The immediate postwar period

The fall of the Lemko republics put an end to the Lemko postwar searchings for a national identity other than Polish. Despite the fact that changes occurred in the general consciousness of the community and its elites, it was the rebirth of the Polish state, absorbing the Lemko region throughout the northern slope of the Carpathian mountains, which marked out the prospect of Polish citizenship for Lemkos and the necessity that all issues of sociopolitical life be dealt with in terms of Polish statehood.

The immediate afterwar years proved to be a test of Lemkos’ loyalty to the state, which process was highlighted in the context of military matters: registration for conscription and conscription itself. In early 1921, based on the reports of State Police Posts (PPP), districts sent lists to the government in Lviv of persons who were shirking military service. In each case of disloyalty an investigation, intended to force the conscript to be brought before the registration commission, was decreed. This task belonged to the police, but its execution was made difficult by the mountainous and wooded terrain of the municipalities in which draft-dodgers found convenient hiding places. The administrative authorities, following orders from a higher court, conducted searches (not only for Lemkos) and raised the share in operational costs for those municipalities which did not provide conscription registration lists at the appointed time.

The many instances of desertion constituted a separate problem for the military and civil authorities.