Lecture “Ukrainian Civil Internees in the Polish Camps of Internment, 1918-1921”

Just after the outbreak of the Polish-Ukrainian war in November 1918, Polish authorities started arresting specific persons from the Ukrainian society. Among them were mainly people who took part in the building of administrative structures of West Ukrainian People’s Republic or were hostile toward the Polish state. Internments lasted through the end of 1919, although some persons were arrested and sent to the camps in 1920 and 1921. Ukrainians were held in a few prisoners-of-war camps, such as Dąbie near Cracow, Wadowice, Strzałków, Modlin, Dęblin, or in the camps located inside the fortress of Brześć Litewski. Many prisoners were behind the barbed wire for a long time, usually a few months. It was quite a large group, consisting of some 20, 000 people.