Istotne.pl Editorial Team: – Please introduce yourself to our Readers.
Paweł Skiersinis: – I am the author of the pawelskiersinis.pl blog – History from Another Side. History is my great passion. I am a graduate of the University of Wrocław and originally from Nowogrodziec. I am also connected with Bolesławiec and Legnica. I was born in the former, attended secondary school there and worked there. In the latter, I continued my education, also worked and learned about the history and remarkable atmosphere of Mała Moskwa.
What do you do on a daily basis?
I currently live and work in England. My job is not connected with history; I work in the trade sector. Several years ago, I took my first steps in popularising history in the Catholic weekly Niedziela – several of my articles were published in its Legnica supplement, including pieces about Poles in Bosnia and St. John of Nepomuk.
I try to spend my free time actively. Among other things, I visit interesting places. Recently, I was in York once again. I recommend this city to everyone who has the opportunity to visit the United Kingdom. It is an amazing and very beautiful city, whose history dates back to Roman times. This is where the oldest and only fully preserved medieval street in Europe is located – The Shambles (Butchers’ Street).
Some time ago, I also visited Conisbrough. It is a small, sleepy town with wonderfully preserved castle ruins. Its main attraction is its tall, nearly 27-metre-high tower (the so-called keep), which is excellently preserved and open to visitors. It is an excellent example of how ruins can be developed in an interesting way, which on the one hand allows them to be saved and, on the other, makes them an amazing local attraction and, most importantly, an interesting, tangible lesson in history.
Where did your fascination with history come from? And why are you most interested in the history of Lower Silesia?
I have been interested in history since childhood. My parents undoubtedly influenced this, encouraging me to deepen my interests. In a way, my grandparents deserve some of the credit as well.
It is not difficult to notice that I have a rather distinctive, non-Polish-sounding surname. My ancestors on my father’s side came from the Vilnius Region. That is where my surname comes from. From the Vilnius Region, they moved to Nowogródek, and from there they came to the Recovered Territories. As long as I can remember, I have been interested in my family’s story. Although I remember my grandfather well, I do not necessarily remember his stories. Fortunately, my father reminded me of everything his father had told him. These included stories about the war and the death of his youngest brother, who fought in the Warsaw Uprising.
I know the story of my mother’s side of the family somewhat better. I remember my grandmother perfectly and know her stories about life in Bosnia very well. As a child, I could listen for hours as she talked about life in former Yugoslavia, about Novi Martynets, where she lived, and about Banja Luka – she always stressed that it was a beautiful city. It sometimes happened that I listened to the same story several times, so fascinated was I by the fate of my family and the settlers on Bosnian soil, which was, after all, not entirely a promised land. Life there was hard; the war caused many tears and much suffering. In the 1930s, many people emigrated from Bosnia to Brazil, including my grandmother’s sister.
So my grandparents and my family’s story sparked my fascination with history, which continues to this day. History accompanied me throughout my education. I took it as a subject in my school-leaving examination, although I studied administration.
Why the interest in Lower Silesia? Certainly because my family’s story is permanently connected with this region. It is one of the few regions in the world whose national and cultural character was changed. We know that the German population was replaced by, among others, re-emigrants from Bosnia, displaced people from the Eastern Borderlands, Poles from Romanian Bukovina, and Ukrainians and Lemkos from eastern Poland. The post-war exchange of inhabitants was an undertaking on a huge scale. As a result, we now encounter a kind of cultural melting pot, very characteristic of our region.
Lower Silesia also means our small villages and towns, whose history is extremely interesting. We often live beside living witnesses to history – monuments, more or less well known. We travel along the same communication routes as the former inhabitants once did.
Silesia fascinates and astonishes. There are many undiscovered secrets and unexplained mysteries, such as Książ Castle and the Riese complex, as well as those connected with our immediate surroundings, for example the wartime crimes in Nowogrodziec committed by the Red Army. Similar events also took place in Nawojów Śląski, with the difference that, unfortunately, the perpetrators were the new Polish “pioneers,” as they were called at the time.
The railway disasters that occurred near Marczów (Lwówek County) and not far from Bielawa Dolna (Zgorzelec County), precisely in the German town of Horka, right on the border with Poland, are extremely interesting and mysterious. These accidents were not widely reported at the time, in the 1980s, which makes them all the more worth learning about.
What text or texts are you currently working on?
A text about the Bóbr Valley Railway. It was a railway line, part of which still exists as the line to Żagań, although it is now little used. The route ran from Jelenia Góra to Lwówek Śląski and was intended to connect Jelenia Góra with major industrial centres such as Wrocław.
There will also be another, more extensive text about the Bolesławiec railway viaduct, which undoubtedly deserves attention as one of the best-known symbols of the City of Ceramics. It is also quite possible that I will present little-known Lusatian and Silesian legends.
I am planning publications about Bolesławiec, Nowogrodziec, Lusatia and the most interesting events from more distant parts of Lower Silesia.
Recently, one reader of my publications asked me why I so often write about tragedies, epidemics and other sad events, because she would like to see more stories with happy endings. I assure you here that I will also try to provide some more cheerful stories. The fact is that I often write about tragic events. I do so to show that history is also about human dramas, not just dry facts and dates. For centuries, the former inhabitants of Bunzlau and Namburg am Quies struggled with epidemics, fires, floods and invasions by foreign armies. I try to show the human face of history. And history concerns each of us, whether we want it to or not.
I would also like to point out that my approach to history and my publications related to it are not academic in nature. I try to write in simple, understandable language, and my texts popularise the history of our surroundings and show facts from another perspective.
What are your writing plans? Is there a chance that your texts will one day be published in book form?
My writing plans are constantly evolving. I started by running a blog, which, to my pleasant surprise, has attracted quite a lot of interest. At first, I thought no one would be interested in history. After all, the humanities are currently in decline, and history is associated with memorising the dates and names of Polish rulers.
It does not necessarily have to be that way. It is often worth looking at a subject more broadly. There is no need to focus exclusively on dates, although they are, of course, necessary and important.
The question about a book has already been asked several times. Some of my readers have already asked about it, while others have suggested the idea to me. I certainly have nothing against it. A book would be an interesting undertaking. However, it involves fairly considerable costs. It is all possible and worth serious thought.
At present, I am focusing on publications on the blog and on the Istotne.pl news portal. For now, this is my priority – to write even better and more interestingly, seek out the most unknown stories, and share them with you as best I can.