Belarusians In Poland
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The Belarusian minority in Poland (; ) is composed of 47,000 people according to the Polish census of 2011.
Przynależność narodowo-etniczna ludności – wyniki spisu ludności i mieszkań 2011
'. GUS. Materiał na konferencję prasową w dniu 29. 01. 2013. p. 3.
This number decreased in the last decades from over 300,000 due to an active process of assimilation. Most of them live in the
Podlaskie Voivodeship Podlaskie Voivodeship ( ) is a Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship in northeastern Poland. The name of the voivodeship refers to the historical region of Podlachia (in Polish, ''Podlasie''), and significant part of its territory corresponds to th ...
. A small but unconfirmed Belarusian population remains in the
West Pomeranian Voivodeship West Pomeranian Voivodeship is a Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship (province) in northwestern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Szczecin. Its area equals , and in 2021, it was inhabited by 1,682,003 people. It was established on 1 Janua ...
in western Poland. They may be assimilated into the Polish population, but Belarusian culture has not firmly disappeared in the whole of Poland since World War II.


History


Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth

Poland first acquired a Ruthenian (predominant ancestors of modern Belarusians) minority in the 16th century, when after the
Union of Lublin The Union of Lublin (; ) was signed on 1 July 1569 in Lublin, Poland, and created a single state, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, one of the largest countries in Europe at the time. It replaced the personal union of the Crown of the Kingd ...
in 1569 Poland gained control over some of eastern territories formerly belonging to the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a sovereign state in northeastern Europe that existed from the 13th century, succeeding the Kingdom of Lithuania, to the late 18th century, when the territory was suppressed during the 1795 Partitions of Poland, ...
. Poland retained control over that region until the
partitions of Poland The Partitions of Poland were three partition (politics), partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place between 1772 and 1795, toward the end of the 18th century. They ended the existence of the state, resulting in the eli ...
in the late 18th century. In time, the Belarusian culture and nationality started to develop in that region, but also increasing number of people became
Polonized Polonization or Polonisation ()In Polish historiography, particularly pre-WWII (e.g., L. Wasilewski. As noted in Смалянчук А. Ф. (Smalyanchuk 2001) Паміж краёвасцю і нацыянальнай ідэяй. Польскі ...
. Later influences, particularly
Lithuanization Lithuanization (or Lithuanianization) is a process of cultural assimilation, where Lithuanian culture or its language is voluntarily or forcibly adopted. History The Lithuanian annexation of Ruthenian lands between the 13th and 15th centuries was ...
and
Russification Russification (), Russianisation or Russianization, is a form of cultural assimilation in which non-Russians adopt Russian culture and Russian language either voluntarily or as a result of a deliberate state policy. Russification was at times ...
, further contributed to the blurry ethnic border and resulted in a region with many territories with significant minority of one culture or another.


1918–1939

In 1921, at the end of the
Polish–Soviet War The Polish–Soviet War (14 February 1919 – 18 March 1921) was fought primarily between the Second Polish Republic and the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, following World War I and the Russian Revolution. After the collapse ...
, Belarusian territories were divided between
Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 7 October 1918 and 6 October 1939. The state was established in the final stage of World War I ...
and
Soviet Russia The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...
under the terms of the
Peace of Riga The Treaty of Riga was signed in Riga, Latvia, on between Poland on one side and Soviet Russia (acting also on behalf of Soviet Belarus) and Soviet Ukraine on the other, ending the Polish–Soviet War (1919–1921). The chief negotiators o ...
. Thus the newly reborn Poland gained a disputed territory, known as
Kresy Eastern Borderlands (), often simply Borderlands (, ) was a historical region of the eastern part of the Second Polish Republic. The term was coined during the interwar period (1918–1939). Largely agricultural and extensively multi-ethnic with ...
or
West Belarus Western Belorussia or Western Belarus (; ; ) is a historical region of modern-day Belarus which belonged to the Second Polish Republic during the interwar period. For twenty years before the 1939 invasion of Poland, it was the northern part of th ...
, inhabited by both Belarusians and Poles. According to the
Polish census of 1921 The Polish census of 1921 or First General Census in Poland () was the first census in the Second Polish Republic, performed on September 30, 1921, by the Main Bureau of Statistics ( Główny Urząd Statystyczny). It was followed by the Polish ce ...
, there were around 1 million Belarusians in the country. According to Soviet sources, there were 3 million Belarusians in 1921. Most historians estimate the number of Belarusians in Poland at that time to be from 1.7 million up to 2 million. Belarusians formed 3.1% of the populations of the Second Polish Republic, mostly inhabiting the east-central voivodeships, particularly the Nowogródek Voivodeship. Belarusians consisted the majority of population of Polesie Voivodship, however most of them didn't declare themselves as Belarusians, but at Tutejsi ("Locals"). Several thousand Poles were settled in the area pursuant to the legislation of December 20, 1920. In the elections of November 1922, a Belarusian party (in the '' Blok Mniejszości Narodowych'' coalition) obtained 14 seats in the
Polish parliament The parliament of Poland is the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of Poland. It is composed of an upper house (the Senate of Poland, Senate) and a lower house (the Sejm). Both houses are accommodated in the Sejm and Senate Complex of Poland, S ...
(11 of them in the lower chamber,
Sejm The Sejm (), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland (), is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of the Third Polish Republic since the Polish People' ...
). In the spring of 1923,
Prime Minister of Poland A prime number (or a prime) is a natural number greater than 1 that is not a product of two smaller natural numbers. A natural number greater than 1 that is not prime is called a composite number. For example, 5 is prime because the only wa ...
Władysław Sikorski Władysław Eugeniusz Sikorski (; 20 May 18814 July 1943) was a Polish military and political leader. Before World War I, Sikorski established and participated in several underground organizations that promoted the cause of Polish independenc ...
ordered a report on the situation of the Belarusian minority in Poland. That summer, a new regulation was passed allowing for the
Belarusian language Belarusian (, ) is an East Slavic languages, East Slavic language. It is one of the two Languages of Belarus, official languages in Belarus, the other being Russian language, Russian. It is also spoken in parts of Russia, Lithuania, Latvia, Polan ...
to be used officially both in courts and in schools. Obligatory teaching of Belarusian was introduced in all Polish gymnasia in areas inhabited by Belarusians in 1927. In the 1921–1926 period Poland did not have a consistent policy towards its ethnic minorities. Belarusian schools, not being subsidized by the Polish government, were facing severe financial problems already by 1921. After an early period of liberalization, tensions between increasingly nationalistic Polish government and various increasingly separatist ethnic minorities started to grow, and the Belarusian minority was no exception. A Belarusian organization, the ''
Belarusian Peasants' and Workers' Union The Belarusian Peasants' and Workers' Union or the Hramada (, ) was a socialist agrarian political party created in 1925 by a group of Belarusian deputies to the Sejm#Sejm of the Second Polish Republic, Sejm of the Second Polish Republic that inc ...
'', was banned in 1927, and opposition to Polish government was met with state repressions. Nonetheless compared to the (larger) Ukrainian minority, Belarusians were much less politically aware and active, and thus suffered fewer repressions than the Ukrainians. Increasingly, Belarusians in Poland faced extensive
Polonization Polonization or Polonisation ()In Polish historiography, particularly pre-WWII (e.g., L. Wasilewski. As noted in Смалянчук А. Ф. (Smalyanchuk 2001) Паміж краёвасцю і нацыянальнай ідэяй. Польскі ...
. After the 1930 elections in Poland, Belarusian representation in the Polish parliament was reduced and in the early 1930s the Polish government started to introduce policies intended to Polonize minorities. In 1935, after the death of
Józef Piłsudski Józef Klemens Piłsudski (; 5 December 1867 – 12 May 1935) was a Polish statesman who served as the Chief of State (Poland), Chief of State (1918–1922) and first Marshal of Poland (from 1920). In the aftermath of World War I, he beca ...
, a new wave of repressions was released upon the minorities, with many Orthodox churches and Belarusian schools being closed. In 1938 about 100 Orthodox churches were destroyed or converted to
Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
ones in the eastern parts of Poland, the majority of them in ethnically Ukrainian territories. Use of Belarusian was discouraged. Not a single Belarusian school survived until the spring of 1939, and only 44 schools teaching Belarusian still existed in Poland at the beginning of
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. Belarusian leadership was sent to Bereza Kartuska concentration camp. Earlier, Belarusian political leaders reported to the League of Nations of suspects being flogged by police and subject to torture in interrogations. After the August 1939 Nazi-Soviet Pact and pursuant
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
and
Soviet invasion of Poland The Soviet invasion of Poland was a military conflict by the Soviet Union without a formal declaration of war. On 17 September 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Second Polish Republic, Poland from the east, 16 days after Nazi Germany invaded Polan ...
in September 1939, portrayed by Soviet propaganda as 'liberation of Western Belarus and Western Ukraine', many Belarusians welcomed unification with Byelorussian SSR. Since 1939, with the exception of a brief period of Nazi occupation, almost all Belarusians previously living in Poland would live in the Byelorussian SSR.
Norman Davies Ivor Norman Richard Davies (born 8 June 1939) is a British and Polish historian, known for his publications on the history of Europe, Poland and the United Kingdom. He has a special interest in Central and Eastern Europe and is UNESCO Profes ...
, ''
God's Playground ''God's Playground: A History of Poland'' is a history book in two volumes written by Norman Davies, covering a 1000-year history of Poland. Volume 1: ''The origins to 1795'', and Volume 2: ''1795 to the present'' first appeared as the Oxford Cl ...
'' (Polish edition), second tome, p.512-513
Stosunki polsko-białoruskie pod okupacją sowiecką (1939–1941)
It was initially planned to move the capital of the Byelorussian SSR to
Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...
. However, the same year
Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...
ordered that the city and surrounding region be transferred to
Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...
, which some months later was also invaded by Soviet Union and became a new Soviet Republic –
Lithuanian SSR The Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic (Lithuanian SSR; ; ), also known as Soviet Lithuania or simply Lithuania, was '' de facto'' one of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union between 1940–1941 and 1944–1990. After 1946, its terr ...
. Minsk therefore was proclaimed the capital of the enlarged
Byelorussian SSR The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR, Byelorussian SSR or Byelorussia; ; ), also known as Soviet Belarus or simply Belarus, was a republic of the Soviet Union (USSR). It existed between 1920 and 1922 as an independent state, and ...
. The borders of the BSSR were again altered after the war (notably the largely Polish area around the city of
Białystok Białystok is the largest city in northeastern Poland and the capital of the Podlaskie Voivodeship. It is the List of cities and towns in Poland, tenth-largest city in Poland, second in terms of population density, and thirteenth in area. Biał ...
was returned to Poland) but in general they coincide with the borders of the modern
Republic of Belarus A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a state in which political power rests with the public (people), typically through their representatives—in contrast to a monarchy. Although a ...
.


Demographics

The results of the 1931 census (questions about
mother tongue A first language (L1), native language, native tongue, or mother tongue is the first language a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' or ''mother tongue'' refers ...
and about religion) in voivodeships with significant Belarusian populations. Belarusian/Poleshuk("Tutejszy")/Russian and Orthodox/Greek Catholic
majority minority A majority-minority or minority-majority area is a term used to refer to a subdivision in which one or more racial, ethnic, and/or religious minorities (relative to the whole country's population) make up a majority of the local population. Ter ...
counties are highlighted with yellow:


After the Second World War

In 1946, 79 Polish nationals of Belarusian ethnicity were murdered by members of the Polish Extraordinary Special Actions unit of the National Military Union. In 2012, the Monument to Orthodox inhabitants of Białystok who were killed and went missing in the years 1939–1956 was erected in
Białystok Białystok is the largest city in northeastern Poland and the capital of the Podlaskie Voivodeship. It is the List of cities and towns in Poland, tenth-largest city in Poland, second in terms of population density, and thirteenth in area. Biał ...
to commemorate Orthodox Christians of the Białystok region who perished during the massacres in 1946. During the thaw of that year, a lot of national minority societies and their press organs were established in Poland. Since 1956, the newspaper
Niva Niva or NIVA can refer to: Places * Niva (river) in the Murmansk Oblast, Russia * Nivå, a town in Denmark * Nivå station, railway station in Denmark * Niva (Prostějov District), a village in the Czech Republic * Niva, Iran, a village in Kurdista ...
is being published in Belarusian language in the city of Białystok.


1989–present

The Belarusian minority has been active in political life in Poland since 1989. In the 2006 elections to the Podlaskie Sejmik, the Białoruski Komitet Wyborczy (Belarusian Electoral Committee) received 7,914 votes (2.05%), however this was not enough to receive any seats in the Council. The most votes from this list were for Jan Czykwin (2,405), Eugeniusz Wappa (1,669) and Eugeniusz Mironowicz (1,119). When the local elections were repeated in the region on 20 May 2007, the Belarusians again submitted their own electoral committee, which for the first time had several Lithuanians running on the list, in their region of
Sejny Sejny (; ) is a town in north-eastern Poland and the capital of Sejny County, in Podlaskie Voivodeship, close to the northern border with Lithuania and Belarus. It is located in the eastern part of the Suwałki Lake Area (), on the Marycha river ...
and
Puńsk Puńsk (; ) is a village in the Podlaskie Voivodeship in northeastern Poland, seat of the Gmina Puńsk in the Sejny County. It is located only from the border with Lithuania. History Early history The oldest traces of humans in Puńsk territo ...
. There is an unknown number of Belarusians in northwest Poland, but some Polish Belarusians were relocated there by the Soviet invasion of Germany in April 1945 and the captured lands of formerly German
Pomerania Pomerania ( ; ; ; ) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The central and eastern part belongs to the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, West Pomeranian, Pomeranian Voivod ...
was annexed by Poland. In 2019 Eugeniusz Czykwin has been elected to the Polish
Sejm The Sejm (), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland (), is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of the Third Polish Republic since the Polish People' ...
on the Koalicja Obywatelska list, being the representative of the Belarusian and Orthodox minority in the parliament.


See also

*
Population exchange between Poland and Soviet Belarus The population exchange between Poland and Soviet Belarus at the end of World War II (1944–1947) was based on an agreement signed on 9 September 1944 by the Byelorussian SSR with the newly-formed Polish Committee of National Liberation (PKWN). ...
in the aftermath of World War II *
Belarus–Poland relations The Republic of Poland and the Republic of Belarus established diplomatic relations on 2 March 1992. Poland was one of the first countries to recognise Belarusian independence. Both countries Belarus–Poland border, share a border and have share ...
*
Bilingual municipalities in Poland The bilingual status of gminas (municipalities) in Poland is regulated by the Act of 6 January 2005 on National and Ethnic Minorities and on the Regional Languages, which permits certain gminas with significant linguistic minorities to introduce a ...
*
Kresy Eastern Borderlands (), often simply Borderlands (, ) was a historical region of the eastern part of the Second Polish Republic. The term was coined during the interwar period (1918–1939). Largely agricultural and extensively multi-ethnic with ...
*
West Belarus Western Belorussia or Western Belarus (; ; ) is a historical region of modern-day Belarus which belonged to the Second Polish Republic during the interwar period. For twenty years before the 1939 invasion of Poland, it was the northern part of th ...
* Stanisław Bułak-Bałachowicz * Polish minority in Belarus


Notes


References

* Łukasz Kaźmierczak
Trzy procent odmienności
(Three percent of different) - article describing results of Polish census 2002 and minorities in Poland, citing census data * Janusz Żarnowski, ''"Społeczeństwo Drugiej Rzeczypospolitej 1918-1939"'' (in Polish), Warszawa 1973 * Eugeniusz Mironowicz, ''"Białoruś"'' (in Polish), Trio, Warszawa, 1999, *


External links


Bialorus.pl
- portal of Belarusian minority in Poland {{DEFAULTSORT:Belarusian Minority In Poland Belarusians in Poland Ethnic groups in Poland Belarus–Poland relations *