Sybirak

History

Russian and Soviet authorities exiled many Poles to Siberia, starting with the 18th-century opponents of the Russian Empire's increasing influence in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (most notably the members of the Bar Confederation of 1768–1772). Maurice, Count de Benyovszky was deported and emigrated to Madagascar.

After the Russian Empire's penal law changed in 1847, exile and penal labor (katorga) became common punishment for participants in national uprisings within the empire. This led to sending an increasing number of Poles to Siberia for katorga, when they then became known as Sybiraks. Some of them remained there, forming a Polish minority in Siberia. Most of them came from the participants and supporters of the November Uprising of 1830-1831 and of the January Uprising of 1863–1864, from the participants of the 1905-1907 unrest and from the hundreds of thousands of people deported after the Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939.

Around the late 19th century, a number of Polish voluntary settlers moved to Siberia, attracted by the economic development of the region. Polish migrants and exiles, many of whom were forbidden to move away from the region even after having finished serving their sentence, formed a Polish minority there. Hundreds of Poles took part in the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway. Notable Polish scholars studied Siberia, such as Aleksander Czekanowski, Jan Czerski, Benedykt Dybowski, Wiktor Godlewski, Sergiusz Jastrzębski, Edward Piekarski (1858-1934), Bronisław Piłsudski, Wacław Sieroszewski, Mikołaj Witkowski and others.

The term Sybiracy might also refer to former exiles, such as those who were allowed to return to Russian controlled parts of Poland following the amnesty of 1857 . The group, popular among the youth in the period preceding the outbreak of the January Uprising, supported the idea of organic work. However, during the January Uprising it ceased to exist as some of its members supported the Reds, while others supported the Whites. Among the most notable members of the group were Agaton Giller, Henryk Krajewski, Karol Ruprecht and Szymon Tokarzewski.

About 20,000 Poles lived in Siberia around the 1860s. An unsuccessful uprising of Polish political exiles in Siberia broke out in 1866.

Soviet era

At the start of World War II the Soviets deported hundreds of thousands of Polish citizens, most of them in four mass waves. Some sources claim as many as 1.5 million deportees. The most conservative figures use recently found NKVD documents showing 309,000 to 381,220.

Soviet authorities did not recognize ethnic Poles as Polish citizens. In addition, some of the figures are based on those given an amnesty rather than those deported, Therefore, figures based on official evidence might be an underestimation.

References

References

1. (2006). "Sybirak". [[Polish Scientific Publishers PWN.
2. Davies, Norman. (1996). "Europe: A History". Oxford University Press.
3. Dennis J. Dunn. (2004). "The Catholic Church and Russia: Popes, Patriarchs, Tsars, and Commissars". Ashgate Publishing.
4. Lerski, Jerzy Jan. (1996). "Historical Dictionary of Poland, 966-1945". Greenwood Publishing Group.
5. "sybiracy". [[Polish Scientific Publishers PWN.
6. Davies, N.. (1986). "God's Playground A History of Poland". Clarendon.
7. Polian, P.. (2004). "Against their Will". CEU Press.
8. Hope, M.. (2005). "Polish Deportees in the Soviet Union". Veritas.
9. "Holocaust: Five Million Forgotten: Non Jewish Victims of the Shoah". remember.org.
10. Malcher, G. C.. (1993). "Blank Pages". Pyrford.
11. Piesakowski, T.. (1990). "The Fate of Poles in the USSR 1939~1989". Gryf.
12. Mikolajczyk, S.. (1948). "The Pattern of Soviet Domination". Sampsons, low, Marston & Co..
13. "Magdeburg Sting 1936". minelinks.com.
14. Piotrowski, T.. (2004). "The Polish Deportees of World War II". McFarland.
15. Gross, J. T.. (2002). "Revolution from Abroad". Princeton.
16. Cienciala, M.. (2007). "Katyn A Crime Without Punishment". Yale University.
17. Polian, P.. (2004). "Against their Will". CEU Press.
18. "Lecture 17: Poland Under Occupation".
19. Applebaum, A.. (2004). "Gulag : A History". Penguin.
20. Krupa, M.. (2004). "Shallow Graves in Siberia". Birlinn.
21. Rees, L.. (2008). "World War Two Behind Closed Doors".
22. Jolluck, K.. (2002). "Exile & Identity". University of Pittsburgh.