| Kresy Wschodnie | |
|---|---|
| Part of theSecond Polish Republic | |
 In the 1939 German-SovietMolotov–Ribbentrop Pact the Eastern Borderlands (grey) were annexed directly into theSoviet Union. The Soviet gains east of theCurzon line devised in 1919 were confirmed (with minor adjustments in the areas aroundBiałystok andPrzemyśl) by theWestern Allies at theTehran Conference, theYalta Conference and thePotsdam Conference. In 1945 most of Germany's territory east of theOder–Neisse line (pink) was ceded to what remained of Poland (white), both of which would compose the newly createdPeople's Republic of Poland | |
| Historical region | |
| Period | 1919–1939; 1945 |
| Area | Territories of Poland annexed by the Soviet Union in theInvasion of Poland of 1939 |
| Today part of |  Ukraine Belarus Lithuania |
Eastern Borderlands[1] (Polish:Kresy Wschodnie), often simplyBorderlands (Polish:Kresy,Polish pronunciation:[ˈkrɛsɨ])[a] was a historical region of the eastern part of theSecond Polish Republic. The term was coined during theinterwar period (1918–1939). Largely agricultural and extensively multi-ethnic with a Polish minority,[2] it amounted to nearly half of the territory of interwar Poland. Historically situated in the easternPolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, following the18th-century foreign partitions it was divided between the Empires ofRussia andAustria-Hungary, and ceded to Poland in 1921 after theTreaty of Riga. As a result of thepost-World War II border changes, all of the territory was ceded to theSoviet Union, and today the area of Kresy is divided betweenWestern Ukraine,Western Belarus, and south-easternLithuania.
The region gave rise to theKresy myth, a collection of nostalgic views about the area. After thefall of Communism in Europe anddissolution of the Soviet Union a major economic conflict emerged aboutthe real estate lost by Poland with the loss of Kresy.
In contemporary studies the term has been described as colonial and compared to similar other terms such as Russian «okrainy», that in the past was used by Russian imperial authorities to describe it's borderlands which included partitioned Poland.[3][4][5]
During the existence of thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth,Kresy only referred to the borderlands of theKingdom of Poland and not theGrand Duchy of Lithuania.[6]Kresy is also largely co-terminous with the northern areas of thePale of Settlement, a scheme devised byCatherine II of Russia to limitJews from settling in the homogenouslyChristian Orthodox core of the Russian Empire, such asMoscow andSaint Petersburg. The Pale was established after theSecond Partition of Poland and lasted until theRussian Revolution in 1917, when the Russian Empire ceased to exist. In the aftermath of the Polish wars againstUkraine,Lithuania andSoviet Russia, the latter of which was ended by the Treaty of Riga, large parts of theAustrian andRussian partitions became part of Poland. As many as 12 million inhabitants lived in the Eastern Borderlands, but ethnicPoles only were a third of that population, with another third beingUkrainian.[6][7] Most small towns in the Borderlands wereshtetls.[7]
Administratively, the Eastern Borderlands territory was composed ofBiałystok,Lwów,Nowogródek,Polesie,Stanisławów,Tarnopol,Wilno andWołyńvoivodeships (provinces). Today, of these regions, only the western portions of Białystok and Lwów voivodeships remain in Poland (including the eponymous city in Białystok but not Lwów); the remainder of the area is divided betweenWestern Ukraine,Western Belarus, and south-easternLithuania, with the major cities ofLviv,Vilnius, andGrodno no longer in Poland. During the Second Polish Republic, the Eastern Borderlands denoted the lands beyond theCurzon Line proposed afterWorld War I in December 1919 by the British Foreign Office as the eastern border of the re-emerging sovereign Polish Republic, after over a century of partition. The interwar period inKresy was noted by an active policy ofPolonization of the local population, which involved enforced usage of Polish language in education as well as settling of the Polish colonists,Osadniks.
In September 1939, afterGermanyinvaded Poland and follow-up invasion by Soviet Union, in accordance withMolotov–Ribbentrop Pact all Eastern Borderlands territories were incorporated into the Soviet republics ofUkraine,Belarus andLithuania, often by means of terror.[8] Soviet territorial annexations duringWorld War II were later ratified by theAllies at the Conferences ofTehran,Yalta andPotsdam and most of Poles here were expelled after theend of World War II in Europe. After thedissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, there was no change to the post-World War II borders. Despite the former provinces of the Eastern Borderlands no longer being part of Poland, a Polish minority remains.
The Polish wordkresy ("borderlands") is the plural form of the wordkres meaning 'edge'. According toZbigniew Gołąb, it is "a medieval borrowing from the German wordKreis", which in the Middle Ages meantKreislinie, Umkreis, Landeskreis ("borderline, delineation or circumscribed territory").[9]Samuel Linde in hisDictionary of the Polish Language gives a different etymology of the term. According to him,kresy meant the borderline between Poland and theCrimean Khanate, in the region of the lowerDnieper. The termkresy appeared for the first time in literature inWincenty Pol poems, "Mohort" (1854) and "Pieśń o ziemi naszej". Pol claimed that Kresy was the line between theDniester and Dnieper rivers, neighbouring the Tatar borderland.[10] Coincidentally in relation to Jewish settlement in the macro region, the notion of thepale is an archaic English term derived from theLatin wordpalus, (which in Polish exists aspal and also means a stake), extended in this instance to mean the area enclosed by a fence or boundary.[11]
At the beginning of the 20th century, the meaning of the term expanded to include the lands of the former eastern provinces of thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, east of theLwów–Wilno line. In the Second Polish Republic,Kresy equated to historically Polish settled lands to the east of the notionalCurzon line. Currently, the term applies to all the eastern lands of the Second Polish Republic that are no longer within the frontiers of modern Poland, together with lands further east, that had been integral to theCommonwealth before 1772, and where Polish communities continue to exist.[12]
Polish eastern settlements date back to the dawn of Poland as a state. In 1018, KingBolesław I the Brave invadedKievan Rus' (seeBolesław I's intervention in the Kievan succession crisis, 1018), capturingKyiv, and annexing theCherven Cities. In 1340,Red Ruthenia came under Polish control, which intensified defensive Polish settlement and the introduction ofCatholicism. After theUnion of Lublin 1569, more Polish settlers moved into the eastern borderlands of the vastPolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Most of them came from the Polish provinces ofMazovia andLesser Poland. They had moved gradually eastwards settling in sparsely populated areas, inhabited by earlier inhabitants such asLithuanians andRuthenians. Moreover, the indigenous upper classes ofKresy accepted Polish religion, culture and language, resulting in their assimilation andPolonization.
The year 1772 marked the first partition of the Commonwealth of theKingdom of Poland and theGrand Duchy of Lithuania (seePartitions of Poland). By 1795, the whole eastern half of the state had been annexed by the Russian Empire in concert withthe Habsburgs andPrussia'sHohenzollerns. The dramatic westward expansion of the Russian Empire through the annexation of Polish-Lithuanian territory substantially increased the new "Russian" Jewish population. Kresy and the superimposed Pale, in the former Polish and Lithuanian territories, had a Jewish population of over five million, and represented the largest community (40%) of the world Jewish population at that time.
From the Polish perspective, the lands came to be called the "Stolen Lands". Even though Poles were a minority in those areas, owing to forced depopulation, the "Stolen Lands" remained an integral part of Polish national identity, with Polish cultural centres and seats of learning inVilnius University,Jan Kazimierz University andKrzemieniec Lyceum among many others. Since many local educated inhabitants had actively participated in Polish–Lithuanian national insurgencies (November Uprising,January Uprising), the Russian authorities resorted to intensified persecution, confiscations of property and land, penal deportation toSiberia, and the systematic attempt atRussification of Poles and their traditional culture and institutions.
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From the Russian perspective the "Pale of Settlement" included all ofBelarus,Lithuania andMoldova, much of present-dayUkraine, parts of easternLatvia,eastern Poland, and some parts ofwestern Russia, generally corresponding to theKresy macroregion and the modern-day western border of Russia. It extended from the easternpale, or demarcation line, to the Russian border with theKingdom of Prussia (later theGerman Empire) andAustria-Hungary. It also comprised about 20% of the territory ofEuropean Russia and largely corresponded to historical lands of the formerPolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth,Cossack Hetmanate, and theOttoman Empire (withCrimean Khanate).
The area included in the Pale, with its largeRoman Catholic,Eastern Catholic and Jewish populations, was acquired through a series of military conquests and diplomatic manoeuvres, between 1654 and 1815. While the religious nature of the edicts creating the Pale is clear: conversion toRussian Orthodoxy, the state religion, released individuals from the strictures - historians argue that the motivations for its creation and maintenance were primarily economic andnationalistic in nature.[13]
TheRussian Empire had abandoned Kresy to decline as a vast rural backwater after the original Polish–Lithuanian landowners had been disposed of in the wake of insurrections and theAbolition of serfdom in Poland in 1864. The devastation of country estates put a halt to large scale economic activity which had depended on agriculture, forestry, brewing and small scale industries. Paradoxically, the Southern Kresy (present-day Ukraine) was famous for its fertile soil and was known as the "bread basket of Europe". Towards the end of the 19th century, the decline was so acute that trade and food supplies became problematic and large scale emigration from towns and villages began as Jewish communities, in particular, began heading West, to Europe and theUnited States. By the time of a newly resurgent Polish state, the provinces had been additionally disadvantaged by having the lowestliteracy levels in the country, since education had not beencompulsory during Russian rule.[14][15][16] The regions had suffered a legacy of decades of neglect and underinvestment so were generally less economically developed than the western parts of interwar Poland.
The years 1918–1921 were especially turbulent forKresy, due to the resurgence of the Polish nation-state and the formation of new borders. At that time, Poland had fought three wars to establish its eastern frontier: withUkraine,Lithuania andSoviet Russia. In all three conflicts, Poland made territorial conquests, and as a result, it seized territories east of the Curzon line that were previously conquered by Russia, in addition to the land formerly part of theAustrianGalicia. TheKresy was the most war-devastated area in the whole of interwar Poland.[17] The region later formed the eastern provinces of the Second Polish Republic.
Territories included in theKresy during the interbellum period comprised the eastern parts of the Voivodeships ofLwów andBiałystok and the whole of theNowogródek,Polesie,Stanisławów,Tarnopol,Wilno,Wołyń Voivodeships. The Polish government undertook an active policy ofPolonizing theKresy to alter its ethnic profile in favour of the Poles.[17] One of the ways to do so was through theOsadnik colonists.[17] These military colonists were one of the most "emotionalized" parts of the Polish government's policy in theKresy and elicited opposition from the locals.[18] The German historianBernhard Chiari [de] said that theKresy were "the poorhouse of Poland", while theYad Vashem historian Leonid Rein even wrote that "it would not be a great exaggeration to say it was the poor-house of the whole of Europe."[19] This led to frequent conflicts with Ukrainian nationalists in the southeastern part ofKresy, which led to thepacification of Ukrainians in Eastern Galicia.
Numerous Polish communities continued to live beyond the eastern border of the Second Polish Republic, especially aroundMinsk,Zhytomyr andBerdychiv. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, the Soviet authorities created twoPolish National Districts in Belarus and Ukraine, but during thePolish Operation of the NKVD, most of the Poles in those areas were murdered, while those remaining were forcibly resettled inKazakhstan (see alsoPoles in the Soviet Union).
As a consequence of theMolotov–Ribbentrop Pact, on 17 September 1939, the Kresy territories were annexed by theSoviet Union (seeSoviet invasion of Poland), and a significant part of the ethnic Polish population ofKresywas deported to other areas of the Soviet Union includingSiberia andKazakhstan.[20] The new border betweenNazi Germany and the Soviet Union was re-designated by theGerman–Soviet Boundary and Friendship Treaty, signed on 29 September 1939. After theelections to the People's Assemblies of Western Ukraine and Western Belarus, communist governments for Western Ukraine and Western Belarus were formed and immediately announced their intention of joining their respective republics to the Soviet Union (see alsoTerritories of Poland annexed by the Soviet Union). After the German invasion of the USSR, the southeastern part ofKresy was absorbed intoGreater Germany'sGeneral Government, whereas the rest was integrated with theReichskommissariatsOstland andUkraine. In 1943–1944, units of theUkrainian Insurgent Army, with the help of Ukrainian peasants, carried out mass exterminations of Poles living in southeasternKresy (seeMassacres of Poles in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia).
In January 1944, Soviet troops had reached the former Polish–Soviet border, and by the end of July 1944, they again re-annexed the whole territory that had been taken by the USSR in September 1939 into their control. During theTehran Conference in 1943, a new Soviet-Polish border was established, in effect sanctioning most of the Soviet territorial acquisitions of September 1939 (except for some areas around Białystok and Przemyśl), ignoring protests from thePolish government-in-exile in London. The Potsdam Conference, via substantive recognition of the pro-SovietPolish Committee of National Liberation, implicitly consented to the deportation of Polish people fromKresy (seePolish population transfers (1944–1946)). Most Polish inhabitants ofKresy were ordered by the Soviets to migrate west to Germany's former eastern provinces, newly emptied of their German population and renamed as the "Recovered Territories" of thePolish People's Republic, based on Polish medieval settlement of the areas. Poles from the southernKresy (now Ukraine) were forced to settle mainly inSilesia, while those from the north (Belarus and Lithuania) moved toPomerania andMasuria. Polish residents ofLwów settled not only in Wrocław, but also inGliwice and inBytom. Those cities had not been destroyed during the war. They were relatively closer to the new eastern border of Poland, which could become significant in case of a sudden hoped for a return to the East.[21]
Frequently, wholeKresy villages and towns were deported in a single rail transport to new locations in the west. For instance, the village of Biała, nearChojnów, is still divided into two parts: Lower Biała and Upper Biała. Lower Biała was settled by people who used to live in aBieszczady village of Polana nearUstrzyki Dolne (this area belonged to the Soviet Union until 1951: see1951 Polish–Soviet territorial exchange), while inhabitants of the village Pyszkowce nearBuczacz moved to Upper Biała. Every year in September, Biała is the scene of an annual festival calledKresowiana.[22] InSzczecin andPolish West Pomerania, in the immediate postwar period, one-third of Polish settlers were either people fromKresy orSybiraks.[23] In 1948, people born in the Eastern Borderlands made up 47.5% of the population ofOpole, 44.7% ofBaborów, 47.5% ofWołczyn, 42.1% ofGłubczyce, 40.1% ofLewin Brzeski, and 32.6% ofBrzeg. In 2011, people withKresy background made up 25% of the population of theOpole Voivodeship.[24] The town ofJasień was settled by people from the area ofTernopil in late 1945 and early 1946,[25] while Poles fromBorschiv moved toTrzcińsko-Zdrój andChojna.[26] The situation was completely different inWschowa and its county. In 1945–1948, more than 8,000 people moved there. They came from different areas of theKresy —Ashmyany,Stanislawow,Równe,Lwów,Brody,Dzyatlava District, andTernopil.[27]
Altogether, between 1944 and 1946, more than a million Poles from theKresy were moved to theRecovered Territories, including 150,000 from the area of Wilno, 226,300 fromPolesia, 133,900 fromVolhynia, 5,000 from NorthernBukovina, and 618,200 from Eastern Galicia.[28] The so-called FirstRepatriation of Poles (1944–1946) was carried out in a chaotic, disorganized way. People had to spend weeks, even months at railroad stations, waiting for transport. During that time, they were robbed of their belongings by either locals, Soviet soldiers or Soviet rail workers. For lack of railroad cars, in Lithuania at some point the "one-suitcase policy" was introduced, which meant that Poles had to leave behind all their belongings. They travelled in freight oropen wagons, and the journeys were long and dangerous, as there was no protection from the military or the police.[21] In the years 1955–1959, the second mass repatriation of Poles fromKresy took place. As a result, in the years 1945–1960, over 2 million Polish people leftKresy. About1-2 million more remained in theKresy after 1960 (especially in the territories of theLithuanian SSR and theByelorussian SSR). Even today, Poles constitute the majority of inhabitants in many regions in the Grodno and Vilnius regions. Poles appear in the most recent national censuses as follows - Lithuania 183,000 (2021) ; Belarus 288,000 (2019) ; Ukraine 144,000 (2001) - the Belarus and Ukraine numbers firmly disputed in Poland.
In the immediate postwar period, Polish Communists, who ceded the Eastern Borderlands to the Soviet Union, were universally regarded as traitors, andWładysław Gomułka, First Secretary of the Polish Workers' Party, was fully aware of it. People who moved from the East to the Recovered Territories talked amongst themselves about their return to Lwów and other eastern locations, and the German return toSilesia, as a result ofWorld War III, in which Western Allies would defeat the Soviets. One of the adages of the postwar period was: "Just one atom bomb, and we will be back in Lwów again.Just second one is small but strong and we will be back in Wilno again." ("Jedna bomba atomowa i wrócimy znów do Lwowa. Druga mała, ale silna i wrócimy znów do Wilna").[29][30] Polish settlers in former German areas were insecure about their future there until the 1970s (seeKniefall von Warschau). Eastern settlers did not feel at home inLower Silesia, and as a result, they did not care about the machinery, households and farms abandoned by Germans.Lubomierz in 1945 was in good condition, but in the following years, Polish settlers from the area ofChortkiv inPodolia let it run down and become a ruin. The Germans were aware of it. In 1959, German sources wrote that Lower Silesia had been ruined by the Poles. Zdzisław Mach, a sociologist from theJagiellonian University, explains that when Poles were forced to resettle in the West, which they resented, they had to leave the land they considered sacred and move to areas inhabited by the enemy. In addition, Communist authorities did not initially invest in the Recovered Territories because, like the settlers, for a long time they were unsure about the future of these lands. As Mach says, people in Western Poland for years lived "on their suitcases", with all their belongings packed in case of return to the East.[31]
The population ofKresy was multi-ethnic, primarily comprising Poles, Ukrainians, Jews and Belarusians. According to official Polish statistics from the interwar period, Poles formed the largest linguistic group in these regions, and were demographically the largest ethnic group in the cities. Other national minorities includedLithuanians andKaraites (in the north),Jews (scattered in cities and towns across the area),Czechs andGermans (in Volhynia and East Galicia),Armenians andHungarians (in Lviv) and alsoRussians andTatars.[32]
The proportions of different native languages in each voivodeship in 1931, according to the1931 Polish census, were as follows:[33]
| Voivodeship | Polish | Belarusian | Ukrainian | Yiddish | Russian | German | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wilno | 60% | 23% | _ | 8% | 3% | _ | 8% |
| Nowogródek | 53% | 39% | _ | 7% | 1% | _ | _ |
| Polesie | 14% | 6% | 5% | 10% | _ | _ | 63% "Other" orTutejszy (Polesian & other dialects) |
| Wołyń | 17% | _ | 68% | 10% | 1% | 2% | 2% |
| Lwów | 58% | _ | 34% | 8% | _ | _ | _ |
| Tarnopol | 50% | _ | 45% | 5% | _ | _ | _ |
| Stanisławów | 23% | _ | 69% | 7% | _ | 1% | _ |
In addition to ethnic Poles in former eastern Poland, there were also large Polish communities in the USSR and in the Baltic states. Polish population east of the Curzon Line before World War II can be estimated by adding together figures for Former Eastern Poland and for pre-1939 Soviet Union:
| 1. Interwar Poland | Polish mother tongue (of whom Roman Catholics) | Source (census) | Today part of: |
|---|---|---|---|
| South-Eastern Poland | 2,243,011 (1,765,765)[34][35] | 1931 Polish census[36] | Ukraine |
| North-Eastern Poland | 1,663,888 (1,358,029)[37][38] | 1931 Polish census | and |
| 2. Interwar USSR | Ethnic Poles according to official census | Source (census) | Today part of: |
| Soviet Ukraine | 476,435 | 1926 Soviet census | Ukraine |
| Soviet Belarus | 97,498 | 1926 Soviet census | Belarus |
| Soviet Russia | 197,827 | 1926 Soviet census |  Russia |
| rest of the USSR | 10,574 | 1926 Soviet census | |
| 3. Interwar Baltic states | Ethnic Poles according to official census | Source (census) | Today part of: |
| Lithuania | 65,599[Note 1] | 1923 Lithuanian census | Lithuania |
| Latvia | 59,374 | 1930 Latvian census[39] |  Latvia |
| Estonia | 1,608 | 1934 Estonian census |  Estonia |
| TOTAL (1., 2., 3.) | 4 to 5 million ethnic Poles |
Two tables below show the linguistic (mother tongue) and religious structure of interwar South-Eastern Poland (nowadays part ofWestern Ukraine) and interwar North-Eastern Poland (nowadays part ofWestern Belarus and southern Lithuania) by county, according to the 1931 census.
South-East Poland:
| County | Pop. | Polish | % | Yiddish & Hebrew | % | Ukrainian & Ruthenian | % | Other language | % | Roman Catholic | % | Jewish | % | Uniate & Orthodox | % | Other religion | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dubno | 226709 | 33987 | 15.0% | 17430 | 7.7% | 158173 | 69.8% | 17119 | 7.6% | 27638 | 12.2% | 18227 | 8.0% | 173512 | 76.5% | 7332 | 3.2% |
| Horokhiv | 122045 | 21100 | 17.3% | 9993 | 8.2% | 84224 | 69.0% | 6728 | 5.5% | 17675 | 14.5% | 10112 | 8.3% | 87333 | 71.6% | 6925 | 5.7% |
| Kostopil | 159602 | 34951 | 21.9% | 10481 | 6.6% | 105346 | 66.0% | 8824 | 5.5% | 34450 | 21.6% | 10786 | 6.8% | 103912 | 65.1% | 10454 | 6.6% |
| Kovel | 255095 | 36720 | 14.4% | 26476 | 10.4% | 185240 | 72.6% | 6659 | 2.6% | 35191 | 13.8% | 26719 | 10.5% | 187717 | 73.6% | 5468 | 2.1% |
| Kremenets | 243032 | 25758 | 10.6% | 18679 | 7.7% | 196000 | 80.6% | 2595 | 1.1% | 25082 | 10.3% | 18751 | 7.7% | 195233 | 80.3% | 3966 | 1.6% |
| Liuboml | 85507 | 12150 | 14.2% | 6818 | 8.0% | 65906 | 77.1% | 633 | 0.7% | 10998 | 12.9% | 6861 | 8.0% | 65685 | 76.8% | 1963 | 2.3% |
| Lutsk | 290805 | 56446 | 19.4% | 34142 | 11.7% | 172038 | 59.2% | 28179 | 9.7% | 55802 | 19.2% | 34354 | 11.8% | 177377 | 61.0% | 23272 | 8.0% |
| Rivne | 252787 | 36990 | 14.6% | 37484 | 14.8% | 160484 | 63.5% | 17829 | 7.1% | 36444 | 14.4% | 37713 | 14.9% | 166970 | 66.1% | 11660 | 4.6% |
| Sarny | 181284 | 30426 | 16.8% | 16019 | 8.8% | 129637 | 71.5% | 5202 | 2.9% | 28192 | 15.6% | 16088 | 8.9% | 132691 | 73.2% | 4313 | 2.4% |
| Volodymyr | 150374 | 40286 | 26.8% | 17236 | 11.5% | 88174 | 58.6% | 4678 | 3.1% | 38483 | 25.6% | 17331 | 11.5% | 89641 | 59.6% | 4919 | 3.3% |
| Zdolbuniv | 118334 | 17826 | 15.1% | 10787 | 9.1% | 81650 | 69.0% | 8071 | 6.8% | 17901 | 15.1% | 10850 | 9.2% | 86948 | 73.5% | 2635 | 2.2% |
| Borshchiv | 103277 | 46153 | 44.7% | 4302 | 4.2% | 52612 | 50.9% | 210 | 0.2% | 28432 | 27.5% | 9353 | 9.1% | 65344 | 63.3% | 148 | 0.1% |
| Brody | 91248 | 32843 | 36.0% | 7640 | 8.4% | 50490 | 55.3% | 275 | 0.3% | 22521 | 24.7% | 10360 | 11.4% | 58009 | 63.6% | 358 | 0.4% |
| Berezhany | 103824 | 48168 | 46.4% | 3716 | 3.6% | 51757 | 49.9% | 183 | 0.2% | 41962 | 40.4% | 7151 | 6.9% | 54611 | 52.6% | 100 | 0.1% |
| Buchach | 139062 | 60523 | 43.5% | 8059 | 5.8% | 70336 | 50.6% | 144 | 0.1% | 51311 | 36.9% | 10568 | 7.6% | 77023 | 55.4% | 160 | 0.1% |
| Chortkiv | 84008 | 36486 | 43.4% | 6474 | 7.7% | 40866 | 48.6% | 182 | 0.2% | 33080 | 39.4% | 7845 | 9.3% | 42828 | 51.0% | 255 | 0.3% |
| Kamianka-Buzka | 82111 | 41693 | 50.8% | 4737 | 5.8% | 35178 | 42.8% | 503 | 0.6% | 29828 | 36.3% | 6700 | 8.2% | 45113 | 54.9% | 470 | 0.6% |
| Kopychyntsi | 88614 | 38158 | 43.1% | 5164 | 5.8% | 45196 | 51.0% | 96 | 0.1% | 31202 | 35.2% | 7291 | 8.2% | 50007 | 56.4% | 114 | 0.1% |
| Pidhaitsi | 95663 | 46710 | 48.8% | 3464 | 3.6% | 45031 | 47.1% | 458 | 0.5% | 38003 | 39.7% | 4786 | 5.0% | 52634 | 55.0% | 240 | 0.3% |
| Peremyshliany | 89908 | 52269 | 58.1% | 4445 | 4.9% | 32777 | 36.5% | 417 | 0.5% | 38475 | 42.8% | 6860 | 7.6% | 44002 | 48.9% | 571 | 0.6% |
| Radekhiv | 69313 | 25427 | 36.7% | 3277 | 4.7% | 39970 | 57.7% | 639 | 0.9% | 17945 | 25.9% | 6934 | 10.0% | 42928 | 61.9% | 1506 | 2.2% |
| Skalat | 89215 | 60091 | 67.4% | 3654 | 4.1% | 25369 | 28.4% | 101 | 0.1% | 45631 | 51.1% | 8486 | 9.5% | 34798 | 39.0% | 300 | 0.3% |
| Ternopil | 142220 | 93874 | 66.0% | 5836 | 4.1% | 42374 | 29.8% | 136 | 0.1% | 63286 | 44.5% | 17684 | 12.4% | 60979 | 42.9% | 271 | 0.2% |
| Terebovlia | 84321 | 50178 | 59.5% | 3173 | 3.8% | 30868 | 36.6% | 102 | 0.1% | 38979 | 46.2% | 4845 | 5.7% | 40452 | 48.0% | 45 | 0.1% |
| Zalishchyky | 72021 | 27549 | 38.3% | 3261 | 4.5% | 41147 | 57.1% | 64 | 0.1% | 17917 | 24.9% | 5965 | 8.3% | 48069 | 66.7% | 70 | 0.1% |
| Zbarazh | 65579 | 32740 | 49.9% | 3142 | 4.8% | 29609 | 45.2% | 88 | 0.1% | 24855 | 37.9% | 3997 | 6.1% | 36468 | 55.6% | 259 | 0.4% |
| Zboriv | 81413 | 39624 | 48.7% | 2522 | 3.1% | 39174 | 48.1% | 93 | 0.1% | 26239 | 32.2% | 5056 | 6.2% | 49925 | 61.3% | 193 | 0.2% |
| Zolochiv | 118609 | 56628 | 47.7% | 6066 | 5.1% | 55381 | 46.7% | 534 | 0.5% | 36937 | 31.1% | 10236 | 8.6% | 70663 | 59.6% | 773 | 0.7% |
| Dolyna | 118373 | 21158 | 17.9% | 9031 | 7.6% | 83880 | 70.9% | 4304 | 3.6% | 15630 | 13.2% | 10471 | 8.8% | 89811 | 75.9% | 2461 | 2.1% |
| Horodenka | 92894 | 27751 | 29.9% | 5031 | 5.4% | 59957 | 64.5% | 155 | 0.2% | 15519 | 16.7% | 7480 | 8.1% | 69789 | 75.1% | 106 | 0.1% |
| Kalush | 102252 | 18637 | 18.2% | 5109 | 5.0% | 77506 | 75.8% | 1000 | 1.0% | 14418 | 14.1% | 6249 | 6.1% | 80750 | 79.0% | 835 | 0.8% |
| Kolomyia | 176000 | 52006 | 29.5% | 11191 | 6.4% | 110533 | 62.8% | 2270 | 1.3% | 31925 | 18.1% | 20887 | 11.9% | 121376 | 69.0% | 1812 | 1.0% |
| Kosiv | 93952 | 6718 | 7.2% | 6730 | 7.2% | 79838 | 85.0% | 666 | 0.7% | 4976 | 5.3% | 7826 | 8.3% | 80903 | 86.1% | 247 | 0.3% |
| Nadvírna | 140702 | 16907 | 12.0% | 11020 | 7.8% | 112128 | 79.7% | 647 | 0.5% | 15214 | 10.8% | 11663 | 8.3% | 113116 | 80.4% | 709 | 0.5% |
| Rohatyn | 127252 | 36152 | 28.4% | 6111 | 4.8% | 84875 | 66.7% | 114 | 0.1% | 27108 | 21.3% | 9466 | 7.4% | 90456 | 71.1% | 222 | 0.2% |
| Stanyslaviv | 198359 | 49032 | 24.7% | 26996 | 13.6% | 120214 | 60.6% | 2117 | 1.1% | 42519 | 21.4% | 29525 | 14.9% | 123959 | 62.5% | 2356 | 1.2% |
| Stryi | 152631 | 25186 | 16.5% | 15413 | 10.1% | 106183 | 69.6% | 5849 | 3.8% | 23404 | 15.3% | 17115 | 11.2% | 108159 | 70.9% | 3953 | 2.6% |
| Sniatyn | 78025 | 17206 | 22.1% | 4341 | 5.6% | 56007 | 71.8% | 471 | 0.6% | 8659 | 11.1% | 7073 | 9.1% | 61797 | 79.2% | 496 | 0.6% |
| Tlumach | 116028 | 44958 | 38.7% | 3677 | 3.2% | 66659 | 57.5% | 734 | 0.6% | 31478 | 27.1% | 6702 | 5.8% | 76650 | 66.1% | 1198 | 1.0% |
| Zhydachiv | 83817 | 16464 | 19.6% | 4728 | 5.6% | 61098 | 72.9% | 1527 | 1.8% | 15094 | 18.0% | 5289 | 6.3% | 63144 | 75.3% | 290 | 0.3% |
| Bibrka | 97124 | 30762 | 31.7% | 5533 | 5.7% | 60444 | 62.2% | 385 | 0.4% | 22820 | 23.5% | 7972 | 8.2% | 66113 | 68.1% | 219 | 0.2% |
| Dobromyl | 93970 | 35945 | 38.3% | 4997 | 5.3% | 52463 | 55.8% | 565 | 0.6% | 25941 | 27.6% | 7522 | 8.0% | 59664 | 63.5% | 843 | 0.9% |
| Drohobych | 194456 | 91935 | 47.3% | 20484 | 10.5% | 79214 | 40.7% | 2823 | 1.5% | 52172 | 26.8% | 28888 | 14.9% | 110850 | 57.0% | 2546 | 1.3% |
| Horodok | 85007 | 33228 | 39.1% | 2975 | 3.5% | 47812 | 56.2% | 992 | 1.2% | 22408 | 26.4% | 4982 | 5.9% | 56713 | 66.7% | 904 | 1.1% |
| Yavoriv | 86762 | 26938 | 31.0% | 3044 | 3.5% | 55868 | 64.4% | 912 | 1.1% | 18394 | 21.2% | 5161 | 5.9% | 62828 | 72.4% | 379 | 0.4% |
| Lviv City | 312231 | 198212 | 63.5% | 75316 | 24.1% | 35137 | 11.3% | 3566 | 1.1% | 157490 | 50.4% | 99595 | 31.9% | 50824 | 16.3% | 4322 | 1.4% |
| Lviv County | 142800 | 80712 | 56.5% | 1569 | 1.1% | 58395 | 40.9% | 2124 | 1.5% | 67430 | 47.2% | 5087 | 3.6% | 67592 | 47.3% | 2691 | 1.9% |
| Mostyska | 89460 | 49989 | 55.9% | 2164 | 2.4% | 37196 | 41.6% | 111 | 0.1% | 34619 | 38.7% | 5428 | 6.1% | 49230 | 55.0% | 183 | 0.2% |
| Rava-Ruska | 122072 | 27376 | 22.4% | 10991 | 9.0% | 82133 | 67.3% | 1572 | 1.3% | 22489 | 18.4% | 13381 | 11.0% | 84808 | 69.5% | 1394 | 1.1% |
| Rudky | 79170 | 38417 | 48.5% | 4247 | 5.4% | 36254 | 45.8% | 252 | 0.3% | 27674 | 35.0% | 5396 | 6.8% | 45756 | 57.8% | 344 | 0.4% |
| Sambir | 133814 | 56818 | 42.5% | 7794 | 5.8% | 68222 | 51.0% | 980 | 0.7% | 43583 | 32.6% | 11258 | 8.4% | 78527 | 58.7% | 446 | 0.3% |
| Sokal | 109111 | 42851 | 39.3% | 5917 | 5.4% | 59984 | 55.0% | 359 | 0.3% | 25425 | 23.3% | 13372 | 12.3% | 69963 | 64.1% | 351 | 0.3% |
| Turka | 114457 | 26083 | 22.8% | 7552 | 6.6% | 80483 | 70.3% | 339 | 0.3% | 6301 | 5.5% | 10627 | 9.3% | 97339 | 85.0% | 190 | 0.2% |
| Zhovkva | 95507 | 35816 | 37.5% | 3344 | 3.5% | 56060 | 58.7% | 287 | 0.3% | 20279 | 21.2% | 7848 | 8.2% | 66823 | 70.0% | 557 | 0.6% |
| South-East Poland | 6922206 | 2243011 | 32.4% | 549782 | 7.9% | 3983550 | 57.6% | 145863 | 2.1% | 1707428 | 24.7% | 708172 | 10.2% | 4387812 | 63.4% | 118794 | 1.7% |
North-East Poland:
| County | Pop. | Polish | % | Yiddish & Hebrew | % | Belarusian, Poleshuk & Russian | % | Other language[Note 3] | % | Roman Catholic | % | Jewish | % | Orthodox & Uniate | % | Other religion | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baranavichy | 161038 | 74916 | 46.5% | 15034 | 9.3% | 70627 | 43.9% | 461 | 0.3% | 45126 | 28.0% | 16074 | 10.0% | 99118 | 61.5% | 720 | 0.4% |
| Lida | 183485 | 145609 | 79.4% | 14546 | 7.9% | 20538 | 11.2% | 2792 | 1.5% | 144627 | 78.8% | 14913 | 8.1% | 23025 | 12.5% | 920 | 0.5% |
| Nyasvizh | 114464 | 27933 | 24.4% | 8754 | 7.6% | 77094 | 67.4% | 683 | 0.6% | 22378 | 19.6% | 8880 | 7.8% | 82245 | 71.9% | 961 | 0.8% |
| Novogrudok | 149536 | 35084 | 23.5% | 10326 | 6.9% | 103783 | 69.4% | 343 | 0.2% | 28796 | 19.3% | 10462 | 7.0% | 109162 | 73.0% | 1116 | 0.7% |
| Slonim | 126510 | 52313 | 41.4% | 10058 | 8.0% | 63445 | 50.2% | 694 | 0.5% | 23817 | 18.8% | 12344 | 9.8% | 89724 | 70.9% | 625 | 0.5% |
| Stowbtsy | 99389 | 51820 | 52.1% | 6341 | 6.4% | 40875 | 41.1% | 353 | 0.4% | 37856 | 38.1% | 6975 | 7.0% | 54076 | 54.4% | 482 | 0.5% |
| Shchuchyn | 107203 | 89462 | 83.5% | 6705 | 6.3% | 10658 | 9.9% | 378 | 0.4% | 60097 | 56.1% | 7883 | 7.4% | 38900 | 36.3% | 323 | 0.3% |
| Valozhyn | 115522 | 76722 | 66.4% | 5261 | 4.6% | 33240 | 28.8% | 299 | 0.3% | 61852 | 53.5% | 5341 | 4.6% | 47923 | 41.5% | 406 | 0.4% |
| Braslaw | 143161 | 93958 | 65.6% | 7181 | 5.0% | 37689 | 26.3% | 4333 | 3.0% | 89020 | 62.2% | 7703 | 5.4% | 29713 | 20.8% | 16725 | 11.7% |
| Dzisna | 159886 | 62282 | 39.0% | 11762 | 7.4% | 85051 | 53.2% | 791 | 0.5% | 56895 | 35.6% | 11948 | 7.5% | 88118 | 55.1% | 2925 | 1.8% |
| Molodechno | 91285 | 35523 | 38.9% | 5789 | 6.3% | 49747 | 54.5% | 226 | 0.2% | 21704 | 23.8% | 5910 | 6.5% | 63074 | 69.1% | 597 | 0.7% |
| Oshmyany | 104612 | 84951 | 81.2% | 6721 | 6.4% | 11064 | 10.6% | 1876 | 1.8% | 81369 | 77.8% | 7056 | 6.7% | 15125 | 14.5% | 1062 | 1.0% |
| Pastavy | 99907 | 47917 | 48.0% | 2683 | 2.7% | 49071 | 49.1% | 236 | 0.2% | 50751 | 50.8% | 2769 | 2.8% | 44477 | 44.5% | 1910 | 1.9% |
| Švenčionys | 136475 | 68441 | 50.1% | 7654 | 5.6% | 16814 | 12.3% | 43566 | 31.9% | 117524 | 86.1% | 7678 | 5.6% | 1978 | 1.4% | 9295 | 6.8% |
| Vilyeyka | 131070 | 59477 | 45.4% | 5934 | 4.5% | 65220 | 49.8% | 439 | 0.3% | 53168 | 40.6% | 6113 | 4.7% | 70664 | 53.9% | 1125 | 0.9% |
| Vilnius-Trakai | 214472 | 180546 | 84.2% | 6508 | 3.0% | 9263 | 4.3% | 18155 | 8.5% | 201053 | 93.7% | 6613 | 3.1% | 2988 | 1.4% | 3818 | 1.8% |
| Vilnius City | 195071 | 128628 | 65.9% | 54596 | 28.0% | 9109 | 4.7% | 2738 | 1.4% | 125999 | 64.6% | 55006 | 28.2% | 9598 | 4.9% | 4468 | 2.3% |
| Brest | 215927 | 50248 | 23.3% | 32089 | 14.9% | 115323 | 53.4% | 18267 | 8.5% | 43020 | 19.9% | 32280 | 14.9% | 135911 | 62.9% | 4716 | 2.2% |
| Drahichyn | 97040 | 6844 | 7.1% | 6947 | 7.2% | 81557 | 84.0% | 1692 | 1.7% | 5699 | 5.9% | 6981 | 7.2% | 83147 | 85.7% | 1213 | 1.3% |
| Kamin-Kashyrskyi | 94988 | 6692 | 7.0% | 4014 | 4.2% | 75699 | 79.7% | 8583 | 9.0% | 6026 | 6.3% | 4037 | 4.3% | 83113 | 87.5% | 1812 | 1.9% |
| Kobryn | 113972 | 10040 | 8.8% | 10489 | 9.2% | 71435 | 62.7% | 22008 | 19.3% | 8973 | 7.9% | 10527 | 9.2% | 93426 | 82.0% | 1046 | 0.9% |
| Kosava | 83696 | 8456 | 10.1% | 6300 | 7.5% | 68769 | 82.2% | 171 | 0.2% | 7810 | 9.3% | 6333 | 7.6% | 68941 | 82.4% | 612 | 0.7% |
| Luninyets | 108663 | 16535 | 15.2% | 7811 | 7.2% | 83769 | 77.1% | 548 | 0.5% | 13754 | 12.7% | 8072 | 7.4% | 85728 | 78.9% | 1109 | 1.0% |
| Pinsk | 184305 | 29077 | 15.8% | 25088 | 13.6% | 128787 | 69.9% | 1353 | 0.7% | 16465 | 8.9% | 25385 | 13.8% | 140022 | 76.0% | 2433 | 1.3% |
| Pruzhany | 108583 | 17762 | 16.4% | 9419 | 8.7% | 81032 | 74.6% | 370 | 0.3% | 16311 | 15.0% | 9463 | 8.7% | 82015 | 75.5% | 794 | 0.7% |
| Stolin | 124765 | 18452 | 14.8% | 10809 | 8.7% | 92253 | 73.9% | 3251 | 2.6% | 6893 | 5.5% | 10910 | 8.7% | 105280 | 84.4% | 1682 | 1.3% |
| Grodno | 213105 | 101089 | 47.4% | 35354 | 16.6% | 69832 | 32.8% | 6830 | 3.2% | 89122 | 41.8% | 35693 | 16.7% | 87205 | 40.9% | 1085 | 0.5% |
| Volkovysk | 171327 | 83111 | 48.5% | 13082 | 7.6% | 74823 | 43.7% | 311 | 0.2% | 76373 | 44.6% | 13283 | 7.8% | 80621 | 47.1% | 1050 | 0.6% |
| North-East Poland | 3849457 | 1663888 | 43.2% | 347255 | 9.0% | 1696567 | 44.1% | 141747 | 3.7% | 1512478 | 39.3% | 356632 | 9.3% | 1915317 | 49.7% | 65030 | 1.7% |
In 1931, according to the Polish National Census, the ten largest cities in Polish Eastern Borderlands were:Lwów (pop. 312,200),Wilno (pop. 195,100),Stanisławów (pop. 60,000),Grodno (pop. 49,700),Brześć nad Bugiem (pop. 48,400),Borysław (pop. 41,500),Równe (pop. 40,600),Tarnopol (pop. 35,600),Łuck (pop. 35,600) andKołomyja (pop. 33,800).
In addition,Daugavpils (pop. 43,200 in 1930) in inter-warLatvia was also a major Polish community with 21% ethnic Polish inhabitants.
| City | Pop. | Polish | Yiddish & Hebrew | German | Ukrainian & Ruthenian | Belarusian | Russian | Lithuanian | Other | Today part of: |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lwów | 312,231 | 63.5% (198,212) | 24.1% (75,316) | 0.8% (2,448) | 11.3% (35,137) | 0% (24) | 0.1% (462) | 0% (6) | 0.2% (626) | Ukraine |
| Wilno | 195,071 | 65.9% (128,628) | 28% (54,596) | 0.3% (561) | 0.1% (213) | 0.9% (1,737) | 3.8% (7,372) | 0.8% (1,579) | 0.2% (385) | Lithuania |
| Stanisławów | 59,960 | 43.7% (26,187) | 38.3% (22,944) | 2.2% (1,332) | 15.6% (9,357) | 0% (3) | 0.1% (50) | 0% (1) | 0.1% (86) | Ukraine |
| Grodno | 49,669 | 47.2% (23,458) | 42.1% (20,931) | 0.2% (99) | 0.2% (83) | 2.5% (1,261) | 7.5% (3,730) | 0% (22) | 0.2% (85) | Belarus |
| Brześć | 48,385 | 42.6% (20,595) | 44.1% (21,315) | 0% (24) | 0.8% (393) | 7.1% (3,434) | 5.3% (2,575) | 0% (1) | 0.1% (48) | Belarus |
| Daugavpils | 43,226 | 20.8% (9,007) | 26.9% (11,636) | - | - | 2.3% (1,006) | 19.5% (8,425) | - | 30.4% (13,152) | Latvia |
| Borysław | 41,496 | 55.3% (22,967) | 25.4% (10,538) | 0.5% (209) | 18.5% (7,686) | 0% (4) | 0.1% (37) | 0% (2) | 0.1% (53) | Ukraine |
| Równe | 40,612 | 27.5% (11,173) | 55.5% (22,557) | 0.8% (327) | 7.9% (3,194) | 0.1% (58) | 6.9% (2,792) | 0% (4) | 1.2% (507) | Ukraine |
| Tarnopol | 35,644 | 77.7% (27,712) | 14% (5,002) | 0% (14) | 8.1% (2,896) | 0% (2) | 0% (6) | 0% (0) | 0% (12) | Ukraine |
| Łuck | 35,554 | 31.9% (11,326) | 48.6% (17,267) | 2.3% (813) | 9.3% (3,305) | 0.1% (36) | 6.4% (2,284) | 0% (1) | 1.5% (522) | Ukraine |
| Kołomyja | 33,788 | 65% (21,969) | 20.1% (6,798) | 3.6% (1,220) | 11.1% (3,742) | 0% (0) | 0% (6) | 0% (2) | 0.2% (51) | Ukraine |
| Drohobycz | 32,261 | 58.4% (18,840) | 24.8% (7,987) | 0.4% (120) | 16.3% (5,243) | 0% (13) | 0.1% (21) | 0% (0) | 0.1% (37) | Ukraine |
| Pińsk | 31,912 | 23% (7,346) | 63.2% (20,181) | 0.1% (45) | 0.3% (82) | 4.3% (1,373) | 9% (2,866) | 0% (2) | 0.1% (17) | Belarus |
| Stryj | 30,491 | 42.3% (12,897) | 31.4% (9,561) | 1.6% (501) | 24.6% (7,510) | 0% (0) | 0% (10) | 0% (0) | 0% (12) | Ukraine |
| Kowel | 27,677 | 37.2% (10,295) | 46.2% (12,786) | 0.2% (50) | 9% (2,489) | 0.1% (27) | 7.1% (1,954) | 0% (1) | 0.3% (75) | Ukraine |
| Włodzimierz | 24,591 | 39.1% (9,616) | 43.1% (10,611) | 0.6% (138) | 14% (3,446) | 0.1% (18) | 2.9% (724) | 0% (0) | 0.2% (38) | Ukraine |
| Baranowicze | 22,818 | 42.8% (9,758) | 41.3% (9,423) | 0.1% (25) | 0.2% (50) | 11.1% (2,537) | 4.4% (1,006) | 0% (1) | 0.1% (18) | Belarus |
| Sambor | 21,923 | 61.9% (13,575) | 24.3% (5,325) | 0.1% (28) | 13.2% (2,902) | 0% (4) | 0% (4) | 0% (0) | 0.4% (85) | Ukraine |
| Krzemieniec | 19,877 | 15.6% (3,108) | 36.4% (7,245) | 0.1% (23) | 42.4% (8,430) | 0% (6) | 4.4% (883) | 0% (2) | 0.9% (180) | Ukraine |
| Lida | 19,326 | 63.3% (12,239) | 32.6% (6,300) | 0% (5) | 0.1% (28) | 2.1% (414) | 1.7% (328) | 0% (2) | 0.1% (10) | Belarus |
| Czortków | 19,038 | 55.2% (10,504) | 25.5% (4,860) | 0.1% (11) | 19.1% (3,633) | 0% (0) | 0.1% (17) | 0% (0) | 0.1% (13) | Ukraine |
| Brody | 17,905 | 44.9% (8,031) | 35% (6,266) | 0.2% (37) | 19.8% (3,548) | 0% (5) | 0.1% (9) | 0% (0) | 0.1% (9) | Ukraine |
| Słonim | 16,251 | 52% (8,452) | 41.1% (6,683) | 0.1% (9) | 0.3% (45) | 4% (656) | 2.3% (369) | 0% (2) | 0.2% (35) | Belarus |
| Wołkowysk | 15,027 | 49.6% (7,448) | 38.8% (5,827) | 0% (7) | 0.1% (10) | 6.9% (1,038) | 4.6% (689) | 0% (3) | 0% (5) | Belarus |
Despite the expulsion of most of ethnic Poles from the Soviet Union between 1944 and 1958, the Soviet census of 1959 still counted around 1.5 million ethnic Poles remaining in the USSR:
| Republic of the USSR | Ethnic Poles in1959 census |
|---|---|
| Belarusian SSR | 538,881 |
| Ukrainian SSR | 363,297 |
| Lithuanian SSR | 230,107 |
| Latvian SSR | 59,774 |
| Estonian SSR | 2,256 |
| rest of the USSR | 185,967 |
| TOTAL | 1,380,282 |
According to a more recent census, there were about 295,000 Poles in Belarus in 2009 (3.1% of the Belarus population).[51]
A number of influential figures in Polish history were born in the area ofkresy (note: the redirected list does not include Poles born in the cities of Lwów (Lviv), and Wilno (Vilnius) - seeList of people from Lviv,List of people from Vilnius). The family of former President of Poland,Bronisław Komorowski, allegedly hails from northern Lithuania.[52] The mother ofBogdan Zdrojewski,Minister of Culture and National Heritage is fromBoryslav,[53] and the father of former First LadyJolanta Kwaśniewska was born inWołyń, where his sister was murdered in 1943 by the Ukrainian nationalists.[54]
The macro region ofKresy denotes the Eastern historical provinces of theKingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In the 20th century during theSecond Republic of Poland it was the term for its Eastern Borderlands. Following the "Fourth Partition of Poland", theTehran,Yalta andPotsdam Conferences, in the wake of theSecond World War, ratified the annexation of the Kresy territories by theSoviet Union. They were apportioned toLithuania,Belarus andUkraine where they remain.
A number of notable or influential figures from Polish history were born in the formermacroregion (note: the following list does not include Poles born in the cities ofLwów (Lviv), andWilno (Vilnius) - seeList of Leopolitans,List of Vilnius-related people).
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Since some of the most distinguished names of Polish literature and music were born inKresy, e.g.Mikołaj Rej,Adam Mickiewicz,Juliusz Słowacki,Karol Szymanowski orCzesław Miłosz,Eastern Borderlands have featured repeatedly in the PolishLiterary canon. Mickiewicz'sPan Tadeusz begins with the Polish language invocation, "O Lithuania, my fatherland, thou art like good health...." Other notable works located inKresy, areNad Niemnem,Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass,With Fire and Sword,Fire in the Steppe. In Communist Poland, allKresy-related topics, such as Poland's eastern centuries old heritage, including ecclesiastical architecture, country houses and stately homes down to theMassacres of Poles in Wołyń were banned from publication for Soviet propaganda reasons, because these lands now belonged to the Soviet Union. In official documents, people born in the Eastern Borderlands were declared as born in the Soviet Union, and very fewKresy-themed books or films were passed by the state censor at that time.[115] One of the exceptions was the immensely popular comedy trilogy bySylwester Chęciński (Sami swoi from 1967,Nie ma mocnych from 1974, andKochaj albo rzuć from 1977). The trilogy tells the story of two quarreling families, who after the end of the Second World War were resettled from current Western Ukraine to Lower Silesia, after Poland was shifted westwards.
After the collapse of the Communist system, the oldKresy returned as a Polish cultural theme in the form of historical polemics. Numerous books and albums were published about the Eastern Borderlands, frequently with original photos from the prewar era. Examples of such publications include:
In the first half of 2011,Rzeczpospolita daily published a series called "The Book of Eastern Borderlands" (Księga kresów wschodnich).[120] The July 2012 issue of theUważam Rze Historia magazine was dedicated to the Eastern Borderlands and their importance in Polish history and culture.[121]
The territory known to Poles asKresy is now partitioned off between the states of Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania. Ethnic Poles still live in those areas: in Lithuania, they are the largest ethnic minority in the country (seePoles in Lithuania), in Belarus, they are the second largest ethnic minority in the country after Russians (seePoles in Belarus), and in Ukraine, they officially number 144,130, but some Polish organizations claim that the number of Poles in Ukraine may be as many as 2 million, most of them assimilated.[122] (seePoles in Ukraine). Furthermore, there is a 50,000Polish minority in Latvia. In Lithuania and Belarus, Poles are more numerous than in Ukraine. This is the result of thePolish population transfers (1944–1946)[123] as well asMassacres of Poles in Volhynia. Those Poles who survived the slaughter begged for the opportunity to emigrate.[21]
Many Polish organizations are active in the former Eastern Borderlands, such as the Association of Poles in Ukraine,Association of Polish Culture of the Lviv Land, the Federation of Polish Organizations in Ukraine,Union of Poles in Belarus, and theAssociation of Poles in Lithuania. There are Polish sports clubs (Pogoń Lwów,FK Polonia Vilnius), newspapers (Gazeta Lwowska,Kurier Wileński), radio stations (in Lviv and Vilnius), many theatres, schools, choirs and folk ensembles. Poles living inKresy are helped by a government-sponsored organizationFundacja Pomoc Polakom na Wschodzie, and by other organizations, such as the Association of Help of Poles in the East Kresy (see alsoKarta Polaka). Money is frequently collected to help those Poles who live inKresy, and there are several annual events, such as "Christmas Package for a Polish Veteran in Kresy", and "Summer with Poland", sponsored byAssociation "Polish Community", in which Polish children fromKresy are invited to visit Poland.[124] Polish language handbooks and films, as well as medicines and clothes are collected and sent toKresy. Books are most often sent to Polish schools which exist there — for example, in December 2010, University of Wrocław organized an event called "Become a Polish Santa Claus and Give a Book to a Polish Child in Kresy".[125] Polish churches and cemeteries (such asCemetery of the Defenders of Lwów) are renovated with money from Poland. For example, inNysa, money is collected to renovate the Roman Catholic church in Łopatyn near Lviv,[126] while residents ofOława collect funds to renovate the church in Sasiv, also in the area of Lviv.[127] Also, physicians from Kraków's organization Doctors of Hope regularly visit Eastern Borderlands, and the Polish Ministry of Education runs a special program, which sends Polish teachers to the former Soviet Union. In 2007, more than 700 teachers worked in the East, most of them inKresy.[128] Studio East of Polish TV Wrocław organizes an event called "Save your grandfather's tomb from oblivion" (Mogiłę pradziada ocal od zapomnienia), during which students fromLower Silesia visit Western Ukraine, to clean Polish cemeteries there. In July 2011, about 150 students cleaned 16 cemeteries in the areas of Lviv,Ternopil,Podolia andPokuttya.[129]
Despite wars andethnic cleansing many treasures of Polish culture still remain in the East. In Vilnius, there is theWróblewski Library, with 160,000 volumes and 30,000 manuscripts, which now belong to theLithuanian Academy of Sciences. In Lviv, there is theOssolineum, one of the most important Polish culture centres. Adolf Juzwenko, current president of Wrocław's office of the Ossolineum, says that in 1945, there was a mass public campaign in Poland, aimed at transporting the whole Ossolineum to Wrocław. It succeeded in recovering only 200,000 volumes, as the Soviets decided that the bulk of the library had to remain in Lviv.[130]
Even though Poland lost its Eastern Borderlands in the aftermath of World War II, Poles connected with the Kresy still have some affection for those lands. Since Poles from current Western Ukraine mostly moved toSilesia. The cities ofWrocław andGliwice are regarded asmiasta lwowskie (cities of Lwów affinity), whileSzczecin,Gdańsk andOlsztyn are regarded asmiasta wileńskie (cities of Wilno affinity).[131] Lwów'sOssolineum Foundation, its collections and famous library are now located in Wrocław. Polish academics from Lwów established the PolishUniversity of Wrocław (taking over from the old German University of Breslau) andSilesian University of Technology inGliwice. At the same time, Polish academics from Vilnius foundedNicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń (even thoughToruń belonged to Poland before the outbreak ofWorld War II before 1939).
There are numerous Kresy-oriented organizations, with the largest one, World Congress of Kresy Inhabitants (Światowy Kongres Kresowian), located inBytom, and branches scattered across Poland, and abroad. The Congress organizes annual World Convention and Pilgrimage of Kresy Inhabitants toJasna Góra Monastery.[132]
Other importantKresy organizations, active in contemporary Poland, include:
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Every year, in theMasurian town ofMrągowo, there is aFestiwal Kultury Kresowej (Festival of Kresy Culture), sponsored among others by theSenate of the Republic of Poland and the Minister of Culture, with the patronage of the First Lady. The Festival is broadcast byTVP2 andTVP Polonia, and in 2011 it was organized for the 17th time. Among participants of the 2011 Festival, there were such artists, as Folk Ensemble Mozyrzanka fromMozyr, Children and Youth Band Tęcza fromMinsk, Folk Band Kresowianka fromIvyanets, Polish Academic Choir Zgoda fromBrest, Instrumental Band Biedronki fromMinsk, Vocal Duo Wspólna wędrówka from Minsk, Children's Polonia Ensemble Dolinianka from Stara Huta (Ukraine), Ensemble Fujareczka fromSambir, Ensemble Boryslawiacy fromBoryslav, Ensemble Niebo do Wynajecia from Stralhivci (Ukraine), Polish Dance and Song Ensemble Wilenka from Vilnius, Dance and Song Band Troczenie fromTrakai, Band Wesołe Wilno from Vilnius, Song and Dance Ensemble Kotwica fromKaunas, and Folk and Polish Folklore Dance and Song Ensemble Syberyjski Krakowiak fromAbakan inSiberia.[133]
Other notable Kresy-oriented festivals are:
InLubaczów is a Museum of Kresy, and there is a project, supported by local government, to create a Museum of Eastern Borderlands in Wrocław, the city where a number of Poles from Kresy settled after World War II.[139] Numerous photo albums and books, depicting cities, towns and landscapes ofKresy are published every year in Poland. InChełm, there is Kresy Bicycle Marathon, Polish Radio Białystok every week broadcastsKresy Magazine, dedicated to the history and present times of the Eastern Borderlands. Every Sunday, Polish Radio Katowice broadcasts a program based on famous prewarLwów's Merry Wave, every Tuesday, Polish Radio Rzeszów broadcasts a programKresy Landscapes. In Wrocław, the Association of Remembrance of Victims of Ukrainian Nationalists publishesNa Rubieży (On the Border) magazine. Among best knownKresy activists of contemporary Poland are FatherTadeusz Isakowicz-Zaleski, and Dr. Tadeusz Kukiz, father of popular singerPaweł Kukiz. Since 2007, annual medals Heritage of Eastern Borderlands are awarded in Wrocław. The 2011 recipient was emeritusArchbishop of Wrocław,Henryk Gulbinowicz.[140] Participants of annual Katyń Motorcycle Raid (Motocyklowy Rajd Katyński) always visit Polish centers inKresy, giving presents to children, and meeting local Poles.[141]
The program of 2011 Days of Kresy Culture (October 22–23) inBrzeg covered such events, as:Kresy themed cabaret, promotion ofKresy books, Eastern Borderlands cuisine, mass in a local church, meetings withKresy activists and scholars, and theatre shows of Brzeg's Garrison Club as well as Lwów Eaglets Middle School number 3 in Brzeg. Organizers of the festival assured that for the two days Brzeg would turn into the "capital of interwar Polish Kresy".[142]
In January, February and March 2012,Centre for Public Opinion Research did a survey, asking Poles about their ties to Kresy. It turned out that almost 15% of the population of Poland (4,3 - 4,6 million people) declared that they either were born in the Kresy, or have a parent or a grandparent from that region. The number ofKresowiacy is high in northern and western Poland – as many as 51% of inhabitants ofLubusz Voivodeship, and 47% of inhabitants ofLower Silesian Voivodeship stated that their family has ties to the Kresy. Furthermore,Kresowiacy now make 30% of the population ofOpole Voivodeship, 25% of the population ofWest Pomeranian Voivodeship, and 18% of the population ofWarmian–Masurian Voivodeship.[143]
Since Poles have lived in Kresy for hundreds of years, two groups of Kresy Polish dialects emerged: thenorthern (dialekt północnokresowy), and thesouthern (dialekt południowokresowy).[144] Both dialects have been influenced either byUkrainian,Belarusian or byLithuanian. To Polish speakers in Poland, Kresy dialects are easy to distinguish, as their pronunciation and intonation are markedly different from standard Polish.[145] Before World War II, the Kresy provinces were part of Poland, and both dialects were in common usage, spoken by millions of ethnic Poles. After the war and Soviet annexation of Kresy, however, the majority of ethnic Poles weredeported westward, resulting in a severe decline in the number of native speakers. The northern Kresy dialect is still used along the Lithuanian-Belarusian border, where Poles still live in large numbers, but the southern Kresy dialect is endangered, as Poles in western Ukraine do not form a majority of the population in any district. Particularly notable among the Kresy dialects is theLwów dialect which emerged early in the 19th century and was spoken in the city gaining much recognition in the 1920s and 1930s, partly due to the countrywide popularity of numerous Kresy-born and trained actors and comedians whose native speech it was (see also:Dialects of the Polish language).
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