Ogden Standard-Examiner | 1920-04-18 | Page 13 | By Thaddius Zuk Skarszewishi

By THADDIUS ZUK SKARSZEWISHI III (Noted Polish Author.) Hi WASHINGTON, April 13. Change the name of Washington to Hinden- HI burg! The mere suggestion o what B might have happened had Germany triumphed over America in the late HH war may serve to help "Americans un- HH derstand the feelings of liberated na- 110 tlons, hastening to restore old names, mWL and making the map of Europe a deep Ifll cning puzzle on this side of the At- Fsl lantlc. II Would Americans ever reconcile fH themselves to the Hindenburg name, hH and others, in order to simplify geo- BH graphical education in other nations? the Europeans ask. It seema verj' uii- Ejfl I likely. And nations whiph suffered 3h Kl j captivity are still more sensitive 3h III this respect Their haste In reviving Mil the old names indicates the Importance IK they attach to it- ijfc Lloyd George in a speech in tli jljR: house of commons confessed that the first time he ever heard of the exist- eiice of Teschen was when he had -to decide to which state it should belong. BjM Probably ho was much disgusted whfn. vl he learned that from thut moment j?l Teschen had ceased to exist as such, II and that In Its place had arisen Cies- (I zyn, of which Teschen waa a German II Perhaps it was this unlucky geo- mm graphical experience which decided mm him to surrender Flume to Italy upon mm learning that if It were to go to Jugo- W Slavia it would be called Rjcka. C H But persons more learned in gea'g- mm raphy than even Lloyd George fuipe Bfl at the newly established nations in giving nev impossible names in plage III or the old ones which wero universal-ly universal-ly known. We are afraid there is no help for it and that all of U6 schopj- 1 boys included, will have to learn Eu- 9M ropean geography anew. Nobody wondered when at the be- H ginning of the war Russia changed B the name of St. Petersburg to PetEb- grad, although St. Petersburgvvas the MM namo given to his new capital by Its M founder, the Russian emperor, Peter H the Great. Why they be surprised M when other nations wish to get rid Ot mm .names given, to their cities and towns, II jnot by themselves, but against their H twill by foreign invaders. They return H to the" old ones as a matter of comge. Take, for instance, Poland. Her firt capital and the cradle of the Polish nation, was Gn'e.no which the Ger- mans changed to Gnesen. to efface th'e Polish origin. - H Then take the city of Gdansk, which name etyniologically is derived from II the abbreviation of Ku-Dansku (To- II ward Denmark.) II The first contact of Gdansk with II , Germany was in the fourteenth ceu- H lury when the German knights ap- proached the gates. The citizens sont a deputation on to parley. The depti- tatlon was murdered, the city invad- led and 10,000 inhabitants extermiuitt- W ed. In this manner was Gdansk pro- H. claimed a German city under the Gdr- ly man name of Danzig, which ctyniolqg- 11 icallv has no meaning. II After a few decades the Inhabitants nil expelled the German knights, and vol- ill untarlly asked for a union with Po- M land In which union Gdansk remained 111 for centuries until the Partitions. II Then again It becaino Danzig. If It was the same with hundreds U Polish towns. Bydgoszcz was called H Bromberg; Pozna became Pozen; H Chelmno, Knlm Torun, Thorn; Opele, Opoeln; Kolobrzeg, Kolberg. I This example Avas followed by Rus- 1 sia which for instance, baptized the ancient Polish Demblin as lvangorod, and bv Austria- which turned Lwow Into Lcmberg, and Zywiec into Sal- R busch. . . , ' I There seems lo bo no help for It. f The new geography Is on the way, even for Mr. Lloyd George, who did not like the old one. ' I