KWESTIA SZKOLNA A POLSKIE RADY WIEJSKIE W BIAŁORUSI SOWIECKIEJ
The School Question and Polish Village Councils in Soviet Belarus

Summary/Abstract: Based on archival documents, the author analyses how the Bolsheviks used the school question in the process of creating and liquidating Polish national village councils. People initially wanted to open Polish schools, and the Bolsheviks made it a condition to organise a national village council. In the 1930s, the reorganisation of Polish schools to Belarusian schools became the formal basis for the liquidation of Polish village councils. This example illustrates a characteristic feature of Bolshevik policy – the constant change of decisions in favour of the current situation. Nonetheless, the fact that Polish schools and village councils had existed for almost 15 years contributed to slowing down assimilation and preserving Polish identity.

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