for loyalty to the Polish state. Such policy was partially conducted by the Sanation regime, especially under leadership of Józef Piłsudski in years 1926–1935. Polonization also created a new educated class among the non-Polish minorities, a class of intellectuals aware of the importance of schooling, press, literature and theatre, who became instrumental in the development of their own ethnic identities. Belarusians Belarusians in Poland were a poorly educated group, 90% of them making their living by farming. The aspiration of the Belarusians was to achieve cultural autonomy, as well as fair land reform. The maximum number of people of Belarusian nationality in interwar Poland was about 2 million. It is difficult to determine a definite number because for the most part, they did not have an established sense of their national identity; they described their language as "Tutejszy" "simple speech" () or "Poleshuk" (in Polesia). What's more, Catholic Belarusians naturally leaned toward Polish culture and often referred to themselves as "Poles" even though they spoke Belarusian. The Polish state's policy toward them was not consistent. Initially, during the period of fighting over the eastern border, the activities of Belarusian activists were tolerated. However, this changed after the peace came. In 1924, the Law on Minority Education led to the closure of a huge part of the approximately 350 (or 514) existing Belarusian schools, opened mostly during the German occupation. A 19 bilingual schools and just three elementary Belarusian schools remained. Officials prevented the creation of new schools, despite meeting formal conditions. The change came after the May Coup of 1926. Despite the abolition of the Belarusian Belarusian Social Democratic Party, for its contacts with the Comintern, there was a period of liberalization of educational policy. The new Minister of Education, Gustav Dobrotsky, ordered the dismissal of officials blocking the establishment of new schools, allowed new schools to open in Catholic communities as well, and organized Belarusian language courses for elementary school teachers. As a result, four Belarusian grammar schools and a dozen elementary schools were opened. The results, however, were poor. In 1928, there were only 69 schools with Belarusian language, all of them in Wilno and Nowogródek voivodeships, very small number in comparison with 2 164 Polish schools existing there. The reversal of this policy came quickly, and after 1929 the number of Belarusian schools began to decline again. Of the Belarusian gymnasiums existing in Vilnius, Navahrudak, Kletsk and