Elections to the People's Assemblies of Western Ukraine and Western Belorussia
Elections to the People's Assemblies of Western Ukraine and Western Belorussia, which took place on October 22, 1939, were an attempt to legitimize the annexation of the Second Polish Republic's eastern territories by the Soviet Union following the September 17 Soviet invasion of Poland in accordance with the secret protocol of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact.
Only one month after these lands were occupied by the Red Army, the Soviet secret police and military led by the Party officials staged the local elections in an atmosphere of state terror.
Their activities broke Article 43 of the 1907 Hague Convention, which states: "The authority of the legitimate power having in fact passed into the hands of the occupant, the latter shall take all the measures in his power to restore, and ensure, as far as possible, public order and safety, while respecting, unless absolutely prevented, the laws in force in the country".
Temporary authorities were made of NKVD agents, Red Army officers, local laborers, and left-wing intelligentsia.
Their task was to organize the so-called workers guard in the municipal centers, and farmers committees, which were preparing land reform.
The campaign itself took place in an atmosphere of state terror, with mass arrests, and uniformed NKVD agents present at all polling stations.
Soviet banners and posters were seen everywhere, people were gathered to listen to propaganda slogans, and frequently, citizens were told that if they did not participate, they would be fired, arrested, and even sent to Siberia.
[6] On October 11, in article published in Pravda, Soviet propaganda pointed out the issues to be solved by the Western Ukraine's Assembly.
[7] There were instances when local Polish Communists, especially in Western Belorussia, tried to designate their own candidates, but these attempts were immediately dismissed by the party officials.
Out of 926 members of the People's Assembly of Western Belorussia, there were 621 Belarusians, 127 Poles, 72 Jews, 43 Russians, 53 Ukrainians, and 10 from other nationalities.
[13] Also, all real estate of landowners, churches and state officials, was confiscated without compensation (including buildings and animals).
Meetings of both Assemblies were based on criticism of interbellum Poland, describing "exterminational policies of White Polish occupiers, bloodsuckers and landowners", who suppressed "Ukrainian and Belarusian masses".
This decision had a far-reaching consequences, because now, the NKVD apparatus had legal reasons to arrest members of prewar political parties of Poland, accusing them of Ex post facto anti-Soviet activity.
Polish historian Rafal Wnuk estimates that 210 000 inhabitants of former eastern Poland, born in 1917, 1918, and 1919, ended up in the Red Army.
