Poles in Siberia (the 19th - early of the 20th century) as vieved by contemporary Russian historiography

The modern stage of historiography on the history of Polish communities (Diaspora) in Siberia can be dated from the beginning of the 1990s - the beginning of the XXI century. During this period, the main areas of research have been formed, historiographic schools established, and the geographical localization of research determined. The purpose of this article is to reconstruct the research field of authors representing Siberian historical polonistics. This summary will allow us to form an idea of the results of research on the history of Polish communities in Siberia of the 19^th - early of the 20^th century obtained so far. Historiographic sources of this research include monographs, papers published in journals and in collections of articles issued as a result of scientific conferences, in encyclopaedic publications, as well as author’s abstracts of theses and bibliographic indexes, thus, covering a significant range of studies on the issues under consideration. When conducting the analysis, the authors used the principles of historicism, objectivity, integrity, value-based approach, comparative historical and problem-chronological research methods, periodization method, retrospective (reverse) analysis and perspective analysis methods. The authors’ analysis of the current historiographical situation has shown that, based on the composition of research on the history of poles in Siberia in the 19^th - early of the 20^th century, we can note an increase in the number of studies, expanding the subject, primarily in such areas as the adaptation of exiles in Siberia, voluntary migration, the contribution of poles to the economic development of the region, the history of the Catholic Church in Siberia, as well as the publication of memoirs and newly introduced archival documents. The topic of the contribution of poles to the development of science and culture in Siberia remains one of the most popular in modern Russian historiography, as well as in Polish. At scientific conferences, sections on this topic are constantly working and a large number of reports are presented, often dedicated to individual important figures. Memories and searches for “roots” by descendants of exiles and voluntary migrants to Siberia are of great interest. They include family oral traditions that are passed down from generation to generation, which allows them to be attributed to the sources of “oral history”. It is worth noting the emerging trend: the publication of works summarizing the history of poles in Siberia for all periods of their existence. Currently, research centers operate in both Eastern and Western Siberia. Cooperation with historians of Poland and contacts at many scientific conferences that were held both in Siberian cities and in Poland itself have a positive impact on the expansion of the subject and new approaches.

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