Marchlewszczyzna

Marchlewszczyzna (Ukrainian: Мархлевский польский национальный район) was a Polish National District in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic created as an experiment[1] and as part of the Soviet korenizatsia campaign in Zhytomyr Okruha [ru] to the west of Zhytomyr[2] on 21 July 1925 by resolution of the Little Presidium of the All-Ukrainian Central Executive Committee.

[2] It was created to implement an idea in creation of Polish national districts on territories of Ukrainian and Belarusian SSRs.

[2] In percentage terms the population consisted of 68.8% Polish people, 19.2% Ukrainians, 8.8% Germans, 2.5% Jews and 0.5% of Russians.

[2] The official opening ceremony of the district took place on 27 March 1926 with the participation of Felix Dzerzhinsky, Feliks Kon, Samuil Lazovert, Boleslav Skarbek and Józef Unszlicht at the First district congress of Soviets (27–30 April 1926) where in total 103 delegates and 500 visitors took part.

[2] In 1927 took place the Second congress of Soviets of Marchlewski District at which were present Tomasz Dąbal, Samuil Lazovert and Boleslav Skarbek.

[2] As a type of Soviet propaganda, the subdivision was located just 50 km (31 mi) from the eastern border of the Second Polish Republic and was named after the Polish Bolshevik Julian Marchlewski, who was a rector of the Communist University of the National Minorities of the West[1] and dreamed of Poland becoming part of the Soviet Union.

Marchlewszczyzna had to become an exemplary autonomous district where Bolsheviks sought to demonstrate to their western neighbor Poland that the Polish as a nation will also submit to "government of workers and peasants".

This also brought about improvement in the quality of life, but all efforts were destroyed in the early 1930s, when the collectivization in the Soviet Union began.