Acquisition of Polish Citizenship in the "Hungarian Partition" Territory
The regions of Spisz and Orawa belonged to the Kingdom of Hungary before Poland regained independence in 1918, which is why we can formally refer to this area as the "Hungarian Partition." Under the Treaty of Trianon, signed on June 4, 1920, parts of these territories were officially transferred to Poland and Czechoslovakia.
Unlike the rest of the Austrian Partition, the acquisition of Polish citizenship by the inhabitants of Spisz and Orawa was regulated separately under the agreement between the Republic of Poland and the Czechoslovak Republic on Legal and Financial Matters, signed in Warsaw on April 23, 1925. According to Article 1, Section 1 of the agreement, Polish citizenship was acquired ipso jure by individuals who held the right of swojszczyzna (community affiliation) as of January 1, 1914, or had a domicile in the region since January 1, 1908. The right to citizenship belonged to the state in whose territory their community of swojszczyzna or domicile was located.
Additionally, it was stipulated that:
- - Individuals with swojszczyzna rights in communities divided by the border became citizens of the state to which the part of the community where they resided on July 28, 1920, was assigned.
- - If they did not reside in the divided community on that date, they acquired citizenship of the state to which the part of the community where they last lived before relocating was assigned.
Differences Compared to the Austrian Partition
In Spisz and Orawa, the rules were more restrictive than in the former Austrian Partition, where:
- Proof of swojszczyzna dating back to 1914 was not required: It sufficed to demonstrate this right as of January 31, 1920 (the effective date of the 1920 Polish Citizenship Act).
Procedural Aspects
To prove swojszczyzna or domicile, in addition to municipal records or community affiliation documents, other evidence, such as witness testimonies, was admissible. In cases where both swojszczyzna and domicile applied, the former took precedence as the basis for citizenship acquisition.
