Abstract
Cultural identities are not given as facts how could be interpreted from censuses in Teschen / Cieszyn Silesia. On the other hand, identities are subjective and symbolic.
To be Pole in Zaolzie does not mean to declare as Pole or to speak Polish, but be part of specific local networks and thus dispose by a symbolic and cultural capital and take part in reproduction of social memory, share interpretations of the past, to identify given region as a specific place obtained with different qualities. Institutionalization of these conditions to nationally orientated organizations leads to the fixation of the specific images.