Origins

First ideas of granting autonomy to Polish-populated areas of the Soviet Union were created during the Polish-Soviet war, however, they did not plan to create whole districts, but rather granting autonomy to separate villages. In 1925 it was decided that a district would be created in Soviet Ukraine, where, according to the 1926 survey, 476.435 Poles lived. They made 1.6% of Ukrainian population, but in the Zhitomir Oblast, their number reached 10%. Among persons, who supported the district, were Soviet communists of Polish origin, such as Feliks Kon, Julian Marchlewski, Feliks Dzierzynski and Tomasz Dabal. Thus, Marchlewszczyzna, a later Dzierżyńszczyzna, were created.

Marchlewszczyzna

Marchlewszczyzna was the Polish Autonomous District in Ukraine created on March 22, 1925, in eastern Volynia, 100 km west of Zhytomyr, with capital at the town of Marchlewsk (known before and after as Dołbysz or Dowbysz, presently Довбиш - Dovbysh in Ukraine), located some 120 kilometers from eastern border of the Second Polish Republic. It was named after a Polish bolshevik Julian Marchlewski, who dreamed about Poland becoming part of the Soviet Union.

In initial years of the district's existence, local Poles enjoyed limited autonomy, with 55 Polish-language schools, 80 reading rooms and a Polish daily Marchlewszczyzna Radziecka (Soviet Marchlewszczyzna). At the same time, its inhabitants were subject to intense communist propaganda. Polish grammar rules, regarded as bourgeoisie, were changed, however, thr district lacked educated people. Majority of its inhabitants were Polish peasants, faithful Roman-Catholics, who were not interested in communism and its slogans. Therefore, such persons as Tomasz Dabal, were brought there and their task was to indoctrinate the locals and raise them in atheist way. An organization, named Polish Anticatholic Section was founded, but all efforts were fruitless, as the Poles did not give up their faith.

Soviet authorities, which wanted to create Polish laborers, future citizens of Polish Soviet Republic, built there several factories as well as power plants and telephone lines. This also brought about improvement in the quality of life, but all efforts were destroyed in early 1930s, when collectivization began. Polish peasants opposed it fiercely, and thousands of them perished in the Holodomor.

Initially, ethnic Poles made around 70% of district's population, which in 1926 totalled around 41.000. Other inhabitants were Ukrainians (20%), Germans (7%) and Jews. In 1930, after several adjacent villages were added to Marchlewszczyzna, the population grew to 52.000, with Poles still making 70%. It has been estimated that the district consisted of around 100 villages, settlements and smaller towns.

Dzierżyńszczyzna

Dzierżyńszczyzna was a Polish Autonomous District in Belarus, near Minsk and close to the Soviet-Polish border of the time. It was created on March 15, 1932, with the capital at Dzierżyńsk (Dzyarzhynsk, Dzerzhynsk, formerly known as Kojdanów). It was named after the bolshevik of Polish ancestry, Felix Dzerzhinsky.

Similarly to Marchewszczyzna, limited Polish autonomy in the area was a real fact, with Polish-language schools, libraries and institutions. At the same time, however, the inhabitants were subject to intensive communist propaganda. Religious life was suppressed, and the campaign of collecivization, carried out in mid-1930s, met resistance of local Polish peasants. Unlike Marchewszczyzna, which was the real center of Polish cultural life in the Soviet Union, Dzierżyńszczyzna did not gain such status and its influence was limited.

Disbanding

Polish districts were among those which resisted Soviet collectivization and atheization. For political reasons, drastic measures were initially not applied in these areas. Eventually, Marchlewszczyzna was disbanded in 1935 at the onset of the Great Purge and most of their administration was executed. Many men were shot, women and children deported to Kazakhstan. More than 50 000 Poles were murdered in places like Kurapaty or Vinnitsa, many others were murdered or starved in Kazakhstan. Dzierżyńszczyzna existed three years longer, it was disbanded in 1938.

Reasons for disbanding the districts are still unknown. In mid-1930s, a campaing of mass repressions of ethnic groups of the Soviet Union was started. There are also speculations that Poles' rejection of collectivization and their loyalty to the Roman Catholic church convinced Soviet officials that the idea of creating future Polish Soviet Socialist Republic would not work out. All Polish schools and libraries were closed, Tomasz Dabal was murdered in 1936 and territories of both districts were divided between neighboring raions.

After World War Two, in both Soviet and communist Polish historiographies, the existence of the districts was omitted, perhaps because the authorities of both countries wanted to avoid uneasy questions about sudden rejection of the Leninist postulate about the rights of nations for self-determination.

The area of Marchlewszczyzna is still inhabited by the Polish minority, in the town of Dovbysh they make half of population. There are also Poles in Dzierżyńszczyzna.

Sources

• Mikolaj Iwanow, Pierwszy naród ukarany. Polacy w Związku Radzieckim 1921-1939 (The first nation to be punished: Poles in the USSR, 1921-1939), Warsaw-Wroclaw. Panstwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe. 1991. ISBN 83-01-10537-2

See also

• Polish operation of the NKVD
• Population transfer in the Soviet Union