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Eastern Borderlands in the war

7 articles · 1939–1945

On 1 and 2 November 1939, after rigged “elections”, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR incorporated the occupied Kresy into the Ukrainian and Belorussian SSRs. In 1940–1941 the NKVD carried out four mass deportations of Polish citizens from here: of the families of settlers and foresters, of the families of prisoners of war and of those arrested, of refugees from the German occupation, most of them Jews, and finally of the families of members of the underground. In 1945 the government in Warsaw formally renounced the eastern lands.

1939

  1. 1 November 1939EventThe USSR annexes eastern PolandOn 1–2 November 1939 the Supreme Soviet annexed eastern Poland to the Ukrainian and Byelorussian SSRs, citing rigged “elections” of 22 October.

1940

  1. 10 February 1940EventFirst deportation from the eastern landsOn 10 February 1940 the NKVD began deporting families of military settlers and foresters from the Kresy. NKVD documents put the total at nearly 140,000.
  2. 13 April 1940EventSecond deportation from the eastern landsOn 13 April 1940 the NKVD deported about 61,000 people to Kazakhstan, mainly families of imprisoned officers, policemen and officials killed in those weeks.
  3. 29 June 1940EventThird deportation from the eastern landsOn the night of 28 to 29 June 1940 the NKVD began a third deportation from the Kresy. Those taken were mainly refugees from German-occupied Poland, mostly Jews.

1941

  1. 22 May 1941EventFourth deportation from the eastern landsOn 21 May 1941 the NKVD began the last deportation from the Kresy. It came in waves until the German attack on the USSR and took tens of thousands of people.

1944

  1. 15 January – 26 October 1944BattleOperation TempestFrom January to October 1944 the Home Army struck the retreating Germans and greeted the Red Army as hosts. The Soviets disarmed its units.

1945

  1. 16 August 1945EventThe Polish–Soviet border agreementOn 16 August 1945 Poland’s Provisional Government and the USSR signed a Curzon Line border deal, leaving Lwów and Wilno in the USSR, and a reparations pact.