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.
Polish traces around the world 