Siegemen

Shortly before the Battle of Warsaw, Polish Prime Minister Vincent Vitos announced on August 7, 1920 that soldiers and volunteers who fought at the front will have priority in acquiring private land in state ownership, and those who deserve a military award will receive land for free ^{[12 ]} .

On October 18, 1920, Jozef Pilsudski announced plans for colonization:

“I have already proposed to the government that part of the acquired land become the property of those who made it Polish, renewing it with Polish blood and hard work. This land, sown with the bloody seed of war, is waiting for peaceful sowing, waiting for those who will replace the sword with a plow and would like to win as many peaceful victories in this future work as we had on the battlefield ” ^[13] .

Original text (Polish)

"" Zaproponowałem już rządowi, by część zdobytej ziemi została własnością tych, co ją polską zrobili, uznoiwszy ją polską krwią i trudem niezmiernym. Ziemia ta zemjeje kjeje kejen a chciałbym byście w tej pracy przyszłej tyleż zwycięstw pokojowych odnieśli, ileście ich mieli w pracy bojowe »"

On December 17, 1920, the Polish Sejm adopted the Law on the Nationalization of the Lands of the North-Eastern Powers ^[14] , which extended its influence to the lands of 22 Powies of the eastern voivodships of Poland (Brest, Pruzhany, Volkovysk , Slonim, Novogrudok, Baranavitsky, Vileysk, Dzisnensky, Nesvezhsky, Luninets, Pinsk, Kobryn, Wlodzimer, Kovel, Lutsk, Rovno, Dublin, Sarnensk, Kshemenets, Ostrog, Grodno and Lida counties) ^{[14] [15]} . On the same day, the Law on the Provision of Troops of the Polish Land Forces ^[14] was adopted, defining the categories of servicemen who were vested with the right to free land plots, as well as the procedure for their registration. Based on these laws, the military could apply for a land plot. The distribution of land among the candidates for resettlement was carried out by Major Tadeusz Lekhnicki, who led the Military rivalry Section of the Mobilization Department of the Ministry of Defense, which was led by General of the Polish Army Mieczyslaw Norwid-Neugebauer ^[16] .

In the spring of 1921, the first groups of immigrants arrived in settlements in Volyn . According to the Polish historian Lydia of Glovac, the lands that were transferred to the besiegers in Volyn were formerly the property of large Russian landowners, included in the register of “state lands” of the Russian Empire , church property or plots that were left by representatives of the Russian nobility during the First World War before the German offensive in 1915 ^[17] . A typical plot for the siege family had an area of ​​20 hectares. Military personnel with higher education could receive up to 45 hectares so that, according to the plan of the organizers of the colonization, they had the opportunity to create exemplary farms. The value of the land was paid off after a five-year tenure subject to an annual surrender of 30 to 100 kilograms of grain per hectare ^[18] .

The constant economic crisis in Poland in the 1920s and the opposition of opposition parties led to the suspension of the implementation of government plans to colonize the eastern voivodships in 1923. By this time, only 4% of the settlers who arrived in the eastern provinces owned their own land, while the rest either rented land at a high price or seized empty land, which caused discontent among the local population ^[19] . Government plans for the colonization of eastern voivodships were also opposed by local large landowners, Ukrainian and Belarusian peasants. Large landowners were afraid that their land ownership would be nationalized and transferred to the besiegers, while among the local peasants who rented land from the landowners, there was excitement because the land they rented would be transferred to the settlers ^[20] . By 1923, out of 99.153 applicants for land, only 7.345 precipitators received it ^[20] . Of the hundreds of new settlements planned by the government in the Volyn Voivodeship , only three colonies were created with 51 inhabitants in total ^[20] . The same slow pace was in other places. In total, by 1923, Polish demobilization troops had been given land with a total area of ​​1.331.46 square kilometers ^[20] . Of the 8.732 transferred land plots by January 1, 1923, only 5.557 plots entered into actual ownership ^[20] .

On May 4, 1923, the Sejm suspended military colonization, and on June 20, 1924 adopted a law that gave the right to buy land in East Kresy not only to Poles, but also to people of a different nationality who were “not punished for crimes against the Polish state” ^[21] .

The Polish government has repeatedly made efforts to intensify resettlement. In 1926, the second action began on the transfer of land to former military personnel. By 1929, about 600 thousand hectares of land were given to the besiegers. From 1929 to 1933, government activities on this issue practically ceased. In 1935, the government made another attempt to revive this project, but it was unsuccessful. At this time, due to the economic crisis, food prices dropped significantly, so most siege farms were in negative balance with an average debt of 458 zlotys per hectare ^[20] .

Most of the Polish immigrants were members of the Union of the Siege, which was founded in March 1922. This organization contributed to the self-organization of the resettlement communities, issued cheap loans and scholarships for study in various agricultural higher educational institutions. The Union of Precipitators published from 1923 to 1931 a bi-weekly printed organ , Osadnik (later, Miesięcznik Osadniczy ).

After 1945

After World War II , another campaign began to relocate the siege to the so-called Returned Lands , which were transferred to Poland after the war. On these lands were displaced people of Polish nationality from the Eastern Kressa and demobilized military personnel. Initially, the settlers settled in the border areas along the Odra and Nysa-Luzhitsk rivers and later on the territory of modern West Pomeranian , Pomeranian and Warmian-Masurian voivodships . At the same time, Rusyns from the Subcarpathian Voivodeship moved here as part of the Wisla campaign .

At that time, the Inspectorate General of Military Upset, operating under the control of the Main Political and Educational Directorate under the command of Generals Karol Sverchevsky and Pyotr Yaroshevich, was operating in the Polish Army. This Inspectorate General was deploying demobilized troops to the former German territories. The so-called Operational Regimental Groups were created, consisting of 20 military personnel who were organizing the new military osdnichestvo. As a result of this work, about 200 thousand people moved to the Returned Lands. Until the end of 1945, the 1st Army of the Polish Army transferred 700 horses, 1300 cattle and 180 pigs to military immigrants. Two years later in 1947, a total of more than 2,800 horses from the 1st Cavalry Division of the Polish Army were transferred. On June 24, 1948, the Inspectorate General was dissolved ^[22] .

After the incorporation of East Kresy into the USSR in 1939, the term "besiegers" became one of the categories of crimes in the Soviet legal system. Initially, this term was used in relation to the so-called Polish "fists", later it began to be used similarly to the term " enemy of the people ." The property of the besiegers was nationalized, and they began to apply repressive norms in civil law, which led to the fact that 10% of the Polish population returned to the territory of ethnic Poland, which at that time was already part of the Governor General of the Third Reich .

The expulsion of families of besiegers in February 1940 was the first wave of resettlement of Polish citizens deep into the USSR after the annexation of the former eastern voivodships in 1939. In April 1940, the so-called “administrative-deportees” (representatives of a hostile social class and persons of state power of the Commonwealth) were expelled, and “special refugees” were resettled in the depths of the USSR in late June – early July 1940 ^[9] .

On December 2, 1939, the NKVD, in a letter to the People's Commissar Lavrenty Beria, made a proposal to expel all families of the besiegers from the western regions of the Ukrainian SSR and BSSR until February 15, 1940. On December 4, 1939, the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, by decision No. P9 / 158, decided to evict the besiegers to logging the People's Commissars of the USSR. The final decision of the Politburo No. P11 / 68 of December 29, 1939 and the Decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR No. 2122-617ss of December 29, 1939 adopted three documents for execution by the NKVD:

• “The provision on special settlements and the labor structure of siege deportees from the western regions of the Ukrainian SSR and BSSR” ;
• “Instructions on the procedure for the resettlement of sieges from the western regions of the Ukrainian SSR and BSSR” ;
• "States of the district and township commandant's office of the NKVD special settlements . "

On January 17, 1940, an “Instruction for the heads of echelons for escorting special settlers-besiegers” was published , which was developed by the Deputy People’s Commissar of Internal Affairs V. V. Chernyshov.

According to the non-governmental organization Memorial, by February 10, 1940, the following number of precipitators were sent as part of 100 echelons ^[9] :

In accordance with the Decree of the Council of People 's Commissars "On the deportation of Polish special settlers from the siege of the western regions of Ukraine and Belarus" No. 2122-617ss of December 29, 1939, Polish citizens were evicted who acquired any land after 1918 ^[24] . Later, the decision was valid in relation to representatives of the local population, regardless of nationality, who bought after 1918 a land plot in a settlement other than the place of residence ^[25] . Most of the deportees were representatives of Polish nationality (115 thousand people), about 10 thousand Ukrainians, 11 thousand Belarusians and 2 thousand people of a different nationality. According to the NKVD Instructions, the sieges were sent to logging and settled in separate villages from 100 to 500 families.

Shortly after the outbreak of World War II on July 30, 1941, an agreement was signed in London between the Ambassador of the USSR Ivan Maysky and the Polish Prime Minister in exile Sikorsky on the restoration of diplomatic relations between the USSR and Poland ^[26] . One of the clauses of this agreement was the decision to create Polish military units in the USSR and the amnesty of Polish citizens, which was announced on August 12, 1941.

According to the “Certificate on the number of resettled special settlers-settlers, refugees and repressed families (deported from the western regions of the Ukrainian SSR and BSSR) as of August 1, 1941” by V. V. Chernyshov there were 132463 settlers in the USSR (this also included the so-called "foresters") ^[27] . On August 12, 1941, the Council of People's Commissars and the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks (Bolsheviks) adopted a decree “On the Procedure for the Release and Deployment of Polish Citizens Amnestied in accordance with the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR,” which ordered the release of the besiegers and their families. By this decree, the besiegers were allowed to live on the territory of the USSR, with the exception of border areas, regime cities and localities declared martial law ^[27] . Subsequently, the Anders Army was formed from the precipitators.

• Pavel Polyan, Not voluntarily ..., OGI Memorial, Moscow, 2001. ISBN 5-94282-007-4 .
• Kіzima S.A., Lyantsevich V.M., Samahvalaў Dz. S. Gistoryya Belarus: Lecture course. - Mn .: Vyd-va MIK, 2003 .-- 91 p.
• Stobniak-Smogorzewska J. Kresowe osadnictwo wojskowe 1920—1945. — Warszawa, RYTM, 2003, ISBN 83-7399-006-2

• Репрессии против поляков и польских граждан
• С. А. Папков. Сталинский террор в Сибири. 1928—1941
• «Ustawa z dnia 17 grudnia 1920 r. o przejęciu na własność Państwa ziemi w niektórych powiatach Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej ». Dziennik Ustaw 4 (17). 1921.
• «Ustawa z dnia 17 grudnia 1920 r. o nadaniu ziemi żołnierzom Wojska Polskiego ». Dziennik Ustaw 4 (18). 1921.
• Спецсообщение Л. П. Берии И. В. Сталину о выселении осадников из западной Украины и Белоруссии
• Т. Ф. Мельник, Польские осадники на Пинежье (Чернецкие в Пачихе) (недоступная ссылка)
• Правда и вымыслы о польских военных осадниках
• Jan Jerzy Milewski, Osadnicy wojskowi na Kresach, Biuletyn Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej, 12/2004, стр.44-50