Andrei Ivanovich Hanchar,
Candidate of Historical Sciences, Associate Professor, Grodno State Agrarian University, Grodno, Belarus, e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Organisation of Expulsion from the North-Western Region of the Russian Empire for Participation in the Events of 1863 (On the Example of the Case of Ksendz I.I. Srzhedzinski)
DOI: 10.31518/2618-9100-2025-5-10
The article reveals the mechanism of the expulsion of the Roman Catholic clergy from the Northwestern Krai of the Russian Empire for their participation in the events of 1863, and provides an analysis of the associated administrative and judicial processes. The research is based on a systematic analysis of a vast body of statistical data drawn from archival materials and official reports, as well as a comparative-historical analysis of scholarly literature. The total number of convicted Roman Catholic priests in the six provinces of the Northwestern Krai was 290 (approximately 3 % of all convicts). The largest number of offenders was in the Kovno and Vilna provinces. The identified contradictions within the judicial-administrative system demonstrate that the decisions of military field courts (which sometimes acquitted the accused) were often ignored by provincial authorities, who carried out expulsions through administrative procedures. The case of Priest Ioseph Srzedzinski illustrates that the expulsion process was plagued by serious errors in documentation and logistics (destination and surname were mixed up), leading to his unlawful imprisonment and years of ordeal for the exile. The research also sheds light on the authorities’ policies in the postwar period, including a partial amnesty in 1871 and a limited permission to return to service while remaining under police surveillance. The scholarly novelty of the work lies in its comprehensive approach, which combines a macro-analysis of the scale of the measures with a micro-historical study of a specific case, thereby revealing not only the general picture but also the internal mechanisms, flaws, and human consequences of the imperial policy.
Publishing: 28/10/2025
The article has been received by the editor on 30/06/2025
How to cite: Hanchar A.I. Organisation of Expulsion from the North-Western Region of the Russian Empire for Participation in the Events of 1863 (On the Example of the Case of Ksendz I.I. Srzhedzinski) // Historical Courier, 2025, No. 5 (43), pp. 108–122.[Available online: http://istkurier.ru/data/2025/ISTKURIER-2025-5-10.pdf]
Links: Issue 5 2025
Keywords: Russian Empire; prisoner; Roman Catholic priest; exile; rebellion; resettlement; North-Western region; Siberia