Polityka narodowościowa II Rzeczypospolitej wobec Łemków

Abstrakt

Ethnic policy of the Second Republic of Poland towards the Lemkos

Ethnic policy towards the “non-Polish” population, in particular considering the ethnic group of the Lemkos in the period of the Second Republic of Poland was characterised by two concepts of assimilation: ethnic and national. Undoubtedly, one figure who distinguished himself in the process of creating policy towards the Lemkos was W. Wielhorski, who effectuated clear and complete examination of the Lemkos issue in the Second Republic of Poland. Any operations undertaken by Polish authorities aimed at gaining loyalty of the Lemkos population as well as at conferring autonomy in order to maintain their ethnic or cultural distinctiveness. The twilight of the 1930s saw a change in the government’s orientation towards the “non-Polish” population which was expressed in a military, nationalistic way of leading the ethnic policy.