Ethnically homogenous societies almost never exist in most countries. Ethnic diversity in Wielkopolska, a region located at the crossroads of major trade and transport routes, has been marked. Foreigners (especially Germans) came here as merchants, artisans and sometimes refugees. The second largest national minority in Wielkopolska were Jews. Merchants from this ethno-religious group visited Polish territory as early as the 8^th century. Jewish communities gradually appeared in places like Kalisz from the late 11^th and 12^th centuries onwards. Jews in the villages were mostly employed in crafts, trade and running taverns.

The Nazi occupation of Wielkopolska led to its Jewish population being almost completely wiped out. These people were evicted, confined to ghettos and eventually sent to extermination camps like the one in Chełmno nad Nerem. Jewish cemeteries were destroyed and levelled and the Poznań synagogue was converted into an indoor swimming pool. What little evidence remains of Wielkopolska’s Jewish diaspora mostly consists of well-maintained former synagogue buildings in a few cities (like Buk and Konin), but there are cemeteries (the largest is in Koźmin) and individual tombstones as well.

But not only Germans and Jews lived alongside Poles in Wielkopolska. Greek refugees, who became completely Polonised over time, especially made their mark. The publisher and bookseller Jan Konstanty Żupański was the best known, being highly regarded in 19^th-century Poznań for his work in advancing Polish culture. The Motty family, which was of French origin, established themselves in education and journalism in Poznań and partly Grodzisk Wielkopolski. This was especially the case with Marceli Motty, who wrote the idiosyncratic guidebook Przechadzki po mieście (Wandering Around Town). Scottish people settled in Wielkopolska in the 16^th century. A large group of German speaking artisans and manufacturers came to Wielkopolska cities within the Russian partition after 1815. The Wielkopolska Uprising likewise took on a cosmopolitan flavour with the likes of the Chinese Czen de Fu (who later worked as a carpenter in Barcin), the Alsatian Rübstück, the Italian Vincenzo Cittadini and the negro aviator Sam Sandi appearing in the Polish ranks.