Abstract

The Polish Autonomous District with its capital in the city of Marchlewsk was established in the Soviet Union in 1925. The purpose of this project, accompanied by the creation Polish-language schools, Polish-language press and books, Polish village councils, Polish caucuses in political committees, Polish worker clubs and other educa-tional and cultural organizations, was to promote the Soviet political model in regions inhabited by national minorities, in particular in the Ukraine where the Polish popu-lation was estimated at 0.5 million people. The nationalistic policies endorsed by the Bolsheviks targeted mainly Polish communities residing in the Soviet Union.

The tragic history and the bitter fate of the Polish Autonomous District is a unique experience in Polish history and martyrology. There is not other place in the world where members of the Polish community had paid an equally high price for pre-serving their national identity. According to estimates, 16,000 people had been depor-ted from the district to eastern Russia between 1935 and 1939. At least 1,500 inhabi-tants of the Polish Autonomous District were executed, and the district was dissolved by the Soviet authorities.