The Skidel Revolt (, ) or Skidal Uprising (term used in Soviet historiography) was an anti-state and

anti-Polish Polonophobia, also referred to as anti-Polonism () or anti-Polish sentiment are terms for negative attitudes, prejudices, and actions against Poles as an ethnic group, Poland as their country, and their culture. These include ethnic prejudic ...

sabotage action done by

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

and

Belarusian Belarusian may refer to: * Something of, or related to Belarus * Belarusians, people from Belarus, or of Belarusian descent * A citizen of Belarus, see Demographics of Belarus * Belarusian language * Belarusian culture * Belarusian cuisine * Byelor ...

inhabitants of the Polish town of Skidel near

Grodno Grodno, or Hrodna, is a city in western Belarus. It is one of the oldest cities in Belarus. The city is located on the Neman, Neman River, from Minsk, about from the Belarus–Poland border, border with Poland, and from the Belarus–Lithua ...

(now Skidzieĺ, Belarus) at the onset 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 ...

. It started on the second day of the

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 an attempt to assist the external attack.

Background

The events

The revolt of 18 September 1939 was organized by the

Communist Party of West Belarus The Communist Party of Western Belorussia (, KPZB; ) was a banned political party in the Interwar Poland, active in the territory of present-day West Belarus from 1923 until 1939; in Polesie (1932–1933) Słonim county (1934) and Vilnius. Hi ...

which was outlawed by Poland in 1938. According to Russian documents, it consisted of around 200 men, although their number has been contested by Polish historian Marek Wierzbicki as exaggerated. A group of Jews and Belarusians, members and sympathizers of the delegalized Communist Party, all citizens of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, took control of the town of Skidel and some nearby locations, acquired firearms, often from skirmishes with Polish Army units and police Similar incidents of various severity, with pro-communist activists attacking and taking over local government offices, arresting or fighting with Polish police and army personnel, took place in numerous nearby settlements including , Wiercieliszki, Wielka Brzostowica,

Dubno Dubno (, ) is a List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality located on the Ikva River in Rivne Oblast (oblast, province) of western Ukraine. It serves as the capital city, administrative center of Dubno Raion ...

Wołpa Vowpa (; ; ; ) is an agrotown in Vawkavysk District, Grodno Region, in western Belarus.Carol Herselle Krinsky, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1985, ''Synagogues of Europe: Architecture, History, Meaning'', Dover Publications, 1996, p. ...

Indura Indura (Belarusian: Індура; ; ; ) is a village in the Grodno District of the Grodno Region of Belarus. The town's name in Yiddish is Amdur, which lends its name to the Amdur Hasidic dynasty founded by Chaim Chaykl of Amdur. History Th ...

(near Grodno),

Sopoćkinie Sapotskin or Sopotskin is an urban-type settlement in Grodno District, Grodno Region, in western Belarus. It is located near the border with Poland and northwest from Grodno. As of 2025, it has a population of 901. Sapotskin became one of th ...

, Zelwa,

Wołkowysk Vawkavysk or Volkovysk is a town in Grodno Region, in western Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Vawkavysk District. It is located on the and rivers, roughly from the city of Grodno and from Minsk, the national capital. As of ...

, Ostryna, Zdzięcioł (near Nowogródek),

Janów Poleski Ivanava or Ivanovo is a town in Brest Region, Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Ivanava District. As of 2025, it has a population of 16,017. History First mentioned in the 14th century, initially, it was a village named ''Por ...

, Horodec, Antopol, Drohiczyn Poleski and Motol nearby among other locations. In a number of instances, individual or groups of former authority figures, such as civil servants, landowners, priests, rural settlers, policemen and reserve officers, usually of Polish ethnicity, were murdered, including in Skidel, Brzostowica Mała, Lerypol, Budowla, and other locations. Wierzbicki estimates that there were dozens if not hundreds of such incidents. Several Polish families were rescued by their Belarusian neighbors in the village of Sawalówka. In some settlements, the withdrawal of Polish administration ahead of the Soviet advance prompted Jewish councils to form self-defense groups against the Belarusian raids which further complicated the issue of allegiance. Some of the self-defending Jews were driven by deep-seated Polish patriotism. Polish Army units quickly engaged the insurgents. On 19 September 1939 the 102nd Uhlan Regiment of the Polish Army engaged some insurgents around Ostryna, Dubno and Jeziory. After some skirmishes, Polish units put down the revolt and took control of Skidel and neighboring settlements. The insurgents captured with weapons were

summarily executed In civil and military jurisprudence, summary execution is the putting to death of a person accused of a crime without the benefit of a free and fair trial. The term results from the legal concept of summary justice to punish a summary offense, a ...

. Shortly afterward, on 20 September, advancing

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

units, supported by armor, took over Skidel, pushing the Polish forces back.

Aftermath

When Soviet forces took over Skidel, many Poles were immediately arrested. Some time later in 1940 there was a

show trial A show trial is a public trial in which the guilt (law), guilt or innocence of the defendant has already been determined. The purpose of holding a show trial is to present both accusation and verdict to the public, serving as an example and a d ...

in Skidel of 15 individuals including three women, two Tartars and two Polish Russians, who aided the Polish Army which briefly retook Skidel on 19 September. They were accused of crimes against the Soviet Union. There is no historical record of what happened to them, although Wierzbicki states that fragmentary information and "common practice" suggests that at least some of them were executed. After the end of World War II, and the annexation of eastern Poland, the mass murders and robberies were hushed up and the sabotage action in Skidzieĺ turned by the Soviet Union into a province-wide liberation movement. In 1940 the Soviet authorities found clear evidence of the widespread robberies and mass murders committed on the side by scores of intoxicated peasants and criminal opportunists, but after the intervention of the communist party representative, the Soviet court threw out the case citing political rationale (justified

class struggle In political science, the term class conflict, class struggle, or class war refers to the economic antagonism and political tension that exist among social classes because of clashing interests, competition for limited resources, and inequali ...

), as well as procedural reasons (that it has no jurisdiction to persecute crimes that happened on those territories before the Soviet annexation of them on, that legal documents dated to 2 November 1939). After the annexation of eastern Poland, the

Soviet propaganda Propaganda in the Soviet Union was the practice of state-directed communication aimed at promoting class conflict, proletarian internationalism, the goals of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, and the party itself. The main Soviet cen ...

turned the Skidzieĺ events into a liberation movement, and mythologized them.

Background

The events

Aftermath

See also