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War, Ethnic Conflict and the Refugee Crisis in Lithuania, 1939–1940
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 November 2007
Abstract
After the destruction of the Polish state by the invading Nazi and Soviet armies in the autumn of 1939, about 30,000 Polish nationals fled to eastern Lithuania. This article examines the relationship between population displacement and ethnic rivalry in Lithuania at the onset of the Second World War. As ‘war victims’ in need of help and protection, over time these Polish refugees became increasingly ‘ethnicised’, socially differentiated and isolated from Lithuanian society, and vilified as a potential political threat. Furthermore, the official decision to create a legal category of so-called ‘newcomers’ deprived those Poles who had settled in Vilnius between the wars of citizenship and residence rights in Lithuania. This policy inflated the number of ‘refugees’ to more than 100,000. Various other official measures, such as the creation of camps, forced labour schemes, deportations and repatriations, show how the government manipulated the refugee crisis for its own political purposes.
La guerre, la rivalité ethnique et la crise des réfugiés en lituanie, 1939–1940
Après la destruction de l'état polonais par les armées nazies et soviétiques envahissantes en automne 1939, environ 30,000 Polonais se sont enfuis en Lituanie orientale. Cet article examine la relation entre déplacement de population et rivalité ethnique en Lituanie au début de la Deuxième Guerre mondiale. En tant que ‘victimes de guerre’ en besoin d'aide et de protection, ces réfugiés polonais sont devenus de plus en plus ‘ethnicisés’, socialement différenciés et isolés de la société lituanienne et diffamés comme un danger politique potentiel. En outre, la décision officielle de créer une catégorie légale de soi-disant ‘nouveaux arrivants’ a privé les Polonais qui s’étaient établis à Vilnius durant l'entre-deux-guerres des droits de citoyenneté et de résidence en Lituanie. Cette politique a gonflé le nombre de ‘réfugiés’ à plus de 100,000. Diverses autres mesures officielles, telles que la création de camps, des plans de travail forcé, des déportations et des rapatriements, montrent comment le gouvernement a manipulé la crise des réfugiés pour ses propres buts politiques.
Krieg, ethnische konflikte und die flüchtlingskrise in litauen, 1939–1940
Nach der Zerstörung des polnischen Staates durch die einmarschierenden nationalsozialistischen und sowjetischen Truppen im Herbst 1939 flohen etwa 30000 polnische Staatsangehörige nach Litauen. Dieser Artikel untersucht die Beziehung zwischen der Entwurzelung der polnischen Bevölkerung und ethnischen Rivalitäten in Litauen zu Beginn des Zweiten Weltkrieges. Als ‘Kriegsopfer’ hilfs- und schutzbedürftig, wurden diese polnischen Flüchtlinge zunehmend ‘enthnisiert’, dadurch aus der litauischen Mehrheitsgesellschaft ausgegrenzt und isoliert sowie als mögliche politische Gefahr denunziert. Zudem bedeutete die neugeschaffene rechtliche Kategorie des ‘Neuankömmlings’ für jene Polen, die sich schon in der Zwischenkriegszeit in der litauischen Haupstadt Wilna niedergelassen hatten, den Verlust der Staatsangehörigkeit und des Aufenthaltsrechts in Litauen. Dadurch stieg in der Statistik die Zahl der sogenannten Flüchtlinge auf 100 000 an. Andere offizielle Maßnahmen (wie die Errichtung von Lagern, die Einführung von Zwangsarbeiterprogrammen, Deportationen und Repatriierungen) zeigen, wie die Regierung die Flüchtlingskrise für ihre eigenen politischen Zwecke manipulierte.
- Type
- Research Article
- Information
- Contemporary European History , Volume 16 , Issue 4: World Wars and Population Displacement in the Twentieth Century , November 2007 , pp. 461 - 477
- Copyright
- Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2007
References
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12 Lietuvos žinios, 9 Jan. 1940, 4. All translations of quotations from untranslated sources are by the author.
13 Ibid.
14 LCVA 317, S. 1, F. 2, 151.
15 Ibid.
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19 LCVA 317, S. 1, F. 2, 33.
20 ‘Karo atbėgėliams tvarkyti įstatymas’, Vyriausybės žinios (Government News), 9 Dec. 1939.
21 LCVA 317, S. 1, F. 10, 37.
22 Žepkaitė, Atkarpa, 49. Around 10,000 inhabitants left Vilnius during the Soviet evacuation of the city in late October. LCVA 317, S. 1, F. 2, 191.
23 LCVA 317, S. 1, F. 2, 114.
24 The number of 12,000 included Jewish refugees who did not register with the Lithuanian government. See LCVA 317, S. 1, F. 2, 192.
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30 LCVA 923, S. 1, F. 1065, 318.
31 LCVA 317, S. 1, F. 2, 109.
32 ‘Karo atbėgėliams tvarkyti įstatymas’ (Law of War Refugees), Vyriausybės žinios, 9 Dec. 1939.
33 LCVA 317, S. 1, F. 2, 113–14.
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35 LCVA 317, S. 1, F. 2, 110, 116.
36 LCVA 317, S.1, F. 2, 113–14. It is not clear whether this minor change of name assuaged the international critics.
37 LCVA 923, S. 1, F. 1033, 287.
38 LCVA 757, S. 9, F. 6, 68; Surgailis, ‘Lenkai’, 110; Vaskėla, Lietuva, 59, 70; Wert, ‘Flight and Survival’.
39 In 1919 large landlords, most of them Polish-speakers, constituted only 1 per cent of the total population in Lithuania but owned 26 per cent of land. Following the land reforms of 1922–6, three-quarters of their estates were transferred to the peasantry, with minimal compensation to the landlords. Vaskėla, Gediminas, ‘The Land Reform of 1919–1940: Lithuania and the Countries of East and Central Europe’, Lithuanian Historical Studies, 1 (1996), 116–32Google Scholar; Eidintas and Žalys, Lithuania in European Politics, 45–9.
40 Lietuvos žinios, 2 Nov. 1939, 1.
41 Ibid., 3 Nov. 1939, 2.
42 Lewandowska, Życie, 39–41.
43 Lietuvos žinios, 13 Dec. 1939, 6.
44 ‘Karo pabėgėlių komisaro įstatymas’, LCVA 317, S. 1. F. 10, 16.
45 LCVA 393, S. 1, F. 1033, 299; LCVA 379, S. 1, F. 293, 390.
46 The data includes all family members. See ‘The Problem of the Newcomers of the Vilnius Region: What Is To Be Done by Lithuania? 5 February 1940’, LCVA 379, S. 1, F. 293, 363–64.
47 Surgailis, ‘Lenkai’,113; LCVA 757, S. 9, F. 5, 36–7; ‘Pro memoria, 20 March 1940’, LCVA 317, S. 1, F. 2, 13.
48 LCVA 379, S. 1, F. 293, 390.
49 Ibid., 373.
50 ‘V. Čečeta. Pro memoria. 13 April, 1940’, LCVA 393, S. 11, F. 1033, 235–6.
51 Ibid., 237. On Vilnius’ autonomists before 1939 see Rimantas Miknys, Lietuvos demokratų partija 1902–1915 metais (Vilnius: Vilniaus universiteto leidykla, 1995).
52 ‘Lenkų ateivių būklė. 12 July 1940’, LCVA 379, S. 1, F. 293, 358.
53 ‘Atbėgėliams šelpti komiteto apyskaita, June 1940’, ibid., 433.
54 Ibid., 360.
55 ‘Dar ir dar dėl nusiskundimų, 15 January1940’, LCVA 317, S. 1, F. 2, 119–23.
56 Lietuvos aidas, 11 Oct. 1939; Lewandowska, Życie, 34.
57 LCVA 923, S. 1, F. 1032, 22. Stanislawa Lewandowska claims that ‘from the very beginning Lithuanians adopted a negative attitude towards refugees’. Lewandowska, Życie, 34.
58 Ramovė (literally ‘imperturbability’) is a pagan place of worship.
59 Žepkaitė, 115, quotes secret data collected by the Lithuanian Secret Police. See LCVA 378, S. 10, F. 225, 428, 462, 479.
60 Mintis (Thought), November 1939, No. 10, 333.
61 ‘Komitet Polski bandymai kištis į lenkų pabėgėlių šelpimo darbą. 13 March 1940’, LCVA 317, S. 1, F. 2, 18–19.
62 ‘Pabėgėlių šelpimo reikalai Vilniuje. 6 December 1939’, LCVA 317, S. 1, F. 2, 152.
63 LCVA 317, S. 1, F. 2, 118.
64 Lewandowska, Życie, 31.
65 Tomaszewski, Wileńszczyzna, 52–3.
66 Armia Krajowa w dokumentach, 1939–1945 (London, 1970), I, 68.
67 Tomaszewski, Wileńszczyzna, 74.
68 Žepkaitė, Atkarpa, 114. Among those arrested were eleven Polish war refugees and more than forty ‘newcomers’.
69 Tomaszewski, Wileńszczyzna, 55.
70 Žepkaitė, Atkarpa, 119; LCVA 383, S. 7, F. 2244, 11–12.
71 ‘Trimako pasikalbėjimas su Linskiu, 7 February 1940’, LCVA 317, S. 1, F. 2, 82.
72 LCVA 383, S. 7, F. 188, 532.
73 ‘Pro memoria: Trimako pasikalbėjimas su Andersonu, 2 March 1940’, LCVA 393, S. 1, F. 1033, 242.
74 Surgailis, ‘Lenkai’, 108, 112.
75 LCVA 393, S. 1, F. 1033, 288.
76 ‘Pabėgėlių dislokacijos klausimu, 20 March 1940’, LCVA 317, S. 1, F. 2, 13.
77 Surgailis, ‘Lenkai’, 113–14.
78 LCVA 757, S. 9, F. 5, 242.
79 ‘Pro memoria: internuotųjų ir pabėgėlių reikalu. 29 March 1940’, LCVA 393, S. 1, F. 1033, 282–83.
80 ‘Pro memoria, 7 February 1940’, LCVA 317, S. 1, F. 2, 83.
81 Surgailis, ‘Lenkai’, 114–15.