Wołyń Voivodeship (1921–1939)

Volhynian Voivodeship Województwo wołyńskie
Coat of Arms
Volhynian Voivodeship
Historical region	Volhynia

Map of Volhynian Voivodeship with Counties

Mother tongue in Poland, based on 1931 Polish census

Horochów county, landscape

Volhynian Voivodeship or Wołyń Voivodeship (Template:Lang-pl, Template:Lang-la) was an administrative unit of interwar Poland (1918–1939) with an area of 35,754 km², 11 counties, and capital in Łuck. In 1945, at the insistence of the Soviet Union (following Tehran Conference of 1943) Poland's borders were redrawn, Polish population forcibly resettled and the Volhynian Voivodeship was incorporated by Stalin into the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. Since 1991 most part of it is divided between the Rivne Oblast and Volyn Oblast of sovereign Ukraine.

History

September 1939 and its aftermath

On September 17, 1939, following German invasion of western Poland and in accordance with the secret protocol of Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, Soviet forces proceeded to invade eastern Poland.

As the bulk of Polish Army was concentrated in the west fighting Nazi Germany, the Soviets met with little resistance and their troops quickly moved westward, invading the Voivodeship’s area with considerable ease.

In the years of 1942–1944 Volhynia was subject to genocide, conducted by paramilitary groups associated with the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), in particular, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA). These forces engaged in summary executions and massacres of the Polish population, along with the destruction of settlements. The razing of towns and villages would continue until August 1944. Historians estimate that in total between 20-60,000 Poles were killed in the region.

Main article: Massacres of Poles in Volhynia

Prewar population

The capital of the Volhynian Voivodeship was Łuck, Volhynia (now: Lutsk, Ukraine). It consisted of 11 powiats (counties), 22 larger towns, 103 villages and literally thousands of smaller communities (Template:Lang-pl), with clusters of farms unable to offer any form of resistance against future attacks. In 1921 the Volhynian Voivodeship was inhabited by 1,437,569 people and the population density was only 47.5 persons per km². Around 68% of the population spoke Ukrainian as their first language, 17% - Polish; and 10% Jewish (mainly in towns). There were also German (2.3%) and Czech (1.5%) settlers, who arrived in the 19th century. In 1931, the population grew to 2,085,600 and the density – to 58 persons per km².

The religion practised in the area was primarily Eastern Orthodox Christian (69.8%). There were also Roman Catholics (15.7%) as well as adherents of Judaism (10%), some Protestants (2.6%) and a few Tatars of the Islamic faith.

Location and area

The Volhynian Voivodeship was located in the farthest south-east part of the country, bordering Soviet Union to the east, Lublin Voivodeship to the west, Polesie Voivodeship to the north, Lwów Voivodeship and Tarnopol Voivodeship to the south. Initially, Voivodeship’s area in the new Poland was 30,276 square kilometers. In 1930 Sarny County was moved from Polesie Voivodeship to the Volhynian Voivodeship comprising an area of 5,478 km². Due to this change, the total surface area of Volhynia grew to 35,754 km², which made it the second largest province in the country.

Landscape was flat and hilly in most part. In the north, there was a flat strip of land called the Volhynian Polesie, which spread for some 200 kilometers from the Western Bug river to the Polish-Soviet border. Southern landscape was more hilly, especially at the extreme south-east corner around the historical town of Krzemieniec, located in the Gologory mountains. Main rivers in Volhynia were the Styr, the Horyń, and the Słucz.

Cities and counties

The capital, Łuck, had a population of around 35,600 (as of 1931). Other important centers of the Voivodeship were: Równe (in 1931 pop. 42,000), Kowel (pop. 29,100), Włodzimierz Wołyński (pop. 26,000), Krzemieniec (pop. 22,000), Dubno (pop. 15,300), Ostróg (pop. 13,400) and Zdołbunów (pop. 10,200).

List of Counties with square area and population
#	Name	CoA	Area	Population
1	Kowel county		5,682 km²	255,100
2	Sarny county (since 1930)		5,478 km²	181,300
3	Łuck county	File:Lutsk-COA.PNG	4,767 km²	290,800
4	Kostopol county		3,496 km²	159,600
5	Dubno county		3,275 km²	226,700
6	Równe county		2,898 km²	252,800
7	Krzemieniec county		2,790 km²	243,000
8	Włodzimierz Wołyński county		2,208 km²	150,400
9	Luboml county		2,054 km²	85,500
10	Horochów county		1,757 km²	122,100
11	Zdołbunów county		1,349 km²	118,300

Railroads and industry

Metallurgical plant in Sławuta, Wołyń

Volhynian Voivodeship was located in the so-called Poland “B”. Large part of its population, especially Ukrainian, was poor. Decades of Russian imperial rule left Volhynia in a state of economic shock, but the agricultural output following the rebirth of Poland grew quick. The introduction of modern farming practices for example, resulted in the increase of wheat production over a dozen times between 1922–1923 and 1936–1937. Overall, by 1937 Volhynia there were already 760 factories, employing 16,555 workers. Mining, forestry, and food production provided employment for 14,206 persons. Workers laid-off from the industrial plants were also the most likely to start new businesses. In terms of ethnic composition among new business owners, 72,6% were Jewish, 24% Ukrainian, and 23% Polish. The province went through a recession in 1938–1939. The tensions between Jewish and Ukrainian shopkeepers greatly increased since the introduction of the co-op stores (spółdzielnie) undermining mostly Jewish private enterprises. Jewish owners were chased out from some 3,000 Ukrainian villages until 1929, with the emerging Ukrainian drive toward economic self-sustainability via co-ops accompanying their new political aspirations. The situation was much better among Czechs and Germans, whose farms were highly efficient.

Railroad network was scarce, with only few junctions - the most important one at Kowel, also at Zdolbunow, Rowne and Wlodzimierz. Total length of railroads within Voivodeship's boundaries was 1,211 kilometers, which was only 3.4 km per every 100 square kilometres. It was the result of decades of the Russian exploitative economics. Forested was 23.7% of area (as for 1937).

Education

Until 1914 under Tsarist Russia analphabetism was rampant. The empire kept only 14 secondary schools in the entire province of Volhynia. High level of illiteracy lingered. In 1931, as much as 47.8% of Ukrainians were still illiterate, with the national average of 23.1%. The number of public schools greatly increased in the Second Polish Republic. By 1930, there were 1,371 schools already, and by 1938 – 1,934. The percentage of students in the Ukrainian–language–only schools however, went down from 2,5% in 1929-1930 to 1,2% 1934-1935 partly due to government inaction.

Voivodes

• Stanisław Jan Krzakowski 14 March 1921 – 7 July 1921
• Tadeusz Łada 7 July 1921 – 12 August 1921 (acting)
• Stanisław Downarowicz 13 August 1921 – 19 August 1921
• Tadeusz Dworakowski 10 October 1921 – 15 March 1922 (acting)
• Mieczysław Mickiewicz 22 February 1922 – 1 February 1923
• Stanisław Srokowski 1 February 1923 – 29 August 1924
• Bolesław Olszewski 29 August 1924 – 4 February 1925
• Aleksander Dębski 4 February 1925 – 28 August 1926
• Władysław Mech 28 August 1926 – 9 July 1928
• Henryk Józewski 9 July 1928 – 29 December 1929
• Józef Śleszyński 13 January 1930 – 5 June 1930 (acting)
• Henryk Józewski 5 June 1930 – 13 April 1938
• Aleksander Hauke-Nowak 13 April 1938 – September 1939

References

• Maly rocznik statystyczny 1939, Nakladem Glownego Urzedu Statystycznego, Warszawa 1939 (Concise Statistical Year-Book of Poland, Warsaw 1939).