Polish minority in the Soviet Union Totally Explained

Everything about Polish Minority In Soviet Union totally explained

The Polish minority in the Soviet Union refers to people of Polish descent who resided in the Soviet Union before its dissolution, and might remain in post-Soviet, sovereign countries as their significant minorities.

History of Poles in the Soviet Union

1917-1920

Milions of Poles lived within Russian Empire as Russian Revolution of 1917 started followed by the Russian Civil War. While some Poles associated with communist movement, the majority of Polish population saw cooperation with Bolshevik forces as betrayal and treachery of Polish national interests. Marian Lutosławski and his brother Józef, the father of the Polish composer Witold Lutosławski, were murdered in Moscow in 1918 as "counterevolutioneries"(External Link

). Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz lived through the Russian Revolution in St. Petersburg, which had a profound effect on his works, many of which displayed themes of the horrors of social revolution. Famous revolutionaries with Polish origins include Konstantin Rokossovsky, Julian Marchlewski, Karol Świerczewski and Felix Dzerzhinsky, founder of the Cheka secret police which would later turn into the NKVD.However according to their ideology they didn't identify as Poles or with Poland, and members of Communist party viewed themselves as Soviet citizens without any national sentiments. Soviet Union also organized Polish units in the Red Army and a Polish Communist government-in-exile, however these organisations were Polish in name only, and led by non-Poles, in the case of "Polish Army" Russians.

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. The largest concentration of Poles was in Ukraine, where according to Soviet census in 1926 lived 476,435 Poles. Those estimates are considered to be lowered by Soviet officials. Church and independent estimates show estimates of 650,000 to 700,000 Poles living in that area Nevertheless, 119,855 Poles were evacuated to Persia(Iran) with General Anders' army, which subsequently fought alongside the Allies in Iran and Italy; 36,150 were transferred to the Polish Army which fought with the Red Army on the Eastern Front and 11,516 are reported to have died in 1941-1943.
The following is case of direct executions of Poles during the 1939-1941 occupation:

After World War II most Poles from Kresy were expelled into Poland, but officially 1.3 million stayed in the USSR. Some of them were motivated by the traditional Polish belief that one day they'd become again lawful owners of the land they lived on. Some of them were kept forcefully in. There are reasons to believe that those expelled were happier than those who stayed. Wanda Wasilewska was an exceptional case - she became a Soviet citizen and didn't return after the war.

1947-1991

The Polish minority was one of the few whose numbers decreased over time, according to official statistics. There was also the repatriation of Poles (1955–1959).
After 1989, Poles who survived in Kazakhstan started to emigrate due to national tensions, mainly to Russia and, supported by immigration society, to Poland. The number remaining is between 50,000 and 100,000.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the following post-Soviet countries have significant Polish minorities:

Lithuania, around 250,000 (7% of population), see also Polish minority in Lithuania,

Belarus, at least 420,000 (almost 4.5% of population), see also Polish minority in Belarus,

Ukraine, at least 150,000, see also Polish minority in Ukraine

Russia, more than 100,000, see also Polish minority in Russia.

Kazakhstan – between 60,000 and 100,000, see also Polish minority in Kazakhstan

List of prominent Soviet Poles

Marshal Konstantin Rokossovsky (Konstanty Rokossowski)

Felix Dzerzhinsky (Feliks Dzierżyński)

Stanislav Poplavsky (Stanisław Popławski)

Mikhail Tukhachevsky (Michał Tuchaczewski)

Vyacheslav Menzhinsky (Wiaczesław Mienżyński or Mężyński)

Andrey Vyshinsky (Andriej or Andrzej Wyszyński)

Stanislav Kosior (Stanisław Kosior)

Kazimir Malevich (Kazimierz Malewicz)

Antoni SkulbaszewskiFurther Information

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