The spring and summer of 1939 were very uncertain months for the citizens of the Second Polish Republic, and the Eastern Borderlands. The uncertainty was linked with the ever increasing news that war was imminent. But the summer months were also linked with the rest and relaxation of vacation time, family visits, outings to the lake and to the Carpathian mountains. As late as August 1939, scouting camps were in full swing, with swimming, kayaking and regular summer activities being enjoyed there. The majority of the citizens of the Second Republic believed that the situation would end in mutual threats, but would resolve itself diplomatically. Meanwhile, tensions regarding the ever-approaching spectre of war were rising within the diplomatic corps, government circles, and most of all within the armed forces. Many Kresy families felt this tension; particularly those witnessing the ever-increasing army and border guard presence near the German and Slowak borders. All this was intensifying from the onset of spring in 1939.

The Press and Radio programs kept the public informed about each signed agreement, each discussion, and each diplomatic visit. What caused the greatest concern was the Polish-German situation, which became increasingly tense as the year progressed. It was felt that the greatest danger would come from this direction. However, the citizens of the Borderlands, remembering the recent Polish-Bolshevik war, worried about deteriorating Polish-Soviet relations. The children of the first Kresy settlers were still in their teens at this time, and had not yet reached adulthood.
On April 28th, 1939, when Adolf Hitler gave a hysterical speech in the Reichstag, mentioning the Polish non aggression pact of 1934, the entire Polish nation became aware of his hostile intentions. Several days later, Jozef Beck also spoke of this when, on May 5th, 1939, he made his famous speech in the Parliament of the Second Republic. Refuting the German demands concerning the Gdansk corridor, he concluded by saying: We in Poland do not live by the notion of peace at any cost. There is only one thing in the lives of people, nations and states that is without price. That thing is honour. For the citizens of the Second Republic, as well as the Eastern Borderlands, these were words with which they truly identified.

Concrete support for Poland’s preparations for war was particularly evident at fundraising events for the National Defence Fund, thanks to which military units were equipped with modern gear. In the Borderlands, like in the rest of the country, patriotic events were organized, and were attended by donors, citizens, and entire military units. One of these events took place in Grodno, where in May 1939 the local 76th Infantry Regiment received two heavy machine guns, while in Lwow, two RWD-2 aircraft were gifted.

In May, the Soviet Union joined the diplomatic war game conducted by Germany, and initiated talks with England, France, and Germany who wanted assurances of Stalin’s neutrality as they prepared to attack Poland. While Poland’s treaty with Germany was already obsolete, its treaty with the Soviet Union was set to remain in effect during Pilsudski’s life, as it only expired in 1945. Warsaw optimistically welcomed the return of the Soviet ambassador, after an absence of 18 months. On June 2nd 1939 the new ambassador, Mikołaj Szaronow, presented his credentials to the President of the Second Polish Republic. This meeting took place with pomp and ceremony, at the King’s Palace in Warsaw. What aroused concern was the fact that one month earlier, the new Soviet Foreign Minister, a supporter of closer relations with Germany, was appointed. Moreover, a new Soviet premier, Wiaczesław Mołotow, replaced Maksym Litwinow, who had been a keen critic of fascism and an advocate of cooperation with the West. This new political approach of Stalin and Molotow led to a rapid denouement. After numerous consultations, Hitler and Stalin reached an agreement on August 19th, 1939 – this was to become known as the Ribbentrop-Molotow agreement, and was signed by the respective Foreign Ministers in Moscow on August 23rd, 1939. The Soviets agreed to the attack of the Third Reich on Poland, and declared itself willing to join the war. The secret protocols of this agreement identified the zones of influence of the Soviet Union and the Third Reich. This included the area of the Eastern Borderlands, which ended up almost entirely within the territory of the Soviet Union. The border between the two followed the San, the Narwi and the Wistula rivers. The fate of the Eastern Borderlands was sealed, before the first shot was ever fired. The public had learned of the secret protocol of the Ribbentrop-Molotow agreement on August 17th, 1939. However, just as the attack by Nazi Germany was expected, no one expected the Soviet attack. The Second Polish Republic was in no way equipped to withstand a simultaneous attack by two so well-equipped military regimes. On August 25th, the Polish public received the news of the signing of an agreement with Great Britain with great enthusiasm, while along the eastern border, the Soviets were already poised and ready to attack.

It should be noted that, as Polish-German relations worsened and war became more and more inevitable, the Ukrainian minority became increasingly active, as they looked forward to their own independent state in the shadow of Poland’s demise.

Having to defend the eastern region of the Republic, the Border Protection Corps had been significantly weakened by redeployments which had taken place during the spring and summer. At the moment that the Soviet’s invaded, on Sept. 17th, the Border Protection Corps in the Kresy area included some 12,000 soldiers. The previous February, the Border Protection Corps (BPC) had been further diluted by accepting the additional responsibility of protecting the border with Rumania. At the same time, in conjunction with the preparations for war, the BPC went through its first reorganization. In March, certain formations were mobilized, and four infantry battalions were sent to the southern border, and three companies of sappers were sent to the western border

In the following months the BPC called for reservists, and these came largely from the ethnic minorities, especially the Ukrainians and Byelorussians, who numbered around 170 thousand, and Jews who numbered about 100 thousand. The number of minorities within the BPC was restricted by the guidelines developed by the Ministry of War, and could not exceed 10% of officers, and NCOs, 35% of privates in the Infantry units, and 5% and 30% respectively in the Cavalry units. At the moment of mobilization on Sept. 30th, 1939 the structure of the BPC was as follows: Four Infantry Divisions (WP 33, 35, 36, 38), as well as three mountain brigades (nr 1, 2, 3) The commander was Brigadier General Wilhelm Orlik-Rückemann. When war broke out, command headquarters had to be quickly moved from Warsaw to Pinsk.

In July 1939, Polish military plans for the Eastern Borderlands had to take into account the fact that Germany could force Lithuania to be against Poland and to support German troops on its territory. Moreover, Ukrainian separatism, supported by the Germans, was another danger in this area. Nonetheless, none of the military officers predicted the eventual disastrous outcome of the war for Poland.

Almost from the beginning, the military campaign of September 1939 was a disaster for the Polish Armed Forces. The population of the Eastern Borderlands witnessed the retreat of Polish troops, state authorities, and finally, civilian populations. It was a depressing sight, and one that remained a vivid memory for the citizens of Lwow, Stanislawow, Wolyn and Tarnopol provinces. The residents of the central and western parts of Poland frequently fled to the Eastern Borderlands, thinking that this will shelter them from German air raids and persecution.

On September 10th, 1939 the Soviet ambassador, Michal Szaronow, the same one who had presented his credentials to the President of the Second Republic of Poland Ignacy Mościcki three months earlier, left a delegation of diplomats accompanying Minister Jozef Beck in Krzemieniec, on the pretext of placing an urgent call to Moscow. He was keenly aware of the eminent second attack on the Polish Republic.

At three o’clock on the morning of September 17th, Soviet troops invaded the Eastern Borderlands, effectively stabbing Poland in the back, thereby preventing a regrouping of Polish forces trying to fend off the Germans. In a famous Soviet memo dated 1939.09.17 signed by Minister Molotow, one can read the fragment that directly involves the Eastern Borderlands and its residents: (…) the Soviet government cannot remain neutral when our blood brothers, Ukrainians and Byelorussians, living in Polish territory, are left to their own devices and are defenceless. Taking this into account, the Soviet government has issued an order to the High Command of the Red Army to cross the border and secure the lives and goods of the citizens of western Ukraine and western Belarus (…) For many years, propaganda and school text books in Communist Poland presented the Soviet invasion as an attempt to protect Ukrainian and Byelorussian citizens against the German forces. This was a direct reflection of the Soviet memo quoted above.

As the Soviet invasion was unfolding, Polish authorities, who were in the vicinity of the Polish-Rumanian border, addressed the citizens and soldiers of the Polish Republic for the last time on Polish soil. President Ignacy Mościcki issued a proclamation to the nation from Kossow, on the Rybnica river in Stanislawow province.
Citizens!
While our army faced the violent onslaught of the enemy from the first day to the present, and withstood the pressure exerted by nearly the entirety of Germany’s Armed Forces with unprecedented courage, our eastern neighbour has invaded our land, violating existing agreements and the eternal principles of morality.

We stand now, not for the first time in our history, facing the storm flooding our country from the west and the east. Poland, allied with France and England, fights for the rule of law against lawlessness, for faith and civilization against soulless barbarity, for the domination of good against evil throughout the world. We believe that we must come out victorious in this fight.

Citizens! From this passing flood we must protect the representatives of the Republic and the source of our constitutional power. For this reason, with heavy heart, I have decided to move the seat of Presidential Power and the Supreme Bodies of State to the territory of one of our neighbours. From a location that will ensure their full sovereignty, they will stand guard over the interests of the Republic and continue to fight the war alongside our allies.

Citizens! I know that in these most difficult circumstances, you will maintain, as you have to date, the fortitude, dignity and pride with which you have amazed the world. Each of you now has the responsibility of ensuring the honour of our Nation. In these difficult times. Providence will bring us justice. Kossów, September 17, 1939.

The directives from the Chief of State, Marshal Rydza-Śmigły, to the divisions reporting to him, were far more dramatic. Declared during the afternoon of September 17th, after consultations concerning the true intentions of the Soviet forces, he said: The Soviets have invaded. I order your immediate retreat through Hungary and Rumania, using the quickest routes. Do not engage the Bolsheviks, except in the event of an attack on their part, or attempts to disarm the troops. Orders to Warsaw and the other cities, who are poised to defend themselves against the Germans, are unchanged. Cities into which the Bolsheviks will penetrate, should negotiate the removal of garrisons to Hungary or Rumania.

What the population of the Eastern Borderlands endured during September of 1939 was only the beginning of their dramatic fate during the rest of the war, and beyond. The day of September 17th erased everything that had so laboriously been rebuilt during the interwar period. The Soviet cataclysm ruined not only the cultural icons of a material nature, as well as industrial works and places of worship, but led to the massive elimination of residents of the Eastern Borderlands, on a scale that had never been seen before. The date of September 17th affected all these people far more than the date of September 1st, and was to stay with them for the rest of their lives. Especially those Kresowians still alive today, who were suddenly cast from the innocent world of childhood into the brutality of adult life. On a daily basis they observed the fear and horror expressed by their mothers, friends and neighbours, and frequently experienced the tragic loss of their fathers in combat. In the end, death began to also look them directly in the eye. The initial invasion of the Soviet troops brought with them murders and robberies on a massive scale. Local bands were formed, who were staunchly against the Polish minorities. The participants were, for the most part, members of the Communist party, but also included people on the fringes of society.

After this initial shock, came the onset of the systematic deportation of the populace to the east, as well as daily hunger, illness, the wartime destruction of homesteads, and the constant scrutiny aimed at people for the sole reason that they were Polish. Those who were subjected to the highest degree of scrutiny were the families of civil servants – officers, policemen, judges, teachers, social and political activists, as well as landowners and settlers who, as “class enemies” were the first targets of Soviet crimes. Those who managed to survive all of this and return to Poland many years after the end of WWII, returned not to their homes, but to the territory of Communist Poland.

The war that started so dramatically looked different to the political and military leaders, than it did to the residents of the Eastern Borderland cities, towns and villages. To understand how the residents lived through these experiences, we direct you to read the memoirs of Father Jakub Dymitrowski, the pastor of a church in Belz, who observed the routing of Polish troops, as well as the behaviour of the minorities and the arrival of the Germans and the Soviets. These memoirs are included in the next Museum Gallery titled “German and Soviet Invasion”

Poland’s Eastern Policy

At the birth of the Second Polish Republic the Eastern Borderlands constituted a civilizational backwater compared to the western and central parts of the country. This situation become even worse after the war of 1920-21, when the civilian and industrial infrastructure spared by World War I was further destroyed, along with crops and livestock. This led to the depopulation of some of the eastern administrative units (powiats). Under such conditions the independent Polish Republic had to undertake suitable steps to consolidate the eastern regions with the rest of the Polish lands. An important issue in these Eastern Borderlands was the national minorities whose rights were guaranteed by a “little Versailles Treaty” from June of 1919. Additionally, in 1922 the Polish Parliament decided, in the autonomy statute for the provinces of Lwów, Stanisławow and Tarnopol, that their regional councils will be composed of two chambers, i.e. Polish and Ruthenian. Similarly, there was to be no Polish colonization in these provinces and a Ukrainian University was to be formed in Lwów.
After the Versailles agreements and the decisions of 1922 and 1923, the policy regarding the minorities became more firm. Its primary goal was to curtail the range and development of Ukrainian and Belorussian education, and no support was offered to the minorities’ publications and printed matter.
Nevertheless, throughout the period of the Second Polish Republic, elementary education was conducted in the minorities’ languages. For the Eastern Borderlands it looked as follows: in the school year of 1937/1938 out of 28,723 schools and 4,851 thousand pupils, 4,174 thousand in 24,047 schools were instructed in Polish; 473.4 thousand in 3,064 schools were instructed in Polish and Ruthenian (Ukrainian); 800 in 5 schools in Polish and Belorussian; 36.5 thousand in 203 schools in Polish and German; 28.5 thousand in 226 schools in Polish and Hebrew; 2.7 thousand in 44 schools in Polish and Lithuanian; 200 in 4 schools in Polish and Czech; 600 in one school in Polish and Russian; 200 in 2 schools in Polish and French. Ruthenian (Ukrainian) -only instruction was given to 58.8 thousand pupils in 461 schools; German-only, to 36.3 thousand in 394 schools; Hebrew-only, to 36.4 thousand in 226 schools; Lithuanian-only, to 1100 in 23 schools; Czech-only, to 900 in 18 schools; and Russian-only, to 600 in 5 schools. Among provinces of the Second Polish Republic, the largest numbers (214) of schools with the language of instruction other than Polish were located in Lwów province. In these schools Ruthenian (Ukrainian)-only education was conducted.

In an attempt to limit the influence of minorities in higher education, some universities adopted a principle of proportionality in enrollment during the 30′s, intended to limit the participation of Jews and to increase opportunities for, among others, Polish youth from small towns. At the same time, linguistic and ethnic distinctions among the minorities were emphasized by drawing attention to the rights of Huculs and Lemkos.
A problem for the Second Polish Republic was also posed by the need to protect the eastern border, inhabited in large part by minorities, and stretching over 1412 km. The border was shared with Soviet Russia, a country which did not renounce its intention to conquer Capitalist Europe, including Poland. Towards that goal Russia supported activists, organizations and movements that were destructive to the Second Polish Republic. The influence of the communist party was particularly strong in the eastern regions and Soviet intelligence services were highly active in their attempts to gather a maximal amount of information on the functioning of government agencies, deliberately exploiting the dissatisfaction of the minorities. These threats were overwhelming the tasks of the Border Guard that had been formed in 1918.
For these reasons, shortly after the cessation of hostilities, a reorganization of the Polish Military and Police forces in the Eastern Borderlands was undertaken. In 1924, a year after the eastern border of the Second Polish Republic was recognized by the Council of Ambassadors, a Border Protection Corps (KOP) was formed, tasked with protecting the eastern regions and border. Even though KOP was composed of regular military units, its peacetime goals included, beyond the protection of the eastern border, protecting the Eastern Borderlands from the activities of Soviet agents, Soviet intelligence, and sabotage groups connected to the minorities. KOP also organized intelligence activities in the Soviet Union, Lithuania and West Prussia. Cooperation with the Second Division of the General Staff of the Polish Army included, among other things that the First Branch of the Second Division reported to the commander of the KOP. This branch was responsible for active intelligence and managed the KOP intelligence stations in Grodno, Wilno, Głębokie, Mołodeczno, Stołpce and Łunieniec.
Seven years after its formation, the KOP, under the command of gen. Jan Kruszewski, included six brigades located as follows: KOP Brigade “Grodno”, KOP Brigade “Wilno” (KOP regiments ” Głębokie” and “Wilejka”), KOP Brigade “Nowogródek” (KOP regiment “Wołożyn”), KOP Brigade “Polesie” (KOP regiment “Sarny”), KOP Brigade “Wołyń”, KOP Brigade “Podole” (KOP regiment “Czortków”). Immediately before WWII, KOP regiment “Snów” and 1 and 2 KOP regiment of the infantry “Karpaty” were formed. This is the KOP structure that functioned during peacetime. During the 1939 mobilization, all these units were formed into four infantry divisions – 33, 35, 36, 38 Infantry Divisions, and three Mountain Brigades – 1,2, 3 Mountain Brigade. Their defensive efforts were to be supported by a chain of reinforced concrete fortifications erected on the eastern border.

Units of the Polish Army were also stationed on the Eastern Borderlands. It is difficult to describe all the changes that took place during the Second Republic of Poland, in the structure and location of the units of the Polish Army, or the KOP, in the Eastern Borderlands. The Corps Circuit Nr. II, commanded from Lublin, included the 13th “Kresowa” Infantry Division with command in Równe, the 27th Infantry Division in Kowle, the “Wołyńska” Cavalry Brigade in Równe, the 12th Anti-aircraft Artillery Unit in Kowle, the 12th Armored Battalion in Łuck, as well as a medical support in the form of a Branch of the Regional Hospital and Infirmary in Kowle, the Regional Hospital in Włodzimierz Wołyński and a hospital in Łuck. In the Corps Circuit Nr. III, commanded from Grodno, there was the famous 1st Infantry Division in Wilno, the 3rd Artillery Group in Grodno, the 7th Armored Battalion in Grodno and the 3rd Military Police Division in Grodno. All these units were supported by a hospital base composed of the 3rd Regional Hospital in Grodno, the Garrison Hospital in Wilno, and the Infirmaries in Lida, Suwałki and Białystok. Among other Corps Circuits located in the Eastern Borderlands were the Command of the Corps Circuit Nr. VI, which was a branch of the Ministry of Military Affairs, located in Lwów, as well as, the Corps Circuit Nr. IX commanded from Brześć-on-Bug.
The Eastern Borderlands were also home to other military units. Among the best known was the Pińsk Fleet, from 1931 known as the River Fleet of the Navy. The Fleet operated in the Pripyat estuary, and was equipped with monitors, gunboats and cutters, all of which took part in the war in 1939. Famous throughout the Second Polish Republic was the Marcin Kątski Military College of the Artillery Reserve in Włodzimierz Wołyński.

An important element in the Eastern Borderland policy of the time was the military settlement. After the demobilization in 1920, many soldiers found themselves jobless and unable to support themselves. By December 1920, the legislature passed a law granting land to the soldiers of the Polish Army. This law also allowed for the acquisition of land in the eastern provinces, e.g., land formerly belonging to the Russian Government; this land was in turn granted to the soldiers returning from the front. Part of the land was also granted by the Polish nobility, e.g. Radziwiłłs and Sapiehas. Farmland was offered to soldiers and volunteers who had particularly distinguished themselves, and later to those with farming skills. Within the Central Land Management Office, a committee was formed to coordinate current works connected to the settlements. In total, the military and civilian settlers (who could buy the parceled out land at discount prices) received over 9000 plots of land in the Eastern Borderlands. This continued until 1925, when the last of the laws facilitating military settlements were cancelled. When the Eastern Borderlands were occupied by Soviet troops, expulsions of the settlers and their families to Siberia began.

The Soviet government, realizing that these settlers constituted a formidable Polish community, undertook this action on a large scale. As a result, over 80% of the families were brutally expelled to the east. These families now form the Association of Military and Civilian Settler’s Families, which was founded in 1996.

One of the approaches to integrating the eastern lands with the rest of the country was the development of the communication infrastructure, especially the road and rail connections. In 1918, these were generally in a miserable state throughout the Polish Republic; in the east, they were further damaged by the Polish-Soviet War.

In the area of the former Russian partition, the railroads along with the entire infrastructure became the property of the Polish State, without payment of any reparations toward Russia. However, the war damage to all the railroad divisions was immense. In the Wilno, Lwów, Stanisławów and Warsaw divisions, 63% of railway stations, 48% of roundhouses and repair stations, and 81% of water-towers were destroyed. Immediately after the war, railroad communication between Warsaw and a large part of the Eastern Borderlands was cut off. Even though a direct connection to Wilno existed, a connection to Lwów did not, despite the fact that that the Lwów-Przemyśl railroad had been built in 1861. Similarly, there was no connection between the Eastern Borderlands and Silesia.

The difficulties extended to rolling-stock and rails which, depending on the region, frequently used different technology. Among the multiple types of railroads existing in the Eastern Borderlands, the only large stretch of standardized railroad was the 85km-long Łuck-Stojanów line that was inaugurated in 1928. The majority of rail construction took part in central and western Poland. An attempt to fill the gaps by narrow-gauge lines, included the line operating near Baranowicze and Brześć and between Sarny and Kowle. The key railroad junctions in the Eastern Borderlands of the Second Polish Republic were Lwów, Wilno, Stanisławów, Sarny, Lida, Wołkowyjsk, Kowel, Baranowicze and Mołodeczno. Among the most popular railway connections was a “night” train from Warsaw Central to Zaleszczyki, or the approximately 5-hour ride from Warsaw Central to Wilno. One could also travel by train from Hel to Lwów, via Poznań, Katowice, Krakow, which covered close to 1200km in 22 hours. Similar trains connected Warsaw Central with Lwów, via Sandomierz and Skarżysko, or via Lublin.

Much less popular in Poland of the time, and particularly in the Eastern Borderlands, was transportation by automobile. This was a result of poor roads, as well as the small number of cars. However, the situation was improving yearly. In 1935 there were 58.4 thousand km. of paved roads in all of the Second Polish Republic, but by 1938 this had increased to 63.2 thousand km.

These were predominantly road-metal roads, although some were cobblestone roads. Less than 2% were paved with paver, asphalt or concrete. In the province of Polesie the roads were predominantly dirt, and were usable only in the summer. As in the case of the railroads, road construction was concentrated primarily in the central and western provinces.

In connection with the building of the Central Industrial Region (COP), steps were taken to improve communication and connections in the western and southern provinces. Larger projects included the building and expansion of the Warsaw- Lwów route, while important bridges were built in Zaleszczyki on Dniester and in Mosty on Niemen (Memel). Automobile transport was not common at that time. In 1924, of a total of 7,501 cars, only 8 were located in Tarnopol province, 41 in Wilno province, and 68 in Wołyń province. In 1939, of a total of 41,948 cars, 350 were located in Tarnopol, 546 in in Wilno, and the largest number – 2461 – in Lwów province. Meanwhile, air travel was in its infancy. In 1922 an air-transportation company called “Aerolloyd” opened the first route between Warsaw and Lwów.

The importance of the integration policy for the Eastern Borderlands can be attested by the activity of the communist parties acting in this area, and membership in the Polish Communist Party. In 1923 a Communist Party of Eastern Belarus was formed in Wilno. In the same year a Communist Party of Western Ukraine was also formed. Their primary task, apart from struggling for the rights of Belarusians and Ukrainians, was to connect the eastern lands of the Second Polish Republic to the Belarusian and Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republics, respectively. These parties directed their activities against the independent Polish Republic and were considered to be working for the Soviet Union. This activity was combated by the State Police, whose regional headquarters maintained registers of communist activists, monitoring their anti-State activities. In addition, the Border Guard of the Second Polish Republic protected the state border from the threat of contraband, as well as from foreign intelligence penetration. It was in the Eastern Borderlands, in Rawa Ruska, that the Central School of the Border Guard operated from 1933. In 1939, during mobilization, the Border Guard and the KOP were incorporated into the Polish Army.

Religious Architecture & Art

The former Kresy region (also known as the Kresy borderlands) of the Second Republic of Poland covered an extensive area which included many varying and attractive landscapes. This region was also an extraordinarily important part of the Second Republic. It included the provinces of Wilno, Nowogrod, Polesia, Wolyn, Tarnopol, Stanislawow, Lwow and eastern Bialystok. Throughout its history the Kresy region was a place where Western-Latin and Eastern Russo-Byzantine civilisations interacted and intertwined to a degree which was exceptional in Europe; creating, as a consequence, a veritable crucible of cultures, languages and religions. The Kresy was common territory for Poles, Lithuanians, White Russians, Ukrainians, Ormians and Tartars, and also in more distant times for Greeks, French and Italians. It was a place where the Polish ‘element’ assumed an elite role.

The adoption of Christianity and the creation of the many-centuries-old Polish-Lithuanian union enabled the introduction of architectural forms and cultural diversity from the West on a grand scale. It also enabled the growth of tolerance for coexistence and a multi-faith society – something that was quite exceptional in a Europe ravaged, at that time, by national and religious conflicts. Only in the Kresy region could the sacred buildings of many religions exist side-by-side as neighbours: Catholic churches, Orthodox Cerkiews (Orthodox place of worship), Jewish Synagogues, Mosques, German Kirches (churches) and Kienesy (temples of the Karaims, a people of Turkish descent). Renaissance culture developed during the reign of Zigismund I, during which time Wilno and Lwow grew into important metropolitan centres in Eastern Europe. The Jesuits introduced architects and sculptors from France, Italy and German-speaking countries, to create and develop Baroque architecture, resulting in the appearance, in the later Baroque period, of the Wilenski Baroque architectural style. Following the fashion in Western Europe, classical architecture began to re-appear in the Kresy, where there was a strong trend to return to the art and architecture of ancient Greece and Rome.

The legend that the Kresy region acted as a bulwark for Christianity was very deeply embedded in the culture of the eastern lands of the Republic. Throughout history, political and historical events strengthened the perception that the Kresy was a fortress – a border redoubt dividing the Christian world and Christian civilisation from the wild pagan world: a point of view reinforced by the geography and architecture of the region. A chain of border watchtowers was constructed, mainly on the outer rim of the district of Podola, guarding access into Poland and Western Europe. Additionally, densely located centres of the Maryan cult provided a ‘spiritual’ defensive network for the ‘Fortress Republic’.

The multi-coloured mixture of nationalities and religions was most noticeable in Wilno and Lwow, where stylish places of worship complemented the unique panoramas presented by these towns. The churches of St. Peter and St. Paul in Antokol and the Orthodox Cerkiew of the Holy Spirit were built in the Wilenski Baroque style, with soaring tall slender steeples, elaborately structured altars and rich internal ornaments and decorations. S t. Peter’s and St. Paul’s church was funded by the Hetman Michal Kazimierz Paca as a token of thanks for winning the war against Moscow. The interior of the church was covered with hundreds of figures of the apostles and martyrs, with scenes of the New Testament, lives of the saints, angels playing musical instruments and animals sculptured by Italian artists. During the interwar period, one of four spring fairs was held in front of the church – the so-called Kaziuki. A special feature of this fair was a weaving event in which ornate and richly decorated geometrically-shaped Wilno rugs and bed covers were produced.

The Cierkiew of the Holy Spirit was erected by the Orthodox Brotherhood, which did not recognise the Union of Brest. It was laid out in the form of a Latin cross, with three aisles and side altars, and harboured a beautiful Rococo icon.

In turn the Basilica Cathedral of The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, also known as the Latin Cathedral in Lwow, was built in Gothic style at the turn of the 15th century. It was the seat of the Lwow bishops belonging to the Latin Rite. In the 18th century it was rebuilt in the late Baroque style. On 1st April 1656, in front of the miraculous painting of Our Lady of Graces, King Jan Kazimierz performed the famous Lwow weddings, whereby he entrusted the Republic (recently invaded by the Swedes) into the care of the Mother of God.

Classical architecture in Wilno is represented by the Cathedral of St Stanislaw. Funded in the 14th century by Wladyslaw Jagiello, it was rebuilt several times and finally completed in the classical style in the 18th century.

The Orthodox Church (Cerkiew) of the Transfiguration in Lwow was also built in the classical style. This memorial to troubled times between nations was built at the end of the 19th century on the foundations and ruins of the Church of the Trinity and its associated monastery which had been destroyed by the Austrians.

The beautiful church of St Ann in Wilno is another prominent Gothic building. A delicate lace-like structure built with more then 30 different types of brick, it incorporates slender rod-shaped spiral towers, intricate pinnacles, and delicate buttresses.

Of the important non-Catholic churches, the Karaim Kienese in Zwierzyn in the Wilno district was built in the Oriental style and dates back to the beginning of the 20th century. Two great Synagogues, the Mieska and the Chasydzka Jankiela Glanzera, could be found in Lwow. The first Calvinist church was established in Wilno, built in classical style, it incorporated a small six-column portico supporting sculptures of a preaching Christ. The first wooden Lutheran church in Wilno was built in the 17th century, in a courtyard on German Street.

More religious architectural gems could be found in other towns, villages and hamlets. In the Baroque parish church of the Transfiguration in Nowogrod, King Wladyslaw Jagiello married Sonka Holszanka. Adam Miczkiewicz was baptised there. In one of the oldest medieval castle towns in the Wolyn district, namely Wlodzimierz Wolynski, was one of the oldest Russian churches (Sobor Uspienski) the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, dating from 1165, may still be found. This is a stone church, with a nave, built on linear architectural lines. Its facades are articulated with pilasters and half-columns. Next to the Cathedral is the Palace of the Uniate Bishops, dating from the end of the 15th century. Originally this building also had a four-storey bell tower which was intended for defence purposes, as evidenced by the width of the walls and substantial external buttresses. In the town of Horodenka in the County of Stanislawow, is the Church of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary and a monastery of missionary fathers, funded by Mikolaj Potocki. This church and its sculptures are regarded as some of the most valuable buildings and relics of the late Baroque period of the 18th century, in the whole of the Second Republic. Many valuable religious relics, made wholly of wood, are to be found in the charming town of Drohobycz in the district of Lwow. The Orthodox church or Cerkiew of St. Jura is one such example. It is built in the shape of a square and is divided into three sections with a nave. On both sides of the nave there are wooden outbuildings crowned with sharp pinnacles. The church building is covered by a roof supported by arcades and topped with onion-shaped domes and shingles. It is also worth mentioning the great 19th century Synagogue of Choralna in Drohobycz.

The Lavra Poczajowska monastery is picturesquely situated on the Poczajowie Hill and is famous in legend because of a miraculous appearance of the Blessed Virgin Mary in a flame of fire. Thanks to the miraculous icon of Our Lady it was and remains a famous Orthodox and Greek-Catholic pilgrimage centre.

The Karaim Kienesa in Troki bears witness to the multiethnic past of the Kresy. Here the Karaims settled, having been brought to Lithuania by Price Witold to assist in the defence of the Republic from the Teutonic Knights. The Kienesa in Troki is a one-storey building with a mansard roof topped with a quadrangle tower and a beautiful wooden skylight and very modest internal and external appearance. Before the outbreak of the Second World War, Troki was the most important Karaim centre in Poland.

Religious works of art and sculpture are among the treasures of the Second Republic of Poland. They formed not only part of the theological wealth of these lands, but also helped to create their mystical and spiritual climate and environment. They could be found in churches of all denominations, in defensive walls, in town courtyards and roadside chapels.

In this respect, the ancient Polish Maryan cult favoured paintings and icons of the Mother of God. This was particularly noticeable in the ancient Borderlands. In a concealed gate in Wilno is a chapel containing one of the most valuable and well-known symbols of Christianity – the miraculous painting of The Mother of God of Ostra Brama. Using the technology and techniques available in the 17th century, it was painted on several two-metre-long oak panels. The painter is unknown. A painting of Mary Mother of God in a red garment and green cloak, sitting on a throne amongst the clouds and holding on her right knee a standing Jesus Christ as a small child can be found in Lwow Cathedral. It was painted in 1598 by a Lwow Burgher named Josef Wolfowicz. It was here that, standing before this painting, King Jan Kazimierz performed the famous Lwow weddings. On the main altar of the Cathedral of St. Stanislaw Biskupa and St Kazimierz may be found a painting by Francisz Smuglewcz ‘The murder of St. Stanislaw by Boleslaw Smialy’. Figures of St Kazimierz and St. Stanislaw are located at the top of the church façade.

The rich Kresy landscape provides numerous non-religious architectural gems: rural cottages, mansions, palaces and town buildings. Peasants’ homes comprised of chimneyless thatched or lath roofs – a design that hasn’t changed for centuries. Small villages and towns merged naturally into the many-faceted Kresy landscape, where plains alternated with hills and meadows, and rivers linked with extended lakes. In the north the landscape changed to open spaces and flat fields. All this created a harmony not to be found anywhere else in Poland. Town life and country life co-existed and accommodated the multi-ethnic and multi-religious population.

In almost every town one could find a Catholic church, an Orthodox Cerkiew and a town hall, sometimes also a Synagogue, a Lutheran Kirche or a Karaim Kienesa. Every town also had a market surrounded by buildings and shops. This landscape was complemented by the typically Polish, brick mansions of the landed gentry – these were also a refuge, providing an atmosphere of homeliness and family warmth. They were places where national traditions assumed a private dimension.

This idyllic view of the Kresy – exotic and bewitching – couldn’t hide the poverty and backwardness of the provinces, especially in the Polesie countryside. However it is important to realize that, in the early years of the Second Republic, the landowners found themselves in a difficult position. Many palaces and mansions had been neglected or destroyed as a result of military action. Only town houses bore witness to the former splendor of this social group, and they were often a form of rivalry between the most prominent families.

As a result of the destruction following the First World War, urban architecture began to change and blossom by degrees. Despite this, regular and orderly urban buildings were not created. Instead, new and wealthy tenements appeared and wooden homes were replaced by brick ones. Main communication routes began to develop rapidly (e.g. Miczkiewicz Street in Wilno). More public buildings also began to appear in the towns, such as banks, hospitals and hotels. On a wider scale, parks and gardens were also being laid out, and walking routes were being established, especially in the forested areas.

Especially in Podola, the Kresy landscape includes castles, monasteries and the ancient remains of buildings erected for the defence of the Republic. They provided defense against the invasions of the Tartars, Turks, Cossacks and Teutonic Knights. These structures are viewed, even in contemporary consciousness, as the legendary inheritance of the Kresy region, where they fulfilled the role of guardians of Christianity. The biggest castles, such as Chocin or Kamieniec-Podolski, were not included within the newly-established borders of the Second Republic. It was mostly the smaller castles and palaces, surrounded by fortifications and often by a moat, usually built for defensive purposes, that survived. More often than not they were in ruins. In the 1930s the castle at Olesk – the birthplace of Jan Sobieski III – was renovated.

The fortress in Zbarazh, (a town located in what is now western Ukraine) that was destroyed during the war, was rebuilt in 1935 by the Polish Officer Reserve. Around 1928 the defensive character of the historic Okopy Holy Trinity (Okopy is a village in what is now western Ukraine) was restored. The Okopy Holy Trinity is translated as the Ramparts of the Holy Trinity.

This was a fortress built towards the end of the 17th century, with the objective of maintaining a safe distance between the town of Okopy and Turkish military formations temporarily stationed in nearby Kamienica and Chocim. Watchtowers were also built for the Border Protection Corps. In Troki, in the county of Wilno, the ruins of a defensive castle called Little Malbork were located. During its heyday this was a solid fortress which effectively resisted the onslaught of the Teutonic Knights on the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. From the 17th Century, the castle was allowed to fall into ruin, until the interwar years when Polish conservators prevented further deterioration. However, it was only after the Second World War that the castle was restored to its former state. The centre for the Border Defence Corps was re-located to the renovated Dominican monastery, built on the ruins of the castle in Troki. Rather like the case of the Okopy Holy Trinity, soldiers stationed there reinforced the legend that the exceptionally beautiful lands of the Kresy region of the Second Republic of Poland were a bulwark for Christian civilisation, and a place where the spirit of history remains ever present.

Education & Technology

When Poland regained her independence, the authorities quickly realized that there was a need for a uniform system of education. In the first years, this was not easily accomplished, and in the case of the Eastern Borderlands (Kresy) during military operations, this proved impossible. It was problematic to adjust the system to the various nationalities and, in particular, to the language in which it was to be taught. It was only during 1922-1929 that this uniform system was brought into the entire territory of the Second Republic of Poland. Nevertheless, it did not encompass all, since in the eastern provinces only 35% of the children attended school, whereas in central Poland 66% attended and in Śląsk 86%. In villages, primary schools had only one teacher. The average level of education consisted of an eight class school.

In the case of higher education, there were five Polish universities, and two of them were found in the Eastern Borderlands – in Wilno and in Lwów. But there were also two polytechnic schools, one of which was located in Lwów. There were also higher schools of higher education dedicated to various specialties, such as SGGW in Warsaw, or the Highlander Academy in Kraków. There were also private schools, such as the ASP in Kraków, and the Free University in Warsaw.

One of the Second Republic’s achievements was the development of education in the Eastern Borderlands. Although in the early 20’s, the educational authorities acquainted themselves with merely a portion of the system several years prior to the war, nonetheless they were able to create a well functioning educational system which encompassed many of the Rzeczypospolita’s (Poland’s) minorities. In truth, there remained an inequity between central and western Poland and the less urban Eastern Borderlands, but such advances on this territory had not been made in several decades.

In the years 1937-1938, the following were primary school in the provinces of the Eastern Borderlands: Wilno = 1,449 (168 000 students); Nowogrod – 1,227 (159 000); Polesie – 1,167 (181 000); Wołyń – 1,934 (278 000); Lwów – 2,531 (417 000); Stanisławów – 1,119 (184 000); Tarnopol – 1,348 (200 000). It is important to note that in 3,064 primary schools, Polish and Ukrainian languages were taught simultaneously, and in 226 both Polish and Hebrew languages.

In 461 schools, only Ukrainian was taught and in 14 others, only Lithuanian. Appropriately, in Lwów province only Russian was used in 214 schools, and in 34 others, only German. In turn, in Wołyń province, only Russian (Ukrainian) was used in 8 schools, in 27 others, German, in 37 more, the Hebrew language was used and, surprisingly, in 18 others, Czech was used. In Wilno province, only Hebrew was used in 62 schools and in 22 others, only Lithuanian.

The two largest agglomerations of Wilno and Lwów were the centers of education and culture in the Polish Borderlands. Within them one could find many centers of higher education focused on the humanistic, technical, educational research, and publishing areas of study. Moreover, the teachers and researchers who lived here constituted the elite of Borderland intelligencia. Educators of world-wide fame also arose from other centers: from Grodno, for instance, Zygmunt Wróbelski (1845-1888) who was the first in the world to liquefy oxygen.

The third center of education in the Second Republic of Poland was doubtless located in Wilno, where in 1579 the Stefan Batory University came into being. It acquired that name in 1919 when it reopened, after having being closed by Tsar Michael I after the November Uprising. The language of study used was and remained Polish. Along with the expansion of the University, arose the university’s library, which functioned as the public library of the town of Wilno. Other developments included the Botanical Garden, Ethnographic Museum, Nature Museum and the famous Observatory of Astronomy under the direction of Władysław Dziewulski. Eminent lecturers were the Second Republic of Poland’s professors: literary historian Stanisław Pigoń (1885-1968), historian Stanisław Kościałkowski (1881-1960), historian Henryk Łowmiański (1898-1984), astronomer Władysław Dziewulski (1878-1962), historian of ideology Marian Zdziechowski (1861-1938), historian Feliks Karol Konieczny (1862-1949), painter Ferdynand Ruszczyc (1870-1936), theologian and medieval expert Father Walerian Meysztowicz (1893-1982), historian of law Stanisław Ehrenkreutz (1880-1945), philosopher Henryk Józef Maria Elzenberg (1887-1967) and historian Stanisław Lorentz (1899-1991), philosopher Władysław Tatarkiewicz (1886-1980). Their students were, among others, historian Leon Lech Beynar (1909-1970) (known later as Paweł Jasienica), as well as Teodor Bujnicki (1907-1944) and Czesław Miłosz (1911-2004), connected with Wilno’s Żagarami poets. The University came to an end when, first the Russians, then the Germans, invaded the area. On December 15, 1939, Rektor Ehrenkreutz, organized the last meeting of the educators and university students.

Other centers of education and research were also active in Wilno. Among them was the Museum of Antiquity, established in 1855 by Eutach Tyszkiewicz which functioned alongside the University as the first museum in Lithuania, and the second in Poland. This museum had been liquidated by Murawiew in 1865, and then again in 1941 by the Lithuanian authorities.

Lwów, as the “semper fidelis” (always faithful) town of the Second Republic of Poland fulfilled a similar role for the southwestern Borderlands, as Wilno did for the northern part. Here the main educational center was the Jan Kazimierz University which came to being in 1661, and named for its founder from 1919 to 1940. The high standards of the professorial cadre caused Lwów to shine not only in the Borderlands, but also in Europe. Their achievements in anthropology, philosophy, geography, mathematics and zoology were well known. Each of these accomplishments was known to have been achieved in the “Lwów School”. In the period between the wars, the university had five divisions – theological, law, medical, humanistic and natural mathematics. Among the professors, was the historian of church law Władysław Abraham (1860-1941), geographer Henryk Arctowski (1871-1958), Szymon Askenazy (1866-1935), mathematician Stefan Banach (1892-1945), mathematician Hugo Steinhaus (1887-1972), politician and economist Stanisław Grabski (1871-1949), poet Jan Kasprowicz (1860-1926), historian of theatrical plays Karolina Lanckorońska (1898-2002), lawyer Roman Longchamps de Bérier (1883-1941), cartographer Eugeniusz Romer (1871-1954), philosopher Bohdan Suchodolski (1903-1992) and economist Wincenty Styś (1903-1960). They themselves were often graduates of Lwów University. Among its students were Jan Parandowski (1895-1978), poet and writer Kornel Makuszyński (1884-1953), and historian Karol Maleczyński (1897-1968). Many of the above-mentioned tied their post-war fates with Wrocław. Among them was the earlier mentioned Professor at the Jan Kazimierz University, Hugo Steinhaus, who together with Stefan Banach, was one of the main creators of the so-called Lwów school of mathematics – groups of Polish mathematicians centered around the periodical “Studia Mathematica” focused on the mathematics of functional analysis. To this world-acclaimed group belong the following: Leon Chwistek, Stefan Kaczmarz, Władysław Orlicz, Antoni Łomnicki, Herman Auerbach, Juliusz Paweł Schauder and Stanisław Saks. The majority of these mathematicians from the Lwów School of Mathematics perished during the Second World War.

Equally famous was the second Lwowian center for higher education, the Lwowian Polytechnic established in 1843, a Polish educational center within the Second Republic. Among those tied to this school was the previously-named lecturer Stefan Banach, as well as the precursor of welding Stefan Bryła (1886-1943), and lawyer Antoni Wereszczyński (1878-1948). A number of prominent graduates in politics and education were: Władysław Sikorski (1881-1943), Kazimierz Sosnkowski (1885-1969), Kazimierz Bartel (1882-1941), Józef Beck (1894-1944), Eugeniusz Kwiatkowski (1888-1974), nature photographer Włodzimierz Puchalski (1909-1979) and Lwówian historian AK Jerzy Węgierski (born in 1915). As Lwów had its Polytechnic academy, so Wilno had a Government Technical School, established in 1922 and which had the status of higher education.

Another school of higher education in Lwów was the Academy of Veterinary Medicine, which was established in 1881, and included 17 divisions in the 1930’s.

The last of the four Lwowian schools of higher education was the Academy of Foreign Trade operating from 1922 to 1939, previously called “Higher School of Foreign Trade”.

The history of Polish Aviation is tied with the Polytechnic School in Lwów. In 1909 the Lwówian „Związek Awiatyczny Słuchaczów Politechniki” was established. When independence came about, the first combat flight of a Polish airplane took place in Lwów in November of 1918 – the Aerodynamics Laboratory and Flight Section, a part of the Polytechnic, was born. With that, there was a need for the establishment of the Institute of Glider Technology and the organization of the Polish Flight Exhibition and, several months prior to the war, the International Committee for the Study of Engineless Flight came about. One of the famous Lwowian songs begins with the words: „Lwowians, are Haughty Eaglets…”

The pride of Lwów, next to mathematicians and pilots, was Ignacy Mościcki (1867-1946), known more for nurturing the dignity of the President of the Second Republic of Poland than for being an outstanding chemist, inventor and professor of the Polytechnic of Lwów. Mościcki was the creator of the method of production of Nitrate, the builder of the public storage of Nitrate in Mościca and possessor of 40 patents.

The genius of Jan Szczepaniak (1872-1926), who was also often known as the “Polish Edison” and as the “Genius of Galicia”, must also be mentioned here. He was tied to the discovery of color photography, color weaving, but mostly as having an impact on an influential item in XX century civilization, the television. In 1897, he was granted a patent on the telekroskop – an important element in a monochrome television. He continued in that direction and during 1918-1925, he worked out a system for color film. These discoveries led to the eventual construction of the bulletproof vest.

Closely associated with Lwów is the Ossoliński National Institute founded by Józef Maksymilian Ossoliński in 1817 and opened ten years later – known as one of the Lwowian face of Polish culture. The accumulated librarian and archival collections present in that Institute were priceless to Poland’s identity and culture. It was here that the legacy of Eastern Borderlands aristocracy were enumerated – Lubomirski, Poniński, Sapieha and Skarbko. Here the handwritten manuscripts of Mickiewicz, Słowacki, Żeromski, Reymont, Sienkiewicz and many other Polish authors were preserved. In 1939, over 220,000 different manuscripts, autographs, maps, etc. were housed here. Moreover, in the Ossolinian collections, were the largest accumulation of Polish press from the XIX and XX centuries. After World War II, these collections can be found in Lwów and, to a lesser extent, in Wrocław.

Another important library collection in Lwów was the Baworowskich Library, which preserved not only the old printed materials and manuscripts, but also furniture and sculptures. That collection included the Chronicle of Wincent Kadłubka, statues of Casimir the Great, as well as the manuscripts of Niemcewicz, Fredry, and Konarski.

The Dzieduszyckie Museum of Nature was a major educational center, opened in Lwów in 1880, which presented exhibits of natural history, thanks to the founder the honorable Włodzimierz Dzieduszycki, who donated his collection to the nation of Poland. There were natural, zoological, botanical, geological and ethnographic exhibits, which presented the complete history of nature in the Polish lands.

Another important center in Lwów was the Lwów Art Gallery which was established in 1897, preserving the paintings of Jan Mateja (for example, Lwowian Wedding), as well as the paintings of Juliusz Kossak and Artur Grottgera.

Lwów was not the only place responsible for the impact of Polish education in the Southwestern Borderlands. An important center was the Institute of Education of the Jesuits of Chyrow, operating during the period of 1883-1939, and renowned as the best higher education school on the territory of the Second Polish Republic. Among its graduates were Eugeniusz Kwiatkowski, Roman Abraham, Jerzy Kirchmayer, Andrzej Rostworowski, Adam Styka and Anton Wiwulski.

Similar, if not of greater fame than the Institute in Chyrow, was the Liceum Krzemienickie, founded by Tadeusz Czacki in Krzemieniec, Wołyń, and rightly known as the “Wołyń Antenna”. It operated during 1805-1831 was reactivated in 1922, and continued to function until World War II. Among its teachers were Joachim Lelewel and Józef Korzeniowski, and among the graduates were Narcyza and Gustawa Olizarów, amd poets Tymon Zaborowski and Antoni Malczewski.

In Lwów proper, there was the Cadet Corps of young elite students subordinate to the Department of Infantry of the Military Ministry. It was transferred to Lwów in 1921.

Great success in the development of science and technology in the Borderlands was opened a year before the start of WWII – the Astronomical and Meteorological Observatory in Czrnohory in Eastern Beskidach, situated on the peak of Pop Iwan at a height of 2,200 meters. Built in the form of the letter “L” and patterned after the castle in Przemyśl, the building possessed the newest astrological instruments. These were removed in September of 1939 by educators from the University of Warsaw, its affiliate.

The Economic Situation

As the Second Republic of Poland was being born, it quickly became obvious that the builders of Polish statehood had to contend with not only the problem of defending the newly-attained independence of their homeland, but also the problem of uniting the geographic regions, diverse in many ways, into one economic entity. Each of the provinces was at varying levels of economic development, had different currencies, and had different social and ethnic structures. In particular, there was a large disproportion in the numbers of landowners between Western and Central Poland and the Eastern Borderlands, where large industry was almost non-existent. It is important to note that some of the exiting factories and plants had been dismantled and transported east by the Russians. Other factories were destroyed during the Polish-Bolshevik War in 1920. Consequently, the Eastern Borderlands were not only proportionately less industrialized, poorer and less advanced economically; they were also impacted by war. Not only was industry affected, but so was agriculture. For example, during the war in 1920, it was not possible to cultivate more than 3.5 million hectares of land in the Eastern Borderlands. In total, 1.7 million buildings in the Polish countryside were destroyed, 75% of which were agricultural buildings. It was estimated that 456 agricultural buildings were destroyed in a part of the province of Wilno. To that, one must add the slaughter or confiscation of livestock by military units, particularly cattle and pigs. The destruction of whole areas of the countryside deprived the population of infrastructures such as drainage systems, which were indispensable to cultivation.

When the first crops were planted after the end of the WWI, the harvest was impeded due to military operations and the moving front. In turn, the crops of those farmers who managed to harvest, were often commandeered. It was later calculated that, in the areas of Galicia and Baiłystok Province, only 30% of the total prewar harvest was collected. The situation was similar in industrial production, which in 1919 was only 30% of that in 1913.

In Eastern Galicia, in comparison with other areas, there was the added problem of shrinkage of the size of farms due to constant subdivision. Even the livelihood of the villages was not secure. The phrase „Galician Poverty” – which has remained a symbol of the poverty of that time to the present day – became a direct cause of emigration of much of the rural population. Just how great the disparity was is borne out by the fact that within one economic entity was the highly developed economy of Greater Poland, and the situation of Polesie, where examples of pre-industrial economies were to be found.

One of the solutions intended to help the organization of industry as well as agriculture in the first years of the existence of the Second Republic of Poland, was the institution of central offices with the mandate of continuous regulation of the market. In the case of industry, under the umbrella of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce were the following examples: The National Coal Office, The Main Armed Forces Supply Office, and responsible for agriculture: The National Grain Office, the National Purchase of Essential Commodities Office, The Office for the Battle Against Extortion and Speculation. One of the main tools used to correct the situation was the initiation of Public Works which employed almost 100,000 people shortly after the war.

After several years of the peaceful development of industry and the resurgence of Polish rural life, the world economy entered a major crisis in 1929 that resulted in a depression which also impacted the Second Republic of Poland. Even though there was no reduction in Polish agricultural production, thanks to the increase of agricultural land, the significant drop in consumption deepened the poverty of the Polish countryside. The drop in production impacted industry, which was plunged into the Great Depression. Production fell to 60-70% of that of 1929, only returning to the previous state in 1934. All of this caused a delay in bringing the Eastern Borderlands up to the economic level of the rest of Poland.

However, by 1935 the opportunity for development materialized, when Poland’s economic situation improved enough to allow more resources to be designated for structural investment. Being a part of the four-year plan for the establishment of the Central Industrial District (CID), the Province of Lwów, whose western border reached as far as the Vistula River during the years of the Second Republic of Poland, was part of a project for the creation of a military industrial centre in the area of the so-called Triangle of Security. The concept of the CID of 1937 encompassed 4 provinces: Kelce, Kraków, Lublin, and of course the Province of Lwów of the Eastern Borderlands. This was to involve 48 powiats , occupying a total of 15% of the area of Second Republic of Poland and 18% of her population. This encompassed the following powiats and cities within the area of the western part of the Province of Lwów (in alphabetical order): Brzozów, Dobromil, Jarosław, Kolbuszowa, Krosno, Lesko, Lubaczów, Łańcut, Przemyśl, Przeworsk, Rzeszów, Nisko, Tarnobrzeg and Sanok. Although the Province of Lwów was not central to the development of the CID, nevertheless a series of important investments were planned and realized within her territories.

Among them were the building and expansion of nitrogen production facilities on Mościski, aeroplane engines in Rrzeszów, headlight and machine tool factories also in Rzeszów where anti-tank artillery was ultimately to be produced, and munitions plants in Sanok. Similarly, the CID was to be connected with Warsaw by high voltage hydro, and also with Lwów through Rzeszów. The electric network was to be supplemented by a gas network. The pace of the work was lighting speed. The above-mentioned factory in Rzeszów was erected within seven months. The first machine tool was put into use in December 1937, and the first canon within five additional months.

Indeed, while the CID was the most ambitious economic project executed in the Second Republic of Poland, the approaching war thwarted the realization of a large part of its plans.

The development of industry would not be possible without access to natural resources. These were also to be found in the Eastern Borderlands. One of the most important was the strategic natural resource of the 20th Century, crude oil.

A very important centre of the oil industry, not only within the Second Republic of Poland but all of Europe, was the Borysław Oil Basin, encompassing among others, the towns of Borysław, Drohobycz, and Stary Sambor. Between 10 and 20 thousand people were employed in the oil industry in Foresaw. Suffice it to say, that Borysław was the third largest city of the Second Republic of Poland, after Warsaw and Łódź. Not only crude oil but ozokerite, used for insulation in industry and as a sealant in the shipbuilding and electromechanical industries, were being mined here by the 19th Century. This very ozokerite paraffin was used to seal and insulate the first transatlantic telegraph cable. With time, a series of drill holes were completed, thereby increasing the amount of oil extracted. Moreover, the main centers of extraction were connected to Lwów by a railway line. At the beginning of the 20th Century, it was the 4th largest producer of crude oil in the World. With the discovery of oil in the Near East and in South America its significance on a global scale dropped. Nevertheless, it continued to have a major importance in the economy of the new-born Second Republic of Poland, whose needs it met entirely, enabling export of the resource to neighbouring countries. In the period 1886-1939 a total of 2,437,694 barrels of oil were extracted here, and about 10 billion m3 of natural gas.

The capitals of the Eastern Borderland provinces were also centres of industry. For example, in Stanisławów, in addition to an oil refinery, there was a brickyard, a candle factory, an asphalt factory, a scale factory, a carriage factory, an alcohol factory, a brewery, a weaving plant and also tanning, lumber and metal plants. Grodno, located on the opposite side of the Eastern Borderlands, also had many factories, among them the “Niemen” bicycle and motorcycle factory (well-known throughout the country), graphics plants, a bookbinding business and the Margolis Brewery.

In smaller centres, the number of industrial plants was proportionately smaller. Nevertheless, as the country developed, trade, commerce and processing grew in strength; new pharmacies and cafes opened, and the transportation network expanded. This swift expansion was made possible by the operations of local communities under the auspices of a now free government.

As proficient as the Poles in the Second Republic of Poland were in rebuilding their homeland, they also knew how to play and rest. The best known spas and health resorts in the Second Republic of Poland came into being in the Eastern Borderlands. Probably the most famous of them all was the Lithuanian Druskienniki, the beloved Holiday resort of Marshall Józef Piłsudski. With its brine springs, it is a very popular health resort among Poles to this day. The healing properties of the springs were discovered in the 18th Century, and it officially became a health resort in the 1830’s. During the time of the Second Republic of Poland, Druskienniki was significantly expanded, primarily by the building of a railway line and station, a new pump room for the mineral waters, new pools and other buildings for the spa complex.

Relatively close to Druskiennik lay the largest lake in the Second Republic of Poland, called Narocz at that time (somewhat smaller than Lake Mamra). Masses of Eastern Borderlanders, as well as guests from all over Poland, relaxed in summer places on this lake. Sojourns on the stores of this „Eastern Borderland Sea” as it was once called, were made more pleasant by summer cottages and health resorts, as well as the beautiful forest scenery.

The Zaleszczyki Resort was certainly competion for Druskienniki, situated as it was in the Podole area, on a beautiful river bend which cut through the high banks of a ravine on the Dniester River. Before September 1939, the average inhabitant of the Eastern Borderlands thought of it primarily as a popular health resort. This was primarily due to having the warmest climate in the Second Republic, allowing viticulture and the cultivation of melons and peaches. Summer villas and cottages quickly sprang up along the beautiful beaches along the Dniester River. Because of the popularity of this place, a special train with sleeping berths began to run here from Warsaw. Józef Piłsudski spent holidays here several times. The precursor of the Polish Nudists also took advantage of the climate here, establishing the first unofficial nudist Beach on the Dniester River. After September 1939, Zaleszczyki unfortunately became just a symbol of the flight of the authorities of Second Polish Republic to Rumania.

Truskawiec, lying near Drohobycz, less than 100 km from Lwów, did not require such long expeditions as were required to Zaleszczyki. By the mid 19th century, through the effort of Agenor Gołuchowski and others, a health resort was erected here among the springs of healing waters which were popularly called „Naftusia” because of their specific taste.

The Province of Wołyń also boasted a very popular summer resort during the interwar period. Called Klewań, it lay on the railway line between Kowel and Równe. Klewań was frequented mainly by the residents of the Równe Powiat, but also by other towns of Wołyń. During the summer months, up to 400 or 500 guests came here. Klewań met a sad fate during WWII when the Germans shot 20-30 Poles here, then the settlement was destroyed by the Ukrainian Insurrectionist Army and the remaining Poles were killed.

While the above-mentioned health resorts and summer resorts were associated with summer leisure, centres of winter sports situated on the high Eastern Carpathian ranges were also popular in the Eastern Borderlands. First of all, Sławsko and Worochta should be mentioned here. The first of these centres was situated in the eastern Bieszczady Mountains, and the easiest way to get there was from Stryj. The advantages of this place were discovered by the Austrians in the 19th Century, thanks to which the first centres for tourists were established. Concurrent with the establishment of the Karpaty Skiers’ Association in 1907, more and more amateurs of winter sports began to arrive, especially from Lwów; one could get to Sławsko from Lwów within one day. The resort was significantly expanded during the time of the Second Polish Republic, adapting it further for skiing. Lifts were added and a ski jump built on Pohar Mountain.

Considerably further from Lwów, in the Province of Stanisławów close to Kołomyja on the Prut River lay Worochta, the second most popular skiing resort in the Eastern Borderlands and considered the Hucuł Capital. The Czarnohory Range and its location at 700m above sea level permitted intensive skiing, the development of which is tied to the period of the Second Republic of Poland. Two ski jumps were built here, modeled on the Zakopane architecture, along with a group of sanatorium buildings. From Worochta, one could set out to the Howerla Mountain towering over the Czarnohory Range, to climb the highest peak in the Eastern Borderlands (at 2058m above sea level).

One must note that the economy of Second Republic of Poland developed over a period of less than twenty years from the time that Poland regained her independence. This included several years of development that were lost to the world-wide depression of the 1930’s.

Poland’s industrial elite, and her farmers, proved their loyalty to their newly-independent homeland. The Eastern Borderlands, which had lost all contact with Polish statehood during the partitions, were incorporated into the nation and the economy of Poland. In a relatively short time, Polish industry and agriculture here were saved from collapse, and propelled to dynamic development in the last years, only to be interrupted by the Second World War.

Social & Cultural Life

The twenty year period between the wars not only created dynamic industrial and technical expansion, but also a recognition of the concerted effort needed to revitalize the nation’s culture and education, which had been limited during the time of the partitions. At the same time the significant problem of illiteracy, which limited the inhabitants of the Second Polish Republic from an educated participation in the politics of the country, had to be addressed. During the Second Polish Republic illiteracy was not eliminated, but significantly diminished. In Lwow 21% of the population could not read or write in 1931. Wilno had a slightly lower illiteracy rate of 19.5%. The percentage in the Poleski region reached 48.4%. Almost as high was the Wolyn region at 47.8%. Slightly less was the Stanislawow region at 36.6%, the Nowogrod region at 34.9%, the Tarnopol region at 29.8%, the Wilno region at 29.1% and the lowest at 23.1% was the Lwow region. Thus, the illiteracy rate in all the Kresy regions was higher than the country’s average. As a result, a greater effort had to be undertaken by the Second Polish Republic to deal with this problem.
Much depended on the active participation of the two largest centers of the Kresy region: Lwow and Wilno. Their influence would radiate to the provincial communities. Libraries, museums, theatres, galleries, social organizations were established. But, above all, the schools of higher education allowed for an expanded knowledge of world culture in the smaller centers of the region.
The most modern form of disseminating education and culture to the widest audience at that time was radio. The first broadcast of Polish radio in the Kresy region occurred in Wilno on January 15, 1928. It broadcast at a distance of 140 km, and by 1938 it sent into the ether almost 5000 hours of broadcast time. Two years after the Wilno station was established, a second, very popular station in Lwow was activated on January 15, 1930 with similar broadcast capabilities. Few remember the fact that a newer third station was activated in July, 1938 a year before the war in Baranowicze and it broadcast a distance of 120 km. At that time in the province of Nowogrod there were 11 radios for a population of 1000. The province of Wilno had 26 radios and the province of Lvov had 28 radios as compared to the national average of 29 radios. Unfortunately, the radio station in Luck was still under construction when WWII started. The most popular country-wide satirical show was “Funny Radio Waves From Lwow”. Other popular radio programs were “Our Eye”, “Happy Sunday,” “Ta-joj,” and “City Hall Conversations with the Lions.” Kresy radio stations broadcast satirical, sport and musical programs similar to current broadcasts, as well as foreign programs. Author interviews from Lwow and Wilno were broadcast nationwide.

The Press was particularly important to this mass mandate. In 1937 there were 163 periodicals in the Kresy provinces, of which 17 were dailies and 29 were weeklies. This was minimal in comparison to the western provinces where 609 titles were published, of which there were 62 dailies and 128 weeklies. The most important was Wilno’s “Slowo” appearing from 1811. Also important was “Gazeta Lwowska” published in Lwow from 1894 – 1934 and “Slowo Polskie,” “Gazeta Codzienna” (1908-1939), “Dziennik Ludowy,” “Kurier Lwowski,” “Wiek Nowy” and the nationally syndicated “Chwila” (1919-1939). Both Lwow and Wilno editions of “Rzeczpospolitej” were available. In Grodno there was also the publication “Echo Grodzienskie”.
Popular pre-war amusements were movie theatres. In 1929 there were 727 movie theatres in the Second Polish Republic. In the provinces Lwow had 63, Wilno 17, Wolyn 23 and there were only 9 in Poleski. Not all of them had sound capabilities. Three years before the war 69 of the 75 movie theatres in Lwow province had sound capabilities. By 1939 there were no remaining silent movie theatres in the Kresy area.
In the short period of the evolution of the Second Polish Republic many museums were either opened or expanded in the Kresy area. In April 1939, 48 museums existed in the Kresy provinces, of which 17 were in Lwow (in comparison Warsaw had 30.) There were 26 museums in the vicinity of Lwow province. That number includes 4 museums in Wilno and 1 in the entire Poleskie area. Nowogrod province had 3 museums, Wolyn 5, Stanislawow 3 and Tarnopol 6. The biggest and most popular belonged to Lwow. There was the “Galeria Narodowa” of the city of Lwow, “The Museum Dzieduszyckich” found in the eastern marketplace, “The Panorama Raclawicka,” “The Historical Museum of the City of Lwow”, “The Lubomirski Museum,” “The King John III national museum” and also in Wilno “The Museum of the Organization of Friends of Education.”
Whoever wanted to read Polish could take advantage of books in the self-serve libraries and popular reading rooms run by social organizations. Of the pre-1939 libraries established in Lwow province, where there were 15 permanent ones and 28 mobile ones. In Wilno there were significantly more, 79 permanent libraries and 485 mobile ones; similarly in Nowogrod there were 69 permanent ones and 651 mobile ones. There were fewer self-governing libraries in the southern Kresy region compared to Wilno and Nowogrod. The proportion was reversed when taking into account social libraries. Lwow had 1604 permanent ones and 919 mobile ones. Similar numbers existed in Tarnopol and Stanislawow.
In addition, many theatres were founded in the Kresy region. From the moment freedom was gained, theatres grew in fame and in the consciousness of the public. Two years before WWII 503,000 tickets were sold in theatres in Lwow alone. The number in Wilno was 311,000. Decidedly fewer tickets were sold in that time period for concerts and literary readings. In Lwow that number was around 15,000.

In the countryside, there were many popular forms of entertainment: folk choirs, folk revues and light box plays. For example, in the Wilno region in 1939 there were 523 theatrical groups and 190 choirs. In the vicinity of Lwow there were 2394 light box groups, 1141 theatres and 666 folk choirs. The most famous Kresy theatre was at Pohulanka in Wilno. Located on Wielka Pohulanka street it was graced by the performances of Hanka Ordonowna, Aleksander Zelwerowicz, Igor Przegrodski, Hanka Bielicka, Danuta Szaflarska and Zbigniew Blichewicz. In the 1920’s the director was Juliusz Osterwa. He arrived with his review “Reduta” in 1925. Similar great theatre occurred in the beautiful “Teatr Wielki” in Lwow. The stage was graced, among others, by the performance of Helena Modrzejewska and Aleksander Zabczynski. The director of the theatre from 1930 was Leon Schiller.
An important role, particularly in the Kresy region, was played by numerous public societal organizations and educational-cultural ones located in both cities and the countryside. They fulfilled functions of social life similar to that of the libraries and reading rooms. Among others they were the “Polish Maternity School,” “Society of Popular Schools”, “Society of the Workers University”, “Catholic Union of Young Females”, “Central Union of Country Youth”, “ Society of Country Youth RP Wici”, “Central Organizational Circle of Country Landlords,” Rifleman’s Union,” “Union of Young Christians,” “Polish YMCA,” “Polish Red Cross,” “Air and Anti-gas Defensive League,” “Polish Boy Scouts and Polish Girl Scouts,” “Building Society of General Schools,” “Friends of Academic Youth Society,” “Fire Fighter’s Society”. In 1936 alone there were 314 active educational societies in Poland of which 17 were in Wilno and 38 in Lwow. Some of these organizations are still active today e.g. the YMCA and Polish Scouting.
Sport was another area in which Kresy residents met each other. Kresy sport clubs had an impressive effect on the expansion of sport in the Second Polish Republic. The oldest sports club was “Pogon Lwow, founded in 1904 in conjunction with High School IV in Lwow. It functioned under the official name of “Lwow Sports Club-Pogon Lwow”. Taking into account the history of Polish soccer after “Lechii Lwow” and “Czarnych Lwow” this was the third soccer organization during the time period of the Second Polish Republic to be a four-time Polish Champion. In the 1930’s, the Army sports club named “Smigly Wilno” comprised of the Wilno Garrison Officers, was part of the Premiere Polish Soccer League. Other notable clubs were “AZS Wilno” and “AZS Lwow” known for, among other things, their very good ice hockey clubs. The most popular sport was soccer which, towards the end of the Second Polish Republic, had over124, 000 soccer players in clubs. There were also 23,000 skiers, 13,000 hand-ball players, 22,000 sport shooters and 9,000 in light athletics. Many people were part of the popular physical education Gymnasium Union “SOKOL”, which had approximately 50,000 members in almost 832 clubs within the Second Polish Republic.

The Kresy region also yielded many well-known creative writers, which we currently do not identify with either Lwow, Wilno or other Kresy locations. Among others, it is important to name Kornel Makuszynski ( 1884 – 1953 ), writer and poet born in Stryj , author of “Panna z mokra glowa”, “O Dwoch takich, co ukradli ksiezyc”, “Szatana z siodmej klasy” and “Awantury o Basie”. He did not return to a free Lwow in 1918 but settled in Warsaw, however, his writing skills were strengthened thanks to a degree in Philology at the University of Lwow and his initial editorial work in the Kresy region. Leopold Staff, born in Lwow (1878-1957) was a famous poet whose road in life was similar to Kornel Makuszynski. He belonged to the “Moda Polska” generation. His creativity earned him an iconic position in twentieth century Polish literature. He developed as a writer in Lwow thanks to the education he gained at “V Gimnazjum Klasycznym” and most of all at the University of Lwow, where he was a triple major. Leopold Staff was part of a literary group named “Planetnikow”. They met at a villa named “Zaswiecie” located near the Ossolineum in Lwow. Another famous member of the group was Jan Kasprowicz (1860-1926), dramatist and poet. Although he was born beyond the Kresy region, he is closely identified with the Lwow bohemian artist community. Born, raised and educated in Lwow was the writer Jan Parandowski (1895-1978) known for his ancient culture writings. Wilno produced a distinguished Conservative Publicist named Stanislaw Cat-Mackiewicz (1896-1966). He was the founder of the popular Wilno periodical “Slowo”. The author of “Dewajtis” and Wrzosu”, Maria Rodziewiczowna, was born in Pieniuchach na Grodzienszczyznie. A few kilometers from Kiejdan, in a shtetl, the Nobel Prize winner Czeslaw Milosz (1911-2004) was born. He was a student at the Stefan Batory University in Wilno, a poet of the Zagary group and, prior to 1939, an employee of Wilno Polish radio station. It must be noted that all of the above passed away beyond the Kresy region: Makuszynski and Kasprowicz in Zakopane, Milosz in Krakow, Parandowski in Warsaw, Rodziewiczowna in Leonowie pod Skierniewicami and Staff in Skarzysku-Kamiennej.
It is also important to mention popular actors Szczepcia and Toncia. Something must be said about the characters hidden under these pseudonyms. The first was born in Lwow as Kazimierz Wajda (1905-1955). He was a graduate of schools in Lwow and a student of the Polytechnic. Toncio Tonko was Henryk Vogelfanger (1904-1990), who was also born in Lwow and studied law at the John Kazimierz University. Both became popular because of the radio program “ Funny Radio Waves From Lwow”. They wrote scripts for Wiktor Budzynski and also for themselves. This was the first cabaret broadcast by Polish radio outside Warsaw. Their work was so excellent that it was the most popular radio program in the Second Polish Republic and was heard by six million listeners. They were also not allowed to stay in their beloved Lwow after 1945. They both passed away in Warsaw. It is interesting to note that many important Polish cultural figures were educated at the “III Gimnazjum Meskiego im. Stefan Batory” located directly across from the Lwow Polish Radio Station.

Among the many famous creative individuals born in Lwow was the poet and dramatist Zbigniew Herbert (1924-1998), poet Adam Zagajewski (1945- ), writer and satirist Janusz Wasylkowski (1933- ), actor and director Adam Hanuszkiewicz ( 1924- ), director Jerzy Passendorfer (1923-2003), actor Ryszard Ronczewski (1930- ), poet Teodor Bujnicki (1907-1944), violinist Jascha Heifetz (1901-1987). Born in other Kresy areas: director Jerzy Kawalerowicz (1922-2007) born in Gwozdzcu in the vicinity of Kolomyi, director Jerzy Janicki (1928-2007) born in podoskim Czortkowie, and the popular actor Zygmunt Kestowicz (1921-2007) from the Wilno region.
At the end of WWII Poland lost the Kresy region, with its abundance of culture manifested in its museums, theatres, and libraries. Yet, in spite of this cataclysm, thousands of creative individuals raised and educated in the Kresy region were saved and subsequently introduced in post-war Poland; this is an immeasurable gift to the benefit of the country. For many years, in spite of domestic difficulties and overwhelming poverty, Polish nationalism has been maintained by the Poles living in the pre-war Kresy areas, where theatres, clubs, libraries, groups, etc. have remained locations for maintaining Polish heritage. These accomplishments are still visible today.

Ethnic Borderlands

The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, reborn after World War I, was a country of diverse nationalities and territorially extensive. This was related to the anti-Polish policy of the invaders and the awakening of national consciousness in the 19th century. However, the national diversity of the Second Polish Republic allowed each group to maintain its cultural, religious and moral distinctiveness. Everyday life (schools, shops, places of worship, press, celebrations, neighborhood life, etc.), despite ethnic differences, took place in a natural sense of community. Nations that have coexisted for centuries, mostly in harmony, have developed a common culture (based on Polish models), contributing and enriching it with their own values, traditions, language and customs. This mostly concerned the elites of borderland society, while peasants mostly lived within their own culture and religion. It should also be remembered that national minorities took part in the political (representatives in parliament), cultural, social and scientific life of the entire country.

National pluralism unfortunately aroused antagonisms that very often ran along ethnic lines. They destabilized the country’s internal situation and also had a negative impact on its foreign relations. Many factors in the period 1918-1939 significantly influenced the status and degree of self-identification of individual national groups in the Eastern Borderlands, as well as the relations between them. These included: nationality policy of the Second Polish Republic, civilizational changes, activity of organizations of national minorities and religious communities, and the policy of the USSR. Nationality problems were also related to religion and religious places, and played a significant role in cultural and political life. Nationality issues of the Second Polish Republic were regulated by the so-called The Little Treaty of Versailles signed on June 28, 1919. The Treaty on the Protection of National and Religious Minorities and the Constitutional Acts of 1921 and 1935, as well as incorporation policy (the idea of incorporation of borderland lands into the future Polish state, R. Dmowski) and federalist policy (the idea of states federated with the Republic of Poland, J. Piłsudski) political parties.

According to the 1931 census, the nationality structure of the eastern voivodeships was as follows (the criteria for determining nationality were language and religion):

Voivodeship	Population	Polish people	Jews	Belarusians	Ukrainians	Local people	Others
Vilnius	1,275,900	761,700	108,800	289,700	–	66,800	Germany 1,400
Nowogrodzkie	1,057,100	553,900	77,000	413,500	–	2,500	Germany 400
Poleskie	1,132,200	164,169	113,220	75,338	54,047	1,100	Germany 707,088
Volhynian	2,085,574	346,640	205,545	2,417	1,426,872	30,977	Germany 46,883
Tarnopolskie	1,600,406	789.114	78,932	–	728,932	–	Germany 2,675
Stanisławowskie	1,480,285	332,175	109,378	–	1,018,878	–	Germany 16,737
Lviv	3,126,300	1,803,436	234,472	–	1,047,311	–	Germany 15,632

An important phenomenon was the existence of population groups in the Eastern Borderlands whose national identity was not clearly defined. Self-identification was then made on the basis of religion, the language-dialect used, customs and the sense of coexistence within a small homeland . Members of the community who could not or did not want to define themselves in any other way used the term here . Throughout the entire Second Polish Republic, the percentage of Poles in the total number of inhabitants was approximately 64%, Ukrainians 16%, Jews 10%, Belarusians 6%, Germans 4%. The remaining part of the population consisted of such national minorities as: Armenians, Lithuanians, Czechs, Slovaks, Gypsies, Hutsuls, Tatars, Poleshutzians and Karaites.

It is worth taking a closer look at the individual national groups that have lived in the Borderlands for hundreds of years. Poles , although they did not constitute the majority in the eastern territories, were an external point of reference for the functioning of other ethnic groups. They were the foundation of Polish statehood and culture (large cities such as Vilnius and Lviv played a special role), as well as the Catholic Church. A factor that, unfortunately, sometimes caused tensions in ethnic relations was the Polish military settlement of a colonizing nature.

The settlers, being an immigrant element and having little knowledge of local relations, strongly felt the foreignness of other ethnic groups. It happened that some state officials played a similar role. Due to the lack of knowledge of local communities, their activities often contributed to the intensification of ethnic relations. These phenomena led to the crystallization of two main trends: loyalty to the Polish statehood and anti-Polonism.

Ukrainians. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the term Ruthenians was used to describe the Ukrainian people living in Galicia, Podkarpacie and Bukovina. In the Second Polish Republic, part of the Ukrainian population declared themselves as Ruthenians, this concerned wide groups of poorly educated rural people rooted in their local homelands (they were distinguished by Slavic dialects and Greek Catholic faith). Ukrainians lived in the following voivodeships: Polesie, Stanisławów, Volhynia, Tarnopol and Lviv.

The Ukrainian community was largely agricultural in nature, only a small group of its representatives lived in cities. Agricultural farms were mostly fragmented, and larger land ownership was concentrated in the hands of a few landed gentry in Volhynia. The basic factor building national awareness and the sense of separateness of Ukrainians was the Church. They had a well-developed and organized social life: a whole network of societies, cooperatives, educational, cultural, economic, religious and sports associations. The most important factors for shaping national identity were, among others: Scientific Society of Taras Shevchenko, Cultural and Educational Society “Prosvita”, Ukrainian Pedagogical Society “Ridna School”. The following Ukrainian economic institutions operated in the Second Polish Republic: Ziemski Bank Hipoteczny, Centralny Bank Spółdzielczości, “Dniestr” Assurance Society and the “Wiejski Gospodarz” society. Ukrainian youth gathered in organizations such as “Plast”, “Sokół”, “Lutsk”.

In the Second Polish Republic, Polish-Ukrainian relations were very tense, Ukrainian separatism was becoming an increasing threat, and mutual hostility was growing. The UWO (Ukrainian Military Organization), established after the Treaty of Riga in 1921, conducted terrorist activities demanding the independence of western Ukraine. From 1930, the Polish state intensified its repression against the Ukrainian minority, and organizations and institutions of this minority were limited and liquidated. Repression from the Polish side concerned, among others, the use of the Ukrainian language in education, the issue of Ukrainian churches and landed estates. The activities of economic and political, as well as cultural and educational organizations were limited.

Belarusians lived in the eastern and northern parts of the country (Polesie, Nowogródek, Vilnius and Białystok voivodeships). The majority of Belarusians were small farmers, living in poor and backward farms. Not very fertile soil, climatic conditions and inefficient agriculture did not ensure a high standard of living for the Belarusian community. As a result of many years of the Russification policy of the Russian authorities and the very low level of education, almost no social elites were formed among Belarusians. A feature of Belarusian society was a very low degree of sense of a separate national identity. They only put forward demands regarding agrarian reform and, consequently, improvement of the economic situation of the inhabitants of Kresy. They often described themselves as locals. The sense of national consciousness among Belarusians has not spread beyond a narrow circle of elites and enthusiasts. In 1930, on the initiative of Antoni Łuckiewicz, the Central Union of Cultural and Economic Organizations was established in Vilnius (including the Belarusian Orthodox Church Committee and later the Belarusian Education Society cooperated with it). The union focused on organizing libraries and rural reading rooms, and disseminating agricultural and Belarusian literature. The newspaper “Napierad” and the annual “Rodny Kraj” were published. The majority of Belarusians professed Orthodox Christianity. The Polish authorities of the Second Polish Republic assumed that Belarusians were not a nation, but an ethnographic mass. The relations of Belarusians with the Second Polish Republic were negatively influenced by the USSR’s policy towards Belarus. In the second half of the 1930s, the authorities of the Second Polish Republic tightened their policy towards the Belarusian minority, stopped allowing the creation of Belarusian cultural and social institutions and organizations, and other legal restrictions were applied to the Belarusian population (liquidation of schools and churches).

Lithuanians settled in the Vilnius, Novgorod and Białystok voivodeships. They lived mostly in the countryside, and they also educated a layer of intelligentsia. The situation of the Lithuanian minority in the Second Polish Republic depended to a large extent on mutual Polish-Lithuanian relations. After 1935, Lithuanians and their organizations were treated hostilely (as agencies of a foreign state), and a number of restrictions and restrictions were introduced. The Lithuanian community enjoyed great freedom in the field of culture, education and socio-cultural organizations. Thanks to the support of the Lithuanian state, education, the Lithuanian press were maintained, and economic and cultural organizations were developed. The main organization gathering Lithuanians in the Second Polish Republic was the Temporary Committee of Lithuanians of Vilnius, which acted as the headquarters and authority over other organizations (including the Lithuanian Educational Society “Ryta”, the Lithuanian Scientific Society, the Society for Aid to War Victims, the Lithuanian Educational and Welfare Society St. Casimir Youth Council, Lithuanian Credit Cooperative, Lithuanian Agricultural Society, Lithuanian Teachers’ Union, Lithuanian Students’ Union from Vilnius). Most Lithuanians were Roman Catholic.

It should be remembered that the Borderlands were also inhabited by Germans (especially the lands of the former Austrian partition). The position of this minority in the Second Polish Republic was influenced by its independence tendencies and the nationalist policy of Germany. The social structure of the German population settled in Poland was highly diversified depending on the region, e.g. wealthy peasants, farm owners, entrepreneurs, teachers, representatives of free professions, intelligentsia and workers. This minority had a strong national consciousness and led a rich cultural, social, economic, religious and political life.

Jews , unlike other national minorities living in the Borderlands, were distributed relatively evenly throughout the area. The Jewish community lived mainly in cities and towns they called shtetl (the name in Jewish language), in separate districts/quarters with a specific social structure and customs, creating a closed whole. Next to the Polish one, they had a separate administration to which only Jews were subject. The main authority was the Jewish community ( kahal ). They were characterized by cultural and linguistic distinctiveness. Most of them did not assimilate, their whole world was the shtetl , and the only language they knew and used on a daily basis was Jewish (Yiddish). Newspapers in Jewish were published and read in the shtetl , there were separate cultural institutions, sports clubs, libraries, as well as Jewish temples – synagogues and synagogues, where followers of Judaism could pray and celebrate Jewish holidays. There were also primary schools with Yiddish as the language of instruction, as well as religious Talmud Torahs, cheders and yeshivas, where people could study Torah and Talmud from an early age. The language of everyday life was Jewish (Yiddish), and in synagogues people prayed in Hebrew. Only a few of them (Zionists – supporters of establishing a separate Jewish state) communicated with each other in modern Hebrew. Assimilation tendencies among the Jewish population in the Eastern Borderlands were limited. They were mainly engaged in trade and crafts. Due to the intensification of nationalist sentiments in Europe in the interwar period, there were also pogroms in the Second Polish Republic (the most famous was the Lviv pogrom in November 1918) and persecutions of the Jewish population (e.g., anumerus clausus and a bench ghetto at universities and a boycott of Jewish shops were introduced in the 1930s).

The main concentrations of Armenians in the Borderlands were in Lviv. Apart from Lviv, Armenians settled in the 14th-17th centuries in Kamianets-Podilskyi, Brody, Brzeżany, Horodenko, Jeziorne, Kuty, Łuck, Łysiec, Mogilev, Podhajce, Stanisławów, Śniatyń, Tyśmienica, Tłumacz, Złoczów and Zhvanets. Most Armenians living in Poland were engaged in trade and crafts, they had educated elites and numerous landed gentry. Despite their differences, they were involved in activities in Polish political and social institutions. They ran their own schools and dormitories, and published the magazine “Posłaniec św. Gregory”.

Poleszucy is an ethnic group living in the Polesie region, calling itself local . They spoke a mixed dialect of Ukrainian, Belarusian and Polish. The Poles’ economy was almost self-sufficient, based on a natural economy. A typical Polesie village stretched along two or sometimes even several roads, and sometimes forest settlements were built. The Poleszuckis were a poorly educated agricultural population with little national awareness, subjected to assimilation and Polonization activities on the Polish side. Attempts were made to turn Polesie into a buffer cutting off Belarusians and Ukrainians. The largest part of the Polesie population were Orthodox believers. Catholicism was the religion of the Polish and Polonized minority. The religiosity of the Poles was an example of folk religious culture, which combined elements of Christianity with the traditional belief system (they believed in God Hospod , the creator of the world and all things in it).

Hutsuls are a highlander population of Ruthenian and Wallachian origin living in the southwestern Borderlands. A characteristic feature of the Hutsul settlement was the village, where the farms were located far from the village center on a vast area. In isolation, they created a regional culture based on Ukrainian, Romanian, Polish patterns as well as the Orthodox religion. They had a self-sufficient economy in the basin of the upper Prut, Tisza and the White and Black Cheremosh. The conditions in which they lived (mountains and a small amount of arable land) meant that most of them lived from shepherding, hunting, horse breeding and forest clearing. Since the mid-19th century, there have been craft centers, e.g. woodcarving, ceramics, weaving, etc. Thanks to various cultural influences, Hutsul folklore was very rich, and their beliefs were dominated by pagan elements and magic. In November 1918, the Hutsuls established the Hutsul Republic, which covered eastern Transcarpathia; in the interwar years, it became part of the Second Polish Republic and became part of the Stanisławów Voivodeship. Hutsuls had their share in the Polish Army. In Poland, there was the 49th Hutsul Rifle Regiment.

Karaites , ethnically of Turkish origin, came from Crimea to the territory of the Principality of Halych-Volhynia. In 1397 they settled in Trakai and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. As a result of the outbreak of World War I, the territory of the Second Polish Republic included 4 Karaim communes (dzmaty): Trakai, Vilnius, Łutsk and Halicz. After the end of the war, the social life of the Karaim population was gradually organized. The living conditions of the Karaites were very difficult, their residences were significantly damaged, and the Karaite population needed their representation and legal acts regarding the Karaites. In 1920, a Karaim school was founded in Trakai, and from 1924 the magazine “Myśl Karaimska” was published (the magazine “Głos Karaimski” was also published). In Vilnius, in 1932, the Society of Lovers of Karaim History and Literature was established, and in 1936, the Karaim Religious Union was established. The laws regarding Karaites and Tatars were passed by the Sejm of the Second Polish Republic on April 21, 1936, which regulated the functioning of the religious communities of these minorities.

Tatars came to the territory of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the 14th century and lived in the Białystok, Novgorod and Vilnius voivodeships. They enjoyed extensive religious autonomy and privileges. They underwent gradual cultural assimilation, which resulted in the gradual disappearance of their customs and language. The only trace of their distinctiveness is their religion – Islam. Tatar landowners and peasants settled on farms scattered throughout the Vilnius, Grodno and Nowogródek regions. The Tatar intelligentsia was concentrated in Vilnius, which was the center of religious and cultural life of this minority (the Cultural and Educational Association of the Tatars of the Republic of Poland and the Tatar National Museum operated there). Wide social and cultural activities were carried out, two magazines were published: “Rocznik Tatarski” and “Życie Tatarskie”. The Tatars felt strongly attached to Poland, as evidenced by their creation of the Tatar Cavalry Regiment in 1919 and the Tatar squadron of the 13th Uhlan Regiment in Vilnius in the 1930s.

The Eastern Borderlands were also inhabited by Russians . The majority of the Russian population were farmers (few Russian landowners lived in Volhynia), and a small percentage of this community consisted of Russian intelligentsia. They retained a sense of their own independence, with an indifferent attitude towards the Polish state. Another small minority were the Czechs . They lived in Volhynia, most of the Czechs were rural. Czech schools and cultural and social organizations operated in the areas inhabited by Czechs.

The multinationality of the Second Polish Republic was also related to the issue of religion and the role of religious communities in the state. In the March Constitution adopted in 1921, Article 114 was adopted, specifying that the Roman Catholic denomination, which is the religion of the overwhelming majority of the nation, occupies the leading position in the state among denominations with equal rights . The Constitution also defined freedom of conscience and religion in Article 111: all inhabitants of the Polish State have the right to freely exercise their faith and practice the provisions of their religion or ritual, both publicly and privately . In the eastern lands of the Second Polish Republic, Catholicism was identified with Polishness, Greek Catholicism and Orthodoxy with Ukrainian and Belarusian nationality. This resulted in restrictions on relations with other religions and preferential treatment of Catholics. Religious associations played an important role in public and political life, having a significant influence on the actions of their followers. Church hierarchs and religious associations often supported the independence aspirations of their believers. The authorities of the Second Polish Republic, however, tried to limit the dependence of individual churches on foreign centers and enforce loyalty to the state. According to data from 1938, in the territory of the Second Polish Republic, 65% were Roman Catholic, 11.9% Orthodox, 10.4% Greek Catholic, 9.5% Mosaic, 2.5% Evangelical and 1.5% other denominations. .

In the Second Polish Republic, the Catholic Church consisted of three rites: Latin – Roman Catholic, Greek Catholic – the so-called Uniate and Armenian. Most of his followers lived in central Poland and the former Western Galicia, and the least in the eastern voivodeships of the Second Polish Republic. The superior position of the Catholic Church was strengthened by the concordat concluded with the Holy See on February 10, 1925 in Rome, granting the Church significant autonomy and privileges. The Greek Catholic Church gathered mainly Ukrainians living in the area of former Eastern Galicia. The Greek-Catholic metropolis was located in Lviv, and included the Przemyśl and Stanisławów dioceses. The independence aspirations of Ukrainians influenced the relations between the state and the Greek-Catholic Church. The faithful of the Armenian rite were gathered in the Archdiocese of Lviv (divided into 8 parishes). The rite was similar to the Latin one, the most important holidays were: Amator kam Nor Tari (New Year), Surb Cnund (Christmas), Trndez (Welcoming the Lord), Vardananc Ton (Vardananc Festival) and Cechasoanutjan Zoheri Hishataki (day of remembrance of the Turkish Armenian Genocide).

The Orthodox Church gathered mainly Ukrainians and Belarusians living in Polesie and Volhynia. In 1922, it was recognized as an autocephalous church (independent from the Russian Church), which met with resistance from the hierarchs and believers. The Polish authorities sought to maintain autocephaly and make the Church independent from Russia.

The Orthodox Church was perceived as a remnant of the Russian partition and a tool of Russification, which had to be limited. Orthodox hierarchs accused the Polish authorities of persuading Orthodox Christians to change their religion and taking away churches (revindication of former Catholic churches taken away during the partition period).

In the territory of the Second Polish Republic, the Jewish Religious Association operated, bringing together autonomous religious communities led by rabbis and deputy rabbis. Jewish communities had separate temples – synagogues, synagogues and Talmud Torahs, yeshivas and cheders – religious schools. Shabbat (Saturday) was celebrated every week, and during the year such holidays were celebrated as (movable – celebrated according to the Jewish calendar based on the lunar year) Simchat Torah (Joy of the Torah), Shana Tova (New Year), Yom Kippur (Day of Judgment), Sukkot ( Sukkah festival) Purim, Pesach and others. The Mosaic faith strongly identified and united all Jews into one religious community, although in Jewish society, attitudes towards religion varied depending on the level of education and political views. Along with growing anti-Semitism, they also brought radicalization among the Jewish population, which increasingly supported the Zionist program – the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine.

The followers of Protestantism did not constitute a uniform religious group, they were gathered in several religious associations (Evangelical-Augsburg Church, Evangelical-Reformed Church, Evangelical-Union Church, etc.) and in smaller groups (Methodists, Baptists, Adventists, etc.). Most of his followers were Germans and many Poles, and his hierarchs were loyal to the Polish state, although some were pro-German (Lutherans).

The followers of Islam in the Borderlands were Polish Tatars. They had 19 religious communities in which there were mosques and Muslim cemeteries – measurements. Holiday celebrations were held in all mosques, Muslim centers and prayer houses. The uniqueness of Muslim holidays also lies in the fact that they are movable holidays. The most important holidays of the year are: Eid Al Fitr (Ramadan Bajram) and Eid Al Adha (Kurban Bajram). In 1925, the Muslim Religious Union in the Republic of Poland was established, dealing with matters of faith. The union was headed by the Mufti residing in Vilnius.

The Karaite religion was based on the Old Testament. The Karaite liturgy consisted of psalms, fragments of biblical books and religious hymns. The texts of the Old Testament were read in Hebrew, other prayers in Karaite (belonging to the group of Turkic languages). The most important holidays are: Shabbat Kiuniu (Saturday), Janhy ai (New Moon Day), Khydji Tymbyłłarnyn (Easter), Khydji Aftalarnyn (Pentecost), Khydży Byrłyharnyn (Festival of Trumpets), Khydji Alachychłarnyn (Harvest Festival), Boszatły Kiuniu (Day of Forgiveness of Sins). ). They were celebrated in temples called kienes. Karaites were also obliged to fast. The most important centers of Karaite worship include: Trakai and Vilnius.

Historical and Geographical Lands

The Riga Peace Treaty, confirmed by the Ambassadors’ Council, defined the borders of the Second Republic – 25.5% of these, or 1412km, bordered Soviet Russia. The borders with Lithuania, Latvia and Romania were significantly shorter.

The Riga Treaty, resulting from a compromise following the Polish-Bolshevik war, meant that the Second Polish Republic did not to return to its historical pre-partition eastern borders. The old provinces of Witeb, Mścisław, Połock, Kijów, Bracław as well as parts of Wołyń and Podole, found themselves excluded from the Republic. From 1921 the following provinces were included in the Eastern Borderlands: Wilno, Nowogródek, Polesie, Wołyń, Lwów, Tarnopol, and Stanisławów. The western province of Lwów was the only part to remain within the borders of the Republic after 1945.

The eastern border region was a continuous source of minor and major conflicts and ethnic tensions. The Polish Government was required to follow a policy that, on the one hand assured the foundation of Polish dominion over these territories, but equally respected minority rights. This was difficult in that Polish settlement in the whole of the Eastern Borderlands inter-mingled with Lithuanian, Ukrainian, Russian and Jewish settlements. Individual borderland counties differed from each other in terms of the religion and language of its inhabitants. The agglomerations of Wilno and Lwów were resilient Polish centres, as were those of Grodno, Nowogródek, Tarnopol, Stanisławów. However, small towns and villages in these areas were inhabited by Ukrainians, Lithuanians and Jews. In Wołyń and Podole, as well as Wilno and Kowień, a characteristic of the countryside was the mixing of Polish settlements with minority populations. Often there was no clear ethnic boundary between Poles and Byelorussians, or between Poles and Ukrainians. This was the result of historical agreements and an intensive Polish settlement policy.

Rooted historically with the Kingdom of Lithuania, the area surrounding the province of Wilno first tied its future with Poland under Jagiełło, and then with the Republic of the combined nations. This period of several hundred years strongly joined it to Poland and Polish culture. During the Second Republic the Polish part of Wilno province became relatively well urbanised and populated compared with other border areas. In the early 1930s population density stood at 44 persons per square kilometre.

As much as 59.7% (761,000) of the population at that time spoke Polish, 27% (289,000) Byelorussian, 3.4% (35,000) Russian, 8.5% (108,000) Hebrew, and 5.5% Lithuanian and other languages. In terms of size, Wilno was the sixth largest city within the Second Republic, after Warszawa, Łódź, Lwów, Poznań and Kraków. In 1900 the population had stood at 138,000; in 1921 the numbers fell to 123,000, but in 1939, the population of Wilno was 209,000 lived. Unlike Lwów, this metropolis did not double its population. Other than Wilno, other large urban centres included: Oszmiana, Bresław, Święciany, Wilejka, Mołodeczno.

During the Second Republic ,the province of Nowogród, which bordered the territory of Polesie in the south, Wilno in the north, Białostok in the west, to a large extent covered the original province of Nowogródek. Only its eastern section found itself beyond the Polish borders. The number of Poles living in the area of Nowogródek matched that of Wilno. The population density in 1931 stood at 46 persons per square kilometre, over half of which 52.4% (553,000) spoke Polish, 39% (413,000) Byelorussian, only 0.7% (6,800) Russian and 7.3% (77,000) Hebrew. The largest towns in the province of Nowogród included: Baranowicze, (22,800), Lida (19,500) and Słonim (16,300).

Within the boundaries of the pre-war province of Białystok was the province of Grodzień with its county capital of Grodno – a large, dynamic town on the River Niemen expanding between the wars from 34,700 people in 1921, to almost 60,000 in 1939.

The land which contained the largest number of provinces in the Second Republic, was Eastern Galicia, with its capital Lwów, as well as the large urban centres of Stanisławów and Tarnopol, as well as Krośno, Przemyśl and Sanok which lie within the borders of modern day Poland. The name Eastern Galicia came into being in the middle of the 19th century, when Austrian authorities introduced of a new jurisdiction and administration, resulting from ethnic divisions. Eastern Galicia, with Lwów as its capital, was to form the part that was to be dominated by the Ukrainian population, while Western Galicia, with Kraków as its capital, was to be dominated by the Polish population. At the beginning of the 20th century only 14% of the population in Eastern Galicia was Polish, and they lived mainly in urban centres.

Among the newly-created provinces within the Second Polish Republic, there were large disparities on the territory of Eastern Galicia. In 1931 in the province of Lwów, the population density stood at 110 persons per square kilometre, as much as 57.7% (1,804,000) of the population spoke Polish, 18,5% (579,000) Ukrainian, 15,5% (487,000) Russian and 7,5% (232,900) Hebrew. Lwów was the third largest city in the Second Republic, and its population doubled from 1900 (149,600), to1921 (119,400), to 1939 (318,200).

This historical capital of Galicia, a resilient centre of learning, culture and industry, a place where Polish, Ukrainian, Russian and Jewish cultures converged, radiated throughout the whole of the Borderlands as well as the Second Republic. The Latin maxim “Leopolis semper fidelis” became the city’s motto. The loyalty of Lwów and its inhabitants to the Second Polish Republic was widely respected. “The Cemetery of the Little Eagles”, Ossolineum, (Library, Museum and Publishing House of Science and Culture), Aleksander Fredro, Szczepcio and Tomek – these Lwowian symbols were recognised at the time by every Pole.

After Lwów, the next largest towns (ignoring those which lie within the current Polish borders) were Borysław (41,500), Drohobycz (32,300), Sambor (21,900), Gródek Jagielloński (12,900), Sokal (12,000), Rawa Ruska (11,000), Jaworów (10,700), Żólkiew (10,300) and Turka upon Stryj (10,100).

The territory of Stanisławów province had a population density of 88 persons per square kilometre, of whom 22,4% (332,000) spoke Polish, 46,9% (693,000) Ukrainian, 22% (325,000) Russian and 7.4% (109,400) Hebrew. The largest towns in 1931 were Stanisławów (60,000), Kołomyja (33,800), Stryj (30,500), Horodenka (12,200), Kałusz (12,100), Śniatyń ((10,800), Bolechów ((10,700) and Nadwórna (10,400).

In the mountainous region of the Eastern Carpathians and Chornohora that lay within the borders of the provinces of Lwów and Stanisławów, but also within Romanian territory, was the province of Huculsko. This area was inhabited by Ruthenians and Wołoszyn highlanders, creators of an original folk culture which, until the time of their virtually complete displacement by the Soviets, was the subject of interest of ethnographers from the whole of Europe. These highlanders mainly tended sheep, fished, and raised horses,. To them we owe the development of the Huculsko breed of horses that were particularly adept in mountainous conditions.

On the edge of the province of Stanisławów, beyond the higher reaches of the river Prut, lay Pokucia – the land located the furthest east in the old Republic. The characteristic element of Pokucia was its original landscape of high steppes as well as mountainous areas in the north-east. It was one of the most beautiful regions of the Second Republic, with the greatest tourist attractions – the waterfalls of Prut and Maniawka.

To the north of Pokucia and the region of Huculsko lay the province of Tarnopol, where the Polish population was significantly greater than in the south. The population density was 97 persons per square kilometre, of which 49.3% (789,000) spoke Polish, 25.1% (402,000) Ukrainian, 20.4% (326,000) Russian and 4.9% (78,900) Hebrew. The greatest centres were Tarnopol (33,900), Czortków (19,000), Brody (16,400), Złoczów (13,000), Brzeżany (11,600) and Buczacz (11,100).

In the area of the northern tributaries of the river Dniester, within the boundaries of the province of Tarnopol, lay Podole. The central was Kamieniec Podolski – a historical stronghold within this section of the Republic and the capital of the ancient province of Podole. After 1921, under the Treaty of Riga, it was left outside the borders of the Second Republic. Podole is an area rich with fertile black soil, as a result of which agriculture was the main occupation of its inhabitants for many centuries.

One of the most beloved by Borderlanders, and at the same time one of the most tragic borderland areas, is Wołyń. It is positioned among the tributaries of the Dniepr – Horyn, Prypec, Słusz, Styr as well as the higher Bug – tributary to the Wisła. The waters of the rivers in the Wołyń region flowed not only to the Black Sea but also to the Baltic. The northern part of the province is level and marshy, the central and southern parts have a hilly and even partly-mountainous character, as in the area of Krzemieńca where the peaks reach 407 metres above sea level. At the time of the Second Republic this area was populated by an average of 58 persons per square kilometre. It was a conglomeration of ethnic groups in which Poles formed a small percentage. Ten years after the formation of the Province of Wołyń, only 16.6% (346,00) of the population spoke Polish, as much as 68% (1,418,000) spoke Ukrainian, 1.1% (23,400) Russian, 9.9% (205,500) Hebrew, and 2.3% (46,900) German. At that time, the largest towns were Równe (41,900), the capital Łuck (35,600), Kowel (29,100), Włodzimierz Wołyński (25,600), Krzemieniec ((21,900), Dubno (15,300), Ostróg (13,400) and Zdołbunów (10,200). Each of these names has marked the history of the Second Republic.

Polesie was located to the north of Wołyń and, among the lands of the Second Republic, it was characterised by its primeval natural environment. It covered about 45,000 square kilometres, which was about 1/8th of the Republic’s territory. It was famed for its vast marshes, mud flats, flooded meadows, pastures and peat bogs, which extended over half of its territory. Large expanses of forests were also found in Polesie, thus creating a unique landscape. The people inhabiting Polesie gave these tracts appropriate names. Flooded scrub were called “nietra”, “czerot”, “plucha”; flooded meadows were called “obołon”, “reka”; peat bog meadows were called “ hało”; bogs were called “moch”, “kaczaj bołoto”. The Polesie region is divided into smaller areas such as Zajasiołdzie in the north, Zarzece, Zahorodzie and Przyhorynie, in the direction of Wołyń. Within the Second Republic, this was the least urbanised area and was inhabited by the smallest number of people. The population density at the beginning of the 1930s reached only 31 persons per square kilometre. In 1931 in the province of Polesie, 14.5% (164,400) of the population spoke Polish, 4.8% (54,000) Ukrainian, 6.6% (75,000) Byelorussian, 1.4% (16,000) Russian, 10% (113,000) Hebrew, and as much as 62.6% (708,000) other languages. Listed as the largest towns in Polesie at that time are Brześć upon Bug (50,700), Pińsk (31,900), Dawidgórek (11,500) and Kobryń (10,100). Lying on the outlet of the river Piny into the river Prypeć, Pińsk was known as the quarters of the Flotilla of the River Navy, which distinguished itself in the battles of September 1939.

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Eastern Borderlands (1918-1939)

Facts

Events Timeline

11th November 1918

1918-1919

1919-1920

17th December 1920

1921

1930

1931

1935

1936

A land born in battle

Military and Civilian Settlers

Civil Servants

Military

Lwow - The Cultural Centre

The historic city of Vilnius

Polish families of the Eastern Borderlands

Poles Beyond the Borders of the II RP

Jewish Life in the Eastern Borderlands

Ukrainian Life In the Eastern Borderlands

Life of Byelorussians in the Eastern Borderlands

The Last Summer of the Borderlands