Polish minority in the Soviet Union: Encyclopedia II - Polish minority in the Soviet Union - 1921-1938

Polish minority in the Soviet Union - 1921-1938

Polish communities were inherited from Imperial Russia after the creation of the Soviet Union. After World War I, Poland became an independent country, and its secession was finalized by the Peace of Riga in 1921 at the end of the Polish-Soviet War, which left significant territories populated by Poles within the Soviet Union. Initially, the Poles were given 2 Polish Autonomous Districts, one in Belarus and one in Ukraine. The first one was named Dzierzynszczyzna, after Felix Dzierżyński; the second was named Marchlewszczyzna after Julian Marchlewski. Following the collectivization of agriculture under Joseph Stalin, both autonomies were abolished and their populations were subsequently murdered or deported to Kazakhstan in 1934-1938. Many people starved during the deportation and after, since the deported were moved to sparsely populated areas, unprepared for migration, lacking basic facilities for survival (medical, housing, etc.). The survivors were under supervision of the NKVD/GPU, cruelly punished for any sign of discontent. In addition, a significant population of Poles was present in Russia proper, exiled to Siberia after Polish uprisings. (See History of Poland.)

In addition to the deportation of the Poles (the first recorded deportation of a whole ethnic group in the USSR, see Polish operation of the NKVD), the Polish Communist Party was also decimated following the Great Purge and was eventually closed in 1938.

Another decimated group of Poles was Roman-Catholic clergy, who opposed the forced atheization.

A number of Poles succeeded to run away to Poland, eg. Igor Newerly, Tadeusz Borowski with his brother.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "1921-1938", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki