A sybirak (, plural: ''sybiracy'') is a person resettled to Siberia. Like its

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

counterpart '' sibiryák'' the word can refer to any dweller of

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part o ...

, but it more specifically refers to Poles imprisoned or exiled to Siberia or even to those sent to the

Russian Arctic The Extreme North or Far North (russian: Крайний Север, Дальний Север) is a large part of Russia located mainly north of the Arctic Circle and boasting enormous mineral and natural resources. Its total area is about , ...

or to

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental coun ...

in the 1940s.

History

Russian and Soviet authorities exiled many Poles to Siberia, starting with the 18th-century opponents of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the List of Russian monarchs, Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended th ...

's increasing influence in the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi- confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Poland and Lithuania ...

(most notably the members of the

Bar Confederation The Bar Confederation ( pl, Konfederacja barska; 1768–1772) was an association of Polish nobles ( szlachta) formed at the fortress of Bar in Podolia (now part of Ukraine) in 1768 to defend the internal and external independence of the Polis ...

of 1768-1772).Norman Davies, ''Europe: A History'', Oxford University Press, 1996,
Google Print, p.664
/ref>

Maurice, Count de Benyovszky Count Maurice Benyovszky de Benyó et Urbanó ( hu, Benyovszky Máté Móric Mihály Ferenc Szerafin Ágost; pl, Maurycy Beniowski; sk, Móric Beňovský; 20 September 1746 – 24 May 1786) was a renowned military officer, adventurer, and writ ...

was deported and emigrated to

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

. After Russian

penal law Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It prescribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and moral welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal law ...

changed in 1847, exile and penal labor (''

katorga Katorga ( rus, ка́торга, p=ˈkatərɡə; from medieval and modern Greek: ''katergon, κάτεργον'', " galley") was a system of penal labor in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union (see Katorga labor in the Soviet Union). Prisone ...

'') became common penalties for participants in national uprisings within the Russian Empire. This led to sending an increasing number of Poles to Siberia for ''katorga'', when they then became known as ''Sybiraks''. Some of them remained there, forming a Polish minority in Siberia. Most of them came from the participants and supporters of the

November Uprising The November Uprising (1830–31), also known as the Polish–Russian War 1830–31 or 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 ...

of 1830-1831 and of the

January Uprising The January Uprising ( pl, powstanie styczniowe; lt, 1863 metų sukilimas; ua, Січневе повстання; russian: Польское восстание; ) was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at ...

of 1863–1864,Jerzy Jan Lerski, Piotr Wróbel, Richard J. Kozicki, ''Historical Dictionary of Poland, 966-1945'', Greenwood Publishing Group, 1996,
Google Print, 538
/ref> from the participants of the 1905-1907 unrest and from the hundreds of thousands of people deported as a result of the Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939. Around the late 19th century a limited number of Polish voluntary settlers moved to Siberia, attracted by the economic development of the region. Polish migrants and exiles, many of whom were forbidden to move away from the region even after having finished serving their sentence, formed a vibrant Polish minority there. Hundreds of Poles took part in the construction of the

Trans-Siberian Railway The Trans-Siberian Railway (TSR; , , ) connects European Russia to the Russian Far East. Spanning a length of over , it is the longest railway line in the world. It runs from the city of Moscow in the west to the city of Vladivostok in the eas ...

. Notable Polish scholars studied Siberia, such as

Aleksander Czekanowski Aleksander Piotr Czekanowski, or Aleksandr Lavrentyevich Chekanovsky (russian: Александр Лаврентьевич Чекановский, 24 February 1833 – 30 October 1876) was a Polish geologist and explorer of Siberia during his exile ...

Jan Czerski Jan Stanisław Franciszek Czerski (russian: Иван Дементьевич Черский; 3 May 1845, in Swolna – 25 June 1892, nr. Kolyma) was a Polish paleontologist, osteologist, geologist, geographer and explorer of Siberia. He was e ...

Benedykt Dybowski Benedykt Tadeusz Dybowski (12 May 183331 January 1930) was a Polish naturalist and physician. Life Benedykt Dybowski was born in Adamaryni, within the Minsk Governorate of the Russian Empire to Polish nobility. He was the brother of naturalis ...

Wiktor Godlewski Wictor Godlewski (30 December 1831 – 17 November 1900) was a Polish nobleman, explorer, and naturalist. After spending time in Siberian labour camps following his participation in the January Uprising, he began to study the natural history of the ...

, Sergiusz Jastrzębski,

Edward Piekarski Edward is an English given name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Sa ...

(1858-1934), Bronisław Piłsudski,

Wacław Sieroszewski Wacław Kajetan Sieroszewski (24 August 1858 – 20 April 1945) was a Polish writer, Polish Socialist Party activist, and soldier in the World War I-era Polish Legions (decorated with the Virtuti Militari). For activities subversive of the Rus ...

Mikołaj Witkowski Mikołaj is the Polish cognate of given name Nicholas, used both as a given name and a surname. It may refer to people: In Polish (or Polish-Lithuanian) nobility: * Mikołaj Firlej (died 1526), Polish nobleman, Hetman, diplomat, and expert of sout ...

and others. The term ''Sybiracy'' might also refer to former exiles, such as those who were allowed to return to Russian-held Poland following the

amnesty Amnesty (from the Ancient Greek ἀμνηστία, ''amnestia'', "forgetfulness, passing over") is defined as "A pardon extended by the government to a group or class of people, usually for a political offense; the act of a sovereign power offic ...

of 1857 . The group, popular among the youth in the period preceding the outbreak of the

, supported the idea of organic work. However, during the January Uprising it ceased to exist as some of its members supported the ''Reds'', while others supported the ''Whites''. Among the most notable members of the group were Agaton Giller,

Henryk Krajewski Henryk may refer to: * Henryk (given name) * Henryk, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, a village in south-central Poland * Henryk Glacier, an Antarctic glacier See also * Henryk Batuta hoax, an internet hoax * Henrykian articles The Henrician Art ...

Karol Ruprecht Karol may refer to: Places * Karol, Gujarat, a village on Saurashtra peninsula in Gujarat, west India * Karol State, a former Rajput petty princely state with seat in the above town Film/TV *'' Karol: A Man Who Became Pope'', a 2005 miniseries ...

and

Szymon Tokarzewski Szymon is a Polish version of the masculine given name Simon. Academics *Szymon Askenazy – a historian and diplomat who served as the first Polish representative at the League of Nations *Szymon Datner – a Polish-Jewish historian and anti-Nazi ...

. About 20,000 Poles lived in Siberia around the 1860s. An unsuccessful

uprising of Polish political exiles in Siberia The Baikal Insurrection ( pl, Powstanie zabajkalskie or ''Powstanie nad Bajkałem'', russian: Кругобайкальское восстание), also known as the Siberian Uprising, was a short-lived uprising of about 700 Polish political pri ...

broke out in 1866.

Soviet era

At the start of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

the Soviets deported hundreds of thousands of Polish citizens, most of them in four mass waves. Some sources claim as many as 1.5 million deportees.Polian (2004), p. 119.Piesakowski (1990), pp. 50-51. The most conservative figuresPiotrowski (2004). use recently found NKVD documents showing 309,000Cienciala (2007), p. 139.Polian (2004), p. 118. to 381,220. Soviet authorities did not recognize ethnic Poles as Polish citizens. In addition, some of the figures are based on those given an amnesty rather than those deported, and not everyone was eligible for amnesty. Therefore, figures based on official evidence might be an underestimation.Jolluck (2002), pp. 10-11.

References

Bibliography

* Applebaum, A. (2004). ''GULAG A History'', Penguin, . * Cienciala, M. (2007). ''Katyn A Crime Without Punishment'', Yale University, . * Davies, N. (1986). ''God's Playground A History of Poland Volume II'', Clarendon, . * Ferguson, N. (2006). ''The War of the World'', Allen Lane, . * Gross, J. T. (2002). ''Revolution from Abroad'', Princeton, . * Hope, M. (2005). ''Polish Deportees in the Soviet Union'', Veritas, . * Jolluck, K. (2002). ''Exile & Identity'', University of Pittsburgh, . * Krupa, M. (2004). ''Shallow Graves in Siberia'', Birlinn, . * Malcher, G. C. (1993). ''Blank Pages'', Pyrford, . * Mikolajczyk, S. (1948). ''The Pattern of Soviet Domination'', Sampsons, low, Marston & Co. * Piesakowski, T. (1990). ''The Fate of Poles in the USSR 1939~1989'', Gryf, . * Piotrowski, T. (2004). ''The Polish Deportees of World War II'', McFarland, . * Polian, P. (2004). ''Against their Will'', CEU Press, . * Rees, L. (2008). ''World War Two Behind Closed Doors'',

BBC Books BBC Books (also formerly known as BBC Publishing) is an imprint majority-owned and managed by Penguin Random House through its Ebury Publishing division. The minority shareholder is BBC Studios, the commercial subsidiary of the British Broadca ...

, .

External links

Kresy-Siberia.org Kresy-Siberia Foundation and Virtual Museum
dedicated to research, remembrance and recognition of Polish citizens exiled to the Soviet Union during World War II

Website dedicated to the Sybiraks

Polish deportees in the USSR
List compiled in 1941 by

Tadeusz Romer Tadeusz Ludwik Romer (December 6, 1894 in Antonosz near Rokiškis – March 23, 1978 in Montreal) was a Polish diplomat and politician. He was a personal secretary to Roman Dmowski in 1919. Later he joined the Polish Ministry of Foreign Aff ...

, the Polish ambassador to Japan

History

Soviet era

See also

References

Bibliography

External links

Further reading