The Evolution of the Approach of the State Authorities to Minorities and Ethnic Groups in the Third Republic of Poland (outline of issues)

The new borders and new ideology imposed on Poland in the aftermath of World War II significantly affected the ethnic structure of the state and the approach of its communist authorities towards minority groups. The pre-war Poland was a multi-national state where Poles represented about 69.2% of the population, the remaining 30.8% were the members of minorities – with the biggest communities of Ukrainians, Belarusians, Germans and Jews. According to the first, official, post-war census – the minority groups represented after 1945 already only 2% of the citizens of new Poland.