Here is what Alissa said in a "kid's Questions" feature in 2005.
http://www.usfsa.org/Magazine.asp?id=57&issue=32361
A "Prussian" name ought to mean German, but Prussia contained a sizable Polish minority population throughout its history.
I am pretty sure Alissa pronounces her name "Sizz-ney" (rhymes with Disney ).
Thank you Mathman.
And that is why they had so many problems re-drawing the borders after the First World War. Because the towns were mainly inhabited by Germans, and the surrounding countryside was mainly inhabited by Poles.
Nosiness just got the better of me, and I just went onto the ISU Bios to see whereabouts the Polish skaters are from. Now, so that I did not get bogged down, I only did Singles skaters.
Nearly all of them are from areas that used to be in the Kingdom of Prussia! Most of them are from Auschwitz/Oswiecim, in Upper Silesia. But, there are a few from other parts of Prussia, including:
Robert GRZEGORCZYK and Iwona SADOWSKA from Danzig/Gdansk (West Prussia);
Weronika KASPRZAK from Stettin/Szczecin (East Pomerania);
Elzbieta GABRYSZAK, Agnieszka REJMENT and Sabina WOJTALA from other towns in Upper Silesia.
[Apologies if anybody is offended by me putting the German names first. But, it was always the tradition that the British used the German names rather than the Polish names... probably because they were easier to say and spell! (And also probably because our Royal Family is German...)]
While we are on the subject, I have often wondered - does anybody know of any skaters that are from East Prussia?
[The north of the state (including the capital, Königsberg/Kaliningrad) became Russian after WW2, while the south of the state (including Allenstein/Olsztyn) became Polish].
And just as a piece of useless information, a few years ago I bought a flag of the Kingdom of Prussia on eBay from somebody in Arizona!
I just think it is the most beautiful flag ever! Like, look at all the intricate details on the eagle. Absolutely beautiful.
CaroLiza_fan