Stanisławów Voivodeship


Stanisławów Voivodeship was an administrative district of the Second Polish Republic. It was established in December 1920 with an administrative center in Stanisławów. The voivodeship had an area of 16,900 km2 and comprised twelve counties. Following World War II, at the insistence of Joseph Stalin during the Tehran Conference of 1943, Poland's borders were redrawn, Polish population forcibly resettled and Stanisławów Voivodeship was incorporated into the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic as Stanislav Oblast.

September 1939 and its aftermath

Following German invasion on Poland, and in accordance with the secret protocol of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, Soviet forces invaded eastern Poland on September 17, 1939. As bulk of the Polish Army was concentrated in the west, fighting Germans, the Soviets met with little resistance and their troops quickly moved westwards. Polish authorities originally intended to organize anti-German resistance in Stanisławów Voivodeship , with Polish Army units planning to stand ground until the spring of 1940 when a French attack on Germany was expected. However, the Soviet invasion of Poland rendered these plans ineffectual. It is estimated that prior to Soviet counter-offensive in the latter part of World War II, over 18,000 Polish civilians in Stanisławów Voivodeship fell victims to OUN-UPA massacres.

Demographics

The Voivodeship's capital was Stanisławów. In 1921 was inhabited by 1,339,191 people, and its population density was 72.9 persons per km2. Ukrainians and Ruthenians constituted 70% of the population, especially in the countryside. Poles, distributed across the entire voivodeship, made around 22%, Polish Jews, around 7%. Also, there were smaller communities of Galician Germans. In 1931 the population grew to 1,480,285 and the density to 88 persons per km2.
According to the census of 1921 the Stanisławów Voivodeship was inhabited by 1,339,191 people, of whom by nationality 70.2% were Ruthenian, 21.8% were Polish, 6.8% were Jewish, 1.1% were German and 0.1% all others. By religion 74.3% were Uniate or Orthodox, 14.3% were Roman Catholic, 0.8% were Protestant and 10.6% were Jewish.
In 1931 the voivodeship had 1,480,285 inhabitants, of whom by mother tongue 68.8% spoke Ukrainian and Ruthenian, 22.4% spoke Polish, 7.4% spoke Yiddish and Hebrew, 1.1% spoke German and 0.3% spoke other languages. By religion 73% were Greek Catholic and Orthodox, 16.6% were Roman Catholic, 0.8% were Protestant, 9.4% were Jewish and 0.2% were others.
The results of the 1931 census are presented in the table below:
County Polish nameCountyPop.Polish%Ukrainian & Ruthenian%Roman Catholic%Uniate & Orthodox%
DolinaDolyna1183732115817.9%8388070.9%1563013.2%8981175.9%
HorodenkaHorodenka928942775129.9%5995764.5%1551916.7%6978975.1%
KałuszKalush1022521863718.2%7750675.8%1441814.1%8075079.0%
KołomyjaKolomyia1760005200629.5%11053362.8%3192518.1%12137669.0%
KosówKosiv9395267187.2%7983885.0%49765.3%8090386.1%
NadwórnaNadwórna County1407021690712.0%11212879.7%1521410.8%11311680.4%
RohatynRohatyn1272523615228.4%8487566.7%2710821.3%9045671.1%
StanisławówStanyslaviv1983594903224.7%12021460.6%4251921.4%12395962.5%
StryjStryi1526312518616.5%10618369.6%2340415.3%10815970.9%
ŚniatynSniatyn780251720622.1%5600771.8%865911.1%6179779.2%
TłumaczTlumach1160284495838.7%6665957.5%3147827.1%7665066.1%
ŻydaczówZhydachiv838171646419.6%6109872.9%1509418.0%6314475.3%
Województwo StanisławowskieStanisławów Voivodeship148028533217522.4%101887868.8%24594416.6%107991073.0%

Geography

The Stanisławów Voivodeship's area was 16,894 square kilometers. It was located in south-eastern corner of the country, bordering Tarnopol Voivodeship to the northeast, Lwów Voivodeship to the west, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Romania to the south. It was in large part covered by forests of the Carpathian Mountains, with numerous mountain spas. The landscape was hilly and mountainous, with Hoverla in the Chornohora range as the highest peak. The other significant mountain range was the Gorgany.
The main river was the Dniester, which also marked border with the Tarnopol Voivodeship. Other rivers were: the Prut, the Stryj and the Cheremosh.

Administrative divisions

Before the onset of World War II the Stanisławów Voivodeship consisted of 15 powiats, 29 towns, 904 villages and numerous smaller communities . Those were the same 12 powiats that were part of the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria with the addition of Turka powiat later on. Its capital Stanisławów was the largest city, with population of some 60,000. Other important municipal centers of the voivodeship were: Kołomyja, Stryj, Horodenka, Kalusz, Sniatyn and Bolechow.
The Stanisławów Voivodeship consisted of 12 powiats :
  1. Dolina Powiat
  2. Horodenka Powiat
  3. Kałusz Powiat
  4. Kołomyja Powiat, joined with Peczeniżyn Powiat
  5. Kosów Powiat
  6. Nadwórna Powiat
  7. Rohatyn Powiat
  8. Stanisławów Powiat, joined with Bohorodczan Powiat
  9. Stryj Powiat, joined with Skolski Powiat
  10. Śniatyń Powiat
  11. Tłumacz Powiat
  12. Żydaczów Powiat

Railroads and industry

The Stanisławów Voivodeship was located in the so-called Poland "B" region, which meant that it was underdeveloped, with low level of industry and considerable numbers of inhabitants living in poverty. Agricultural production was low due to poor quality of soil. Since mid-1930s, the area was quickly gaining popularity as a tourist destination, with numbers of visitors to mountain springs rising steadily year by year. Railroad network was well-developed in the north, with such important junctions as Stanisławów, Kołomyja and Stryj. In the south, however, rail connections were lacking.
On January 1, 1938, total length of railroads within Voivodeship's boundaries was 755 kilometers.

Voivodes

The local government of voivodeship and city was located at address Ulica Karpinskiego, 7.
  • Edmund Jurystowski: 21 October 1921 – 18 August 1925
  • Aleksander Des Loges: 18 August 1925 – 25 October 1926
  • Władysław Korsak: 18 December 1926 – 12 September 1927
  • Aleksander Morawski: 28 October 1927 – 30 October 1928
  • Bronisław Nakoniecznikow-Klukowski: 30 October 1928 – 29 August 1930
  • Zygmunt Jagodziński: 3 September 1930 – 1 February 1936
  • Mieczysław Starzyński: 11 February 1936 – 22 June 1936
  • Jan Sawicki: 23 June 1936 – July 1936
  • Stefan Pasławski: 14 July 1936 – 20 January 1939
  • Stanisław Jarecki: 20 January 1939 – 2 September 1939
Following Soviet invasion of Poland on 17 September 1939, the voivodeship existed until 27 November 1939. On 6 October 1939 – 27 November 1939 the voivodeship was governed by Soviet provisional chairman of Civilian Administration Mikhail Grulenko who later continued to hold his post as the 1st secretary of the CPU in the region.