Białystok Voivodeship (1919–1939)

Białystok Voivodeship Województwo białostockie
Voivodeship of Poland
1919–1939
Coat of arms
Location of the Białystok Voivodeship (red) within the Second Polish Republic, 1938.
Capital	Białystok
Area
• 1921	32,450 km2 (12,530 sq mi)
• 1939	26,036 km2 (10,053 sq mi)
Population
• 1921	1,305,284
• 1931	1,643,844
Government
• Type	Voivodeship
Voivode
• 1919–1920	Stefan Bądzyński
• 1937–1939	Henryk Ostaszewski
History
• Established	14 August 1919
• Annexed	September 1939
Political subdivisions	13 counties (powiaty) (1919–38) 10 counties (1938–1939)
Preceded by Succeeded by Bialystok-Grodno District Belastok Voblast Province of East Prussia Polish Underground State

Białystok Voivodeship (Polish: Województwo białostockie) was an administrative unit of interwar Poland (1918–1939). The province's capital and its biggest city was Białystok with a population of over 91,000 people. Following the Nazi German and the Soviet invasion of Poland, the Voivodeship was occupied by both invading armies and divided according to Nazi-Soviet boundary treaty.

In interwar Poland (1918–1939), Bialystok Voivodeship was located in the country's mid-northern part. It bordered Germany (East Prussia) to the north-west, Lithuania to the north-east, Wilno Voivodeship and Nowogródek Voivodeship to the east, Polesie Voivodeship and Lublin Voivodeship to the south and Warsaw Voivodeship to the west. Its area was 26 036 km². The landscape was flat, with the mighty Bialowieza Forest located right in the middle.

Inhabited mostly by Poles (in 1931 they made up 66.9% of the population), it also had significant Belarusian (16.3%) and Jewish (12.1%) minorities. Interestingly, in 1931, 2.8% claimed Russian as their native tongue. The population, according to the 1931 Polish census was 1 643 844.

According to Polish data from April 1939, the population of Białystok voivodship was divided as follows: 71,1% Poles, 13,5% Belarusians, 11,9% Jews, 2,2% Russians, 0,9% Lithuanians, 0,5% Germans.^[1]

On February 4, 1921 the voivodeship was expanded by three more counties: Grodno, Wołkowysk and Białowieża.

From 10 July 1930 to the end of February 1934, Marian Zyndram-Kościałkowski was the Voivode of Białystok. During this time, he streamlined administration, increased supervision of officials, and prioritised the development of sewers and streets in Bialystok. He also founded the Regional Committee for Unemployment, as well as had their share in the creation of the Agricultural Chamber of Białystok and ensuring the participation of entrepreneurs in the second Bialystok Fair Vilnius. He was also one of the founders of Jagiellonia Białystok Sports Club (of which he was honorary president of the club).^[2]

In November 1930, Marian Zyndram-Kościałkowski once again became a member of parliament (he was 17th on the list of the Nonpartisan Bloc for Cooperation with the Government (BBWR).^[3]

In 1932, Zyndram-Kościałkowski remained at the disposal of the head of the department and the Ministry of Defense Corps.

The Voivodeship consisted of thirteen counties (powiaty):

According to the 1931 census, the most significant cities were:

• Bialystok (pop. 91 100),
• Grodno (pop. 49 700),
• Suwalki (pop. 21 800),
• Wolkowysk (pop. 15 100),
• Augustow (pop. 12 100).

In the interwar period, Białystok Voivodeship was part of the so-called "Poland B". This meant that it was underdeveloped, with 23.1% of the population being illiterate. Railroad networks were scarce (total length 1 377 km., density – 4.2 per 100 km²), and forested areas covered 24.4% of Voivodeship's area. The city of Białystok (whose population reached 107 000 in 1939), was the Voivodeship's lone industrial centre. Agriculture was at a low level.

• Stefan Bądzyński, 19 November 1919 – 18 October 1920
• Stefan Popielawski, September 1920 – 12 July 1924 (till 3 November 1920 – acting)
• Marian Rembowski, 12 August 1924 – 24 November 1927
• Karol Kirst, 24 November 1927 – 10 July 1930
• Marian Zyndram-Kościałkowski, 10 July 1930 – 8 March 1934
• Stanisław Michałowski, 8 March 1934 – 29 September 1934 (acting)
• Stefan Pasławski, 29 September 1934 – 14 July 1936
• Stefan Kirtiklis, 17 July 1936 – 9 September 1937
• Henryk Ostaszewski, 9 November 1937 – 10 September 1939 (till 22 December 1937 acting)

The results of the 1931 census (questions about mother tongue and about religion) are presented in the table below:

Counties with Orthodox/Greek Catholic plurality are highlighted with yellow.

Linguistic (mother tongue) and religious structure of the Białystok Voivodeship according to the 1931 census^[4]

Today part of	County	Pop.	Polish	Belarusian & Russian	Lithuanian	Yiddish & Hebrew	Other language	Roman Catholic	Orthodox & Uniate	Jewish	Other religion
	Augustów	74751	91.9%	2.1%	0.0%	5.7%	0.3%	90.7%	1.2%	5.7%	2.4%
	Białystok City	91101	50.9%	4.2%	0.0%	42.6%	2.3%	45.5%	8.4%	43.0%	3.1%
	Białystok County	140078	83.3%	8.2%	0.0%	7.8%	0.7%	75.4%	15.7%	7.9%	1.0%
	Bielsk Podlaski	202410	55.0%	34.8%	0.0%	9.0%	1.2%	45.1%	45.3%	9.1%	0.5%
	Grodno	213105	47.4%	32.8%	2.9%	16.6%	0.3%	41.8%	40.9%	16.7%	0.6%
	Łomża	168167	87.0%	0.1%	0.0%	12.6%	0.3%	86.4%	0.2%	12.8%	0.6%
	Ostrołęka	112587	92.7%	0.0%	0.0%	7.1%	0.2%	92.3%	0.1%	7.2%	0.4%
	Ostrów	99741	86.1%	0.1%	0.0%	12.3%	1.5%	85.8%	0.2%	12.4%	1.6%
	Sokółka	103135	90.0%	2.0%	0.0%	7.9%	0.1%	78.6%	12.9%	8.3%	0.2%
	Suwałki	110124	77.8%	5.7%	6.2%	7.3%	3.0%	79.3%	1.4%	7.4%	11.9%
	Szczuczyn	68215	89.3%	0.2%	0.0%	10.1%	0.4%	89.1%	0.3%	10.2%	0.4%
	Volkovysk	171327	48.5%	43.7%	0.0%	7.6%	0.2%	44.6%	47.1%	7.8%	0.5%
	Wysokie Mazowieckie	89103	88.5%	0.2%	0.0%	11.0%	0.3%	88.2%	0.4%	11.1%	0.3%
Total	Białystok Voivodeship	1643844	71.9%	14.6%	0.8%	11.9%	0.8%	67.8%	18.6%	12.0%	1.6%

• Białystok Voivodeship (1945–1975)
• Białystok Voivodeship (1975–1998)
• Podlaskie Voivodeship (1999-present)

• Maly rocznik statystyczny, Warszawa 1939 (Concise Statistical Year-Book of Poland, Warsaw 1939). (in Polish)