Camps for soldiers of the UNR Army interned in Poland (1919-1924)

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Camps for soldiers of the UNR Army interned in Poland. First, the warriors of the UNR Army were interned in Poland at the end of 1919 (after the breakdown of Ukrainian front) in Łańcut soon after they organised 6 Rifle divisions. After the defeat of the UNR Army at the end of 1920 and its transition on territory of Poland, about 20 000 soldiers were placed in a few camps of internee of which the main were in Łańcut, Aleksandrów Kujawski and Kalisz (Wadowice and Piotrków had less camps). In the middle of 1921, the internees were transfered from Łańcut to Strzałkowo and at the end of 1921 from Aleksandrów to Szczypiorno, in which, as well as in neighbouring Kalisz, the camps of internees remained until their final liquidation in the middle of 1924.

The conditions of life in the camps of internees in Poland (in particular domestic and material) were heavy (considerably worse than in the camps of internees for soldiers of Ukrainian Galician Army in Czechoslovakia). Without regard to that frisky cultural and educational life developed in camps - courses for illiterate and other (especially professional), different schools (among other there was a high school in Kalisz), folk university at Łańcut and Strzałkowo; galleries, theatrical groups and other - publishings exposed artistic and also religious life (in particular in the press).

The leader of camps of internee (it was in the Ukrainian hands and related to the UNR government in exile) cared about the theoretical military teaching and increased the petty officer personal. The camps of internees in Kalisz and Szczypiorno were after Warsaw the second cell of life of Ukrainian emigration in Poland. Amount of warriors in camps of internee diminished constantly: departure to Czechoslovakia, in particular on studies, to France, on labour and others like that. After liquidation of camps of internees former warriors passed to status of political emigrants in Poland.