Product Code Database
Eastern Borderlands (), often simply Borderlands (, ) was a historical region of the eastern part of the Second Polish Republic. The term was coined during the interwar period (1918–1939). Largely agricultural and extensively multi-ethnic with a Polish minority, it amounted to nearly half of the territory of interwar Poland. Historically situated in the eastern Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, following the 18th-century foreign partitions it was divided between the Empires of Russian Empire and Austria-Hungary, and ceded to Poland in 1921 after the Treaty of Riga. As a result of the post-World War II border changes, all of the territory was ceded to the Soviet Union, and today the area of Kresy is divided between Western Ukraine, Western Belarus, and south-eastern Lithuania.
The region gave rise to the Kresy myth, a collection of nostalgic views about the area. After the fall of Communism in Europe and dissolution of the Soviet Union a major economic conflict emerged about the real estate lost by Poland with the loss of Kresy.
Administratively, the Eastern Borderlands territory was composed of Lwów, Nowogródek, Polesie, Stanisławów, Tarnopol, Wilno, Wołyń, and Białystok (provinces). Today, all these regions are divided between Western Ukraine, Western Belarus, and south-eastern Lithuania, with the major cities of Lviv, Vilnius, and Grodno no longer in Poland. During the Second Polish Republic, the Eastern Borderlands denoted the lands beyond the Curzon Line proposed after World War I in December 1919 by the British Foreign Office as the eastern border of the re-emerging sovereign Polish Republic, after over a century of partition. The interwar period in Kresy was noted by an active policy of Polonization of the local population, which involved enforced usage of Polish language in education as well as settling of the Polish colonists, .
In September 1939, after Germany invaded Poland and follow-up invasion by Soviet Union, in accordance with Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact all Eastern Borderlands territories were incorporated into the Soviet republics of Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania, often by means of terror.Bernd Wegner (1997). From peace to war: Germany, Soviet Russia, and the world, 1939–1941. Berghahn Books. p. 74. . Soviet territorial annexations during World War II were later ratified by the Allies at the Conferences of Tehran, Yalta Conference and Potsdam and most of Poles here were expelled after the end of World War II in Europe. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, there was no change to the post-World War II borders. Despite the former provinces of the Eastern Borderlands no longer being part of Poland, a Polish minority remains.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the meaning of the term expanded to include the lands of the former eastern provinces of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, east of the italic=no line. In the Second Polish Republic, Kresy equated to historically Polish settled lands to the east of the notional Curzon Line. Currently, the term applies to all the eastern lands of the Second Polish Republic that are no longer within the frontiers of modern Poland, together with lands further east, that had been integral to the Commonwealth before 1772, and where Polish communities continue to exist.
From the Polish perspective, the lands came to be called the "Western Krai". Even though Poles were a minority in those areas, owing to forced depopulation, the "Stolen Lands" remained an integral part of Polish national identity, with Polish cultural centres and seats of learning in Vilnius University, Jan Kazimierz University and Krzemieniec Lyceum among many others. Since many local educated inhabitants had actively participated in Polish–Lithuanian national insurgencies (November Uprising, January Uprising), the Russian authorities resorted to intensified persecution, confiscations of property and land, penal deportation to Siberia, and the systematic attempt at Russification of Poles and their traditional culture and institutions.
The area included in the Pale, with its large Catholic Church, Eastern Catholic and Jewish populations, was acquired through a series of military conquests and diplomatic manoeuvres, between 1654 and 1815. While the religious nature of the edicts creating the Pale is clear: conversion to Russian Orthodoxy, the state religion, released individuals from the strictures - historians argue that the motivations for its creation and maintenance were primarily economic and in nature. On the anniversary of the institution of the Pale of Settlement
Territories included in the Kresy during the interbellum period comprised the eastern parts of the Voivodeships of Lwów and Białystok and the whole of the Nowogródek, Polesie, Stanisławów, Tarnopol, Wilno, Wołyń Voivodeships. The Polish government undertook an active policy of Polonization the Kresy to alter its ethnic profile in favour of the Poles. One of the ways to do so was through the Osadnik colonists. These military colonists were one of the most "emotionalized" parts of the Polish government's policy in the Kresy and elicited opposition from the locals. The German historian said that the Kresy were "the poorhouse of Poland", while the Yad Vashem historian Leonid Rein even wrote that "it would not be a great exaggeration to say it was the poor-house of the whole of Europe." This led to frequent conflicts with Ukrainian nationalists in the southeastern part of Kresy, which led to the pacification of Ukrainians in Eastern Galicia.
Numerous Polish communities continued to live beyond the eastern border of the Second Polish Republic, especially around Minsk, Zhytomyr and Berdychiv. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, the Soviet authorities created two Polish National Districts in Belarus and Ukraine, but during the Polish Operation of the NKVD, most of the Poles in those areas were murdered, while those remaining were forcibly resettled in Kazakhstan (see also Poles in the Soviet Union).
In January 1944, Soviet troops had reached the former Polish–Soviet border, and by the end of July 1944, they again re-annexed the whole territory that had been taken by the USSR in September 1939 into their control. During the Tehran Conference in 1943, a new Soviet-Polish border was established, in effect sanctioning most of the Soviet territorial acquisitions of September 1939 (except for some areas around Białystok and Przemyśl), ignoring protests from the Polish government-in-exile in London. The Potsdam Conference, via substantive recognition of the pro-Soviet Polish Committee of National Liberation, implicitly consented to the deportation of Polish people from Kresy (see Polish population transfers (1944–1946)). Most Polish inhabitants of Kresy were ordered by the Soviets to migrate west to Germany's former eastern provinces, newly emptied of their German population and renamed as the "Recovered Territories" of the Polish People's Republic, based on Polish medieval settlement of the areas. Poles from the southern Kresy (now Ukraine) were forced to settle mainly in Silesia, while those from the north (Belarus and Lithuania) moved to Pomerania and Masuria. Polish residents of Lwów settled not only in Wrocław, but also in Gliwice and in Bytom. Those cities had not been destroyed during the war. They were relatively closer to the new eastern border of Poland, which could become significant in case of a sudden hoped for a return to the East. Gazeta Wyborcza, Kresowianie nie mieli wyboru, musieli jechać na zachód, interview with Professor Grzegorz Hryciuk, 2010-12-20
Frequently, whole Kresy villages and towns were deported in a single rail transport to new locations in the west. For instance, the village of Biała, near Chojnów, is still divided into two parts: Lower Biała and Upper Biała. Lower Biała was settled by people who used to live in a Bieszczady village of Polana near Ustrzyki Dolne (this area belonged to the Soviet Union until 1951: see 1951 Polish–Soviet territorial exchange), while inhabitants of the village Pyszkowce near Buczacz moved to Upper Biała. Every year in September, Biała is the scene of an annual festival called Kresowiana. In Szczecin and Polish West Pomerania, in the immediate postwar period, one-third of Polish settlers were either people from Kresy or . In 1948, people born in the Eastern Borderlands made up 47.5% of the population of Opole, 44.7% of Baborów, 47.5% of Wołczyn, 42.1% of Głubczyce, 40.1% of Lewin Brzeski, and 32.6% of Brzeg. In 2011, people with Kresy background made up 25% of the population of the Opole Voivodeship. The town of Jasień was settled by people from the area of Ternopil in late 1945 and early 1946, while Poles from Borschiv moved to Trzcińsko-Zdrój and Chojna. The situation was completely different in Wschowa and its county. In 1945–1948, more than 8,000 people moved there. They came from different areas of the Kresy — Ashmyany, Ivano-Frankivsk, Równe, Lwów, Brody, Dzyatlava District, and Ternopil.
Altogether, between 1944 and 1946, more than a million Poles from the Kresy were moved to the Recovered Territories, including 150,000 from the area of Wilno, 226,300 from Polesia, 133,900 from Volhynia, 5,000 from Northern Bukovina, and 618,200 from Eastern Galicia. Gazeta Wyborcza, Pierwsza fala przesiedlen The so-called First Repatriation of Poles (1944–1946) was carried out in a chaotic, disorganized way. People had to spend weeks, even months at railroad stations, waiting for transport. During that time, they were robbed of their belongings by either locals, Soviet soldiers or Soviet rail workers. For lack of railroad cars, in Lithuania at some point the "one-suitcase policy" was introduced, which meant that Poles had to leave behind all their belongings. They travelled in freight or , and the journeys were long and dangerous, as there was no protection from the military or the police. In the years 1955–1959, the second mass repatriation of Poles from Kresy took place. As a result, in the years 1945–1960, over 2 million Polish people left Kresy. About more remained in the Kresy after 1960 (especially in the territories of the Lithuanian SSR and the Byelorussian SSR). Even today, Poles constitute the majority of inhabitants in many regions in the Grodno and Vilnius regions. Poles appear in the most recent national censuses as follows - Lithuania 183,000 (2021) ; Belarus 288,000 (2019) ; Ukraine 144,000 (2001) - the Belarus and Ukraine numbers firmly disputed in Poland.
In the immediate postwar period, Polish Communists, who ceded the Eastern Borderlands to the Soviet Union, were universally regarded as traitors, and Władysław Gomułka, First Secretary of the Polish Workers' Party, was fully aware of it. People who moved from the East to the Recovered Territories talked amongst themselves about their return to Lwów and other eastern locations, and the German return to Silesia, as a result of World War III, in which Western Allies would defeat the Soviets. One of the adages of the postwar period was: "Just one atom bomb, and we will be back in Lwów again. Just second one is small but strong and we will be back in Wilno again." ("Jedna bomba atomowa i wrócimy znów do Lwowa. Druga mała, ale silna i wrócimy znów do Wilna"). Polish settlers in former German areas were insecure about their future there until the 1970s (see Kniefall von Warschau). Eastern settlers did not feel at home in Lower Silesia, and as a result, they did not care about the machinery, households and farms abandoned by Germans. Lubomierz in 1945 was in good condition, but in the following years, Polish settlers from the area of Chortkiv in Podolia let it run down and become a ruin. The Germans were aware of it. In 1959, German sources wrote that Lower Silesia had been ruined by the Poles. Zdzisław Mach, a sociologist from the Jagiellonian University, explains that when Poles were forced to resettle in the West, which they resented, they had to leave the land they considered sacred and move to areas inhabited by the enemy. In addition, Communist authorities did not initially invest in the Recovered Territories because, like the settlers, for a long time they were unsure about the future of these lands. As Mach says, people in Western Poland for years lived "on their suitcases", with all their belongings packed in case of return to the East.
The proportions of different native languages in each voivodeship in 1931, according to the Polish census of 1931, were as follows:
In addition to ethnic Poles in former eastern Poland, there were also large Polish communities in the USSR and in the Baltic states. Polish population east of the Curzon Line before World War II can be estimated by adding together figures for Former Eastern Poland and for pre-1939 Soviet Union:
Two tables below show the linguistic (First language) and religious structure of interwar South-Eastern Poland (nowadays part of Western Ukraine) and interwar North-Eastern Poland (nowadays part of Western Belarus and southern Lithuania) by county, according to the 1931 census.
South-East Poland:
| +Linguistic and religious structure of South-East Poland in 1931
!County
!Pop.
!Polish
!%
!Yiddish & Hebrew
!%
!Ukrainian & Ruthenian
!%
!Other language
!% !Roman Catholic !% !Jewish !% !Uniate & Orthodox !% !Other religion !% | |||||||||||||||||
| Dubno | 226709 | 33987 | 15.0% | 17430 | 7.7% | 158173 | 69.8% | 17119 | 7.6% | 27638 | 12.2% | 18227 | 8.0% | 173512 | 76.5% | 7332 | 3.2% |
| Horokhiv | 122045 | 21100 | 17.3% | 9993 | 8.2% | 84224 | 69.0% | 6728 | 5.5% | 17675 | 14.5% | 10112 | 8.3% | 87333 | 71.6% | 6925 | 5.7% |
| Kostopil | 159602 | 34951 | 21.9% | 10481 | 6.6% | 105346 | 66.0% | 8824 | 5.5% | 34450 | 21.6% | 10786 | 6.8% | 103912 | 65.1% | 10454 | 6.6% |
| Kovel | 255095 | 36720 | 14.4% | 26476 | 10.4% | 185240 | 72.6% | 6659 | 2.6% | 35191 | 13.8% | 26719 | 10.5% | 187717 | 73.6% | 5468 | 2.1% |
| Kremenets | 243032 | 25758 | 10.6% | 18679 | 7.7% | 196000 | 80.6% | 2595 | 1.1% | 25082 | 10.3% | 18751 | 7.7% | 195233 | 80.3% | 3966 | 1.6% |
| Liuboml | 85507 | 12150 | 14.2% | 6818 | 8.0% | 65906 | 77.1% | 633 | 0.7% | 10998 | 12.9% | 6861 | 8.0% | 65685 | 76.8% | 1963 | 2.3% |
| Lutsk | 290805 | 56446 | 19.4% | 34142 | 11.7% | 172038 | 59.2% | 28179 | 9.7% | 55802 | 19.2% | 34354 | 11.8% | 177377 | 61.0% | 23272 | 8.0% |
| Rivne | 252787 | 36990 | 14.6% | 37484 | 14.8% | 160484 | 63.5% | 17829 | 7.1% | 36444 | 14.4% | 37713 | 14.9% | 166970 | 66.1% | 11660 | 4.6% |
| Sarny | 181284 | 30426 | 16.8% | 16019 | 8.8% | 129637 | 71.5% | 5202 | 2.9% | 28192 | 15.6% | 16088 | 8.9% | 132691 | 73.2% | 4313 | 2.4% |
| Volodymyr | 150374 | 40286 | 26.8% | 17236 | 11.5% | 88174 | 58.6% | 4678 | 3.1% | 38483 | 25.6% | 17331 | 11.5% | 89641 | 59.6% | 4919 | 3.3% |
| Zdolbuniv | 118334 | 17826 | 15.1% | 10787 | 9.1% | 81650 | 69.0% | 8071 | 6.8% | 17901 | 15.1% | 10850 | 9.2% | 86948 | 73.5% | 2635 | 2.2% |
| Borshchiv | 103277 | 46153 | 44.7% | 4302 | 4.2% | 52612 | 50.9% | 210 | 0.2% | 28432 | 27.5% | 9353 | 9.1% | 65344 | 63.3% | 148 | 0.1% |
| Brody | 91248 | 32843 | 36.0% | 7640 | 8.4% | 50490 | 55.3% | 275 | 0.3% | 22521 | 24.7% | 10360 | 11.4% | 58009 | 63.6% | 358 | 0.4% |
| Berezhany | 103824 | 48168 | 46.4% | 3716 | 3.6% | 51757 | 49.9% | 183 | 0.2% | 41962 | 40.4% | 7151 | 6.9% | 54611 | 52.6% | 100 | 0.1% |
| Buchach | 139062 | 60523 | 43.5% | 8059 | 5.8% | 70336 | 50.6% | 144 | 0.1% | 51311 | 36.9% | 10568 | 7.6% | 77023 | 55.4% | 160 | 0.1% |
| Chortkiv | 84008 | 36486 | 43.4% | 6474 | 7.7% | 40866 | 48.6% | 182 | 0.2% | 33080 | 39.4% | 7845 | 9.3% | 42828 | 51.0% | 255 | 0.3% |
| Kamianka-Buzka | 82111 | 41693 | 50.8% | 4737 | 5.8% | 35178 | 42.8% | 503 | 0.6% | 29828 | 36.3% | 6700 | 8.2% | 45113 | 54.9% | 470 | 0.6% |
| Kopychyntsi | 88614 | 38158 | 43.1% | 5164 | 5.8% | 45196 | 51.0% | 96 | 0.1% | 31202 | 35.2% | 7291 | 8.2% | 50007 | 56.4% | 114 | 0.1% |
| Pidhaitsi | 95663 | 46710 | 48.8% | 3464 | 3.6% | 45031 | 47.1% | 458 | 0.5% | 38003 | 39.7% | 4786 | 5.0% | 52634 | 55.0% | 240 | 0.3% |
| Peremyshliany | 89908 | 52269 | 58.1% | 4445 | 4.9% | 32777 | 36.5% | 417 | 0.5% | 38475 | 42.8% | 6860 | 7.6% | 44002 | 48.9% | 571 | 0.6% |
| Radekhiv | 69313 | 25427 | 36.7% | 3277 | 4.7% | 39970 | 57.7% | 639 | 0.9% | 17945 | 25.9% | 6934 | 10.0% | 42928 | 61.9% | 1506 | 2.2% |
| Skalat | 89215 | 60091 | 67.4% | 3654 | 4.1% | 25369 | 28.4% | 101 | 0.1% | 45631 | 51.1% | 8486 | 9.5% | 34798 | 39.0% | 300 | 0.3% |
| Ternopil | 142220 | 93874 | 66.0% | 5836 | 4.1% | 42374 | 29.8% | 136 | 0.1% | 63286 | 44.5% | 17684 | 12.4% | 60979 | 42.9% | 271 | 0.2% |
| Terebovlia | 84321 | 50178 | 59.5% | 3173 | 3.8% | 30868 | 36.6% | 102 | 0.1% | 38979 | 46.2% | 4845 | 5.7% | 40452 | 48.0% | 45 | 0.1% |
| Zalishchyky | 72021 | 27549 | 38.3% | 3261 | 4.5% | 41147 | 57.1% | 64 | 0.1% | 17917 | 24.9% | 5965 | 8.3% | 48069 | 66.7% | 70 | 0.1% |
| Zbarazh | 65579 | 32740 | 49.9% | 3142 | 4.8% | 29609 | 45.2% | 88 | 0.1% | 24855 | 37.9% | 3997 | 6.1% | 36468 | 55.6% | 259 | 0.4% |
| Zboriv | 81413 | 39624 | 48.7% | 2522 | 3.1% | 39174 | 48.1% | 93 | 0.1% | 26239 | 32.2% | 5056 | 6.2% | 49925 | 61.3% | 193 | 0.2% |
| Zolochiv | 118609 | 56628 | 47.7% | 6066 | 5.1% | 55381 | 46.7% | 534 | 0.5% | 36937 | 31.1% | 10236 | 8.6% | 70663 | 59.6% | 773 | 0.7% |
| Dolyna | 118373 | 21158 | 17.9% | 9031 | 7.6% | 83880 | 70.9% | 4304 | 3.6% | 15630 | 13.2% | 10471 | 8.8% | 89811 | 75.9% | 2461 | 2.1% |
| Horodenka | 92894 | 27751 | 29.9% | 5031 | 5.4% | 59957 | 64.5% | 155 | 0.2% | 15519 | 16.7% | 7480 | 8.1% | 69789 | 75.1% | 106 | 0.1% |
| Kalush | 102252 | 18637 | 18.2% | 5109 | 5.0% | 77506 | 75.8% | 1000 | 1.0% | 14418 | 14.1% | 6249 | 6.1% | 80750 | 79.0% | 835 | 0.8% |
| Kolomyia | 176000 | 52006 | 29.5% | 11191 | 6.4% | 110533 | 62.8% | 2270 | 1.3% | 31925 | 18.1% | 20887 | 11.9% | 121376 | 69.0% | 1812 | 1.0% |
| Kosiv | 93952 | 6718 | 7.2% | 6730 | 7.2% | 79838 | 85.0% | 666 | 0.7% | 4976 | 5.3% | 7826 | 8.3% | 80903 | 86.1% | 247 | 0.3% |
| Nadvirna | 140702 | 16907 | 12.0% | 11020 | 7.8% | 112128 | 79.7% | 647 | 0.5% | 15214 | 10.8% | 11663 | 8.3% | 113116 | 80.4% | 709 | 0.5% |
| Rohatyn | 127252 | 36152 | 28.4% | 6111 | 4.8% | 84875 | 66.7% | 114 | 0.1% | 27108 | 21.3% | 9466 | 7.4% | 90456 | 71.1% | 222 | 0.2% |
| Ivano-Frankivsk | 198359 | 49032 | 24.7% | 26996 | 13.6% | 120214 | 60.6% | 2117 | 1.1% | 42519 | 21.4% | 29525 | 14.9% | 123959 | 62.5% | 2356 | 1.2% |
| Stryi | 152631 | 25186 | 16.5% | 15413 | 10.1% | 106183 | 69.6% | 5849 | 3.8% | 23404 | 15.3% | 17115 | 11.2% | 108159 | 70.9% | 3953 | 2.6% |
| Sniatyn | 78025 | 17206 | 22.1% | 4341 | 5.6% | 56007 | 71.8% | 471 | 0.6% | 8659 | 11.1% | 7073 | 9.1% | 61797 | 79.2% | 496 | 0.6% |
| Tlumach | 116028 | 44958 | 38.7% | 3677 | 3.2% | 66659 | 57.5% | 734 | 0.6% | 31478 | 27.1% | 6702 | 5.8% | 76650 | 66.1% | 1198 | 1.0% |
| Zhydachiv | 83817 | 16464 | 19.6% | 4728 | 5.6% | 61098 | 72.9% | 1527 | 1.8% | 15094 | 18.0% | 5289 | 6.3% | 63144 | 75.3% | 290 | 0.3% |
| Bibrka | 97124 | 30762 | 31.7% | 5533 | 5.7% | 60444 | 62.2% | 385 | 0.4% | 22820 | 23.5% | 7972 | 8.2% | 66113 | 68.1% | 219 | 0.2% |
| Dobromyl | 93970 | 35945 | 38.3% | 4997 | 5.3% | 52463 | 55.8% | 565 | 0.6% | 25941 | 27.6% | 7522 | 8.0% | 59664 | 63.5% | 843 | 0.9% |
| Drohobych | 194456 | 91935 | 47.3% | 20484 | 10.5% | 79214 | 40.7% | 2823 | 1.5% | 52172 | 26.8% | 28888 | 14.9% | 110850 | 57.0% | 2546 | 1.3% |
| Horodok | 85007 | 33228 | 39.1% | 2975 | 3.5% | 47812 | 56.2% | 992 | 1.2% | 22408 | 26.4% | 4982 | 5.9% | 56713 | 66.7% | 904 | 1.1% |
| Yavoriv | 86762 | 26938 | 31.0% | 3044 | 3.5% | 55868 | 64.4% | 912 | 1.1% | 18394 | 21.2% | 5161 | 5.9% | 62828 | 72.4% | 379 | 0.4% |
| Lviv | 312231 | 198212 | 63.5% | 75316 | 24.1% | 35137 | 11.3% | 3566 | 1.1% | 157490 | 50.4% | 99595 | 31.9% | 50824 | 16.3% | 4322 | 1.4% |
| Lviv Raion | 142800 | 80712 | 56.5% | 1569 | 1.1% | 58395 | 40.9% | 2124 | 1.5% | 67430 | 47.2% | 5087 | 3.6% | 67592 | 47.3% | 2691 | 1.9% |
| Mostyska | 89460 | 49989 | 55.9% | 2164 | 2.4% | 37196 | 41.6% | 111 | 0.1% | 34619 | 38.7% | 5428 | 6.1% | 49230 | 55.0% | 183 | 0.2% |
| Rava-Ruska | 122072 | 27376 | 22.4% | 10991 | 9.0% | 82133 | 67.3% | 1572 | 1.3% | 22489 | 18.4% | 13381 | 11.0% | 84808 | 69.5% | 1394 | 1.1% |
| Rudky | 79170 | 38417 | 48.5% | 4247 | 5.4% | 36254 | 45.8% | 252 | 0.3% | 27674 | 35.0% | 5396 | 6.8% | 45756 | 57.8% | 344 | 0.4% |
| Sambir | 133814 | 56818 | 42.5% | 7794 | 5.8% | 68222 | 51.0% | 980 | 0.7% | 43583 | 32.6% | 11258 | 8.4% | 78527 | 58.7% | 446 | 0.3% |
| Sokal | 109111 | 42851 | 39.3% | 5917 | 5.4% | 59984 | 55.0% | 359 | 0.3% | 25425 | 23.3% | 13372 | 12.3% | 69963 | 64.1% | 351 | 0.3% |
| Turka | 114457 | 26083 | 22.8% | 7552 | 6.6% | 80483 | 70.3% | 339 | 0.3% | 6301 | 5.5% | 10627 | 9.3% | 97339 | 85.0% | 190 | 0.2% |
| Zhovkva | 95507 | 35816 | 37.5% | 3344 | 3.5% | 56060 | 58.7% | 287 | 0.3% | 20279 | 21.2% | 7848 | 8.2% | 66823 | 70.0% | 557 | 0.6% |
North-East Poland:
| +Linguistic and religious structure of North-East Poland in 1931
!County
!Pop.
!Polish
!%
!Yiddish & Hebrew
!%
!Belarusian, Poleshuk & Russian
!%
!Other language
!%
!Roman Catholic
!%
!Jewish
!%
!Orthodox & Uniate
!%
!Other religion
!% | |||||||||||||||||
| Baranavichy | 161038 | 74916 | 46.5% | 15034 | 9.3% | 70627 | 43.9% | 461 | 0.3% | 45126 | 28.0% | 16074 | 10.0% | 99118 | 61.5% | 720 | 0.4% |
| Lida | 183485 | 145609 | 79.4% | 14546 | 7.9% | 20538 | 11.2% | 2792 | 1.5% | 144627 | 78.8% | 14913 | 8.1% | 23025 | 12.5% | 920 | 0.5% |
| Nyasvizh | 114464 | 27933 | 24.4% | 8754 | 7.6% | 77094 | 67.4% | 683 | 0.6% | 22378 | 19.6% | 8880 | 7.8% | 82245 | 71.9% | 961 | 0.8% |
| Novogrudok | 149536 | 35084 | 23.5% | 10326 | 6.9% | 103783 | 69.4% | 343 | 0.2% | 28796 | 19.3% | 10462 | 7.0% | 109162 | 73.0% | 1116 | 0.7% |
| Slonim | 126510 | 52313 | 41.4% | 10058 | 8.0% | 63445 | 50.2% | 694 | 0.5% | 23817 | 18.8% | 12344 | 9.8% | 89724 | 70.9% | 625 | 0.5% |
| Stowbtsy | 99389 | 51820 | 52.1% | 6341 | 6.4% | 40875 | 41.1% | 353 | 0.4% | 37856 | 38.1% | 6975 | 7.0% | 54076 | 54.4% | 482 | 0.5% |
| Shchuchyn | 107203 | 89462 | 83.5% | 6705 | 6.3% | 10658 | 9.9% | 378 | 0.4% | 60097 | 56.1% | 7883 | 7.4% | 38900 | 36.3% | 323 | 0.3% |
| Valozhyn | 115522 | 76722 | 66.4% | 5261 | 4.6% | 33240 | 28.8% | 299 | 0.3% | 61852 | 53.5% | 5341 | 4.6% | 47923 | 41.5% | 406 | 0.4% |
| Braslaw | 143161 | 93958 | 65.6% | 7181 | 5.0% | 37689 | 26.3% | 4333 | 3.0% | 89020 | 62.2% | 7703 | 5.4% | 29713 | 20.8% | 16725 | 11.7% |
| Dzisna | 159886 | 62282 | 39.0% | 11762 | 7.4% | 85051 | 53.2% | 791 | 0.5% | 56895 | 35.6% | 11948 | 7.5% | 88118 | 55.1% | 2925 | 1.8% |
| Maladzyechna | 91285 | 35523 | 38.9% | 5789 | 6.3% | 49747 | 54.5% | 226 | 0.2% | 21704 | 23.8% | 5910 | 6.5% | 63074 | 69.1% | 597 | 0.7% |
| Ashmyany | 104612 | 84951 | 81.2% | 6721 | 6.4% | 11064 | 10.6% | 1876 | 1.8% | 81369 | 77.8% | 7056 | 6.7% | 15125 | 14.5% | 1062 | 1.0% |
| Pastavy | 99907 | 47917 | 48.0% | 2683 | 2.7% | 49071 | 49.1% | 236 | 0.2% | 50751 | 50.8% | 2769 | 2.8% | 44477 | 44.5% | 1910 | 1.9% |
| Švenčionys | 136475 | 68441 | 50.1% | 7654 | 5.6% | 16814 | 12.3% | 43566 | 31.9% | 117524 | 86.1% | 7678 | 5.6% | 1978 | 1.4% | 9295 | 6.8% |
| Vilyeyka | 131070 | 59477 | 45.4% | 5934 | 4.5% | 65220 | 49.8% | 439 | 0.3% | 53168 | 40.6% | 6113 | 4.7% | 70664 | 53.9% | 1125 | 0.9% |
| Trakai | 214472 | 180546 | 84.2% | 6508 | 3.0% | 9263 | 4.3% | 18155 | 8.5% | 201053 | 93.7% | 6613 | 3.1% | 2988 | 1.4% | 3818 | 1.8% |
| Vilnius | 195071 | 128628 | 65.9% | 54596 | 28.0% | 9109 | 4.7% | 2738 | 1.4% | 125999 | 64.6% | 55006 | 28.2% | 9598 | 4.9% | 4468 | 2.3% |
| Brest | 215927 | 50248 | 23.3% | 32089 | 14.9% | 115323 | 53.4% | 18267 | 8.5% | 43020 | 19.9% | 32280 | 14.9% | 135911 | 62.9% | 4716 | 2.2% |
| Drahichyn | 97040 | 6844 | 7.1% | 6947 | 7.2% | 81557 | 84.0% | 1692 | 1.7% | 5699 | 5.9% | 6981 | 7.2% | 83147 | 85.7% | 1213 | 1.3% |
| Kamin-Kashyrskyi | 94988 | 6692 | 7.0% | 4014 | 4.2% | 75699 | 79.7% | 8583 | 9.0% | 6026 | 6.3% | 4037 | 4.3% | 83113 | 87.5% | 1812 | 1.9% |
| Kobryn | 113972 | 10040 | 8.8% | 10489 | 9.2% | 71435 | 62.7% | 22008 | 19.3% | 8973 | 7.9% | 10527 | 9.2% | 93426 | 82.0% | 1046 | 0.9% |
| Kosava | 83696 | 8456 | 10.1% | 6300 | 7.5% | 68769 | 82.2% | 171 | 0.2% | 7810 | 9.3% | 6333 | 7.6% | 68941 | 82.4% | 612 | 0.7% |
| Luninyets | 108663 | 16535 | 15.2% | 7811 | 7.2% | 83769 | 77.1% | 548 | 0.5% | 13754 | 12.7% | 8072 | 7.4% | 85728 | 78.9% | 1109 | 1.0% |
| Pinsk | 184305 | 29077 | 15.8% | 25088 | 13.6% | 128787 | 69.9% | 1353 | 0.7% | 16465 | 8.9% | 25385 | 13.8% | 140022 | 76.0% | 2433 | 1.3% |
| Pruzhany | 108583 | 17762 | 16.4% | 9419 | 8.7% | 81032 | 74.6% | 370 | 0.3% | 16311 | 15.0% | 9463 | 8.7% | 82015 | 75.5% | 794 | 0.7% |
| Stolin | 124765 | 18452 | 14.8% | 10809 | 8.7% | 92253 | 73.9% | 3251 | 2.6% | 6893 | 5.5% | 10910 | 8.7% | 105280 | 84.4% | 1682 | 1.3% |
| Grodno | 213105 | 101089 | 47.4% | 35354 | 16.6% | 69832 | 32.8% | 6830 | 3.2% | 89122 | 41.8% | 35693 | 16.7% | 87205 | 40.9% | 1085 | 0.5% |
| Vawkavysk | 171327 | 83111 | 48.5% | 13082 | 7.6% | 74823 | 43.7% | 311 | 0.2% | 76373 | 44.6% | 13283 | 7.8% | 80621 | 47.1% | 1050 | 0.6% |
In addition, Daugavpils (pop. 43,200 in 1930) in inter-war Latvia was also a major Polish community with 21% ethnic Polish inhabitants.
| +Ethnolinguistic structure (mother tongue) of the population in 24 largest cities and towns in Kresy according to the censuses of 1931 and 1930 !City !Pop. !Polish !Yiddish & Hebrew !German !Ukrainian & Ruthenian !Belarusian !Russian !Lithuanian !Other !Today part of: | ||||||||||
| Lviv | 312,231 | |||||||||
| Vilnius | 195,071 | |||||||||
| Ivano-Frankivsk | 59,960 | |||||||||
| Grodno | 49,669 | |||||||||
| Brześć | 48,385 | |||||||||
| Daugavpils | 43,226 | - | - | - | ||||||
| Boryslav | 41,496 | |||||||||
| Rivne | 40,612 | |||||||||
| Ternopil | 35,644 | |||||||||
| Lutsk | 35,554 | |||||||||
| Kolomyia | 33,788 | |||||||||
| Drohobych | 32,261 | |||||||||
| Pinsk | 31,912 | |||||||||
| Stryi | 30,491 | |||||||||
| Kovel | 27,677 | |||||||||
| Włodzimierz | 24,591 | |||||||||
| Baranavichy | 22,818 | |||||||||
| Sambir | 21,923 | |||||||||
| Kremenets | 19,877 | |||||||||
| Lida | 19,326 | |||||||||
| Chortkiv | 19,038 | |||||||||
| Brody | 17,905 | |||||||||
| Slonim | 16,251 | |||||||||
| Vawkavysk | 15,027 |
| + !Republic of the USSR !Ethnic Poles in 1959 census | |
| Belarusian SSR | 538,881 |
| Ukrainian SSR | 363,297 |
| Lithuanian SSR | 230,107 |
| Latvian SSR | 59,774 |
| Estonian SSR | 2,256 |
| Soviet Union | 185,967 |
After the collapse of the Communist system, the old Kresy returned as a Polish cultural theme in the form of historical polemics. Numerous books and albums were published about the Eastern Borderlands, frequently with original photos from the prewar era. Examples of such publications include:
In the first half of 2011, Rzeczpospolita daily published a series called "The Book of Eastern Borderlands" ( Księga kresów wschodnich). Wydania rp.pl The July 2012 issue of the Uważam Rze Historia magazine was dedicated to the Eastern Borderlands and their importance in Polish history and culture. Uważam Rze Historia (supplement), lipiec 2012 .
Many Polish organizations are active in the former Eastern Borderlands, such as the Association of Poles in Ukraine, Association of Polish Culture of the Lviv Land, the Federation of Polish Organizations in Ukraine, Union of Poles in Belarus, and the Association of Poles in Lithuania. There are Polish sports clubs (Pogoń Lwów, FK Polonia Vilnius), newspapers (Gazeta Lwowska, Kurier Wileński), radio stations (in Lviv and Vilnius), many theatres, schools, choirs and folk ensembles. Poles living in Kresy are helped by a government-sponsored organization Fundacja Pomoc Polakom na Wschodzie, and by other organizations, such as the Association of Help of Poles in the East Kresy (see also Karta Polaka). Money is frequently collected to help those Poles who live in Kresy, and there are several annual events, such as "Christmas Package for a Polish Veteran in Kresy", and "Summer with Poland", sponsored by Association "Polish Community", in which Polish children from Kresy are invited to visit Poland. Polish language handbooks and films, as well as medicines and clothes are collected and sent to Kresy. Books are most often sent to Polish schools which exist there — for example, in December 2010, University of Wrocław organized an event called "Become a Polish Santa Claus and Give a Book to a Polish Child in Kresy". Polish churches and cemeteries (such as Cemetery of the Defenders of Lwów) are renovated with money from Poland. For example, in Nysa, money is collected to renovate the Roman Catholic church in Łopatyn near Lviv, while residents of Oława collect funds to renovate the church in Sasiv, also in the area of Lviv. Aby nie zapomnieć gdzie są nasze korzenie... Also, physicians from Kraków's organization Doctors of Hope regularly visit Eastern Borderlands, and the Polish Ministry of Education runs a special program, which sends Polish teachers to the former Soviet Union. In 2007, more than 700 teachers worked in the East, most of them in Kresy. Studio East of Polish TV Wrocław organizes an event called "Save your grandfather's tomb from oblivion" ( Mogiłę pradziada ocal od zapomnienia), during which students from Lower Silesia visit Western Ukraine, to clean Polish cemeteries there. In July 2011, about 150 students cleaned 16 cemeteries in the areas of Lviv, Ternopil, Podolia and Pokuttya.
Despite wars and ethnic cleansing many treasures of Polish culture still remain in the East. In Vilnius, there is the Wróblewski Library, with 160,000 volumes and 30,000 manuscripts, which now belong to the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences. In Lviv, there is the Ossolineum, one of the most important Polish culture centres. Adolf Juzwenko, current president of Wrocław's office of the Ossolineum, says that in 1945, there was a mass public campaign in Poland, aimed at transporting the whole Ossolineum to Wrocław. It succeeded in recovering only 200,000 volumes, as the Soviets decided that the bulk of the library had to remain in Lviv.
There are numerous Kresy-oriented organizations, with the largest one, World Congress of Kresy Inhabitants ( Światowy Kongres Kresowian), located in Bytom, and branches scattered across Poland, and abroad. The Congress organizes annual World Convention and Pilgrimage of Kresy Inhabitants to Jasna Góra Monastery.
Other important Kresy organizations, active in contemporary Poland, include:
Every year, in the town of Mrągowo, there is a Festiwal Kultury Kresowej (Festival of Kresy Culture), sponsored among others by the Senate of the Republic of Poland and the Minister of Culture, with the patronage of the First Lady. The Festival is broadcast by TVP2 and TVP Polonia, and in 2011 it was organized for the 17th time. Among participants of the 2011 Festival, there were such artists, as Folk Ensemble Mozyrzanka from Mozyr, Children and Youth Band Tęcza from Minsk, Folk Band Kresowianka from Ivyanets, Polish Academic Choir Zgoda from Brest, Instrumental Band Biedronki from Minsk, Vocal Duo Wspólna wędrówka from Minsk, Children's Polonia Ensemble Dolinianka from Stara Huta (Ukraine), Ensemble Fujareczka from Sambir, Ensemble Boryslawiacy from Boryslav, Ensemble Niebo do Wynajecia from Stralhivci (Ukraine), Polish Dance and Song Ensemble Wilenka from Vilnius, Dance and Song Band Troczenie from Trakai, Band Wesołe Wilno from Vilnius, Song and Dance Ensemble Kotwica from Kaunas, and Folk and Polish Folklore Dance and Song Ensemble Syberyjski Krakowiak from Abakan in Siberia.
Other notable Kresy-oriented festivals are:
In Lubaczów is a Museum of Kresy, and there is a project, supported by local government, to create a Museum of Eastern Borderlands in Wrocław, the city where a number of Poles from Kresy settled after World War II. Numerous photo albums and books, depicting cities, towns and landscapes of Kresy are published every year in Poland. In Chełm, there is Kresy Bicycle Marathon, Polish Radio Białystok every week broadcasts Kresy Magazine, dedicated to the history and present times of the Eastern Borderlands. Every Sunday, Polish Radio Katowice broadcasts a program based on famous prewar Lwów's Merry Wave, every Tuesday, Polish Radio Rzeszów broadcasts a program Kresy Landscapes. In Wrocław, the Association of Remembrance of Victims of Ukrainian Nationalists publishes Na Rubieży ( On the Border) magazine. Among best known Kresy activists of contemporary Poland are Father Tadeusz Isakowicz-Zaleski, and Dr. Tadeusz Kukiz, father of popular singer Paweł Kukiz. Since 2007, annual medals Heritage of Eastern Borderlands are awarded in Wrocław. The 2011 recipient was emeritus Archbishop of Wrocław, Henryk Gulbinowicz. Participants of annual Katyń Motorcycle Raid ( Motocyklowy Rajd Katyński) always visit Polish centers in Kresy, giving presents to children, and meeting local Poles.
The program of 2011 Days of Kresy Culture (October 22–23) in Brzeg covered such events, as: Kresy themed cabaret, promotion of Kresy books, Eastern Borderlands cuisine, mass in a local church, meetings with Kresy activists and scholars, and theatre shows of Brzeg's Garrison Club as well as Lwów Eaglets Middle School number 3 in Brzeg. Organizers of the festival assured that for the two days Brzeg would turn into the "capital of interwar Polish Kresy".
In January, February and March 2012, Centre for Public Opinion Research did a survey, asking Poles about their ties to Kresy. It turned out that almost 15% of the population of Poland (4,3 - 4,6 million people) declared that they either were born in the Kresy, or have a parent or a grandparent from that region. The number of Kresowiacy is high in northern and western Poland – as many as 51% of inhabitants of Lubusz Voivodeship, and 47% of inhabitants of Lower Silesian Voivodeship stated that their family has ties to the Kresy. Furthermore, Kresowiacy now make 30% of the population of Opole Voivodeship, 25% of the population of West Pomeranian Voivodeship, and 18% of the population of Warmian–Masurian Voivodeship. CBOS: co siódmy Polak pochodzi z Kresów, onet.pl Retrieved April 16, 2012
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