The Russian community in Toruń, predominantly adhering to the Eastern Orthodox faith, became significantly present in the city during the interwar period. The Russians who settled in Toruń at that time were mostly opponents of the October Revolution, belonging to the Russian white émigré, or those who fought on the Polish side in the Polish–Soviet War and were interned in the Second Polish Republic after the signing of the Treaty of Riga. Their numbers stabilized at around 100 individuals. During the interwar period, the community was well-integrated, engaging in cultural activities and actively participating in the life of the Orthodox parish in Toruń. Their activity ceased after World War II when the Russian community became the target of repression by the Security Service.
Russians were likely present in Toruń on a smaller scale even earlier, although they did not form a visible community in the city's life. The oldest trace that may indicate their presence is a gravestone with an inscription in Cyrillic, dated 1668.
Prisoners of war from World War I The first larger groups of Russians appeared in Pomerania after the defeats suffered by the Russian army in East Prussia in 1914. This group numbered at least several tens of thousands (as many prisoners were taken after the Battle of Tannenberg). The prisoners were distributed in hastily organized camps in Tuchola, Czersk, and Gdańsk, where they remained until the end of the war. In November 1918, they were given the possibility of legally returning to Russia. However, several hundred individuals did not take up this opportunity. Documents from the Provincial Office of Pomeranian Voivodeship in Toruń mention 240 former Russian prisoners who stayed in the province. It is also known that these individuals sought passports from the Russian Consulate in Warsaw, receiving negative replies and becoming stateless. Statistics, however, do not specify how many of the former prisoners settled in Toruń.
Interned soldiers from the Polish–Soviet War
After the conclusion of the Polish–Soviet War in December 1920, Internment Camp No. 15 was established in Toruń, located in selected structures of the Toruń Fortress: Forts XI, XIII, XV (residential buildings), XIV, XII (guard companies), and Fort II (hospital). The Russian internees were from the units of General Stanisław Bułak-Bałachowicz, former Cossack units commanded by Ataman W. Jakowlew, and the 3rd Russian Army under the command of General , which was part of the armed forces commanded by General Pyotr Wrangel.
The first transport of internees arrived in Toruń on 25 December 1920, followed by another group five days later. The first group consisted of 1,000 soldiers and officers from Bułak-Bałachowicz's units, and the second group was twice as large. In the camp, there were 591 officers and 857 soldiers from Peremykin's army, as well as 130 civilians associated with them. A smaller number of internees came from Cossack units, totaling 24 civilians, 570 soldiers, and 126 officers. Additionally, groups of former soldiers from other camps, such as 200 ex-soldiers of General Anton Denikin's army from the Tuchola camp, were temporarily sent to work in Toruń.
The camp operated until the fall of 1921. During this time, at least 300 people successfully escaped, likely due to the poor living and sanitary conditions in the camp. These escapees usually left Toruń, heading toward the eastern parts of Poland or larger cities. Conversely, other escapees from Internment Camp No. 7 in Tuchola arrived in Toruń. After the closure of the camp, some soldiers and officers were allowed to remain in the city legally. The condition for this was finding stable employment, after which an internment release card and residence permit were issued. To obtain the permit, many Russians resorted to temporary illegal work. Among those who stayed in Toruń were mostly officers and their families, who were employed in private businesses or assisted in the Polish Army's units. The number of this group is estimated at around 220 people.
Toruń also became home to part of a group of 400 Bolshevik prisoners of war from the Tuchola camp. After the closure of the camp in November 1922, they remained in the Pomeranian Voivodeship. Toruń, along with Grudziądz and Bydgoszcz, was considered one of the most attractive places for settlement due to opportunities for stable employment.
Russian minority in the interwar period
In 1923, the number of Russians permanently residing in Toruń stabilized at around 100. On 22 July 1924, the city began registering Russian and Ukrainian foreigners, who were required to declare whether they intended to stay in Poland or leave. Failing to comply with the registration order could result in expulsion from the Second Polish Republic. According to a 1923 census, most Russians who remained in Toruń worked as artisans in various trades, with smaller numbers employed as laborers, technicians, doctors, merchants, or clerks. Many were former officers, while rank-and-file soldiers represented the smallest group among those remaining in Toruń.
As of February 1922, most of the Russian community consisted of single men (156 individuals, compared to 23 men with families). In 1923, a Russian named Popov, along with a Jew named Alter and a German named Schulz, established a trading company called "Poppow i Ska".
Russians living in Toruń quickly began organizing cultural activities within their community. Even during their time in Internment Camp No. 15, they printed periodicals such as Nasza Gazeta, Donskij Kozak, and Otzwuki using duplicating methods. They also organized literacy courses for illiterate individuals and formed musical ensembles, theatrical groups, and choirs. These performances were open to the public. A group of Russians staged Giuseppe Verdi's operas La Traviata and Rigoletto in Toruń, receiving positive reviews in the local press. The YMCA played a role in organizing cultural life both in the camp and later in the Russian community of Toruń. Russians also established a football team that played matches against local clubs such as Czarni and Gryf.
In addition to civilian Russians who had settled permanently, Russian soldiers serving in the Polish Army were also present in Toruń. Due to a system that assigned conscripts to units far from their place of birth or previous residence, numerous groups of Ukrainians, Belarusians, and Jews from the country's eastern provinces were sent to Toruń during the 1922–1923 draft. Among these recruits were Polish citizens of Russian nationality, who constituted 0.97% of all soldiers as of February 1923. DateNumber of RussiansDecember 1920~3,000April 1922~400February 1923114December 1928100December 1929105May 1930112January 1931116September 1931116August 193298
Political activity The Russian community in Toruń began forming political organizations early on. In the spring of 1921, they submitted a request to the city authorities to register the Committee of Citizens of Eastern Siberia and the Far East. The request was denied. The headquarters of this committee was intended to be located at 32 Główna Street in Podgórz. A year later, in June 1922, another application was submitted to register an association called the Russian Committee. Its proposed statutes stated that the committee's aim was to provide Russians with legal and material assistance and to address their cultural and religious needs. The association was to be open to Polish members of both genders, provided they paid an annual membership fee of 600 Polish marks. The authorities, however, also denied this request, citing that the group intended to unite supporters of restoring the Russian Empire to its pre-1914 borders, opposing Poland's independence. The main initiators of the committee, Lieutenant Colonel Sergiusz Glushkov and Colonel Borys Tymoshchenko, were subsequently interned at the camp near Strzałkowo. The decision of the Pomeranian Voivode was influenced by Tymoshchenko's known monarchist activities, his involvement in similar organizations in Gdańsk, and his connections to related groups in Paris and Berlin, as confirmed by a search of his residence.
Ultimately, no monarchist organization was ever established in Toruń. However, monarchist sentiments remained strong among members of the Russian minority. For example, they were expressed through memorial services held on anniversaries of the deaths of General Wrangel and Empress Maria Feodorovna.
On a smaller scale, some Russian émigrés showed communist sympathies. A shoemaker named Włodzimierz Ivanov organized meetings of this nature in the city, which were halted by police intervention in December 1921. Participants in the disrupted meeting were sent to camps in Tuchola and near Strzałkowo.
Despite the monarchist leanings of many Russian residents in Toruń, they did not engage in anti-Polish activities. On the contrary, they often emphasized their loyalty to the Second Polish Republic. In 1928, a service was held in Toruń's Orthodox church for the well-being of Poland, during which the church was adorned with white-and-red flags. Similar decorations appeared on the homes of Russian residents. The following year, they also participated in celebrations marking Marshal Józef Piłsudski's name day.
Social organizations
In January 1923, the Russian community in Toruń attracted the attention of the Russian Relief Committee, established in August 1921 and headquartered in Warsaw. One of its first projects in the city was organizing a Russian-language library, overseen by Vasiliy Gultsev, a representative of the committee. Toruń authorities approved the establishment of the library, which was located in a rented space at 116 Mickiewicz Street. Initially, the library held only between 80 and 90 volumes and lacked a reading room. Its services were free of charge, though city authorities viewed the library as a potential meeting place for émigrés and kept it under observation.
On 15 August 1926, the first meeting of the Toruń Branch of the Russian Relief Committee for Emigrants in Poland took place at 6 Mostowa Street. The branch aimed to implement the committee's statutory tasks locally, including providing assistance to Russian émigrants, refugees, and former prisoners of war in Poland, representing them before authorities, and fostering educational and cultural activities within their community. Specific tasks for the Toruń branch included managing the Russian library, offering material support to impoverished Russians in Toruń, and providing legal advice. The branch's first president was Vasiliy Gultsev, succeeded by S. Isayevich on 9 September 1928, and then by Gultsev again on 1 December 1929. Records from a general meeting in September 1928 show that the organization requested financial support from the city and permission for additional fundraising to assist the poorest Russian émigrants.
One of the most visible aspects of the committee's activities in Toruń was its cultural engagement, including organizing Russian music concerts and lectures. These events often addressed contemporary issues in the Soviet Union. For example, on 31 March 1928, attorney K. Nikolayev delivered a public lecture titled Russia's Path After the Revolution, and on 5 April 1930, journalist M. Donarski spoke about religious persecution in the Soviet Union. The latter event attracted about 100 attendees.
Both the Russian minority and the smaller Ukrainian minority in Toruń were generally viewed positively by the Polish majority. By 1932, any earlier suspicions towards the Russian community had largely subsided. Authorities ceased surveillance of this group, focusing instead on the much larger German minority in the city.
Religion