The report, “Kashubs in the great city – forms and specificity of Kashubian activity in Gdańsk,” authored by Cezary Obracht-Prondzyński, Tatiana Slowi, and Ewelina Stefańska, is a continuation of the “Gedania Cassubia – Kashubian identity in Gdańsk” project, which addresses important issues related to Kashubs in Gdańsk. The report explores Kashubs in Gdańsk and the attitudes of Gdańsk residents towards Kashubs, while also highlighting the activities of Kashubian institutions based in Gdańsk (including the Board of the Kashubian-Pomeranian Association (ZKP), the ZKP Publishing House Foundation, the Kashubian Institute, the “Pomorania” Sports Club, the “Pomerania” monthly, the Kashubian House, the Gdańsk Branch of the ZKP, and others). The most extensive section of the report – Kashubian polyphony – contains interviews and conversations with Gdańsk Kashubs who perform various roles and functions in Gdańsk. Tatiana Slowi’s interviewees in this report include Sławomir Bronk, Cezary Obracht-Prondzyński, Joanna Gostkowska, Leszek Szmidtke, Monika Chabior, Józef Borzyszkowski, Mirka Siergiej, Wojciech J. Konkel, Justyna Pomierska, Michał Bronk, and Piotr Pałkowski.

The interviewees include academics from leading Gdańsk universities, journalists, third-sector employees, stage artists, entrepreneurs, teachers, local government officials, and influencers. These are Kashubs who, pursuing their careers in Gdańsk, strongly demonstrate their affiliation with the Kashubian community on a daily basis.

Among the questions asked in the report are: Have the interviewees ever felt that Gdańsk is extinguishing their Kashubian identity, that in some sense it is “de-Kashubianizing” them? Have they ever been patronized in Gdańsk because of their Kashubian heritage? Or perhaps they felt their Kashubian identity was being asserted on the basis of a certain uniqueness? Do they have support from others within the Kashubian community?

Most of the Gdańsk Kashubs interviewed declare that their sense of Kashubian identity has always been with them, although they were able to pinpoint specific moments and decisions that strengthened this element of their identity.

The report’s authors unanimously emphasize that numerous connections exist between organizations, institutions, and leaders of the Kashubian community in Gdańsk, including co-organizing regular joint activities, providing mutual support, inspiring each other, and standing in solidarity to defend, for example, the good name of the Kashubs.

The report’s authors, noting that Gdańsk is currently home to a significant portion of the Kashubian social elite, express the need for greater collective engagement and regular meetings aimed at strengthening their activities and belonging to the group. All the participants in this multi-voice dialogue draw on their roots, the Kashubian ethos, memory, and culture. Strongly connected to the city on the Motława River, they radiate their Kashubian heritage across Gdańsk.