Authors

Discussion

During the 1920s, Soviet authorities initiated and implemented a unique set of policies and initiatives towards national groups. It was designed to propagate national differences and provide each ethnic group, no matter how small, with equal access to state and party institutions, judicial defense, and education in native languages. In addition to separate national-territorial units and national village soviets, those individuals of minority origin residing beyond respective national-territorial units could enjoy non-territorial autonomy with similar access to services in minority languages and guarantee of national rights. This paper aims to examine non-territorial arrangements in place in Soviet Ukraine based on the case study of its numerous Polish community, one of the biggest national minority of the republic. In particular, it aims to how police and judiciary protection was organised throughout the republic. The paper also aims to estimate the success of those Soviet arrangements in reaching out to its minority populations and evaluate the grassroots response for these centrally devised initiatives.