THE JOURNAL OF REGIONAL HISTORY V.5 No.4
Poles in the Arkhangelsk exile during the Second World War (a case study of the ...
THE JOURNAL OF REGIONAL HISTORY V.5 No.4

Poles in the Arkhangelsk exile during the Second World War (a case study of the special settlements of Uima and Koskovo)

Authors:
Mikhail N. Suprun, Alena I. Gerasimova
DOI:
Full text:
After the outbreak of the Second World War, the eastern territories of Poland were occupied by the Soviet troops (and the new Soviet-Polish border was removed far to the West). Almost 320 thousand Polish citizens who resided in these territories were arrested and sent to the camps and special settlements in the remote regions of the USSR. Of them, almost 58 thousand people were deported to Arkhangelsk Oblast. Based on the materials of two special settlements of Primorsky Raion of Arkhangelsk Oblast, this article considers the process of deportation of Polish citizens, the conditions of their accommodation and labor, their legal status, and repatriation. The authors made an attempt to identify social groups, establish the sex and age composition of the deportees, describe the process of their adaptation to the new conditions and labor efficiency, and point out the peculiarities of the application of amnesty and repatriation. According to the results of the study, the authors came to the conclusion that the conditions in the special settlements under study were such that the death rate among Polish settlers there in the first winter was almost 10% despite the territorial proximity of these settlements to the regional center. Of the survivors, only 20% of working-age men could be involved in the work in the forest. The rest of the exiles consisted of women and children, more than half of whom (47%) were children under the age of 14. In violation of the law, another 15–20% of this number could be sent to work, but in any case, the labor efficiency of such workers was minimal. The situation was aggravated by the lack of normal working and living conditions, which entailed high disease incidence and, as a result, absence from work. Such a contingent became burdensome for logging enterprises. Even with the lowest wages, special settlers’ labor was unprofitable. Meanwhile, even after the 1941 amnesty, the authorities did everything they could to keep the special settlers in the USSR. The authors explain this fact by an attempt to make Polish citizens hostages in resolving the “Polish issue,” i.e. recognition of the new Soviet-Polish border by the West and the Polish Government-in-Exile in London. As soon as an agreement with the allies on the western border of the USSR was reached and the special settlers got an opportunity to leave the USSR, there was no single Polish citizen who wanted to stay in the Soviet Union, and all of them hastened to leave for their homeland.
Mikhail N. Suprun
Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor
Northern (Arctic) Federal University named after M. Lomonosov, Arkhangelsk, Russia
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1921-3615
suprun.ru@mail.ru
Alena I. Gerasimova
Student
Northern (Arctic) Federal University named after M. Lomonosov, Arkhangelsk, Russia
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2310-7244
gerasimova.a@edu.narfu.ru
Bugai, N., comp. Iosif Stalin – Lavrentiyu Berii: “Ikh nado deportirovat'…”: dokumenty, fakty kommentarii [Joseph Stalin to Lavrenty Beria: “They are to be deported”: documents, facts, commentary]. Moscow: Druzhba narodov, 1992. (In Russian)
Ciesielski, S. Terror na co dzien. Polityka represyina w ZSSR 1945–1953. Torun: Wydawnictwo Adam Marszałek, 2015.
Ciesielski, S. Represje sowieckie wobec Polaków i obywateli polskich. Warsaw: Ośrodek Karta, 2002.
Glowacki, A. Ocalić i repatriować. Opieka nad ludnością polską w głębi terytorium ZSRR (1943–1946). Łódź: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego, 1994.
Glowacki, А. Przemieszczenie obywateli polskich w Związku Radzieckim w 1944 roku. Łódź: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu łódzkiego, 1989.
Glowacki, A. Sowieci wobec Polaków na ziemiach wschodnich II Rzeczypospolitej 1939–1941. Łódź: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu łódzkiego, 1997.
Gur'yanov, A.E. “Pol'skie spetspereselentsy v Arkhangel'skoi, Kirovskoi oblastyakh i Komi ASSR v 1940‒1941 gg.” [Polish special settlers in Arkhangelsk Oblast, Kirov Oblast and Komi ASSR in 1940‒1941]. In Katorga i ssylka na Severe Rossii [Penal servitude and exile in the North of Russia], vol. 1, Pol'skaya ssylka: sbornik statei [Polish exile: collected articles], edited by M.N. Suprun, 128‒45. St Petersburg; Arkhangelsk: Pomorskii gosudarstvennyi universitet im. M.V. Lomonosova, 2004. (In Russian)
Ignatova, N.M. “Prinuditel'nyi trud spetspereselentsev kak sistemnyi faktor industrial'nogo osvoeniya severnykh regionov v 1930–1950 gg.” [Forced labor of special settlers as a systemic factor in the industrial development of the northern regions in the 1930s–1950s]. In Istoriya stalinizma: Prinuditel'nyi trud v SSSR. Ekonomika, politika, pamyat': materialy mezhdunarodnoi nauchnoi konferentsii. Moskva, 28–29 oktyabrya 2011 g. [History of Stalinism: Forced labor in the USSR. Economy, politics, memory: materials of the international scientific conference. Moscow, October 28–29, 2011], edited by L.I. Borodkin, S.A. Krasil'nikov, O.V. Khlevnyuk, 433–49. Moscow: ROSSPEN; Fond “Prezidentskii tsentr B. N. El'tsina”, 2013. (In Russian)
Ignatova, N.M. Spetspereselentsy v Respublike Komi v 1930–1950-e gody [Special settlers in the Komi Republic in the 1930s–1950s]. Syktyvkar: Komi nauchnyi tsentr Ural'skogo otdeleniya RAN, 2009. (In Russian)
Jasiewicz, K. Pierwsi po diable. Elity sowieckie w okupowaney Polsce, 1939–1941. Warsaw: Oficyna Wydawnicza Rytm, 2002.
Kendzera, S.E. “Komissiya istorikov Rossii i Pol'shi v kontse XX – nachale XXI veka: sokhranenie traditsii i novye gorizonty” [Commission of historians of Russia and Poland at the end of the 20th – beginning of the 21st century: preservation of traditions and new horizons]. Slavyanovedenie, no. 5 (2015): 92–96. (In Russian)
Kuz'minykh, A.L., and S.I. Starostin. Polyaki v Vologodskoi oblasti: repressii, plen, spetsposelenie (1937–1953 gg.) [Poles in the Vologda region: repression, captivity, special settlement (1937–1953)]. Vologda: Drevnosti Severa, 2014. (In Russian)
Lavrenov, S.Ya., et al., comps. Russkii arkhiv: Velikaya Otechestvennaya [Russian archive: Great Patriotic War]. Vol. 14 (3–1), SSSR i Pol'sha: 1941–1945: k istorii voennogo soyuza: dokumenty i materialy [USSR and Poland: 1941–1945: on the history of the military alliance: documents and materials]. Moscow: Terra, 1994. (In Russian)
Materski, W. Ocalić i repatriować. Opieka nad ludnością polską w głębi terytorium ZSRR (1943–1946). Łódź: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu łódzkiego, 1994.
Materski, W. Polska 1939–1945. Straty osobowe i ofiary represji pod dwiema okupacjami. Warsaw: Instytut Pamięci Narodowej, 2009.
Materski, W. Sowieci wobec Polaków na ziemiach wschodnich II Rzeczypospolitej 1939 –1941. Łódź: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu łódzkiego, 1997.
Mel'nik, T.F. “Pol'skie osadniki na Pinezh'e, Chernetskie v Pachikhe” [Polish osadniks in Pinega land, the Chernetskys in Pachikha]. In Katorga i ssylka na Severe Rossii [Penal servitude and exile in the North of Russia], vol. 1, Pol'skaya ssylka: sbornik statei [Polish exile: collected articles], edited by M.N. Suprun, 200–33. St Petersburg; Arkhangelsk: Pomorskii gosudarstvennyi universitet im. M.V. Lomonosova, 2004. (In Russian)
Mitin, V.A. “Sud'ba pol'skikh grazhdan, deportirovannykh v Arkhangel'skuyu oblast' v 1940 g.” [The fate of Polish citizens deported to Arkhangelsk Oblast in 1940]. In Katorga i ssylka na Severe Rossii [Penal servitude and exile in the North of Russia], vol. 1, Pol'skaya ssylka: sbornik statei [Polish exile: collected articles], edited by M.N. Suprun, 146‒54. St Petersburg; Arkhangelsk: Pomorskii gosudarstvennyi universitet im. M.V. Lomonosova, 2004. (In Russian)
Nakhapetov, B.A. Ocherki istorii sanitarnoi sluzhby GULAGa [Essays on the history of the medical service of the GULAG]. Moscow: ROSSPEN, 2009. (In Russian)
Rybarska E., et al., comps. Deportowani w obwodzie archangielskim. Czesc 7, Alfabetyczny wykaz 7680 obywateli polskich wywiezionych w 1940 roku z obwodu rowienskiego, tarnopolskiego, stanislawskiego, i drogobyckiego oraz bez ustalonego obwodu wywoski. Indeks represjonowanych, T. XIV. Warsaw: Osrodek KARTA, 2007.
Saburova, T.S. “Deportirovannye polyaki na Arkhangel'skom Severe (po materialam sledstvennykh del KGB–FSB)” [Deported Poles in the Arkhangelsk North (based on the materials of the KGB–FSB investigative files)]. In Katorga i ssylka na Severe Rossii [Penal servitude and exile in the North of Russia], vol. 1, Pol'skaya ssylka: sbornik statei [Polish exile: collected articles], edited by M.N. Suprun, 189–99. St Petersburg; Arkhangelsk: Pomorskii gosudarstvennyi universitet im. M.V. Lomonosova, 2004. (In Russian)
Starostin, S.I. “Mass deportations and the system of special settlements in Vologda region in the 1930s–1950s,” Historia Provinciae – The Journal of Regional History, vol. 3, no. 1 (2019): 212–317, http:// doi.org/10.23859/2587-8344-2019-3-1-4
Suprun, M.N. “Polyaki na Russkom Severe v gody Vtoroi mirovoi voiny (1939–1945): repressii, plen, spetsposeleniya” [Poles in the Russian North during the Second World War (1939–1945): repression, captivity, special settlements]. Vestnik Moskovskogo gorodskogo pedagogicheskogo universiteta. Seriya: Istoricheskie nauki, no. 2 (34) (2019): 41–58. (In Russian)
Upadyshev, N.V. GULAG na Arkhangel'skom Severe: 1919–1953 gg. [GULAG in the Arkhangelsk North: 1919–1953]. Arkhangelsk: Pomorskii gоsudarstvennyi universitet im. M.V. Lomonosova, 2004. (In Russian)
Vasil'chenko, T.E. “Deportatsiya pol'skikh grazhdan iz zapadnykh oblastei USSR i BSSR na Evropeiskii Sever (fevral' 1940 – 22 iyunya 1941 godov)” [Deportation of Polish citizens from the western regions of the Ukrainian SSR and the BSSR to the European North (February 1940 – June 22, 1941)], Vestnik Severnogo (Arkticheskogo) federal'nogo universiteta. Seriya: Gumanitarnye i sotsial'nye nauki, no. 2 (2008): 5–8. (In Russian)
Katorga i ssylka na Severe Rossii. Materialy i issledovaniya [Penal servitude and exile in the North of Russia. Materials and research]. 4 vols. Vol. 4. Vasil'chenko, T.E. Pol'skie grazhdane na Evropeiskom Severe SSSR: ot deportatsii k amnistii i repatriatsii (1939–1946 gg.) [Polish citizens in the European North of the USSR: from deportation to amnesty and repatriation (1939–1946)], edited by M.N. Suprun. Arkhangelsk: KIRA, 2010. (In Russian)
Vasil'chenko, T.E. “Pol'skie spetspereselentsy v Arkhangel'skoi oblasti v gody vtoroi mirovoi voiny” [Polish special settlers in Arkhangelsk Oblast during the Second World War]. In Katorga i ssylka na Severe Rossii [Penal servitude and exile in the North of Russia], edited by M.N. Suprun, R.A. Khantalin, and S.O. Shalyapin, vol. 2, 141–55. Arkhangelsk: KIRA, 2006. (In Russian)
Keywords:
Second World War, deportation of Polish citizens, Arkhangelsk Oblast, social history of the special settlements of osadniks and foresters
For citation:
M.N. Suprun, and A.I. Gerasimova, “Poles in the Arkhangelsk exile during the Second World War (a case study of the special settlements of Uima and Koskovo).” Historia Provinciae – the Journal of Regional History, vol. 5, no. 4 (2021): 1294–1324, https://doi.org/10.23859/2587-8344-2021-5-4-6

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

ISSN 2587-8344 (Online)