Misplaced Pages

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Iketsi (talk | contribs) at 00:21, 22 March 2011 (→See also: redirect bypass). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

The Polish minority in Belarus numbers officially about 295,000 (although some estimates by Polish non-governmental sources are much higher) and forms the second largest ethnic minority in the country after Russians.

Due to poor Polish-Belarusian relations and intolerance towards non-governmental organizations, the situation of Polish minority is regarded as poor.

History

Polish ethnic and cultural presence on the lands of modern Belarus started to form in the times of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth mostly due to voluntary Polonization. Most Belarusian Poles are descendants of Belarusian (Litvin) Roman Catholic peasants and szlachta who voluntarily adopted Polish identity predominantly in the 19th century. Roman Catholicism was considered a "Polish faith" and Eastern Orthodoxy a "Russian faith", and according to this principle the population of Belarus was often classified as either Polish or Russian in the times of the Russian Empire.

Polish influence was restored over West Belarus in the interwar period. The Polish government continued the policy of active polonization of the local population, stimulating local people to take Polish identity.

At the same time, for several years in the 1920s the Polish language had an official status in the semi-autonomous Soviet-controlled East Belarus, along with Belarusian, Russian and Yiddish. The Polish minority had its organizations there, the building of the Roman Catholic Red Church in Minsk was home to a Polish-speaking national theatre of Belarus. However, in early 1930s most Polish organizations in East Belarus were liquidated by Soviet authorities and their leaders were often arrested and either sent to concentration camps or killed.

During World War II, the Polish anti-German resistance movement Armia Krajowa was actively operating on the territory of former West Belarus, although many ethnic Belarusians also actively participated in the movement.

After the Soviet invasion of Poland West Belarus was incorporated into the Belarusian SSR. At that time and over subsequent years, many Belarusian Poles were either killed or deported. At first the deportations were heading east as during the Second World War the Soviets forcibly resettled large numbers of Belarusian Poles to Russia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

After the war, as part of the Soviet-Polish population exchange, many inhabitants of Belarus who identified themselves as Poles were sent to shifted Poland. In exchange, several thousands of Belarusians from parts of the former Belastok Voblast were resettled to Belarus (see Repatriation of Poles (1944-1946)).

The remaining Polish minority in Belarus was significantly discriminated against during the times of the Soviet Union, with continuing policies of Sovietization. The situation of the Polish minority started to improve during the late years of the Soviet Union, but faced difficulties from the government of Alexander Lukashenko.

Current situation

Polish minority in Belarus numbers officially about 295,000. The aspect of Roman Catholic Belarusians and descendants of the Belarusian nobility identifying themselves as Polish is less and less common as the Roman Catholic Church in Belarus undergoes the process of self-depolonization.

After the Russian minority, Poles certainly form the second largest minority group in Belarus. The majority of Poles live in the Western regions of Belarus (including 230,000 in Hrodna voblast).

The largest Polish organization in Belarus is the Union of Poles in Belarus (Związek Polaków na Białorusi), with over 20,000 members.

As Poland supports the pro-democracy anti-government opposition in Belarus, Polish-Belarusian relations are poor, and representatives of the Polish minority in Belarus often complain about various repressions.

In 2005, the Lukashenko government launched a campaign against the Polish ethnic minority. The Belarusian authorities claimed that their pro-Western Polish neighbours are trying to destabilise the government, and that the Polish minority is a fifth column. In May and June of that year a Polish diplomat was expelled, a Polish-language newspaper was closed and the democratically-elected leadership of a local Polish organisation, the Union of Poles in Belarus (UPB), had their own nominees replaced by those sympathetic to Lukashenko.

The introduction of the Karta Polaka in 2007 enabled many thousands of inhabitants of Belarus to get it by formally declaring their Polish identity to Polish officials. The introduction caused protests from Belarusian officials.

See also

• Belarusian minority in Poland
• Poles in Lithuania
• Poles in the former Soviet Union

References

1. ^ бюллетень "Общая численность населения; численность населения по возрасту и полу, состоянию в браке, уровню образования, национальностям, языку, источникам средств к существованию"
2. According to the historian Jan Siamashka, ethnic Belarusians of only Orthodox faith constituted about 40% of the Navahrudak Discrict Military Group of the AK. This number does not include Roman Catholic Belarusians
3. Świat Polonii
4. BBC NEWS | Europe | Belarus Polish chief jailed again
5. Wirtualna Polonia
6. Białoruś: Polowanie na Polaków
7. Poland and Belarus | Bordering on madness | Economist.com

External links

• Various links and information about Polish organization on Belarus
• News Articles about the Polish Community in Belarus
• Poles in Belarus: Revival of Heritage and Search for Ancestors
• Template:Pl icon News website
• Template:Pl icon Various articles and legal documents related to Polish minority in Belarus
• Template:Pl icon Polacy na Białorusi: Liczebność i rozmieszczenie ludności polskiej według ostatnich spisów powszechnych

• Ethnic groups in Belarus
• Polish minorities
• Belarus–Poland relations
• Belarusian people of Polish descent