German emigration from Volhynian province (1919–1939) ; Німецька еміграція з Волинського воєводства (1919–1939)
The article contains the analysis of archive sources, published primary sources as well as historiography. It covers the peculiarities of the emigration of ethnic Germans from the territory of Volhynian Province in interwar Poland. The author defines the reasons that encouraged German population to emigrate. The author also determines main directions of this emigration, which were the USA, Canada, Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay. Main attention is paid to the quantified data of this emigration in different periods of interwar time as well as to encouraging and restricting measures performed by American and European states.The author states that the Province of Volhynia was an important part of interwar Poland. According to the census of 1921, there were 983 596 Ukrainians, 240 922 Poles, 151 744 Jews, 1 118 Belorussians, 25 405 Czechs, 24 960 Germans, and 9 450 Russians in this province. The census of 1931 recorded the quantitative growth of the German population of the Volhynian Province, which increased to 46 883 people. During the interwar period, the German colonists were drawn into the emigration movement, the reasons of which were mainly social, economic, and sometimes national. The government circles in Warsaw sought to mechanically increase the number of Poles in the Volhynian Province, in order to modify its national structure.The United States of America was the priority direction of German emigration from the western part of Volhynia during the interwar years. During 1919–1938, almost 1 thousand Germans emigrated from the Volhynia Province to the United States. It is also noteworthy that the bulk of the settlers (80%) arrived in the United States during the 1919–1925 – exactly when emigration to other areas was only in the period of formation.Canada was also one of the main directions of the German overseas emigration from Volhynia in the interwar period (The Germans, together with the Scandinavians, the Belgians, the Dutch, the French and the Swiss belonged to the so-called privileged peoples whose emigration was not subject to restrictions). The peak of the emigration of Germans from the Volhynian Province to Canada occurred in 1926–1938: over 640 Germans emigrated; they represented 5,8% of the total emigration population of the western part of Volhynia (11 135 people). An emigration to Argentina and Brazil was another part of the emigration movement from Volhynia during the interwar years. Thus, during 1926–1938, over 1 000 Germans moved to Argentina and about 300 left for Brazil, all of them were from the western part of Volhynia. In 1937–1938 many people of Volhynia left for Paraguay. During this period about 5 thousand people moved there, including 500 Germans.In general, during the interwar period, about 3 500 Germans emigrated overseas from the Volhynian Province. The greatest extent of this emigration occurred during 1926–1929. Its subsequent evelopment was largely influenced by the global economic crisis and the anti-immigration legislation of the countries of immigration. ; У статті, на основі аналізу архівних матеріалів, опублікованих джерел та історіографії, охарактеризовано особливості еміграції етнічних німців з території Волинського воєводства міжвоєнної Польщі. Визначено причини, які впродовж 1919–1939 рр. спонукали німецьке населення до еміграції, її головні напрями (США, Канада, Бразилія, Аргентина, Парагвай). Особливу увагу звернено на кількісні показники німецької еміграції на різних етапах міжвоєнного періоду й заохочувальні/рестрикційні заходи стосовно неї з боку держав Америки та Європи. На основі статистичних даних автор доводить, що пріоритетним напрямом німецької еміграції із західної частини Волині упродовж міжвоєнного двадцятиліття були держави Америки: США (упродовж 1919–1938 рр. сюди емігрувала майже 1 тис. німців) та Канада (пік еміграції припав на 1926–1938 рр., коли до країни емігрувало понад 640 німців), а також Аргентина та Бразилія (упродовж 1926–1938 рр. до Аргентини із західної частини Волині переселилося понад 1 тис. німців, до Бразилії – близько 300).