Elections to the People's Assemblies of Western Ukraine and Western Belorussia
Elections to the People's Assemblies of Western Ukraine and Western Belorussia, which took place on October 22, 1939, were an attempt to legitimize the annexation of the Second Polish Republic's eastern territories by the Soviet Union following the September 17 Soviet invasion of Poland in accordance with the secret protocol of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. Only one month after these lands were occupied by the Red Army, the Soviet secret police and military led by the Party officials staged the local elections in an atmosphere of state terror.[1] The referendum was rigged. The ballot envelopes were numbered and often handed over already sealed. By design, the candidates were unknown to their constituencies which were brought to the voting stations by armed militias.[1] The results were to become the official legitimization of the Soviet takeover of what is known today as the Western Belorussia and the Western Ukraine.[2] Consequently, both Assemblies voted for incorporation of all formerly Polish voivodeships into the Soviet Union.[3]
Background
On September 17, 1939, the Red Army invaded eastern Poland, facing weak resistance of units of the
As soon as the Soviets occupied Polish areas, they began organizing local governments and units of administrative division, whose borders roughly corresponded with the borders of interbellum voivodeships. Temporary authorities were made of NKVD agents, Red Army officers, local laborers, and left-wing intelligentsia. Their task was to organize the so-called workers guard in the municipal centers, and farmers committees, which were preparing land reform. Soon afterwards, these temporary authorities were replaced with Soviet-style administration and Communist Party of the Soviet Union committees. Also, NKVD apparatus took over military tasks.
After signing the
The election
The electoral campaign began on October 7, 1939, and from the beginning, was supervised by the NKVD troops. The campaign itself took place in an atmosphere of state terror, with mass arrests, and uniformed NKVD agents present at all polling stations.[6] All candidates had been designated by the party's local peasants and workers' committees based on instructions from Moscow. It was not possible to vote for anybody else. Soviet banners and posters were seen everywhere, people were gathered to listen to propaganda slogans, and frequently, citizens were told that if they did not participate, they would be fired, arrested, and even sent to Siberia. Electoral meetings were very short. Participants were asked "who was against" the candidate offered; frightened people would not raise their hands, and then the meeting was closed.[6] On October 11, in article published in Pravda, Soviet propaganda pointed out the issues to be solved by the Western Ukraine's Assembly. These were: establishment of Soviet authority, unification of Western Ukraine with Soviet Ukraine, confiscation of estates, and nationalization of banks and industrial properties.[7] There were instances when local Polish Communists, especially in Western Belorussia, tried to designate their own candidates, but these attempts were immediately dismissed by the party officials.
Historian
I was forced to vote, taken from our home only in slippers and a bathrobe. I was escorted by two militiamen and an NKVD agent, who did not let me put on my coat. My mother, brother, and sister were also forced to vote.[5]
At all voting stations, there were uniformed militia or soldiers, and names were checked on a list. Voting was monitored to such a degree that in some places people were given envelopes which had been already sealed, and told to drop them in the box.[6]
The results of the election show the efficiency of the Stalinist state. According to the official data, in Western Ukraine, 93% voters took part in it,
People's Assemblies of Western Ukraine and Western Belorussia
Deputies, elected in the rigged election, formed two legislative bodies – the People's Assembly of Western Ukraine, and the People's Assembly of Western Belorussia (
On November 1, the Supreme Soviet approved annexation of Western Ukraine, and on the next day, of Western Belorussia. On November 14, the Supreme Soviet of Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic in
See also
- Soviet annexation of Western Ukraine, 1939–1940
- Soviet annexation of Western Belorussia
- Occupation of the Baltic states
- German–Soviet military parade in Brest-Litovsk
- Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany
- Soviet repressions of Polish citizens (1939–1946)
- Occupation of Poland (1939–1945)
- Territories of Poland annexed by the Soviet Union
References
- ^ )
- ISBN 0-691-09603-1.
- ISBN 0-300-11204-1.
- ^ Laws of War : Laws and Customs of War on Land (Hague IV); October 18, 1907.
- ^ a b c P.D., Polish Radio online. "Wyborcza farsa w stylu ZSRS: 22 października 1939" [The electoral farce Soviet style: 22 October 1939]. Grzegorz Hryciuk, Polacy we Lwowie 1939 - 1944, Warszawa 2000 (in Polish). Archived from the original on July 15, 2009 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ ISBN 1-57181-882-0.
- ISBN 0-8179-7472-5.
- ISBN 978-83-60464-47-2.
- ISBN 0-8020-8390-0.
- ISBN 90-5702-343-1.
- ^ "Сборник документов «Государственные границы Беларуси»" June 28, 2016, Vol. 2 (retrieved November 27, 2017)
- ^ Tomasz Bereza, Październik 1939 r. - początki sowietyzacji Kresów Wschodnich Rzeczypospolitej. Rzeszów's office of Institute of National Remembrance.
- ^ Šapoka, Gintautas (21 December 2020). "Aprašykime mažai žinomus 1939–1940 m. Lietuvos istorijos įvykius". Alkas.lt (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 3 November 2023.
- ^ a b Rafał Wnuk, IPN Lublin. "Za pierwszego sowieta. Polska konspiracja na kresach wschodnich II RP (Wrzesień 1939 – Czerwiec 1941)". Book excerpts. Chapter I, from the Institute of National Remembrance (in Polish). Archived from the original on 2012-05-31. Retrieved 2009-09-21.
- ^ "Głosujcie za przyłączeniem Zachodniej Białorusi do wielkiego Związku Radzieckiego" (in Polish). Archived from the original on 2011-07-28. Retrieved 2009-09-21.
- ISBN 83-89188-53-8.