Kresy: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

The name Kresy (Polish for "borderlands") is used by Poles to refer to the eastern part of Poland in the inter-war period. These territories, bordering the Soviet Union on the east, Lithuania on the north, and Romania on the south, had significant Ukrainian, Belarussian, Lithuanian and Jewish minorities. Major cities of the Kresy included Lwów (now Lviv, Ukraine) and Wilno (now Vilnius, Lithuania). Polish inhabitants of this region, known in Polish as Kresowiacy, had their distinct culture with accent and customs influenced by the presence of ethnic minorities.

After the Second World War the territory of the Kresy was ceded to the Soviet Union (Ukrainian, Byelorussian and Lithuanian Socialist Soviet Republics) and most of the Polish population was deported to Poland's Recovered Territories.

See also:

• Curzon line
• People's Republic of Poland.