Choosing the Lesser of Two Evils: Jewish Refugees in Soviet Occupied Poland 1939–1940

Abstract Germany’s invasion of Poland in September 1939 triggered a substantial eastward movement of refugees. Among them were approximately 300,000 Jews who found themselves stranded in territories occupied by the Soviet Union. In accordance with the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, which outlined the partition of Poland, the Red Army also advanced into Polish territory on 17 September. The Soviet authorities perceived the mass arrival of predominantly Jewish refugees – classified as bezhentsy – not only as a socio-economic burden but also as a considerable security threat. Concentrated largely in border cities these displaced persons came under the scrutiny of the NKVD, the Soviet secret police, which regarded them as potential sources of instability. In the spring of 1940, over 65,000 Jewish refugees voluntarily sought to return to the German-occupied zone of Poland as part of a broader population exchange. However, as they were not accepted by the Germans, they were deported by the NKVD to the Soviet interior. Drawing on the experiences of those affected, this paper investigates the question of why, in the spring of 1940, tens of thousands of Polish Jews made the seemingly paradoxical decision to return to territories under Nazi control, despite the evident risks of persecution.