Przesiedlenia ludności polskiej z Litwy etnicznej w latach 1945-1947

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Lenkų evakuacija; Lenkų tautybės gyventojai; 20 amžius; Lietuvių-lenkų santykiai; Lituanizacija; Nacionaliniai santykiai tarybinėje Lietuvoje; Perkėlimai; Politinė istorija; Evacuation of the Polish Population; Lithuania in 1945-1947; Lithuanization; National Relations in Soviet Lithuania; Polish population; Polish-Lithuanian Relations; Political history; Resettlements.

ENDuring the inter-war period the Republic of Lithuania was inhabited by about 200 000 Poles, in whose documents the Lithuanian administration frequently recorded Lithuanian nationality. Lithuanian nationalist ideology claimed that almost all Poles living in Lithuania constituted ,,Polonised Lithuanians”, who should be by all possible means persuaded to return to their Lithuanian nationality. In the aftermath of the second world war, the whole territory of so-called Kowno (Kaunas) Lithuania and that part of Lithuania territory which earlier had belonged to Poland (the Wilno [Vilnius] region) became part of the Soviet Union. In 1944-1948 thousands of people were resettled to Poland from the terrains seized by the USSR. The resettlements were traditionally described as repatriation, although this term appears to have been inadequate. As late as September 1944 the authorities of Soviet Lithuania and the Polish communist authorities signed a convention according to which all Poles and Jews with Polish citizenship dating from prior to 17 September 1939 were to be resettled to Poland.The convention thus pertained primarily to the inhabitants of Wilno Lithuania. In view of the fact that numerous Poles from the Kowno region, who previously had been Lithuanian citizens, also declared their willingness to leave, the authorities of Soviet Lithuania agreed to the departure of Poles from Wilno and created a number of obstacles for resettling the "Polonised Lithuanians" from rural terrains and those of inter-war Lithuania. The evacuation of persons with Lithuanian citizenship and registered as Lithuanian nationals was particularly hindered since they were regarded as Lithuanians. As a consequence, the number of persons in Kowno Lithuania who in 1945 signed up for evacuation totalled about 18 000, of whom only 10% managed to leave. It is probable that this group included numerous former war refugees from Poland, and thus that the real number of evacuated Poles- -Lithuanian citizens was even smaller. The majority did not win the authorities’ consent for departure. [From the publication]