Polish minority in Russia
Encyclopedia
There are currently 73,000 Polish
nationals living in The Russian federation
. This includes autochthonous Poles as well as those forcibly deported during and after World War II
; the total number of Poles in what was the former Soviet Union
is estimated at up to 3 million.
's increasing influence in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
(most notably the members of the Bar Confederation
). After the change in Russian penal law
in 1847, exile and penal labor (katorga
) became common penalties to the participants of national uprisings within the Russian Empire. This led to increasing number of Poles being sent to Siberia for katorga, they were known as Sybiraks. Some of them remained there, forming a Polish minority in Sibera. Most of them came from the participants and supporters of the 19th century November Uprising
and January Uprising
, the participants of the 1905-1907 unrest
to the hundreds of thousands of people deported in the Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939
.
There were about 20,000 Poles living in Siberia around 1860s. An unsuccessful uprising of Polish political exiles in Siberia
broke out in 1866.
Around the late 19th century there was also a limited number of Polish voluntary settlers, attracted by the economical development of the region. Polish migrants and exiles, many of whom were forbidden to move away from the region even after finishing serving their sentence, formed a vibrant Polish minority
there. Hundreds of Poles took part in the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway
. Notable Polish scholars studied Siberia, among them Aleksander Czekanowski
, Jan Czerski
, Benedykt Dybowski, Wiktor Godlewski, Sergiusz Jastrzebski, Edward Piekarski, Bronisław Piłsudski
, Wacław Sieroszewski, Mikołaj Witkowski and others.
Millions of Poles lived within the Russian Empire
as the Russian Revolution of 1917
started followed by the Russian Civil War
. While some Poles associated with the communist movement, the majority of the 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 "counter-revolutionaries"http://mpd.4lomza.pl/index.php?k=14. 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 did not identify as Poles or with Poland, and members of the communist party viewed themselves as Soviet citizens without any national sentiments. The Soviet Union also organized Polish units in the Red Army
and a Polish Communist government-in-exile.
Poles
thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...
nationals living in The Russian federation
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. This includes autochthonous Poles as well as those forcibly deported during and after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
; the total number of Poles in what was the former Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
is estimated at up to 3 million.
Before 1917
Many Poles were exiled to Siberia, starting with the 18th-century opponents of the Russian EmpireRussian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
's increasing influence in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was a dualistic state of Poland and Lithuania ruled by a common monarch. It was the largest and one of the most populous countries of 16th- and 17th‑century Europe with some and a multi-ethnic population of 11 million at its peak in the early 17th century...
(most notably the members of the Bar Confederation
Bar Confederation
The Bar Confederation was an association of Polish nobles formed at the fortress of Bar in Podolia in 1768 to defend the internal and external independence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth against Russian influence and against King Stanisław August Poniatowski and Polish reformers who were...
). After the change in Russian penal law
Penal law
In the most general sense, penal is the body of laws that are enforced by the State in its own name and impose penalties for their violation, as opposed to civil law that seeks to redress private wrongs...
in 1847, exile and penal labor (katorga
Katorga
Katorga was a system of penal servitude of the prison farm type in Tsarist Russia...
) became common penalties to the participants of national uprisings within the Russian Empire. This led to increasing number of Poles being sent to Siberia for katorga, they were known as Sybiraks. Some of them remained there, forming a Polish minority in Sibera. Most of them came from the participants and supporters of the 19th century November Uprising
November Uprising
The November Uprising , Polish–Russian War 1830–31 also known as the Cadet Revolution, was an armed rebellion in the heartland of partitioned Poland against the Russian Empire. The uprising began on 29 November 1830 in Warsaw when the young Polish officers from the local Army of the Congress...
and January Uprising
January Uprising
The January Uprising was an uprising in the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth against the Russian Empire...
, the participants of the 1905-1907 unrest
Revolution in the Kingdom of Poland (1905-1907)
The Revolution in the Kingdom of Poland was a major part of the Russian Revolution of 1905 in Russian-partitioned Poland . One of the major events of that period was the insurrection in Łódź in June 1905...
to the hundreds of thousands of people deported in the Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939
Soviet invasion of Poland (1939)
The 1939 Soviet invasion of Poland was a Soviet military operation that started without a formal declaration of war on 17 September 1939, during the early stages of World War II. Sixteen days after Nazi Germany invaded Poland from the west, the Soviet Union did so from the east...
.
There were about 20,000 Poles living in Siberia around 1860s. An unsuccessful uprising of Polish political exiles in Siberia
Uprising of Polish political exiles in Siberia
Siberian Uprising or Baikal Insurrection was a short-lived uprising of about 700 Polish political prisoners and exiles in Siberia, Russian Empire, that started on 24 June 1866 and lasted for a few days, till their defeat on 28 June....
broke out in 1866.
Around the late 19th century there was also a limited number of Polish voluntary settlers, attracted by the economical development of the region. Polish migrants and exiles, many of whom were forbidden to move away from the region even after finishing serving their sentence, formed a vibrant Polish minority
Polonia
The Polish diaspora refers to people of Polish origin who live outside Poland. The Polish diaspora is also known in modern Polish language as Polonia, which is the name for Poland in Latin and in many other Romance languages....
there. Hundreds of Poles took part in the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway
Trans-Siberian Railway
The Trans-Siberian Railway is a network of railways connecting Moscow with the Russian Far East and the Sea of Japan. It is the longest railway in the world...
. Notable Polish scholars studied Siberia, among them Aleksander Czekanowski
Aleksander Czekanowski
Aleksander Czekanowski was a Polish geologist and explorer of Siberia.He took part in the January Uprising ; in the aftermath he was exiled to Siberia by the Russian authorities; where he took part in and later led several expeditions, surveying and mapping the geology of Eastern Siberia...
, Jan Czerski
Jan Czerski
Jan Stanisław Franciszek Czerski was a Polish paleontologist , geologist, geographer and explorer of Siberia. He was exiled to Transbaikalia for participation in the January Uprising of 1863...
, Benedykt Dybowski, Wiktor Godlewski, Sergiusz Jastrzebski, Edward Piekarski, Bronisław Piłsudski
Bronisław Piłsudski
Bronisław Piotr Piłsudski , brother of Józef Piłsudski, was a Polish cultural anthropologist who conducted outstanding research on the Ainu ethnic group, which then inhabited Sakhalin Island, but now live mostly on the Japanese island of Hokkaidō, with only a small minority left on...
, Wacław Sieroszewski, Mikołaj Witkowski and others.
Millions of Poles lived within the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
as the Russian Revolution of 1917
Russian Revolution of 1917
The Russian Revolution is the collective term for a series of revolutions in Russia in 1917, which destroyed the Tsarist autocracy and led to the creation of the Soviet Union. The Tsar was deposed and replaced by a provisional government in the first revolution of February 1917...
started followed by the Russian Civil War
Russian Civil War
The Russian Civil War was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed to the Soviets, under the domination of the Bolshevik party. Soviet forces first assumed power in Petrograd The Russian Civil War (1917–1923) was a...
. While some Poles associated with the communist movement, the majority of the 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 "counter-revolutionaries"http://mpd.4lomza.pl/index.php?k=14. Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz lived through the Russian Revolution
Russian Revolution of 1917
The Russian Revolution is the collective term for a series of revolutions in Russia in 1917, which destroyed the Tsarist autocracy and led to the creation of the Soviet Union. The Tsar was deposed and replaced by a provisional government in the first revolution of February 1917...
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
Konstantin Rokossovsky
Konstantin Rokossovskiy was a Polish-origin Soviet career officer who was a Marshal of the Soviet Union, as well as Marshal of Poland and Polish Defence Minister, who was famously known for his service in the Eastern Front, where he received high esteem for his outstanding military skill...
, Julian Marchlewski
Julian Marchlewski
Julian Baltazar Marchlewski was a Polish communist. He was also known under the aliases Karski and Kujawiak....
, Karol Świerczewski
Karol Swierczewski
Karol Wacław Świerczewski was a Pole who became a Soviet military officer and a general. He served as a general in the service of the Soviet Union, Republican Spain, and the Soviet sponsored Polish Provisional Government of National Unity after World War II.- Life :Karol Świerczewski grew up in...
and Felix Dzerzhinsky, founder of the Cheka
Cheka
Cheka was the first of a succession of Soviet state security organizations. It was created by a decree issued on December 20, 1917, by Vladimir Lenin and subsequently led by aristocrat-turned-communist Felix Dzerzhinsky...
secret police which would later turn into the NKVD
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the public and secret police organization of the Soviet Union that directly executed the rule of power of the Soviets, including political repression, during the era of Joseph Stalin....
. However according to their ideology they did not identify as Poles or with Poland, and members of the communist party viewed themselves as Soviet citizens without any national sentiments. The Soviet Union also organized Polish units in the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
and a Polish Communist government-in-exile.