Changing a city’s name does not imply an underlying change in ethnic affiliation.

Evidence

This narrative downplays the fact that, from the thirteenth century onward, Silesia’s capital experienced continual ties to the German cultural sphere, which were abruptly cut when the city’s population was expelled and Breslau’s name changed to Wroc ł aw. In the very evidence they cite, the authors reveal that some variant of Breslau appeared in most of the city records after the Middle Ages. It is extremely common for foreign populations to have differing designations for major cities, just as it is common for city names to alter over the centuries; neither aspect implies a sudden change in ethnic afi liation comparable to the results of ethnic cleansing. — Andrew Demshuk, The Lost German East, 243

Categorization

• QUESTION: Methodological caution: how do we distinguish genuine ethnic cleansing from ordinary onomastic change when studying identity shifts?
• XREF: connects to: Race is a shifting disposition, not a fixed category.

Broader Connections

• Race is a shifting disposition, not a fixed category. #complicates (0.75)