"Krakowskie Pismo Kresowe" is a scientific, peer-reviewed, annual historical journal devoted to the cultural richness of the eastern border of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, from the Middle Ages to the 20th century. The main goal of the journal is a modern, critical and interdisciplinary look at the history of this area, which in Polish literature and historiography was already called "Kresy" since the modern period.
Działalność pracowników i studentów Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego na rzecz środowisk polskich na terenach dawnego ZSRS – Zachodniej Ukrainy w latach 1991-1994
Copyright (c) 2025 Krakowskie Pismo Kresowe https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
O Polkach i Polakach w państwie poza mapą świata… Wokół pracy Heleny Krasowskiej Polacy w Naddniestrzu. Świadectwo zanikającego dziedzictwa, Studium Europy Wschodniej Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego, Warszawa 2024, 483 ss.
Recenzja: Skarby kresowej świątyni. Dziedzictwo kościoła pw. św. Marii Magdaleny we Lwowie na ziemi lubaczowskiej, red. Janusz Mazur, Piotr Zubowski, Muzeum Kresów w Lubaczowie – Narodowy Instytut Polskiego Dziedzictwa Kulturowego za Granicą „Polonika”, LLubaczów–Warszawa 2022,229 ss., Lubaczów–Warszawa 2022,229 ss., il.
Recenzja: Maciej Strutyński, Myśl społeczno-polityczna Kościoła greckokatolickiego w II RP (1918-1939), Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego, Kraków 2019, Jagiellońskie Monografie Religioznawcze, 315 ss.
Hetman Stanisław Jabłonowski jako budowniczy fortyfikacji
HETMAN STANISŁAW JABŁONOWSKI AS A BUILDER OF FORTIFICATIONS The construction of permanent and field fortifications was one of the activities undertaken by Hetman Stanisław Jabłonowski. In the 1680s and 1690s, a series of fortifications were built at Jabłonowski’s initiative, aimed at protecting the borders of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and supporting the Polish-Lithuanian army during campaigns in Moldavia. The most notable examples of these fortresses are Okopy Świętej Trójcy and Mariampol. Although these fortifications were built for different purposes (Mariampol was a private fortress), their spatial layout and the use of the natural defensive features of the locations make them similar. Other smaller permanent and field fortifications also exhibit significant similarities. Jabłonowski often utilised river bends to construct fortresses, which provided better protection against attacks. He primarily used earth and wood for construction, with brick and stone used only occasionally. Field fortifications were an essential element of the military campaigns undertaken by the Commonwealth forces in Moldavia. The fortifications built by Jabłonowski aimed to protect river crossings and cover the flanks of the Polish-Lithuanian forces. The fortifications initiated by Jabłonowski were simple and quick to construct. However, they were also small , which often made them unable to meet the challenges they were designed to address.
Sakralizacja wojen Moskwy z Nowogrodem i Litwą na przełomie XV i XVI wieku
THE SACRALISATION OF THE WARS OF MOSCOW WITH NOVGOROD AND LITHUANIA AT THE TURN OF THE 15TH AND 16TH CENTURY This article examines the sacralisation of Moscow’s wars against Novg orod and Lithuania at the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries. The analysis of the narrative sources is divided into two parts. The first chapter deals with the ideological legitimisation of the conflicts elaborated by the Muscovite political and ecclesiastical elite. This often took the form of the dehumanisation of the enemy. The second chapter research es the religious rituals that sacralised the conduct of war. The intercession of divine powers was ensured by prayers, the foundations of the churches, and the presence of icons and crosses. Although these wars should not be labelled as holy wars, the role of the Orthodox clergy in their conduct was considerable.
Recenzja: Vira Neszew, Skrzyżowane drogi. Polsko-ukraińskie kontakty literackie we Lwowie na przełomie XIX i XX wieku, Instytut Książki, Kraków 2024, 324 ss.
General Lucjan Żeligowski’s dilemmas regarding his national identity reflect the difficult choices faced by millions of people living in the borderlands between Russia and various East-Central European nations over the past several centuries. Born and raised in a Polish-patriotic family in 1865 in the heart of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which was controlled by Tsarist Russia, he joined the Russian Army out of poverty and became almost entirely Russified. Seeking a compromise between his Polish and Russian identities, he became interested in Slavophile ideology. By the end of World War I, his Polish identity had prevailed over his Lithuanian and Russian sentiments, and he contributed to the rebirth of Poland. However, he noticed a distinction between Poles from central Poland and himself, a “Polish” or “Slavic Lithuanian”. He was very critical of Warsaw’s policies towards the regions of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania and endeavoured to preserve their separate character. In 1939, he escaped from Poland and joined the Polish émigré authorities. In the West, he returned to Pan-Slavic ideology, hoping it would help bridge the Polish-Soviet chasm. Also, his political views shifted. In interwar Poland, he became an agrarian, but he was moving to the left, dreaming of a “People’s Poland”. This allowed him to stay connected with the Soviets during World War II and later to decide on his return to communist-controlled Poland. He had never found peace of mind and paid a steep price for his numerous identity crises. He was not alone; millions traversed similar mental paths, impacting the entire history of Eastern and East Central Europe.
„Za dużo, by umrzeć, za mało, by wyżyć”. Funkcjonowanie tanich i bezpłatnych jadłodajni we Lwowie w latach 1914-1915
“ZA DUŻO, BY UMRZEĆ, ZA MAŁO, BY WYŻYĆ”: THE FUNCTIONING OF CHEAP/FREE CANTEENS IN LVIV IN 1914-1915 The article examines the issue of free and cheap canteens in Lviv during the Russian occupation. It analyses the dynamics of their increasing number. Initially, cheap canteens were established primarily for the families of men enlisted in the Polish Legion of the Austro-Hungarian army. After Lviv was captured on 3 September 1914, the city authorities reali sed that the network of canteens for the general population needed to be expanded, as many residents had lost their regular income following the evacuation of Austrian government offices. Lviv was considered a “showcase of the Russian occupation,” and therefore the occupation authorities were actively involved in providing funds and provisions for the operation of city canteens. The city’s vice president, Tadeusz Rutowski, coordinated with the occupation administration, which enabled him to cover most of the canteens’ financial and food requirements.
Architekci pogranicza kulturowego: Julian i Alfred Zachariewiczowie, Iwan Lewiński, Tadeusz Obmiński
ARCHITECTS OF THE CULTURAL BORDERLAND: JULIAN AND ALFRED ZACHARIEWICZS, IVAN LEVYNSKYI, TADEUSZ OBMIŃSKI This text has been dedicated to the four most prominent architects of the city of Lviv in the late 19th and early 20th centuries – the architectural «quartet» whose members are: Julian Octawian Zachariewicz (1837-1898), Alfred Zaсhariewich Jr. (1871-1937), Ivan Levynskyi (1851-1919), and Tadeusz Obmiński (1874-1932). These four carried out the most important architectural and construction projects of Lviv in the age of the greatest construction boom in the city’s history. The role of the «elder» in this group was played by Julian Zachariewicz – a professor at Lviv Polytechnic, the founder of Lviv’s architectural school of the latter half of the 19th century, its leader during the era of historical styles. The creative work of Julian Zachariewicz impresses with its style metamorphoses, which can be traced from the neo-Renaissance building of the Polytechnic (1874-1877), oriented to the Ringstrasse, up to the Julietka villa (1891-1893), its design reflecting the influence of the English concept of a reformed singlefamily house. In addition, Professor Zachariewicz devoted much of his time and effort to various projects outside of practical architecture, acting as a theorist, restorer, archaeologist, museum curator and public figure. His son Alfred left his mark in history as an outstanding builder of Lviv in the first third of the last century, a highly gifted representative of the local architectural school during the periods of Art Nouveau, early modernism, and Neoclassicism of the early 20th century, the initiator of promoting the reinforced concrete in the construction industry of Galicia. Alfred Zachariewicz became famous, in particular, for the projects of the buildings for the Lviv Chamber of Commerce and Industry (1907-1910) and the Land Credit Society (1911-1916). Ivan Levynskyi was a leading construction entrepreneur of Galicia in the late 19th – early 20th centuries whose firm erected the largest objects of Lviv architecture of the period, such as the Civic Theater (1897-1900), or the Main Railway Station (1901-1904). During the 1880s-1910s, Levynskyi, being a brilliant specialist in architectural planning, built numerous complexes of residential architecture – both single-family and multi-apartment. He also effectively served architectural and construction orders received from a number of Ukrainian institutions in Lviv. Tadeusz Obmiński entered the history of architecture as a researcher of folk wooden construction, and at the same time as a leading architect of Art Nouveau style, taking part in designing such objects as Segal’s house (1904-1905) or the Dnister insurance company building (1905-1906). The complex, multiple identities of the four creative professionals to whom this article is dedicated can be interpreted in various contexts: political, social, national, confessional, linguistic, artistic. During the fin de siècle and throughout subsequent historical cataclysms, each of these four was destined to a greater or lesser extent to experience a deep crisis, and even more so – a dramatic collapse of their mixed identity.
Copyright (c) 2024 Krakowskie Pismo Kresowe https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Hybrydowość kulturowa w przestrzeniach wielokulturowych
CULTURAL HYBRIDITY IN MULTICULTURAL REGIONS: HISTORIES OF GALICIAN CULTURE This article investigates the complex interplay of cultures in Habsburg Galicia, a region marked by its diverse linguistic, religious, and ethnic makeup. It focuses on cultural practices and suggests understanding multilingualism, overarching tropes, and intersecting identities as a form of cultural hybridity. As Galician culture was more than agglutinating several national cultures, this article suggests narrating its history as a plurale tantum. Galician cultural histories are manifest in the province’s theatre and music scene, literary production, architecture and fine arts. The paper tackles both the entangled cultural backgrounds and multilingualism of many authors, artists, and cultural entrepreneurs and recurrent topics that appear throughout Galicia’s cultural production like the Carpathian Mountains or the theme of poverty and religiosity. The article further examines the impact of national movements on the cultural landscape of Galicia. The rise of Polish, Ukrainian, and Jewish nationalisms in the 19th and early 20th centuries led to the formation of distinct cultural institutions and the promotion of specific national narratives. However, the paper argues that these nationalistic projects not only resembled each others in their mechanisms of nationalizing culture, but often coexisted with more cosmopolitan and hybrid cultural practices. This paper argues that despite manifold social, linguistic, religious and national borders and hierarchies being omnipresent, these fractures also interconnected the hybrid cultural space of Galicia.
Organizacja i członkowie Soboru Ruskiego (1848 r.)
ORGANIZATION AND MEMBERS OF THE RUTHENIAN SOBOR (1848) Active participants in the revolutionary events of 1848 in Galicia were individuals who in various ways combined two identities – Ruthenian (Ukrainian) and Polish. This environment entered historiography as the “Ruthenians of the Polish nation” (gente Rutheni, natione Poloni). The only case in Galicia when the split national consciousness of gente – natione manifested itself in the form of a group rather than an individual reaction to political and social changes was the Ruthenian Sobor. This national political association, which existed from May to October 1848, tried to find a position between the Polish Central People’s Council and the Supreme Ruthenian Council (Holovna Ruska Rada). The article highlights the organizational structure and characterizes the personal composition of the Ruthenian Sobor. It is claimed that the Ruthenian Sobor had not become a fullfledged national-political organization – with a developed structure, governing bodies, and fixed membership – in terms of its organisation. It temporarily united several different circles, whose representatives declared their involvement in “Ruthenianness”. However, by the autumn of 1848, the number of members of the Ruthenian Sobor not only did not exceed the first 64 people, but had also decreased significantly. Therefore, the Ruthenian Sobor did not develop extensive independent activity. Among the members of the Ruthenian Sobor, two groups can be distinguished – those who emphasized the Polish identity, and those who considered the main value of the Ruthenian foundation and saw prospects for its development in the common Polish-Ruthenian political tradition. Representatives of the “Polish” segment – landowners, officials, writers – prevailed quantitatively. The “Ruthenianess” (although not always real) that they “remembered” was in fact an intuitive effort, in the conditions of revolutionary uncertainty, to achieve relative stability of Galician society. In general, the “Ruthenians” were a small group in the Ruthenian Sobor. They broke with the Supreme Ruthenian Council, which they considered too pro-Austrian and undemocratic, and sought to develop a Ruthenian-Ukrainian national consciousness based on Polish organizational and ideological models. However, the Ruthenian Sobor failed to consolidate the mixture of pro-Polish sentiments among the Galician Ruthenians. Many of them, primarily Greek Catholic priests, did not dare to openly oppose the Supreme Ruthenian Council. The unclear organizational structure and the diverse personal composition of the Ruthenian Sobor, combined with a very shaky formula of a two-tiered national identity, led to the rapid disintegration of the association.
“Ruthenians of the Polish nation” (gente Rutheni, natione Poloni)
Tożsamości hybrydowe jako wyzwanie biografistyki na pograniczu kulturowym. Przypadek Galicji
Which Crimes Against Good Manners and Morality Were the Inhabitants of Chukva Tried for in the 18th Century?
The aim of the article is to shed light on the phenomenon of sexual crime in rural areas of the former Ruthenian voivodeship in the 18th century. Many researchers in Poland and beyond have already delved into these issues, but the territories of the Ruthenian voivodeship have not been thoroughly examined in this regard. The core source base consists of materials found in 18th-century rural court books written in the village of Czukwi between 1715 and 1754. During the query, the author identified nine cases of accusations of sexual crimes, classified by contemporaries as offenses against good manners and religion. Descriptions most frequently pertain to adultery, carnal acts, and incest. Although according to the prevailing law in the examined areas, such crimes were punishable by death, rural courts did not impose such severe penalties; instead, punishments were milder, ranging from corporal punishment to various fines and penalties payable to secular and ecclesiastical authorities. Only in the case of the most serious offenses (involving individuals closely related or when adultery was linked to a more serious crime) were the accused referred to the urban justice system. Beyond punishing the offenders, the article also addresses the significant issue of children born from such relationships and their future protection by the court through orders for financial support and various contributions to the child’s mother. Such penalties were primarily imposed in cases of adultery or incest. When forbidden relationships occurred between free individuals, they were often compelled to enter into marital unions, thereby resolving the issue.
Copyright (c) 2023 Krakowskie Pismo Kresowe https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
SOZON WADYŃSKI OSBM (1749-1815): A BIOGRAPHICAL CONTRIBUTION This text is devoted to the life and activities of Sozon Wadyński OSBM (1749-1815), a Basilian from Podolia in the then Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Lecyk recreates Wadyński’s biography, verifying known information and subjecting previously unused source materials to historical analysis. The author has tried to present the subsequent stages of the monk’s life against the background of the functioning of the Basilian Order and the political changes that took place in the Church after 1772 in the Austrian partition, where Wadyński stayed from the early 1780s. Lecyk describes the subsequent stages of his education and also discusses the conditions under which the monk developed his career in the structures of the order’s authorities, the eparchy and the bishop of Przemyśl. He explains why it finally broke down and answers the question of why Wadyński became the parish priest of a rural parish in Sośnica, located near Przemyśl. Thanks to materials obtained in particular from the State Archives in Przemyśl and the Central State Historical Archives of Ukraine in Lviv, it has been possible to present this previously unknown stage of the priest’s life and career. It has also allowed us to show the living and working conditions of the parish priest, to answer the question of his financial situation and what problems he had to struggle with in his pastoral work. The article also shows how a well-educated monk, whose life path destined him for a completely different role, coped with the role of a village parish priest. The text fills the gap in regional research and is also a contribution to the history of Greek Catholic parishes in Galicia in the first half of the 19th century.
Początki przemysłu naftowego w Galicji przed okresem autonomii w świetle wybranych polskich tytułów prasowych
BEGINNINGS OF THE OIL INDUSTRY IN GALICIA BEFORE THE PERIOD OF AUTONOMY IN THE LIGHT OF SELECTED POLISH PRESS TITLES The publication of newspapers and the extraction and use of crude oil were undoubtedly among the socio-economic areas that significantly affected the lives of people in the 19th century. At the time, newspapers and journals played the role of the most important and popular sources of information about crude oil and its products, especially kerosene, and they shaped their readers’ worldviews on those products’ uses in the economy and everyday life. This paper presents the beginning of the oil industry in Austrian Galicia in pre-autonomy Galicia in the Polish news press (Czas, Gazeta Narodowa, Gazeta Lwowska) and economic magazines (Gazeta Przemysłowa, Korespondent Handlowy, Przemysłowy i Rolniczy, Tygodnik Rolniczo-Przemysłowy). The first mentions in the press on the subject appeared in the 1850s. In the 1860s, oil-related subjects were broadly represented in daily newspapers and in the economic press. In agricultural journals, especially in the Prussian and Russian partitions, oil-related subjects were not present in titles from the 1850s and 60s. The first group of texts consisted of articles about crude oil (chemical properties) and regions which were rich in petroleum. In areas where it was present, crude oil had been known and used for a long time, but to the readership of newspapers and journals it was a new resource. It is no wonder then that the press was explaining what it was and what its uses were. The press did not focus on Galicia’s deposits of crude oil, earthwax and natural gas, but did print detailed information on their sources around the world, especially in the United States (the names of oil fields, the volume and monetary value of extraction and export to Europe). The press saw the American mass production and sale of oil to Europe as the greatest threat to the Galician industry. The press documented the economic situation of the Galician oil industry (petroleum mining, oil refinery, business people) and speculated on its future position in Galicia’s economic system. It speculated that the oil industry would become an important branch of the economy. When writing about the oil industry, the press reported on the first mines (Bóbrka, Borysław), entrepreneurs, the presence of oil products on agricultural and industrial expositions organised in Kraków, Rzeszów and Jasło. Another subject discussed by the press was articles on the trade of paraffin oil. The development of the Galician oil industry had also become a pretext to debate on its role in everyday life. In the opinion of the press, oil lamps would be used as street lighting and at home illuminating the whole room. These newspaper advertisements showed new products connected with the oil industry such as different kinds of paraffin oil and oil lamps.
W którym pułku służył Piotr Niewiadomski – bohater Soli ziemi Józefa Wittlina?
A COMMENT ON THE ATTEMPTS TO IDENTIFY PIOTR NIEWIADOMSKI’S REGIMENT The 2022 Polish critical edition of Józef Wittlin’s World War One novel, Salt of the Earth, features a footnote where the editor unequivocally identifies the main protagonist’s military unit as the Austro-Hungarian 55th Infantry Regiment, based on the initial letter of the unit’s Colonel-in-chief ’s name mentioned by the author. This aligns with the 1991 edition, which previously identified him as Nicholas I of Montenegro. With publications on the Austro- -Hungarian army now more widely accessible, the new editor enumerates the regiment’s characteristics and briefly outlines its history. However, other pertinent details scattered throughout the novel, such as the unit’s recruiting district (Śniatyn in Eastern Galicia), its garrison town (Stanisławów), and facing colour (orange), are completely disregarded. This article aims to demonstrate that, when considered collectively, these clues lead to the conclusion that Wittlin’s portrayal of the unit is entirely fictitious. The writer not only fails to mention the regiment’s number (replacing it with “X”) but also presents its mutually exclusive formal characteristics. It can be inferred that the author either could not present the unit consistently or, more likely, intentionally did so to prevent readers from associating it with any actual place and people. This conclusion is drawn from scrutiny of official printed sources in German, along with fundamental Austrian and Polish publications.
Działalność kulturotwórcza konserwatystów wschodniogalicyjskich na przykładzie fundacji Leona Pinińskiego i Dawida Abrahamowicza
CULTURAL ACTIVITIES OF EASTERN GALICIAN CONSERVATIVES ON THE EXAMPLE OF THE FOUNDATIONS OF LEON PINIŃSKI AND DAWID ABRAHAMOWICZ The activity of eastern Galician conservatives is generally assessed only negatively and on the political field. Their perception in historiography has been influenced by the work of Wilhelm Feldman entitled Parties and Political Programs in Galicia. Indeed, Podolacy sought to maintain the status quo in matters of large land ownership. However, some of them undertook numerous pro-social initiatives. Among the most spectacular were the foundations of Dawid Abrahamowicz and Leon Piniński, whose aim was to rebuild the Wawel Royal Castle during the interwar period. The first was founded by the Abrahamowicz couple who donated almost all of their wealth to charity (mainly benefitting children of landowners who can’t afford education) and to cultural purposes. The funds received by Wawel Castle were used to purchase paintings by the best masters from Poland and abroad. By 1937 they had gathered 91 objects for its reconstruction. The second foundation was established in 1927 by art historian and former governor of Galicia Leon Piniński, who donated over 300 objects by artists such as Juliusz Kossak, Jacek Malczewski, Artur Grottger and Józef Chełmoński. As an outstanding collector, Piniński took an active part in the foundation’s work until the end of his life. In the 1930s, as a result of economic crisis, he was forced to sell almost 50 paintings from the Wawel Castle. The article presents the cultural activity of Eastern Galician conservatives, which should not be limited only to political aspects, especially the Polish-Ukrainian conflict.
Copyright (c) 2023 Krakowskie Pismo Kresowe https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Zamek czernelicki na fotografiach z końca XIX-XX wieku
THE CHERNELYTSIA CASTLE IN PHOTOGRAPHS FROM THE LATE 19TH–20TH CENTURY For a long time, it was believed that the Chernelytsia Castle in Pokuttia did not attract much attention from artists due to its relatively small size and remoteness from the main roads. This should have resulted in a small amount of illustrative material, primarily photographs, depicting the castle. However, the actual situation is different. Over the last ten years, archival and library searches conducted by a team of Polish and Ukrainian researchers have made it possible to discover, identify, date, and publish numerous photographs of the Chernelytsia Castle. The discovered photographs are stored in the National Library in Warsaw, the Archive of the Department of Polish Architecture at Warsaw University of Technology, the Institute of Art of the Polish Academy of Sciences, the Karta Center in Warsaw, the Central State Historical Archive of Ukraine in Lviv, the Vasyl Stefanyk National Scientific Library of Ukraine in Lviv, the Scientific and Technical Archive of the Institute ‘Ukrzakhidproektrestavratsiya’ in Lviv, and the private collections of Oleksandr Kahlian, Levko Kvyatkovskyy, and Vitaliy Nagirnyy. All currently known photographs of the Chernelytsia Castle were taken between the 1880s to 1990s using the traditional method and classic photographic equipment. The earliest ones date back to the 1880s and were made by Kolomyian photographer Juliusz Dutkiewicz in 1880 for the Ethnographic Exhibition of Pokuttya in Kolomyia. Over the next few years, photographs of the castle by an unknown author (1884) and Albin Fridrich (between 1892 and 1904) appeared. A large number of photographs of the Chernelytsia Castle were taken in the interwar period. In 1921, 7 photographs of the castle were taken by an unknown photographer on the request of the Conservative Club in Lviv. Another 23 photographs of the fortress were taken in 1935 by Bogdan Guerquin. In addition, during this period, a number of other single photographs of the castle were taken by unidentified authors, which are currently preserved in private collections. The photographs of the Chernelytsia Castle from the second half of the 20th century by Ostap Kudybin (second half of the 1960s) and Ihor Starosolskyy (1969-1971) are of great importance. The significance of these photographs cannot be overestimated. They are a unique source that allows us not only to show the state of the castle in different periods, from the late 19th century to the late 20th century, but also to illustrate the dynamics of changes and losses of fortifications, and even to try to reconstruct the original appearance of the historical monument. Some of the photographs described in the article have been published before, while others are published for the first time.
Decoding the Images of the Polish Countryside, by Louise Arner Boyd (1887-1972)
This article looks at the photographic legacy of Louise Arner Boyd’s (1887-1972) expedition through the Second Polish Republic in the context of her discovery of the otherness and social diversity of the country she visited in 1934. The authors were particularly captivated by the portrayal of the Ruthenians/Ukrainians of what is now Western Ukraine, as depicted in the Boyd photography. The authors focus lies on the unprocessed photographic content from the library collections of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the book she published a few years after her journey with the cooperation of the American Geographical Society in New York. The authors told the story of Louise A. Boyd’s trip to Poland primarily to introduce the reader to the context of the creation of the photographic collection, in which authors try to discover content and meanings that have not been sought before. Their analysis of the making-off process and reception into academia for Boyd’s book entitled Polish Countryside is also crucial to understanding that it is only a part of the collection. It is a specific vision and a compromise between the photographer’s and the publisher’s expectations. The Boyd photographic collection focused on rural landscapes and the architecture of villages and farms, capturing various farming methods, road and water transport scenes, village types and traditional clothing. With meticulous descriptions and detailed lists of the photographed locations and subjects, the collection serves as valuable documentation of building styles and techniques, traditional costumes, transportation, markets and agricultural and fishing practices. Thanks to Boyd’s skilled photographer’s eye, she was able to capture visually attractive photographs that also serve as scientifically intriguing documents of a bygone era. The significance of these photos extends beyond the confines of ethnography, as we have endeavoured to emphasise in this article. Through reinterpreting Ruthenians/ Ukrainians portraits in Boyd photographs after almost a century, we aim to grasp the preserved and concealed contexts, thereby reconstructing, if not the complete image, at least its distinct components. However, the images of contemporary Western Ukraine and its inhabitants by Louise Arner Boyd that the authors analysed are currently in the photography collection mentioned above from the UWM as part of the digitalised archive of the American Geographical Society. The authors had attempted to look at them both as an example of ethnographic photography typical of the interwar period and a unique image of a world that no longer exists. In the authors’ opinion, Louise A. Boyd’s photograms, placed as raw ethnographic material in the mentioned repository of the UWM library, today have the value that she wanted to give them from the beginning when she was considering the publication of Polish Countrysides, and they are a reminder of a world whose traces have almost disappeared today.
CONFESSION OF SADYK: THE LAST LETTER OF MICHAŁ CZAYKOWSKI TO HIPOLIT BŁOTNICKI Michał Czaykowski (Sadyk Pasha) is a figure whose assessment remains challenging to this day. His path to national and religious apostasy was complex and winding. At the beginning of his emigration, his dedication to the Polish cause earned him applause and recognition among fellow emigrants. He tirelessly worked in emigrant diplomacy, establishing the extensive Eastern Agency of the Hotel Lambert as a Polish agent in the East. After the Crimean War, he gradually distanced himself from Polish affairs. He deemed the January Uprising unnecessary and increasingly leaned towards Pan-Slavic ideals. Upon returning to Russia and his original name, he lost his old friends and failed to find new ones. It’s hard not to notice that he became a pawn in the hands of the Russians. The published letter from July 17, 1874, is addressed to Hipolit Błotnicki, whom he regarded as a friend, often signing letters to him as his cousin. This is the last preserved letter in their long-standing correspondence. In it, he attempts to justify his actions to his former friend, explaining his attitude towards Polish identity, the shift in his feelings towards the recently hated Muscovites, and the reigning autocrat. He tries to convince and argue why he chose Christianity again and joined the Orthodox Church. The letter seems to be an attempt to convince not only H. Błotnicki but also to justify himself to Władysław Czartoryski, to whom this letter was undoubtedly shown.
Walka o Lwów w Pamiętnikach z lat 1916-1918 Ludomiła Germana
THE STRUGGLE FOR LVIV IN THE “DIARIES FROM THE YEARS 1916-1918” BY LUDOMIŁ GERMAN This edition covers the final section of the diary of Ludomił German (1851-1920), a Galician teacher and school inspector, playwright, translator, politician, and activist in the National-Democratic Party and the Polish Democratic Party. He served as a member of the Imperial Council in Vienna (1907-1918) and the Regional Sejm in Lviv (1912-1914), vice president of the Austrian Chamber of Deputies, and vice president of the Polish Circle. In his diary, kept from July 1914 to January 1919, German documented his activities in the Supreme National Committee, the Polish Circle, and the Imperial Council. He also chronicled the history of the Polish Legions, the struggle for their leadership, and the aspirations of politicians from Galicia and the Kingdom of Poland aiming to establish a more or less independent Polish state. The diary, now divided into two parts, is preserved in the Jagiellonian Library in the manuscript collection under the signature 8537 I (‘Notes from Great Times,’ the original written by Ludomił German) and in the Lviv National Scientific Library of Ukraine named after V. Stefanyk (fond 5, signature 6415, vol. 1-3, ‘Diaries from the Years 1916-1918,’ a copy made in 1935-1936 by Ludomił’s son, Juliusz German). The presented fragment covers almost three months (from November 1, 1918 to January 24, 1919), during which the author was in Lviv during the Polish-Ukrainian battles for the city, initially occupied and later besieged by Ukrainian forces. The author describes, based on his own experiences and information from other sources, the course of military actions, the difficulties of daily life associated with them, attempts by both sides to end the fighting, and the establishment of new municipal authorities and their initial political decisions. As much as possible, he tries to track events in other parts of the re-emerging Poland (critically evaluating the actions of the new state authorities) and throughout Europe, especially within the former Austro-Hungarian borders.
Kresy, które już nie istnieją… Rozważania wokół monografii Marceliny Jakimowicz Świat, który już nie istnieje. Polskie i ukraińskie opowieści biograficzne (1918-1956), Wydawnictwo Ośrodek „Pamięć i Przyszłość”, Wrocław 2022, 366 ss.
Patrice M. Dabrowski, The Carpathians: Discovering the Highlands of Poland and Ukraine, Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press 2021, 270 ss.
Kathryn Ciancia, On Civilization’s Edge: A Polish Borderland in the Interwar World, New York, NY: Oxford University Press 2021, 343 ss.