Bloc of National Minorities

The Bloc was co-founded by Yitzhak Gruenbaum,[1] a Polish-Jewish politician. It was formed on 17 August 1922 at a conference in Warsaw.[1] Its united electoral committee consisted of three representatives each from Belarusians, Jews, Germans and Ukrainians (except for natives of Eastern Galicia who boycotted the elections).[1]

BMN took part in the 1922 Polish legislative election, 1928 Polish legislative election and 1930 Polish legislative election, doing very well in the 1922 elections (19.5% and the second largest party) and 1928 elections (14% and the third largest party). In 1922 the bloc received the most votes in Volhynia, Polesia, and Chelm lands.[1] On its party list there were elected 66 sejm representatives and 22 senators.[1] In 1928 the bloc consisted of the Ukrainian National Democratic Alliance (UNDO), Ukrainian Peasant Union, Zionist organizations "Mizrahi" and "Hitachdut" (Unity) and few Belarusian and German groups.[1] During the 1928 elections, the bloc earned 55 mandates to the Sejm and 21 to the Senate.[1]

In 1930 elections which were considered not free, it fared poorly (3% and the ninth largest party). In the political shakedown following the 1930 elections, the Bloc was dissolved.

In the Second Polish Republic, ethnic minorities constituted 1/3 of total population.