REASONS FOR THE RESETTLEMENT OF UKRAINIANS DEPORTED FROM POLAND TO THE SOUTHERN, CENTRAL, EASTERN, AND NORTHERN REGIONS OF THE UKRAINIAN SSR DURING 1944-1945

Abstract

The article examines the process of forced resettlement of Ukrainians from the territories ofZakerzonnia (Lemkivshchyna, Podlasie, Nadsiannia, and Chelm regions) to the Ukrainian SSR in 1944–1946,which began after the signing of the Agreement on Mutual Population Evacuation between the governments of the Ukrainian SSR and Poland. The research methodology. Based on historical sources and research, the study highlights the political, economic, and security factors behind Soviet demographic policy. It demon- strates that the resettlement was coercive in nature and aimed to utilize the deported population as a labor resource for the reconstruction of industry and agriculture in the eastern and southern regions of Ukraine. The international context – particularly the decisions of the Tehran Conference and the territorial concessions of the Western Allies to Joseph Stalin regarding the Polish-Soviet border – is analyzed. The study reveals that the Soviet authorities sought to prevent the spread of the Ukrainian liberation movement by avoiding the resettle-ment of deportees in Western Ukraine and promoting their assimilation in the more Russified eastern regions.Conclusions. Special attention is given to the motives of the settlers themselves, which ranged from forced – fear of Polish terror and religious persecution – to idealized perceptions of life in “Greater Ukraine”. The tragic consequences of deportations are outlined, including family separations, loss of national identity, and harsh socio-economic conditions in the new settlements.