Poles in the police service of Perm province (late XIX - early XX centuries)

The paper is devoted to the Poles who defended the tsarist regime in the structure of Perm police forces in the early 20 th century. The proportion of non-Russians was not substantial in Perm police. However, non-Russian policemen (including Polish ones) often took important positions in the police structure, such as county police captains, chief of city's police, their assistants etc. The history of Poles in Perm province begun in the 19 th century when many of them were deported to the Urals and Siberia after Polish rebellions. However, there is no data on the service of their descendants in the police. All known Polish policemen migrated to the Ural region from western provinces in the late 19 th - early 20 th centuries. The educational level of Polish policemen was low which was typical for Russian policemen as well. Some Poles had begun their career in other provinces. In Perm province, they faced no discrimination from the authorities and made their careers successfully, as well as got official and unofficial gratitude from the governors. At the same time, the representatives of non-titular nations were one of the targets for the critics from the Right-oriented citizens, though one can find many denunciations on Russian policemen in the archives too. The Poles in the police (especially Kosetsky and Pravohensky) actively participated in the fight against the Revolution movement in 1905-1908. Therefore, the biographic studies of Polish policemen demonstrate more typical features of the provincial police than specific national features.