Kresy - Kresy in Polish Culture

Kresy in Polish Culture

Since some of the most distinguished names in Polish literature were born in Kresy (Adam Mickiewicz, Juliusz Słowacki or Czesław Miłosz), Eastern Borderlands have been mentioned and described in several works. Mickiewicz's Pan Tadeusz begins with the Polish language invocation, "O Lithuania, my fatherland, thou art like good health...". Other notable books that take place in Kresy, are Nad Niemnem, Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass, With Fire and Sword, Fire in the Steppe. In Communist Poland, all Kresy-related topics, such as Polish heritage in the East, or Massacres of Poles in Volhynia were banned for propaganda reasons, because these lands belonged to the Soviet Union. In official documents, people born in Eastern Borderlands were presented as born in the Soviet Union, and very few Kresy-themed books or films were created at that time. One of the exceptions was immensely popular comedy trilogy by Sylwester Chęciński (Sami swoi from 1967, Nie ma mocnych from 1974, and Kochaj albo rzuć from 1977). The trilogy tells the story of two quarreling families, who after the end of the Second World War were resettled from current Western Ukraine to Lower Silesia, after Poland's borders were shifted westwards.

After collapse of the Communist system, Kresy returned to Polish culture. Numerous books and albums are published about Eastern Borderlands, frequently with original photos from the prewar era. Good examples of such publications are albums Kresy in Photos of Henryk Poddębski, published in May 2010 in Lublin, with forewords by well-known people with Kresy background - Anna Seniuk, Krzesimir Dębski and Maciej Płażyński, The World of Kresy, with numerous photos, postcards and maps, Sentimental Journeys. Travel across Kresy with Andrzej Wajda and Daniel Olbrychski, and The Encyclopedia of Kresy, with 3600 articles, and foreword by another famous person from Kresy, Stanisław Lem. Articles about Eastern Borderlands frequently appear in Polish newspapers and magazines. Local office of Gazeta Wyborcza in Wrocław in late 2010 began a Kresy Family Album, collecting stories and photos of those who moved from the East. In the first half of 2011, Rzeczpospolita daily published a series called The Book of Eastern Borderlands (Księga kresów wschodnich).