Deportations of Poles to Siberia in the 16th-20th centuries

Exactly 80 years ago, deportations of Poles to Siberia began. Probably all Poles know about this fact, I myself mentioned those deportations here. I have also mentioned the fate of some of the children who survived Siberia here. But I decided today to tell you about Polish connections with Siberia, which began as early as the 16th century, which is why I present, with tiny changes, my speech, which I gave at the Kresy-Siberia Foundation Conference in Warsaw last September.

Few people know lyrics of the Siberian March, the anthem of the Sybiraks (Poles exiled to Siberia by Russians) – the text of this song, however, begins with the Bar Confederation, and Poles started arriving in Siberia a little earlier. Therefore, the 16th century will be my starting date and the end will be 1939, but not because President Putin stated that there was no Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939, but because of the common knowledge of the subject of deportation of Poles during World War II.

“Cossacks led by Yermak conquer Siberia” – a painting by Vasily Surikov painted in 1895.

Already in the 16th century, as a result of the Polish-Muscovite wars, soldiers as well as abducted borderlands’ residents were taken prisoner to Russia. Around 1580 Cossack Yermak Timofeyevich headed 800 people east to conquer. Polish and Lithuanian prisoners of war were among his soldiers. The lost war with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the loss of Livonia forced Ivan IV the Terrible and his successors to shift their focus to the lands in the east. The conquest proceeded quickly – in 1587 Tobolsk was founded, located about 950 km east from Perm, and in 1632 – Yakutsk, 6,000 km away from Perm.

Map of the conquest of Siberia.

From the beginning, Poles became an important link in the conquest and development of Siberia – especially those who could read and write found employment in trade or administration, becoming even voivodes. There are even rumours about a Pole who was the secretary of Khan Kuchum, who fought the Cossacks.

A lot of Poles came to Siberia after the Dimitriads, as the new tsar, Michael Romanov, wanted them far from the capital. There is news from the beginning of the 17th century about cavalry units composed of Poles and Lithuanians.

There were also those who already in the 17th century chose Siberia, converted to Orthodoxy and built their fortunes in the tsar’s service. It is interesting that opinions about Poles in Siberia coincide with those about Poles in Jamestown, Virginia, where they were often called “the only useful colonists”.

In the mid-seventeenth century, several hundred Poles were in tsarist service, and several thousand in total in Siberia. The most distinguished ones were becoming the “prince’s sons” or boyars – the Russian nobility. Let the fact of “saturation” of the first colonisers of Siberia with Poles be evidenced by the fact that at the end of the 17th century, in Okhotsk, one of the districts was called the Polish district.

Poles distinguished in the 17th century include Stefan Polakow, Nicefor Czernichowski, Krzyżanowskis, Czernyszewskis and Kozyriewskis. I will say a few words about Nicefor Czernichowski. He was taken prisoner around 1632. It is known that he commanded a Cossack unit in Yeniseysk, and then managed the salt works. Czernichowski’s sister or wife was kidnapped and raped by the Ilim voivode, for which Czernichowski took part in a rebellion against the voivode in 1655. After killing the voivode, our hero, along with a unit of Cossacks, escaped to the south. They rebuilt the stronghold in Albazin, on the Amur River, and named their country Jaxa, it was Czernichowski’s coat of arms. Jaxa’s Charter of Rights forbade rape and pacification and provided protection. The country quickly began to develop. It even established contacts with the Imperial Court in Beijing, and correspondence was reportedly conducted in Polish. Soon Czernichowski also began to pay the tax to the tsar, who forgave him all the crimes.

Albazin in the state of Jaxa.

Peace treaties assumed the exchange of prisoners, so some returned to the Commonwealth. The truce in Dywilin of 1619, ending the Polish-Russian war in 1609-1618, ordered, among others finding and freeing Polish prisoners of war. The peace in Polanów in 1634 and the Andruszow treaty of 1667 decided the same.

There were, of course, escapes of prisoners – the first occurred already in 1620, when a group of 30 people reached Lithuania and then Poland.

Many prisoners and civilians came to Siberia as a result of the civil war in 1704-1706 between supporters of Stanisław Leszczyński and Augustus II the Strong.

During the Bar Confederation (1768-1772), which is often called the first national uprising, opposition senators were abducted and transported to Kaluga – they returned in 1773. In total, about 10,000 confederates were sent deep into Russia. The “amnesty” published in 1773 did not include those conscripted into the tsarist army, working in mines and those who converted to Orthodoxy. Irony of fate – people fighting for freedom were conscripted into a foreign army and sent to fight against the Siberian peoples and the Pugachev People’s Uprising, which fought for… freedom and better existence. As you can see, Dąbrowski’s legionaries suppressing the anti-French uprising in Haiti were not the only ones in Polish history. Anyway, just like in Haiti, many Poles in Siberia deserted and joined the natives and insurgents to fight against the Russians.

Maurycy Beniowski.

Speaking of the Bar Confederation, we can’t forget about probably the most famous exile – Maurycy Beniowski. Polish nobleman of Slovak-Hungarian origin, he was exiled to Kamchatka. There, he hijacked the ship with his fellow prisoners, and after many adventured, reached France and entered the French service. He was sent to Madagascar, where he was even proclaimed king by the natives. Re-called by the King of France, he landed again on the island, wanting to conquer it for himself. He died in a skirmish with the French. He left behind his Memoirs, which, however, should be read with a grain of salt.

The Kosciuszko Uprising

Tsarina Catherine II declared the Insurrection a rebellion. Over 10,000 insurgents were conscripted into the Russian army, and again freedom fighters had to suppress the sovereignty of other nations. Only Catherine’s successor, Paul I, released Poles. From this period we have two very valuable descriptions of the deportation and Siberia by priest Józef Ochocki and brigadier Józef Kopeć.

Officially, Tsar Alexander I’s bill from 1801 ended the period of exile after the Bar Confederation and Kosciuszko Insurrection, but the truth was that many prisoners were too valuable and were not released by the local administration, and some were so successful that they chose Siberia.

About a thousand Poles ended up in the east during the Napoleonic era. Some went to Omsk, where, among others they formed military orchestras.

After the Congress of Vienna, due to the violation of its provisions by Tsar Alexander I, illegal, often consisting of only a few members, independence organisations began to form. These groups would be infiltrated by tsarist police, and their participants sent deep into Russia. An example could be associations of Philomats and Philaretes. Many students were given 10-year sentences or even indefinite military service. In 1824, among others Adam Mickiewicz was sentenced to exile deep into Russia as a teacher. From this period come his Crimean Sonnets and the third part of Dziady refers to this period, where our national bard even calls Poland the “Christ of the nations”. Tomasz Zan, arrested together with Mickiewicz, was sent to Orenburg and he worked as a naturalist in today’s Central Asia until 1837. Then Jan Witkiewicz, co-founder of the “Black Brothers” organisation, was also sent to the Orenburg area. He had a talent for learning languages, he spoke nineteen different languages. As a Russian agent, he participated in the so-called Great Game – the struggle for influence in Central Asia between Russia and Great Britain.

“Farewell to Europe” – a picture by Aleksander Sochaczewski.

There were several categories of exiles (established in 1822):

– without losing their rights and property, after serving their sentence they could settle in the European part of Russia and sooner or later return to Poland;

– to serve in strongholds, in penal units – conditions were tough, though reading and writing skills could help ease the conditions;

– service in Siberian battalions – for 15-20 years to serve as simple soldiers;

– hard work – it could even be lifelong. Until 1822, the father-prisoner’s stigma passed on to children – they were also deprived of their liberty.

The march took place on foot – until the construction of railway lines. Sentenced to katorga and penal units they went handcuffed – chains were only removed at night. They went from stage to stage. Often, political prisoners went along with “zeks” – criminal prisoners. Robberies, rapes and murders occurred. Political prisoners could not count on the help of the convoy commander, who was often drunk with soldiers and took part in the crimes described above. Stage houses were located every 40 km. Sanitary conditions were nonexistent. Nobody took care of the sick or the weak. Whoever died was quickly buried along the trail – because the convoy had to go on!

The November Uprising

It is estimated that, in addition to huge confiscations of estates, about 30,000 Polish soldiers and officers were forcibly recruited into the tsarist army after the fall of the November Uprising. In addition, about 20,000 civilians were exiled deep into Russia – they were often sent with their entire families.

Between the November Uprising and January Uprising, the tsarist police broke up further conspiracies. You did not have to belong to the conspiracy – an unflattering opinion about the Tsar was usually enough. Added to these numbers were participants (Tsarist subjects) of the Krakow uprising from 1846 and Greater Poland uprising from 1848.

“Branka” – enlistment in the tsarist army” – painting by Aleksander Sochaczewski.

Drafts of the Polish recruit were regularly held. The service lasted 25 years, so you could say goodbye to your family for good. It is estimated that within 20 years of the November Uprising, 200,000 recruits had been recruited! The amnesty announced by Alexander II in 1856 freed all political prisoners and most of the survivors returned to Poland. But the amnesty did not include forced recruits…

The January Uprising

Another failed Polish uprising. And again the paths leading to Asia filled up with Polish convicts. 200,000 participants went through the ranks of the Uprising. A large part of them died, either in fighting or in executions. About 40,000 were sent deep into Russia. In Poland, national mourning was announced, black clothes and jewellery were worn. The fall of the Uprising is connected with my favourite theory about why Poles wear wedding rings on their right hand. Well, apparently we wore them on the left, only widows and widowers moved them to the right hand. However, this changed after the January Uprising, when as part of solidarity with mourners, people began to put rings on their right hands. It was a national mourning for the lost homeland. What’s the truth, I’m not sure, but I like this version.

The Baikal Insurrection

A large number of insurgents in Siberia, often held together, led to the establishment of new conspiracies and planning new uprisings. And so on the night of 24-25 June 1866 the Bajkal Uprising broke out. The plan was to break through to the Chinese border, but the insurgent forces of about 400 people did not succeed. After a series of skirmishes, the insurgents were defeated by units from Irkutsk. Four leaders of the uprising were executed, others were flogged and their sentences increased.

From the 1870s until the outbreak of World War I, another type of political prisoner appeared in Siberia – a prisoner-revolutionary. He was no longer a representative of the nobility but of the proletariat, which aimed to overthrow the tsarism. Assassinations of officials and officers were widespread. In 1881, Ignacy Hryniewiecki made a successful assassination of Tsar Alexander II. In 1887, for participating in the plot for the life of Alexander III, Bronisław and Józef Piłsudskis were exiled to Siberia. Bronisław to the distant Sakhalin, where he became famous as a researcher of the Ain culture.

Polish emigration to Siberia

Construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway.

This emigration was mainly agrarian, but there were also employees of mines and smelters. The first group arrived in 1885. In addition, the intelligentsia – engineers, doctors, teachers – easily received well-paid jobs. Trip to the Far East was associated with many privileges – tax breaks, reimbursement of travel expenses to the east, farm allocation or the already mentioned high salary. Many factories or bridges were built by Poles. Let’s not forget that high positions were often unavailable to Poles in the old country. Polish diasporas were active in cities such as Tomsk, Irkutsk and Vladivostok. The Trans-Siberian and East China Railways were built with considerable participation of Polish engineers. The Poles in Russian service founded and expanded Harbin, located in today’s northeastern China. The Polish colony operated there very dynamically until the 1960s. The so-called cultural revolution removed virtually all Polish traces from Harbin. But, for example, items from the Polish church in Harbin are in the Polish church in Marayong, Sydney.

Poles also remained in Siberia after the end of military service. We know that many of our countrymen were forced into the army, but there were also those who chose a military career themselves, often reaching high ranks.

About 70,000 Poles were in the east at the outbreak of World War I. During the war, prisoners of war from central powers’ armies, including Poles, were sent to Siberia. It was these prisoners who formed the basis of the 5th Polish Rifle Division (called the Siberian Division) formed in Siberia in 1919, created by Major Czuma, who in September 1939 commanded the defence of Warsaw. The division was fighting hard with the Bolsheviks. After the Division’s surrender in January 1920, most of the soldiers and officers were sent to hard labour camps – they returned to Poland after the Riga Treaty. However, some soldiers (about 1000) broke through to Harbin, from where they came to Gdańsk by sea and formed the Siberian Brigade, which under the command of Colonel Rumsza, already in August 1920 began to fight with the Bolsheviks.

Soldiers of the 5th Polish Rifle Division.

After the end of World War I and the Polish-Bolshevik war, hundreds of thousands of Poles, military and civilians came to Poland. I will also briefly mention the Far East Children’s Rescue Committee, which was established on 16 September 1919, so on 16 September 2019 we celebrated the centenary of this event. This committee, with the huge help of the Japanese Red Cross, took almost 1000 Polish children, orphans, half-orphans and children from poor families through Vladivostok, through Japan. Some of the children went to families in the USA, Australia and Europe. In Poland, some of them found a place in the Siberian Children’s Education Centre in Wejherowo. These children later founded the Youth Association of the Far East, on the basis of which in October 1939 Special Insurgent Units were established, which formed several guerrilla units that fought in Poland. Of course, there were also Siberian children in the ranks of the Warsaw insurgents.

After the Riga Treaty of 1921, about 2 million Poles remained in Russia, some of them voluntarily. These Poles were targeted, among others by the so-called Polish NKVD Operation in 1937-38. 110,000 Poles were murdered, tens of thousands were exiled, mainly to Kazakhstan. But the repression began earlier – the Polish National District of Marchlewszczyzna was liquidated in 1935, and the Dzierżowszczyzna – in 1937. Many thousands of Poles were then sent to labour camps. And then the 17 September 1939 came…

I will mention briefly a few Poles whose fate is entwined with Siberia.

Alfons Koziełł-Poklewski is called the Polish Rockefeller. In the nineteenth century, first as a tsarist official and later on his own, he was responsible for deliveries to the army and transport of alcohol. Soon he monopolised everything. He was the owner of many distilleries, factories and mines. He was also a philanthropist – he built nurseries, schools and eateries. He was buying Polish exiles from Tsarist officials, to whom he later gave work in his factories, and after the amnesty he paid them a trip back to Poland.

Zachary Cybulski, the owner of gold mines, became president of Tomsk and thanks to him in 1888 a university was established there, the first east of the Ural.

Piotr Wysocki.

Piotr Wysocki, the initiator of the November Uprising, after his release from hard labour, founded a soap factory in Baikal country. The soap bars with his initials, in addition to raising the level of personal hygiene, gave hope to other exiles, and every year, on 29 November, there were meetings of exiles in his home.

Leon Barszczewski, as an orphan from a patriotic family, first went to the Tsarist Cadet Corps, and then to the army. In the 1870s he volunteered to serve in Central Asia. In addition to discovering many mineral deposits, exploring glaciers and photographing Central Asia, Barszczewski became famous for the discovery of ancient Samarkand. For his services he was nominated a general, but the condition was a conversion to Orthodoxy. His reply sent by telegram was: “I do not agree to convert to Orthodoxy. I am Polish and Catholic. ” He was sent away from his beloved Asia. A great book about Barszczewski was written a few years ago by his great grandson, Igor Strojecki, and accompanying exhibitions could be visited around the country, including at the Asia and Pacific Museum in Warsaw.

When it comes to studying the culture and language of the Yakuts, two Polish exiles from the late nineteenth century deserve the recognition. I am talking about Edward Piekarski and Wacław Sieroszewski. In addition to them, of course, there were many other Polish researchers in Yakutia.

We must not forget about the brother of the Marshal Pilsudski, Bronisław Piłsudski, who was exiled in 1887 and studied the culture of Ain people in Sakhalin. He was and still is one of the most distinguished researchers of this people. The grandchildren and great-grandchildren of Bronisław, who married a woman from the Ayn tribe, still live in Japan. Institutes to study Piłsudski’s legacy were established in Russia and Japan.

One of the most famous researchers is Benedykt Dybowski, exiled in 1865. He was famous primarily for studying the fauna of Baikal and the peoples of Siberia, but also for his humanitarian activity in Kamchatka, where he worked as a government doctor. Until his departure for Kamchatka, Dybowski was supported in his research by Wiktor Godlewski, a naturalist and another exile after the January Uprising.

In the field of geography and geology, Jan Czerski and Aleksander Czekanowski, January insurgents have contributed enormously, their names are still visible on the map of Russia.

So as you can see, the topic is extensive and complex, in addition to deportations, there was also economical emigration. Poles got married, earned money, often stayed in Siberia and assimilated completely, and it was only the family history that said that someone’s great grandfather came from Poland. But let me just cite a man named Michael Orfanov who visited Irkutsk in the 1870s and described the situation in the city and how Poles managed. For those who have lived or been in Great Britain in the last 15 years, the described state of affairs may seem strangely familiar: “The hotel where we stayed was run by a Pole who was a political exile. All hotel service staff, from buffet and to coachmen – all Poles. You rent a cab driver – it turns out that he is also a political prisoner, you enter a butcher, dairy, tailor, shoemaker, any craftsman or petty shopkeeper – political prisoners everywhere, victims of the Polish uprisings… Poles had a definite advantage in the medical world, in the bar, among clerical staff in gold mines. Shops with ready-made clothes and footwear, restaurants and hotels were absolutely Polish.”

Bibliography:

R. F. Barkowski, Syberia 1581-1697, Warszawa 2017.

M. Janik, Dzieje Polaków na Syberji, Kraków 1928.

A. Kuczyński, Syberia. 400 lat polskiej diaspory, Krzeszowice 2016.