Poles in Belarus
Roman Catholicism |
The Polish minority in Belarus (Polish: Polacy na Białorusi; Belarusian: Палякі на Беларусі, romanized: Palaki na Biełarusi) numbers officially 288,000 according to 2019 census.[1] However, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland the number is as high as 1,100,000.[3] It forms the second largest ethnic minority in the country after the Russians, at around 3.1% of the total population. An estimated 205,200 Belarusian Poles live in large agglomerations and 82,493 in smaller settlements, with the number of women exceeding the number of men by 33,905.[1] Some estimates by Polish non-governmental sources in the U.S. are higher, citing the previous poll held in 1989 under the Soviet authorities with 413,000 Poles recorded.[2]
Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the emergence of sovereign Republic of Belarus, the situation of the Polish minority has been steadily improving. The politics of Sovietization pursued by decades of indoctrination, went down in history. Poles in Belarus began re-establishing the Polish language schools and their legal right of participating in the religious life. However, the attitude of new authorities to Polish minority are not very consistent. The new laws are insufficient, and the local levels of Belarusian government are largely unwilling to accept the aspirations of their own ethnic Poles,[4] making them into new targets for state-sanctioned intolerance, according to 2005 report by The Economist.[5][6]
History
Polish ethnic and cultural presence in modern Belarus are an intricate part of its history. The lands of modern Belarus are the birthplace of important Polish historical figures, such as the writer Mickiewicz or scientist Domejko among others.[7] The proto-Belarusian language, called Ruthenian or Old Belarusian was protected by law in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and used as the local vernacular, while both Polish and Latin languages were the lingua franca of the throne. "As the 16th century drew to a close" – wrote Andrew Savchenko about the local nobles, they had to contend with "an increasingly stark choice: to strengthen their ties with Poland or to suffer disastrous military defeat and subjugation" by the Russian Empire,[8]: 31 thus leading to their 'voluntary' "Polonization"[citation needed]. After the Napoleonic Wars, Russia annexed the territories of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania as its North-Western Territory. Throughout the 19th century, a majority of the gentry, which comprised about 10% of the population, continued to identify as culturally Polish.[8]: 35–38 But "the mass of unassuming peasants", ethnically Lithuanian or Belarusian, "was subjected to active Russification" by the Tsarist authorities including the abolition of the Uniate Church created by the Union of Brest, a uniquely Belarusian institution and a cornerstone of the Belarusian nation.[8]: 39–41
The territories of the Russian Empire consisting of modern Belarus were divided in 1921 between Poland and the
Across the border, in the
The "Polish operation" of the NKVD
In 1937–1938, the Soviet
1939 invasion of Poland
Following the Nazi–Soviet
In their attack, the
In 1945, the
The remaining Polish minority in Belarus was significantly discriminated against during the times of the Soviet Union.[4] Until 1949 all Polish language schools were replaced with the Russian, and not even a single one remained due to continuing policies of Sovietization. All Polish organizations and social clubs were liquidated. Incidentally, the Poles were the only ethnic group in the Byelorussian SSR whose existence was denied by communist administration.[4] The situation of the Polish minority started to improve only in the later years of the Soviet Union prior to its dissolution, but faced difficulties from the government of Alexander Lukashenko.[4]
Current situation
According to the 2019 census Polish minority in Belarus numbers officially about 287,693. After the
As Poland supports the pro-democracy opposition in Belarus,
The introduction of the Karta Polaka (Polish Charter) in 2007 confirming Polish heritage of individuals who cannot obtain dual citizenship in their own countries, enabled many thousands of inhabitants of Belarus to formally declare their Polish identity for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland. The introduction caused protests from Belarusian officials.[28]
Poles in Belarus have an unusual linguistic situation. A slight majority use Belarusian, while a majority of ethnic Belarusians actually use Russian. This unusual situation arose because the Poles in Belarus live mostly in the Belarusian-speaking parts of the country, whereas Russian now dominates in Minsk and most of eastern Belarus. Very few Belarusian Poles use Polish in everyday life.[citation needed]
See also
- Population exchange between Poland and Soviet Belarus in the aftermath of World War II
- Belarusian minority in Poland
- Poles in Lithuania
- Poles in the former Soviet Union
References
- ^ a b c d e "Statistics from belstat.gov.by (бюллетень)". p. 22. Archived from the original on 2010-09-17.. Listing total population of Belarus with population by age and sex, marital status, education, nationality, language and livelihood ("Общая численность населения; численность населения по возрасту и полу, состоянию в браке, уровню образования, национальностям, языку, источникам средств к существованию") (in Belarusian)
- ^ a b Boris Kleyn (1994), Poles in Belarus: Revival of Heritage and Search for Ancestors. PolishRoots. The Polish Genealogy Source. Chapter: History. Accessed August 8, 2011.
- ^ a b Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Poland. "Tweet". Twitter. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
- ^ a b c d Prof. Piotr Eberhardt, "Polacy na Białorusi." Świat Polonii. Stowarzyszenie Wspólnota Polska. Archived 2014-02-23 at the Wayback Machine Accessed August 6, 2011.
- ^ "Bordering on madness: Belarus mistreats its Polish minority." The Economist, June 16, 2005.
- ^ Witryna Związku Polaków na Białorusi (Association of Poles in Belarus). Archived 2011-08-02 at the Wayback Machine Stowarzyszenie Wspólnota Polska. Accessed August 6, 2011.
- ^ Boris Kleyn (1994), "Poles in Belarus: Revival of Heritage and Search for Ancestors." PolishRoots. The Polish Genealogy Source. Accessed August 08, 2011.
- ^ ISBN 978-90-04-17448-1. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
- ISBN 978-0-521-63037-5.
- ISBN 83-85660-82-8(in Polish)
- ^ "A letter from Timothy Snyder of Bloodlands: Two genocidaires, taking turns in Poland". The Book Haven. Stanford University. December 15, 2010. Retrieved April 25, 2011.
- ISBN 978-83-7673-020-2. Retrieved April 25, 2011.
- ^ "Sommer, Tomasz. Book description (Opis)". Rozstrzelać Polaków. Ludobójstwo Polaków w Związku Sowieckim w latach 1937–1938. Dokumenty z Centrali (Genocide of Poles in the Soviet Union). Księgarnia Prawnicza, Lublin. Retrieved April 28, 2011.
- ISBN 1-4039-0119-8, p. 164
- ^ "Konferencja "Rozstrzelać Polaków – Ludobójstwo Polaków w Związku Sowieckim"" [Conference on Genocide of Poles in the Soviet Union, Warsaw]. Instytut Globalizacji oraz Press Club Polska in cooperation with Memorial Society. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved April 28, 2011.
- ^ According to the historian Jan Siamashka, ethnic Belarusians of only Orthodox faith constituted about 40% of the Navahrudak District Military Group of the AK (Zgrupowanie Okręgu AK Nowogródek). This number does not include Roman Catholic Belarusians [1]
- ISBN 83-7133-100-2., also in Wrocławskie Studia Wschodnie, Wrocław, 1997
- ^ Contested memories By Joshua D. Zimmerman, Rutgers University Press – Publisher; page 67–68
- ^ Sanford, p. 23; (in Polish) Olszyna-Wilczyński Józef Konstanty Archived 2008-03-06 at the Wayback Machine, Encyklopedia PWN. Retrieved 14 November 2006.
- ^ (in Polish) Śledztwo w sprawie zabójstwa w dniu 22 września 1939 r. generała brygady Wojska Polskiego Józefa Olszyny-Wilczyńskiego i jego adiutanta przez żołnierzy Związku Radzieckiego. (S 6/02/Zk) Polish Institute of National Remembrance. Internet Archive, 16.10.03. Retrieved 16 July 2007.
- ^ Menachem Turek, "Życie i zagłada Żydów podczas niemieckiej okupacji" Archiwum Żydowskiego Instytutu Historycznego. Translated by Sylwia Szymańska
- ISBN 978-0-7656-0665-5.
- ^ "Belarus Polish chief jailed again". BBC News. August 13, 2005.
- ^ Wirtualna Polonia Archived 2007-06-29 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Białoruś: Polowanie na Polaków
- ^ "Bordering on madness". The Economist. June 16, 2005.
- ^ "Najwięcej wniosków o Kartę Polaka we Lwowie i Grodnie" (The most applications for the Polish Charter from Lviv and Grodno). Archived 2011-07-19 at the Wayback Machine Interia.pl after Polish Press Agency, 21 January 2009. Accessed August 9, 2001.
External links
- Various links and information about Polish organization on Belarus
- News Articles about the Polish Community in Belarus Archived 2001-02-24 at the Wayback Machine
- (in Polish) News website
- (in Polish) Various articles and legal documents related to Polish minority in Belarus
- (in Polish) Polacy na Białorusi: Liczebność i rozmieszczenie ludności polskiej według ostatnich spisów powszechnych Archived 2014-02-23 at the Wayback Machine
- Andrzej Tichomirow, Polish National Minority in Belarus as a Research Problem, Belarusian Review Working Paper, #1, October 2014