As part of the Eastern Borderlands Culture Days, organized by the Zespół Szkół Ogólnokształcących i Zawodowych im. mjra Henryka Sucharskiego in Bolesławiec in cooperation with the Towarzystwo Miłośników Lwowa i Kresów Południowo-Wschodnich, the “World of the Eastern Borderlands” exhibition opened at the school. “This is part of a large exhibition prepared four years ago by Warsaw’s History Meeting House,” says Tomasz Kuba Kozłowski from DSH, an expert on the Eastern Borderlands and a collector.
The exhibition consists of five thematic sections presenting the world of the Eastern Borderlands from the beginning of the 20th century until the outbreak of World War II. The first presents a borderlands village, the second life in small towns, and the third the world of palaces and manor houses. “If we looked at the genealogy of Polish aristocratic families, practically all of them had their roots in the Eastern Borderlands,” Kozłowski emphasizes.
The fourth section presents life in large cities such as Vilnius, Lviv and Drohobych. The fifth is devoted to borderlands resorts and health spas. “We wanted to show what the Eastern Borderlands looked like to all those who travel there today,” the collector notes. “Those multicultural, multireligious, multiethnic and multidimensional Eastern Borderlands no longer exist; the cataclysm of World War II swept them from the face of the earth. Poles and Jews were slaughtered, while Tatars and Karaites were displaced. Homogeneous communities remained.”
“The Eastern Borderlands can be viewed either with a touch of nostalgia—as a mythical Arcadia, a lost land—or as a sea of tears and blood shed there,” Kozłowski continues. “But they can also be a source of inspiration. Today we are fed European ideas coming from the West, yet it was we who spread those ideas! It was in Lithuania, Poland and Ruthenia that the first seeds of the European Union were born. When the French and English were fighting among themselves, in Volhynia the rulers of Poland and Lithuania gathered the monarchs of all Europe to establish a medieval NATO, the first defensive alliance in the history of the Old Continent to fight the Turks and Tatars. We tell other people’s stories without knowing our own.
That is why the History Meeting House tries to remind people of the heritage of the Eastern Borderlands. “It can be an inspiration for new generations, showing how to live in a multicultural, multiethnic and multireligious world in which everyone celebrates different holidays and has a different view of life, yet everyone lives in harmony and friendship,” adds the expert on the Eastern Borderlands.
The DSH exhibition came to the Zespół Szkół Ogólnokształcących i Zawodowych at the initiative of Barbara Smoleńska, the school’s deputy head. “I am a great admirer of the Eastern Borderlands and often travel to Ukraine,” Smoleńska says. “I thought it would be worthwhile to bring this exhibition to Bolesławiec. It is a living history lesson. Many of our students’ grandparents came from there.”
Moreover, ZSOiZ intends to participate in the campaign “Save Your Great-Grandfather’s Grave from Oblivion,” organized by TVP Wrocław, and look after one of the cemeteries in the Eastern Borderlands, as well as establish cooperation with one of the schools near Lviv. “We will try to make it possible for young people to travel to the Eastern Borderlands every year,” adds Barbara Smoleńska.
The opening of “The World of the Eastern Borderlands” took place on Friday, March 16. Among those attending the opening were district governor Cezary Przybylski, Alicja Krzyszczak, head of the Department of Education, Culture, Physical Culture and Sport at the Bolesławiec County Office, Jerzy Zieliński, secretary of Bolesławiec, Janina Piestrak-Babijczuk, deputy chair of the Bolesławiec City Council, and Alfred Janicki, a member of the Main Board of the Towarzystwo Miłośników Lwowa i Kresów Południowo-Wschodnich.
“The traditions of the Eastern Borderlands constitute a great chapter, striking in its richness, in the history of Polish life and Polish culture. This exhibition shows the greatness and beauty of the Polish experience of the Eastern Borderlands,” said Laura Słocka-Przydróżna, director of the Zespół Szkół Ogólnokształcących i Zawodowych, during the opening. “The Eastern Borderlands, in the historical sense, have become a mythical area that is worth and must be remembered, but there is no return to them.”
The opening was enhanced by an artistic program performed by ZSOiZ students. The exhibition opening concluded with a lecture by Tomasz Kuba Kozłowski entitled “The Borderlands Melting Pot of Nations, Religions and Cultures... or the Union Was Already Here!” The ceremony was hosted by Dorota Wojtyniak.
(information: ii)