criteria".

Heiko Kosel - a deputy of Saxony state parliament, representing the Party of Democratic Socialism (Left Party), an expert on the rights of national minorities, refers to the following vital problems of the Lusatian people:

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1. "Germany as a EU member bears responsibility before national minorities that have been living in its territory since ancient times. This responsibility was in 2005 explicitly confirmed by the European Commission in its answer to a question from two European Parliament deputies, Jaromir Koglicek (Czech Republic) and Sylwester Hruszcz (Poland).

2. Protection of Lusatian Serb schools. In the above answer of the European Commission to the FRG authorities, they are reminded that European legislation protects national minority schools (under the 1992 European charter for regional or minority languages, and the 1995 Framework convention on protection of national minorities). At the same time, the Free State of Saxony in actual practice continues the process of closing down Lusatian Serb schools, which started in 2001. In particular, this is true for the three closed Lusatian Serb schools in Hroscice, Radvor and Pancice. With every coming year, there are other Lusatian Serb schools in Lusatian Serb settlements that are threatened with closure. This happens because there exist no special exceptions to the rule, as is the situation in many countries, in the first place in Eastern EU members. The call of Lusatian Serbs and my party in Saxony for cultural and educational autonomy was not satisfied. On one hand, Lusatians themselves try reviving the Lusatian Serb language in kindergartens (project "Vitaj"), and on the other hand, language teaching in schools cannot be continued with the needed intensity.

3. Protection of Sorbian rights through their representative bodies. The Bundestag Council for minorities has been several times convened, just like the Councils for Lusatian

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Serb affairs at the Landtags of Brandenburg and Saxony - however, they only possess deliberative and consultative rights. The Left Party faction of the Saxony Landtag proposed in its school draft law to entitle Domowina as a national organization of the Lusatian Serb people to a legislative veto on matters concerning their needs in the field of education and schools. Under the government led by Hans Modrow, the Party of Democratic Socialism proposed in a draft law, introduced into the last GDR People's Chamber, to set up a state secretariat for Lusatian Serb affairs. Nothing of the kind has been done in the national minority sphere of Germany over the past ten years. It is only starting with the 2002 - 2005 Bundestag session that the post of federal government's commissioner for minority affairs was set up.

4. Appropriation of funds for the Foundation of the Lusatian Serb people. The Foundation is financed jointly by the federal government and the States of Saxony and Brandenburg, acting in the interests of preserving and developing the Lusatian Serb language and culture, Lusatian Serb identity. In the entire 15 years of the Foundation's existence, the federal government has been either threatening to cut down financing, or actually making the cuts. In 1992, the Foundation had 41 million DM at its disposal; in 2001, 32 million DM, and in 2002, 30.5 million DM. As these figures are not adjusted for inflation, the negative consequences of reduced financing have been even greater. The funding cuts that hit the only foundation providing support for development of Lusatian Serb culture, arts and language threaten the very existence of the Lusatian Serb language and all its associated institutions. Projects can no longer be carried out in the needed amounts. Lusatian Serb institutions are reducing their staff. Thus, for

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instance, the Lusatian Serb institute, the only research institute engaged in studies of Lusatian Serb history and ethnography, in 1989 had a staff of 40 people, whereas nowadays their numbers have been cut down to thirty-three.

5. Protection of Lusatian Serb settlements, and administrative reform issues. The continued lignite extraction results in disappearance of villages. Lignite has been extracted in Luzice, the region inhabited by the Lusatian Serb people, for over 1,000 years. In the GDR times, Luzice was a coal industry center. In the five-year period of 1981 - 1985 alone, coal production needs made it necessary to relocate twenty small villages. After the reunification of Germany, eight villages have been completely destroyed. In the past years, a total of 92 villages have completely or partly disappeared. All of this has left deep scars in the hearts of Lusatian Serbs. Even today, as a result of new coal enterprises being set up around the towns of Rogow, Slepin and Trebin, demolition of Lusatian Serb villages is being continued, with no integrated measures taken to preserve the compact settlement areal. The legislation protecting Lusatian Serb villages is blatantly ignored under the pretext of economic expediency and on political grounds. The political and administrative reform did not take into account the interests of Lusatian Serbs. The calls for preservation of unified Luzice and its autonomous status have not been answered. Lusatian Serb settlements are split up in Saxony and Brandenburg between three districts and a town with a special status.

6. Economic situation in settlements. South-Eastern Brandenburg and Eastern Saxony belong to regions with the highest unemployment rate. Unemployment in the Lusatian

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Serb district of Saxony stands at about 21%. This is the reason why people go away, especially young ones. The migration of members of Lusatian families results in adverse consequences for the composition of families, the population as a whole, and future generations. Since 1990, the population has decreased 20%. It is expected to go down another 20% by the year 2020. This will result in irreparable losses for the Lusatian Serb people. There is no special economic concept proposed for the economically weak region, where political transformations have led to destruction of the traditional industry and other economic sectors, such as textile industry, machine building, food industry, and agriculture. No alternative industry has been established, no high-tech plants have been built.

7. The loss of institutions supporting the Lusatian Serb language and culture following the reunification of Germany. In the 40 years of GDR's existence, a network of Lusatian Serb institutions was set up to meet the requirements of national politics. This network is now partially destroyed. Among others, the following centers were closed down - the Lusatian Serb national institute, founded in 1946 as the first teachers' training institution in Lusatian Serb history; the House of Lusatian Serb folk arts - the main multi-profile Lusatian Serb arts center; the Lusatian Serb branch of the GDR Academy of pedagogical sciences - a research institution for Lusatian Serb schools; the Central Lusatian Serb language school in Minakale for adults and Lusatian Serb preparatory courses (where nearly 5,000 people got their language skills). Following political transformations, however, some new institutions started emerging, even though a bit too late - these

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included the Foundation of the Lusatian Serb people, the Lusatian Serb language center "Vitaj", the monthly TV programs "Vuzica" on RBB channel (Brandenburg) and "Vuhladko" on MDR channel (Saxony). It should be noted in this connection that TV programs represent a positive and absolutely novel factor in the life of the Lusatian people.

8. Manifestations of hostility to the Lusatian national minority. Hostility is demonstrated in the form of material damage inflicted to Lusatian institutions, national symbols, etc., as well as physical attacks against Lusatians. Police has for a long time ignored the actual motives for these crimes. Of late, it should be noted that the authorities have shown a more sensible reaction to these facts, while courts are also working more consistently with these offences. In Luzice, however, these criminal acts remain a serious social problem".

Early 21st Century - an Epoch of Double Standards? Time to Change the Situation

Despite the formally recognized rights and guarantees for the Lusatians, the practice of their application in everyday life of Polabian Serbs demonstrates something different. This people is now experiencing the consequences of not only globalization, which erodes national identity, but also neo-Nazi actions, which have become a common occurrence in Germany. On the night of 7 to 8 March 2005, in the locality of Kleinwelka (Maly Wjelkow, not far from Budysin, the cultural capital of the Lusatians), German neo-Nazi groups committed acts of vandalism. They painted over Lusatian Serb inscriptions on 16 bilingual German-Lusatian traffic signs and street name plates

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with Lusatian street names, leaving the German inscriptions untouched. The skinheads also vandalized bus stops, painting on them Nazi slogans and symbols - swastikas and SS runes.

Simultaneously, Sorbs are being forced out of the country's cultural life. Mathias Rosier, minister of culture of Saxony, banned teaching the Lusatian language in the 5th form of Krostvic village school, saying there are too few pupils in the form. But the Slavic national minority believes that preservation of their native language teaching in Krostvic is of fundamental importance, for it was here that on November 20, 1918 Lusatian Serbs elected their Sorbian Association and adopted a resolution calling for self-determination for Luzice. The area of Krostvic is the geographical center of Lusatian settlements in Upper Luzice, where most inhabitants consider themselves Sorbs and widely use their dialect of the Lusatian Serb language in everyday communication. Jana Markova, a representative of the parents' association, declared that the Krostvic school is "the cornerstone for preservation of the Sorbian language and culture".

In the long run, Krostvic residents organized teaching of the native language with the help of former school teachers, currently retired. Mathias Rosier, in his turn, first threatened to refuse to accept the annual marks of pupils in this form, and afterwards ordered to bar access to the Krostvic school for Luzice children and their voluntary teachers. The Dresden ministry let fall a hint that parents refusing to send their children to German schools may be fined.

Practical realization of rights runs counter to declarations. The government of Saxony plans to close down a number of Sorbian-language schools. In the Luzice area, it has been banned since 2005 to open the 5th form of the Lusatian Serb

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school in Radvor and, since 2007, a similar ban will be imposed on the school in Pancice-Kukuv. In 2000, there were six schools. No more than one or two schools are expected to survive after the year 2007. This is done under the pretext of reduced numbers of pupils and the need to save funds. Once German officials find it possible to close down Lusatian schools, young German neo-Nazis consider it natural to destroy Lusatian inscriptions on street signs and street name plates. In other words, this is all taking the form of targeted anti-Lusatian campaign, directly instigated by anti-constitutional actions of Saxony State authorities. Besides, the authorities are planning to close down the only national Lusatian theater. In November 2003, the German administration of the disabled persons home, located in Marina Gviozda monastery, issued an instruction, which specified that only German may be spoken in the presence of non-Lusatian disabled persons or those who do not speak Lusatian. Violation of this instruction was punished by dismissal from work. Protests submitted by Lusatian Serb public to responsible authorities of Saxony and to the European Commission yielded no results.

In studying materials on the current situation of Sorbs, one cannot help making a conclusion that availability of state legislation does not guarantee compliance of both local authorities and population. Formally, national minorities of the FRG are protected by constitutional provisions and a number of laws, which are supposed to make the ethnos living within a modern European state feel absolutely confident about its present and future. However, taking the road of formal compliance with legislation, German bureaucracy is leading the Lusatian people towards erosion of their

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national identity and disappearance. It appears essential to take a range of steps aimed at preserving the people. Though it is true that the number of Sorbs is declining and, formally, it would appear natural to continue with the practices of reducing the number of schools and other educational institutions, this may only be the view of those who do not care about the future of Sorbs.

It is necessary to urgently develop and enforce specific legislation which would make it possible to preserve schools and have sufficient funds appropriated regardless of the number of pupils. Pedagogical faculties and higher educational institutions should train the necessary numbers of young teachers. Creation of new working places at modern enterprises should serve as a basis of material welfare for Lusatian families. This, as well as preservation of a centuries-old cultural traditions in the lands compactly settled by Polabian Serbs, would lead to stabilization of the demographic situation and make it possible for Lusatians to feel confident about their future.

What Sorbs would like to have in their near future in the Federal Republic of Germany is an opportunity to preserve what they already have got, a changed attitude of German officials to problems of national minorities, a chance for children in Lusatian and mixed families to study the Sorbian language and get an education in this language on the level that every person would currently consider necessary!

The highly developed, civilized Germany, possessing a centuries-old history of its own and a diverse culture, may not content itself with the role of custodian of a museum, in which the whole glorious history and culture of Lusatian Serbs is represented as semi-decayed clothing of the mid 18th century

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on the last but one stand. To demonstrate the "big brother's magnanimity, providing for survival of a staunch neighboring Slavic tribe, confident about its future, this is what should be the historic mission of compatriots of Goethe and Schiller, Heine and Grass, Wagner and Kant. Lusatians deserve this.

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