large part because of its Protestantism, which has an influence on the whole region. Some of the municipalities with a Protestant majority include those in the vicinity of Skoczów and Wisła, the only town in Poland with a Protestant majority. Protestant influence is reflected in the regional saying in the Cieszyn Silesian dialect "Dzierży sie twardo jak lutersko wiara kole Cieszyna." (Stays strong like the Lutheran faith around Cieszyn.) Several towns, especially Bielsko, Cieszyn and Fryštát, in the past had a larger Jewish community, but the local Jews were almost completely annihilated by the Nazis during World War II and the local Germans were all deported to Germany or Austria after the war. Today, many other religious, mostly Christian, denominations are present in small numbers, including Jehovah's Witnesses, Seventh-day Adventists and Pentecostals whose movement within Poland originated in Cieszyn Silesia. Cieszyn Silesia is also distinct for its dialect, the Cieszyn Silesian dialect, which differs from the other Silesian dialects spoken in Upper Silesia. It is a distinct dialect with predominantly Polish influences; Czech and German influences are also strong. The inhabitants of Cieszyn Silesia feel a strong regional (Cieszyn Silesian, Goral etc.) identity – locals will say they are (tu) stela (from here) – but the vast majority declare themselves to be of Polish or Czech nationality in their respective national censuses. This is somewhat different from the situation in Upper Silesia where a tendency toward autonomy still exists. Local people however regard the Habsburg era rather fondly. The time of Maria Theresa and Franz Josef is viewed nostalgically as a time of justice, development, order and peace. This is in fact also partly rooted in a liberal and pluralistic attitude toward national and ethnic groups, liberal in comparison to other empires of that time, especially Prussia and the Russian Empire. Even in 2006 there were still portraits of Habsburg rulers on the wall in the assembly room of the Cieszyn local council. The most widespread folk costume in the area used to be a Cieszyn folk costume associated with Cieszyn Vlachs. Footnotes Further reading Gąsiorowski, Zygmunt J. "Polish-Czechoslovak Relations, 1918–1922," Slavonic & East European Review (1956) 35#84 pp 172–193 in JSTOR Hannan, Kevin. Borders of Language & Identity in Teschen Silesia (1996), 255p. covers 1200 to 1990 Volokitina, T. V. "The Polish-Czechoslovak Conflict over Teschen: The Problem of Resettling Poles and the Position of the USSR," Journal of Communist