Sytuacja mniejszości polskiej na Litwie – dziś i w przeszłości
The situation of a Polish minority in Lithuania – past and present

Summary/Abstract: During the Polish-Lithuanian Union (1385–1795) Polish nobles, clergy, merchants and townspeoplewere moved to the territory of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. This period was negatively assessedby the Lithuanian society because of “polonization” and anarchy. After the First World War,Poles found themselves in a difficult situation in Lithuania. The Lithuanians did not want to reunitewith our country and repressed the Polish minority living in the vicinity of Vilnius. Poles were thrownout of flats, Polish schools were closed, and Polish symbols were destroyed. Oppression intensifiedduring World War II, when Lithuania collaborated with the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, wantingto deport Poles from the Vilnius region. Despite the signing by Poland and Lithuania of the “Treaty onFriendly Relations and Good Neighborly Cooperation” in 1994, the situation of the Polish minority isstill difficult. Lithuanians violate a number of our minority rights, such as the right to their own education (Article 15 of the Treaty), first and last name (Article 14), bilingual signs to short-circuit towns inhabitedby the Polish minority (Article 13 paragraph 2 and Article 15), the right to participate in publiclife (Article 14), the prohibition of discrimination and assimilation (Article 15), religious rights (Article13 (2), Article 14 and Article 15) and the right to have own memorial sites (art. 23).

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