Russia. as a passive ally of Hitler. occupied more than onehalf of the territory of embattled Poland. Immediately following the Russian occupation there were widespread organized arrests of all antiCommunist or even vaguely suspected elements in eastern Poland. Polish Government officials. persons who belonged to Polish patriotic organizations. persons who had any connection with foreign firms or foreign governments. and. for some reason known only to the Russians. .even stamp collectors were arrested with their families and deported en mass to the depths of northern and eastern Russia. It is said that in all 1.500.000 Poles were deported by the Russians. many of them. including an estimated 45.000 children. dying from hunger. disease. and other hardships. After the Russians had effectively disposed of all suspected antiCommunist elements. they held plebiscites in the occupied sections of Poland. which they had divided into western Byelorussia and western Ukraine. These newly occupied and thoroughly purged territories were flooded with Russian political agitators who voted under election provimlons which granted the franchise to temporary as well as permanent residents.
Keywords matched
deported