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After one hundred twenty-three years of partitions, in 1918, the Second Polish Republic
(commonly known as Interwar Poland) reappeared on the map of Europe. In 1923, the
eastern border of the Second Polish Republic was finally established. At that time, the
Ukrainian minority was estimated at 4-5 million people, forming the so-called territorial
minority living mostly in the eastern voivodeships of Poland. The relation between the
Polish state, Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Catholic Church on the territory of the
Second Polish Republic is considered to be one of the most complicated in the history.
The division of society in terms of nationality and religion was very pronounced and
represented an important political issue. Multicultural and multi-ethnic Poland adopted a
policy to build a strong country based on the Roman Catholic Church, which was
privileged in terms of numbers of believers and legislation. The believers of the Eastern
Orthodox Church were subjected to Polonisation and their religious buildings were
revindicated. The undertaken actions resulted in the rise of nationalist sentiments, which
culminated in 1938, when Orthodox churches were demolished on the territory of the
Second Republic of Poland. The article describes the historical, social and legal
background that enabled these actions and attempts to determine the present and lost
resources of sacral architecture, which is part of the multicultural heritage of the country.
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