The Communist Party of Western Belorussia ( pl, Komunistyczna Partia Zachodniej Białorusi, KPZB; be, Камуністычная партыя Заходняй Беларусі, КПЗБ) was a banned political party in the

Interwar Poland The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 1918 and 1939. The state was established on 6 November 1918, before the end of the First World ...

, active in the territory of present-day

West Belarus Western Belorussia or Western Belarus ( be, Заходняя Беларусь, translit=Zachodniaja Bielaruś; pl, Zachodnia Białoruś; russian: Западная Белоруссия, translit=Zapadnaya Belorussiya) is a historical region of mod ...

from 1923 until 1939; in Polesie (1932–1933)

Słonim Slonim ( be, Сло́нім, russian: Сло́ним, lt, Slanimas, lv, Sloņima, pl, Słonim, yi, סלאָנים, ''Slonim'') is a city in Grodno Region, Belarus, capital of the Slonimski rajon. It is located at the junction of the Ščar ...

county (1934) and

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...

History

The party was founded in 1923 in

Wilno Vilnius ( , ; see also #Etymology and other names, other names) is the capital and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the munic ...

by representatives of the Belarusian communist circles from Wilno, Białystok and

Brest Brest may refer to: Places *Brest, Belarus **Brest Region **Brest Airport **Brest Fortress * Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria * Břest, Czech Republic *Brest, France ** Arrondissement of Brest **Brest Bretagne Airport ** Château de Brest *Br ...

with logistical help from the

Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

. Although its name, the Communist Party of Western Belarus, could suggest a desire for independence of Belarus, wrote historian Sergiusz Łukasiewicz, in reality the party aimed for the transfer of eastern provinces of Poland to the Soviet Union. As this constituted high treason, the party was illegalized by the Polish authorities. The party's political program included a

socialist revolution Revolutionary socialism is a political philosophy, doctrine, and tradition within socialism that stresses the idea that a social revolution is necessary to bring about structural changes in society. More specifically, it is the view that revoluti ...

in Poland and unification of Western Belorussia with the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic in the USSR. The party worked undercover; in 1925-1927 it masked its illegal activities under the legal Belarusian Peasants' and Workers' Union in Poland. It received support from the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

with leadership brought in secretly from across the border (see

Vera Kharuzhaya Vera Kharuzhaya ( be, Вера Харужая, russian: Ве́ра Заха́ровна Хору́жая, pl, Wiera Charuża, 27 September 1903 – November 1942) was a Belarusian Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common ...

). In 1938, following a decision by the Comintern on the orders of Joseph Stalin, the KPZB along with the

Communist Party of Poland The interwar Communist Party of Poland ( pl, Komunistyczna Partia Polski, KPP) was a communist party active in Poland during the Second Polish Republic. It resulted from a December 1918 merger of the Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland a ...

and the

Communist Party of Western Ukraine Communist Party of Western Ukraine (; uk, Комуністична партія Західної України) was a political party in eastern interwar Poland. Until 1923 it was known as the Communist Party of Eastern Galicia (Komunistyczna Par ...

were delegalized by the USSR under the charge of affiliation with the Polish bourgeoisie. Following the

Soviet invasion of Poland The Soviet invasion of Poland was a military operation by the Soviet Union without a formal declaration of war. On 17 September 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Poland from the east, 16 days after Nazi Germany invaded Poland from the west. Subs ...

and the annexation of Western Belarus to the Soviet Union in 1939, many former members of the KPZB were repressed, others joined the Communist Party of Byelorussia, the East Belarusian branch of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

Notable members

Siarhei Prytytski Siarhei Prytytski ( be, Сяргей Прытыцкі, ''Siarhiej Prytycki'' russian: Серге́й Притыцкий, ''Sergey Pritytsky'', pl, Sergiusz Prytycki; February 1, 1913, Harkawicze - June 13, 1971, Minsk) was a Belarusian Soviet s ...

, future Chairman of Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of Belarus (1968-1971) *

Branislaw Tarashkyevich Branislaw Adamavich Tarashkyevich, russian: Бронисла́в Ада́мович Тарашке́вич, lt, Bronislavas Taraškevičius, pl, Bronisław Adamowicz Taraszkiewicz (20 January 1892 – 29 November 1938) was a Belarusian public fi ...

, linguist, writer, later executed by the Soviets in 1938 *

Mikalai Dvornikau '' , native_name_lang = , nickname = Gerasim, Andrei, Anton, Stanislav Tomashevich, Robert, Petya , birth_date = , birth_place = Gomel, Russian Empire , death_date = , death_place = Extremadura, Spain , allegiance = Com ...

, commander of the

Ukrainian interbrigade company Taras Shevchenko The Ukrainian interbrigade company Taras Shevchenko (in Ukrainian ''Українська рота інтербригад імені Тараса Шевченка'') was a Ukrainian formation, which participated in the Spanish Civil War on the Rep ...

, died in a battle in 1938 *

Maksim Tank Maksim Tank (Belarusian language, Belarusian: Максiм Танк, Russian: Максим Танк, real name Jaŭhien Skurko; 17 September 1912 – 7 August 1995) was a Belarusian Soviet poet, journalist and translator. Childhood and activis ...

, future multiple times awarded writer, Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of Belarus (1965–1971) *

, later executed by Nazis in 1942

References

*Edwarda Orłowska, ''Pamiętam jak dziś'',

Książka i Wiedza ''Książka i Wiedza'' ("Books and Knowledge") is a Polish publishing house founded in 1948, soon after World War II. As of the mid-2010s it has published over 13,000 titles. In communist Poland it was the leading state publisher of books about pol ...

, Warsaw 1973. {{Authority control 1923 establishments in Poland 1938 disestablishments in the Soviet Union Banned communist parties Communist parties in Belarus Defunct communist parties in Poland Defunct political parties in Belarus Political parties disestablished in 1938 Political parties established in 1923 Political parties of minorities in Poland Political repression in the Soviet Union Western Belorussia (1918–1939) Communist Party of Western Belorussia Separatism in Poland