Socio-political determinants of the position of the Polish minority in Belarus on the threshold of national revival

Abstract

After the Second World War, the Poles in Belarus were deprived of any institutions that would ensure the group activity of this community and the development of national identity. As a consequence, the number of people claiming the Polish nationality has been declining for several decades, and the proportion of Poles declaring Polish as their mother tongue is limited. There were a number of restrictions that prevented the social advancement of the Poles. At the same time, they significantly distanced themselves from the Communist Party and actively participated in the life of the Catholic Church. As a result of the perestroika policy in the late 1980s, the conditions for a national revival appeared, which was not unequivocally perceived in various circles, which often feared the growth of the importance of the Polish community.