Slavery in Poland existed on the territory of the

Kingdom of Poland The Kingdom of Poland ( pl, Królestwo Polskie; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a state in Central Europe. It may refer to: Historical political entities * Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom existing from 1025 to 1031 * Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom exi ...

during the rule of the Piast dynasty in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

. It continued to exist in various forms until late in the 14th century when it was supplanted by the institution of

serfdom Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism, and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery, which deve ...

, which has often been considered a form of modified slavery.

Terminology

Polish literature refers to this group of people as "unfree people" ( pl, ludzie niewolni, lat, servi, ancillae, familia) rather than as slaves (niewolnicy).

History

The institution of

slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

as practiced in the Polish territories during the

Early Middle Ages The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th or early 6th century to the 10th century. They marked the start of the Mi ...

played a lesser economic or cultural role than in other states such as

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediter ...

where slavery played a crucial role in keeping economy alive. It existed on the territory of

during the times of the Piast dynasty; in fact, the number of slaves rose significantly with the establishment of the Polish state, as most of the slaves were owned by the king. According to Samuel Augustus Mitchell, non-free people were emancipated in Poland in 1347 under the Statutes of Casimir the Great issued in

Wiślica Wiślica is a town in Busko County, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, in south-central Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Wiślica. It lies on the Nida River, approximately south of Busko-Zdrój and so ...

, although there are indications that some form of slavery, in practice and law, continued at least till the end of the 14th century. Throughout the remaining history of feudal Poland, particularly in the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi- confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Poland and Lithuania ru ...

, much of the peasantry was subject to serfdom, which was often likened to slavery. Serfdom was abolished in Poland in the 19th century during the times of the partitions of Poland.

Features

The slaves came primarily from the ranks of prisoners of war, and were treated as a commodity destined mostly for the largest slave market of its age:

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

. Later, between the 11th and 12th century, ransom was popularised due to acceptance of

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

, but it covered mostly prisoners of prominence. Some people could also become enslaved due to their inability to pay off their debts, and occasionally enslavement was used instead of a death sentence. Children of ''niewolni'' would also belong to that class. They belonged to the king or knights. ''Niewolni'' owned by the king were organized in units of tens and hundreds. Those who were not owned by the monarch were among the few in the Kingdom of Poland that could not rely on royal justice. ''Niewolni'' had a limited right to relocate themselves, and could own possessions. Over time, their numbers decreased, due in part to some escaping and also because their owners saw it as more profitable to use them as peasants ( pl, czeladź, lat, servi casati) rather than servants. Czeladź would have their own house, and would be little different from regular peasants or serfs.

Present day

Slavery is illegal in Poland. Poland is part of the European G6 Initiative Against Human Trafficking.

Contemporary slavery Contemporary slavery, also sometimes known as modern slavery or neo-slavery, refers to institutional slavery that continues to occur in present-day society. Estimates of the number of enslaved people today range from around 38 million to 46 mi ...

however still persists in Poland, just as it does in the rest of the world. According the

Global Slavery Index The Global Slavery Index is a global study of modern slavery published by the Minderoo Foundation's Walk Free initiative. Four editions have been published: in 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2018. The 2018 edition builds on the Global Estimates of Modern ...

, there were 128,000 people living in the condition of modern slavery in Poland as of 2019. Types of slavery found in Poland include

forced labor Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, violence including death, or other forms of ex ...

, forced begging, and forced criminality. Sectors of the Polish economy considered most vulnerable to slavery and other forms of exploitation include agriculture, construction, food processing, housekeeping and cleaning, although problems have also been found in the industrial production and catering sectors. Some of the people subject to forced labour in Poland were from temporary workers from

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

. Common techniques for trafficking people into slavery from other countries include false job promises, high fees or alleged debts, rape, and withholding the person's documentation. False offers of employment are usually for sales or agricultural work. Many trafficking victims from Bulgaria and Ukraine are forced into sex slavery.

References

{{Reflist, colwidth=33em, refs= Juliusz Bardach, Boguslaw Lesnodorski, and Michal Pietrzak, ''Historia panstwa i prawa polskiego'' (Warsaw: Paristwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, 1987, p.18 Juliusz Bardach, Boguslaw Lesnodorski, and Michal Pietrzak, ''Historia panstwa i prawa polskiego'' (Warsaw: Paristwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, 1987, pp.40–41 Juliusz Bardach, Boguslaw Lesnodorski, and Michal Pietrzak, ''Historia panstwa i prawa polskiego'' (Warsaw: Paristwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, 1987, p.75 {{cite book, author1=Stefan Inglot, author2=Jan Borkowski, title=Historia chłopów polskich, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AMRJAAAAIAAJ, access-date=2 April 2012, year=1992, publisher=Wydawn. Uniw. Wroc·lawskiego, isbn=978-83-229-0756-6, page=30 {{cite book, author=Anna Klubówna, title=Ostatni z wielkich Piastów, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T9NBAAAAYAAJ, access-date=2 April 2012, year=1982, publisher=Ludowa Spółdzielnia Wydawnicza, isbn=978-83-205-3317-0, page=85 {{cite book, author=Jerzy Lukowski, title=Disorderly liberty: the political culture of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the eighteenth century, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kAgRHvulnnUC&pg=PA185, access-date=2 April 2012, date=3 August 2010, publisher=Continuum International Publishing Group, isbn=978-1-4411-4812-4, page=185 {{cite book, author=Samuel Augustus Mitchell, title=A general view of the world: comprising a physical, political, and statistical account of its grand divisions ... with their empires, kingdoms, republics, principalities, &c.: exhibiting the history of geographical science and the progress of discovery to the present time ... Illustrated by upwards of nine hundred engravings ..., url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D81JAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA335, access-date=1 April 2012, year=1859, publisher=H. Cowperthwait & Co., page=335 {{cite book, author=Helena Radlińska, title=Z dziejów narodu: wypisy z źródeł i streszczenia z opracowań historycznych, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jO3gAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA212, access-date=2 April 2012, year=1908, publisher=Nakładem i drukiem M. Arcta, page=212 {{cite book, author=Larry Wolff, title=Inventing Eastern Europe: the map of civilization on the mind of the enlightenment, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JHm2c1jg2mAC&pg=PA100, access-date=2 April 2012, date=1 June 1996, publisher=Stanford University Press, isbn=978-0-8047-2702-0, page=100 Economic history of Poland Legal history of Poland

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

History of Poland during the Piast dynasty Slavery in Europe Human rights abuses in Poland

Terminology

History

Features

Present day

See also

Further reading

References