“Authorized staff of the Polish army in Kustanay region...”: to the history of the formation of genera landers’ army in Kazakhstan during the Second World War

Introduction. While the history of the deportation of Poles to the territory of the Kazakh SSR is a well-known fact, the fate of the “administratively exiled families of the repressed from the Western regions of Ukraine and Belarus” in the Kustanay region, the male population of which was included in the Polish military units (including the formation of the General Anders’ Polish Army in late 1941 - early 1942 in Kustanay with a focus on the Polish emigrant government in London), remained out of the field of view of researchers. This article will address this gap. Methods and materials. The work was prepared on the basis of declassified materials from the funds of the state archives of Kazakhstan and Ukraine, the memories of Polish citizens, and direct witnesses of the war. Analysis. The article proves that many deported Polish citizens (including former servicemen) were drafted in the winter of 1941-1942 into the army of General W. Anders. The activities of the representative office of the “headquarters of the Polish Army in the USSR” on the territory of the Kazakh SSR were carried out under the strict control of the republican and local bodies of Soviet power.