Home – Home – Jornals – Humanitarian sciences in Siberia 2014 number

The article deals with peculiarities of repatriation of refugees, optants and prisoners of war after signing a Peace Treaty between the Soviet Russia and the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic on the one part and Poland on the other part in Riga in 1921. The topic of repatriation of Poles from Siberia is poorly covered both by Russian and Polish historiography. The aim of the paper is to characterize the concrete historical circumstances of repatriation of refugees, optants and prisoners of war from Siberia to Poland. Archival fond of the Central Office for Evacuations of the People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs of RSFSR provides the number of Polish refugees and prisoners of war in Siberia and contains data on their repatriation to Poland. The author analyzes social and national groups of returners, their financial standing and the activities of the Polish Office for Refugees based on the new archival documents, including applications found at the Department for Optants of the Polish Office in Novonikolayevsk. Optants were mainly represented by peasants. Ethnic structure of optants was rather diverse. The article reveals the influence of economic devastation on repatriation of Poles from Siberia. Analysis of various written sources shows that repatriates suffered from hunger, cold and diseases. Rail disruption in Russia slowed down the process of repatriation. According to references, peasant rebellions caused by the policy of “war communism” also slowed down the process of repatriation. The author concludes that repatriation of Poles was necessitated by the political interests of Bolsheviks’ and their Polish allies. Archives make it possible to determine the political aims of Bolsheviks and Polish Communists who tried to turn repatriates hostile towards the revolution into their supporters.