Under the terms of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, adjusted by agreement on 28 September 1939, the Soviet Union annexed all Polish territory east of the line of the rivers Pisa, Narew, Western Bug, and San, except for Wilno Voivodship with its capital Wilno (Vilnius), which was given to Lithuania, and the Suwałki region, which was annexed by Germany. These territories had mixed population of different nationalities with Poles and Ukrainians being the most numerous ethnic groups, as well as large minorities of Belarusians and Jews.^[1] However, as the different national groups were located in a patchwork of mixed settlement patterns, much of the territory had its own significant local non-Polish majority (Ukrainians in the south and Belarusians in the North), especially in the rural areas.^[2] The "need to protect" the Ukrainian and Belarusian population was used as a pretext for Soviet invasion of Eastern Poland (including Western Ukraine and Belarus) carried out in the wake of Poland's falling apart under the Nazi invasion with Warsaw being besieged and Poland's government being in the process of evacuation.^[3] The total area, including the area given to Lithuania, was 201,000 square kilometres, with a population of 13.5 million, of which about 5.2-6.5 million were ethnic Poles. Molotov signs the German-Soviet non-aggression pact. ... September 28 is the 271st day of the year (272nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Pisa (-Polish, German: Pissek) is a small river with a length of 80. ... Narew (Belarusian: На́раў) is a river in western Belarus and north-eastern Poland, a tributary of the Vistula river. ... Bug at Wlodawa One of the two rivers called Bug (pronounced Boog), the Western Bug, or Buh (Belarusian: Захо́дні Буг; Russian: За́падный Буг; Ukrainian: Західн&#1080... Length of 433 km Basin area of 16 861 km2 Origin Carpathian Tributary of the Vistula Country Poland-Ukraine The San (Ukrainian: Сян, Sian). ... Wilno Voivodship The Wilno Voivodship (Polish: , Lithuanian: ) (or Vilnius Voivodship) was the the capital Voivodship of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and later the capital Voidvodship of Lithuania’s part in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. ... Location Ethnographic region AukÅ¡taitija County Vilnius County Municipality Vilnius city municipality Elderate Number of elderates 20 Coordinates General information Capital of Lithuania Vilnius County Vilnius city municipality Vilnius district municipality Population (rank) 540,318 in 2005 (1st) First mentioned 1323 Granted city rights 1387 Vilnius ( (help· info), see also... Motto: none Voivodship Podlaskie Municipal government Rada miejska w SuwaÅ‚kach Mayor Józef Gajewski Area 65. ...

During 1939-1941 at least 1.8 million^{[citation needed]} of the people inhabiting the region were killed or deported by the Soviet regime, from which at least 60% were Poles, and the second largest group were Jews. Recently few Polish historians, based mostly on queries in Soviet archives, reduced that number to about half a million people repressed in 1939-1945.^{[citation needed]} 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... This article is about the year. ... 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1945 (MCMVL) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1945 calendar). ...

These areas were conquered by the Nazi Germany in 1941 during Operation Barbarossa. The Nazis divided them up as follows: Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich, commonly refers to Germany in the years 1933–1945, when it was under the firm control of the totalitarian and fascist ideology of the Nazi Party, with the Führer Adolf Hitler as dictator. ... This article is about the year. ... Combatants Axis Powers Soviet Union Commanders Supreme commander: Adolf Hitler Supreme commander: Josef Stalin Strength ~ 3. ...

• Bezirk Bialystok (district of Białystok), which included the Białystok, Bielsk Podlaski, Grajewo, Łomża, Sokółka, Vaukavysk, and Hrodna counties and was "attached to" (not incorporated into) East Prussia;
• Bezirk Litauen und Weissruthenien — the Polish parts of White Ruthenia (today western Belarus), including the Vilnius (Vilna) province of Lithuania, which was incorporated into the Reichskommissariat Ostland;
• Bezirk Wolhynien-Podolien — the Polish province of Volhynia, which was incorporated into the Reichskommissariat Ukraine; and
• East Galicia, which was incorporated into the General Government and became its fifth district.

After the end of World War II, the Soviet Union kept most of the territories annexed in 1939, while only some territories were returned its Polish ally, notably the areas near Białystok and Przemyśl. BiaÅ‚ystok (pronounced: , Belarusian: , Lithuanian: , Yiddish ביאַליסטאָק) is the largest city (pop. ... Bielsk Podlaski is a town in north-eastern Poland with 27,600 inhabitants (2004). ... Motto: none Voivodship Podlasie Municipal government Urząd Miasta Grajewa Mayor Krzysztof Waszkiewicz Area 19 km² Population  - city  - urban  - density 21 000 - 1105/km² Founded City rights - - Latitude Longitude 53°39 N 22°27 E Area code +48 86 Car plates BGR Twin towns - Municipal Website Grajewo is a... Łomża is a town in north-eastern Poland, located approx. ... Sokółka is a town in north-eastern Poland. ... VaÅ­kavysk (Belarusian: ) is a town in the Minsk Province of Belarus. ... Hrodna City emblem Hrodna (or Grodna, Horadnia, Harodnia) (Belarusian: ; Russian: ; Polish: , Lithuanian: , German: ) is a city in Belarus. ... East Prussia (German: Ostpreu en; Polish: Prusy Wschodnie; Russian: Восточная Пруссия — Vostochnaya Prussiya) was a province of Kingdom of Prussia, situated on the territory of former Ducal Prussia. ... Location Ethnographic region AukÅ¡taitija County Vilnius County Municipality Vilnius city municipality Elderate Number of elderates 20 Coordinates General information Capital of Lithuania Vilnius County Vilnius city municipality Vilnius district municipality Population (rank) 540,318 in 2005 (1st) First mentioned 1323 Granted city rights 1387 Vilnius ( (help· info), see also... For more information on Ostland in WW II, the Reichskommissariat Ostland Ostland is a province of the land called The Empire in Warhammer Fantasy Battles. ... Pochayiv Lavra, the spiritual heart of Volhynia Volhynia (Ukrainian: , Polish: , Russian: ; also called Volynia) comprises the historic region in western Ukraine located between the rivers Pripyat and Western Bug -- to the north of Galicia and of Podolia. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Coat-of-arms of Galicia Galicia is a historical region currently split between Poland and Ukraine. ... The General Government (in full General government for the occupied Polish areas, in German Generalgouvernement für die besetzten polnischen Gebiete) was the name given by Germany to the governing authority in Poland after its occupation by the Wehrmacht in September and October 1939. ... Combatants Allied Powers: United Kingdom Soviet Union United States Republic of China and others Axis Powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Chiang Kai-Shek Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tojo Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000,000 Total dead... BiaÅ‚ystok (pronounced: , Belarusian: , Lithuanian: , Yiddish ביאַליסטאָק) is the largest city (pop. ... PrzemyÅ›l (pronounce: pʃεmiÉ•l, Ukrainian: Перемишль, Peremyshl) is a town in south-eastern Poland with 67,847 inhabitants (2005). ...

References

1. ^ (Polish)"Among the population of Eastern territories were circa 38% Poles, 37 % Ukrainians, 14,5 % Belarussians, 8,4 % Jewish, 0,9 % Russians and 0,6 % Germans"
   Elżbieta Trela-Mazur (1997). Włodzimierz Bonusiak, Stanisław Jan Ciesielski, Zygmunt Mańkowski, Mikołaj Iwanow Sowietyzacja oświaty w Małopolsce Wschodniej pod radziecką okupacją 1939-1941 (Sovietization of education in eastern Lesser Poland during the Soviet occupation 1939-1941). Kielce: Wyższa Szkoła Pedagogiczna im. Jana Kochanowskiego, 294. ISBN 83-7133-100-2., also in Wrocławskie Studia Wschodnie, Wrocław, 1997
2. ^ "Ukrainians made up a clear majority in the total population of Stanisławów, Tarnopol, and Lwów Voivodships consituting Eastern Galicia. Add the coniguous territory of Wolyn Voivodship (70 percent Ukrainian) and the Ukrainian majority in the area becomes overwhelming... The eastern half of Poland could be divided into three zones north to south. A clear Ukrainian majority resided in the south, except in some areas where Poles more ir less equaled their Ukrainian neighbors; in the central part, in Polesie and Wołyń, a small Polish minority (14 and 16 percent respectively) faced a mostly Orthodox peasantry (Ukrainian to the south, then "local" and finally, on the northern fringe icnreasingly Belarusian); and in the northern part, in Białystok, Wilno and Nowogródek voivodships, Poles were in majority, confronted by a numerically strong Belorussian minority. Jews constituted the principal counterpart of the Poles in Urban areas"
   Jan Tomasz Gross, Revolution from Abroad, pp. 4, 5, Princeton, 2005, ISBN 0-691-09603-1 (Google books link)
3. ^ ...the Soviet Government intended to motivate its procedure as follows: the Polish State had collapsed and no longer existed; therefore all agreements concluded with Poland were void; third powers might try to profit by the chaos which had arisen; the Soviet Union considered itself obligated to intervene to protect its Ukrainian and White Russian brothers and make it possible for these unfortunate people to work in peace.(...) Molotov conceded that the projected argument of the Soviet Government contained a note that was jarring to German sensibilities but asked that in view of the difficult situation of the Soviet Government we not let a trifle like this stand in our way. The Soviet Government unfortunately saw no possibility of any other motivation, since the Soviet Union had thus far not concerned itself about the plight of its minorities in Poland and had to justify abroad, in some way or other, its present intervention. Telegram of the German Ambassador in the Soviet Union, (Schulenburg) to the German Foreign Office Moscow, Moscow, September 16[1].

Jan T. Gross is the Norman B. Tomlinson 16 and 48 Professor of War and Society at Princeton University. ...

See also

• Curzon Line
• Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany
• General Government
• Kresy
• Treatment of Polish citizens by occupiers