Polacy nad Dźwiną:
Gespeichert in:
| Format: | Buch |
|---|---|
| Sprache: | Polish |
| Veröffentlicht: |
Warszawa
Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
2009
|
| Ausgabe: | Wyd. 1. |
| Schlagworte: | |
| Online-Zugang: | Inhaltsverzeichnis Abstract |
| Beschreibung: | Zsfassung in engl. u. lettischer Sprache u.d.T.: Poles on shores of the Daugava river |
| Beschreibung: | 223, [1] s., [12] s. tabl. il. kolor. - Ill., Kt. 24 cm. |
| ISBN: | 9788323504375 |
Internformat
MARC
| LEADER | 00000nam a2200000 c 4500 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 001 | BV036058581 | ||
| 003 | DE-604 | ||
| 005 | 20100331 | ||
| 007 | t | ||
| 008 | 100302s2009 ab|| |||| 00||| pol d | ||
| 020 | |a 9788323504375 |9 978-83-235-0437-5 | ||
| 035 | |a (OCoLC)551079746 | ||
| 035 | |a (DE-599)BVBBV036058581 | ||
| 040 | |a DE-604 |b ger |e rakwb | ||
| 041 | 0 | |a pol | |
| 049 | |a DE-12 | ||
| 050 | 0 | |a DK504.35.P6 | |
| 084 | |a 7,41 |2 ssgn | ||
| 245 | 1 | 0 | |a Polacy nad Dźwiną |c red. Jacek Kurczewski i Małgorzata Fuszera |
| 250 | |a Wyd. 1. | ||
| 264 | 1 | |a Warszawa |b Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego |c 2009 | |
| 300 | |a 223, [1] s., [12] s. tabl. |b il. kolor. - Ill., Kt. |c 24 cm. | ||
| 336 | |b txt |2 rdacontent | ||
| 337 | |b n |2 rdamedia | ||
| 338 | |b nc |2 rdacarrier | ||
| 500 | |a Zsfassung in engl. u. lettischer Sprache u.d.T.: Poles on shores of the Daugava river | ||
| 648 | 7 | |a Geschichte |2 gnd |9 rswk-swf | |
| 650 | 4 | |a Polish people |z Latvia |z Daugavpils | |
| 650 | 4 | |a Polish people |z Western Dvina River Region | |
| 650 | 0 | 7 | |a Polen |g Volk |0 (DE-588)4046497-0 |2 gnd |9 rswk-swf |
| 651 | 7 | |a Düna-Gebiet |0 (DE-588)4440250-8 |2 gnd |9 rswk-swf | |
| 655 | 7 | |0 (DE-588)4143413-4 |a Aufsatzsammlung |2 gnd-content | |
| 689 | 0 | 0 | |a Düna-Gebiet |0 (DE-588)4440250-8 |D g |
| 689 | 0 | 1 | |a Polen |g Volk |0 (DE-588)4046497-0 |D s |
| 689 | 0 | 2 | |a Geschichte |A z |
| 689 | 0 | |5 DE-604 | |
| 700 | 1 | |a Kurczewski, Jacek |d 1943- |e Sonstige |0 (DE-588)128667419 |4 oth | |
| 856 | 4 | 2 | |m Digitalisierung BSBMuenchen |q application/pdf |u http://bvbr.bib-bvb.de:8991/F?func=service&doc_library=BVB01&local_base=BVB01&doc_number=018950118&sequence=000003&line_number=0001&func_code=DB_RECORDS&service_type=MEDIA |3 Inhaltsverzeichnis |
| 856 | 4 | 2 | |m Digitalisierung BSB Muenchen |q application/pdf |u http://bvbr.bib-bvb.de:8991/F?func=service&doc_library=BVB01&local_base=BVB01&doc_number=018950118&sequence=000004&line_number=0002&func_code=DB_RECORDS&service_type=MEDIA |3 Abstract |
| 940 | 1 | |n oe | |
| 999 | |a oai:aleph.bib-bvb.de:BVB01-018950118 | ||
| 942 | 1 | 1 | |c 900 |e 22/bsb |g 438 |
Datensatz im Suchindex
| _version_ | 1804141101121011712 |
|---|---|
| adam_text | Spis
tresei
Wstęp
.......................................... 7
Jacek Kurczewski
Polacy nad Dźwiną-wyniki badań ankietowych
2007
roku
....... 17
Anna Krajewska
Polska szkoła i przedszkole w
Daugavpils
................. 61
Aneta Gawkowska
Polacy w parafiach (głównie rzymskokatolickich)
w
Daugavpils
..................................... 83
Mariusz Cichomski
Młodzi w poszukiwaniu tożsamości
...................... 101
Grzegorz Makowski
Polskie organizacje w
Daugavpils
....................... 123
Aleksandra Herman
Polsko-łatgalska kultura w Dyneburgu
.................... 153
Małgorzata Fuszara
Polacy nad Dźwiną
-
podobni czy odmienni
od Polonii w innych krajach?
.......................... 177
Słowo końcowe
................................... 203
Poles on shores of the Daugava river
..................... 205
Poji pie Daugavas
................................. 215
Józef Wieżan
-
nota biograficzna
...................... 223
Ilustracje
Poles on shores of the Daugava river
Edited by Prof.
Jacek Kurczewski
and Prof.
Małgorzata Fuszara
The book relates the events and findings of a field research trip, organised in June
2007
by the Chair in Sociology of Custom and Law of the Institute of Applied Social
Sciences
(ISNS)
of the University of Warsaw, as part of students practical field
research course. The research was geared towards a monograph of the Polish diaspora
community resident in Daugavpils, a Latvian town with the population of over
a hundred thousand. Main bulk of the research consisted of survey of
258
respondents,
of whom
152
were randomly chosen from the list of
296
members of Daugavpils
branch of Union of Poles in Latvia, while
106
were approached as city dwellers of
Polish origin, pointed to us by the members of the Union.
Daugavpils, once known as
Dyneburg,
used to be the capital of the Polish Livonia.
This historical name was applied to the eastern region of the Republic of Latvia,
now stretching along the Latvian-Russian and Latvian-Byelorussian border and thus
constitutuing the north-eastern borderland of the European Union. Thus, the eastern
territories of today s Latvia and Estonia are now what was once Livonia.
From the twelfth century onwards, it was an area of expansion by the Danes and
Germans, and in the thirteenth century it was subjugated by the military order of the
Livonian
Brothers of the Sword. In the year
1561
Grand Master
Gotthard
Kettler
pledged submission to King
Sigismund
Augustus of Poland getting in exchange the
Duchy of Courland as his vassal fief while the new Duchy of Livonia became the third
land, besides the Crown of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, to constitute the
Commonwealth. In the seventeenth century Livonia was a point of contention during
the Polish-Swedish wars. Those ended with the Peace of
Oliva
(1660),
as a result
of which the north-western, larger part of the land was formally ceded to Sweden.
The south-eastern part of Livonia, which was retained by Poland, was proclaimed
a separate duchy within the Commonwealth by a decree of the
1667
Seym in Warsaw,
and was henceforward known as the Duchy of (Polish) Livonia.
The new duchy was assigned three senatorial posts, those of the bishop, the
voivode
and the castellan. The regional parliaments (seyms) were held in
Dyneburg,
where the nobility
{szlachta)
of the Polish Livonia would choose their representatives
to the national parliaments in Warsaw. Local nobles, although of German origin as
descendants of the knightly houses of the secularised Sword Brethren, had close and
205
Polacy nad Dźwiną
numerous civilisational ties with Poland and were with time thoroughly polonised.
From Livonia hailed several families whose contribution to the welfare of Poland was
considerable, for instance those of the Tyzenhauz, Grotus, Rejtan, Denhoff, Korff,
Romer,
Mohl,
Weissenhoff, Plater or Manteuffel. In the year
1721
the Swedes lost
their part of Livonia to Russia, and in
1772,
after the First Partition of Poland, also the
Polish Livonia was incorporated into the Russian empire.
From the points of view of sociology and cultural anthropology, the reverberations
of two important historical facts are making themselves felt even today. Firstly, the
bondage of peasants, in Russia abolished by the tsar in
1861,
was retained until then in
the Polish part of Livonia; secondly, Roman Catholicism never lost its hold there and
still remains the dominant faith among the Latvians and Poles resident in Latgallia.
The Latvian-Bolshevik war in
1918-1920
was to a large extent a civil conflict.
During this war, Latvian nationalists received support from the Polish army commanded
by the future Marshal Edward
Rydz Śmigły.
In their chase after the Bolsheviks,
Polish soldiers appeared
-
for the second time in history
-
in
Dyneburg
itself. After
a period of heavy fighting, Polish and Latvian forces assured the incorporation of
Latgallia into the independent state of Latvia. The facts that at this crucial point in
history Poland resigned from its territorial claims, that Poles fought side by side with
Latvians and that afterwards the cooperation between governments of Poland and
the independent Latvia was unusually smooth, are still well remembered in Latvia.
A huge cross
-
monument to Polish legionaries, rebuilt after the year
1990 -
still
dominates the
Dyneburg
landscape, and among the fields on the Latgallian stretch of
the Daugava
(Dvina)
River the war cemeteries and grave crosses of Polish soldiers
fallen in
^161919-1920
war are lovingly looked after.
During the Second World War, the fortunes of this land were nothing short of
tragic. In accordance with the
Mołotow-Ribbentropp
Pact, the Soviets were to hold
sway not only in the Polish lands east of the Bug River, but also in the Baltic states
-
ones which, after all, gained their independence from Russia only in
1918.
In the
year
1940
the Red Army marched into Latvia, and a referendum
-
tightly controlled
by the Soviets
-
resulted in its incorporation to the USSR. Such politicians of the
independent Latvian state as had the temerity to stay in the country were repressed and
controlled, and soon the first deportations to Siberia occurred. In those circumstances,
the outbreak of the German-Russian war in
1941
was greeted with enthusiasm by the
patriotic Latvians, as were the
Wehrmacht
forces crossing the border into Latvia. In the
country under the German military occupation, the Latvian fascists actively cooperated
with the Germans in exterminating the large Jewish population. The Latvian units
not only fought alongside the
Wehrmacht
on the eastern front, but also conducted
military operations for the Germans in the occupied states, Poland including. After
the war, the Soviet
régime
returned and the resulting political and class cleansing was
merciless; many of the real and potential opponents were murdered, and even more
were deported to Siberia.
Within the USSR, the Baltic states functioned as Soviet republics, and
-
thanks
to their separate cultural identity and civilisational superiority
-
they enjoyed
a considerable amount of cultural autonomy, in the gaining of which the local
Communist apparatchiks were, in fact, instrumental. The Baltic republics were for
206
Poles on shores of the Daugava river
many reasons
-
like their climate, civilisational assets or economic advantages
-
regarded as attractive, and consequently were a popular target of immigration from
Russia and other ethnically Slavic republics. The existence of a Russian minority in the
Baltic states dated from a much earlier period
-
notably, the Old Believers appeared
there still in the times of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, escaping from the
tsarist repressions. The Baltic republics attractivenesss against the background of
the Soviet Union, however, resulted in a mass influx of new immigrants
-
not only
of the Russian, but also of other Soviet nationalities. Among them there were many
Poles, coming to the newly-industrialised Daugavpils from other Soviet republics.
One of the reasons for their arrival was a favourable cultural climate which in Latvia
surrounded immigrants of Polish origin.
Historians of Latgallia (Barkovska and
Šteimans
2005)
maintain that in the year
1275,
in the vicinity of the pagan Vec-daugavpils, the Sword Brethren commanded
by Grand Master
von Ratzenburg
built a castle and a quickly-growing trading post
of Duenaburg. In
1583
King Stephen
Báthory
granted the Magdeburg Rights to the
town, henceforward called
Dyneburg
in Polish and Dinaburga in Latvian. After it was
snatched from the Commonwealth by Tsarina Catherine II in
1772,
and then after the
Napoleonic campaign, the
Dyneburg
castle was systematically enlarged. Later, the
grand fortress was a symbol of the city which was the Russian empire s main outpost
in this frontier region, bordering first Prussia, and later the German Reich.
2,046
inhabitants were recorded in
Dyneburg
in the year
1527,
and by
1784
the population
numbered very little more: just
3,573
heads. Demographic growth of
Dyneburg
was
much helped by the expansion of the fortress and by the tsar s ukase which made the
old eastern border of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth the easternmost line to
which Jews were allowed to settle in Russia. By
1897
the town already had
98,675
inhabitants, of which
46%
were ethnically Jewish. The Poles, too, were always a large
minority.
Transformations in Dyneburg/Daugavpils ethnic structure (in
%):
^Nationality
/
Year
1897
1935
1959
ι
r^J97_0__
2005
Jews
46
22
3 1
-
Russians
28
21
56
57
48
Poles
16
18
18
14
15
Germans
4
1
—
-
Latvians
2
32
13
14
17
Byelorussians
2
3
6
8
8
Others
2
6
4
5
12
Together
100% =
69,696
51,200
66,600
100,400
108,206
Sources: G. Barkovska, J.
Šteimans,
Daugavpils vestures lappuses, Rezekne
2005: 17
and
101;
town statistics for
2005.
At this point, it is necessary to disregard the not insignificant problem of how the
techniques of performing census changed over this period; nevertheless, it is obvious
that each of the two world wars brought dramatic changes in the town s ethnic structure.
-------207
Polacy nad Dźwing
Before the
First World War,
Dyneburg
had almost no Latvian population; the second
place, after the Jews, was held by the Russians. After the war, the town experienced
an influx of Latvians while the Jewish, and to a lesser extent the Russian component
diminished. The German minority practically disappeared, both from
Dyneburg
itself
and from the entire Latvia. The Second World War resulted in the extermination of
the Jews and an influx of the Russians, who in the Soviet period became the dominant
ethnic group; the percentage of the Latvians decreased significantly. A minor fall in
the percentage of Russian population is observable only in the period after Latvia
regained its independence. It has to be added, however, that under the heading of
Others there are also those who during the census exercised the right not to reveal
their ethnicity. The town had a Jewish majority under the tsars, in the period of the
independent Latvia the majority was Latvian, under the Soviet rule
-
Russian, but all
the time the Polish component oscillated around
14
to
18
percent, so, in the longer
perspective, it was by far the most stable.
According to the Daugavpils town registers, on January
1,2006,
among the
108,206
inhabitants there were
16,126
Poles
(14.9%).
In the surrounding Daugavpils district
4,801
Poles were registered, while in the neigbouring districts: Jekabpils (Jakubowo)
in the west and Kraslava (Kraslaw) in the east, there were
1,242
and
2,254
Poles
respectively. Altogether, in the entire region
-
encompassing the southern part of
the historical district of Polish Livonia and the eastern part of Courland
-
among
roughly
halfa
million inhabitants
24,423
Poles are registered, comprising
10.4%
of
the population. Surprisingly, this percentage is similar to that recorded in the region
before the Second World War.
The Daugavpils town authorities take pride in the fact that representatives of no
less than seventy-one nationalities live in their town. Russians are the most numerous
(48.4%).
Latvians
(17.3%)
and Poles
(14,5%)
are the next largest minorities, followed
by the Byelorussians
(8.2%),
Ukrainians
(2.2%),
and Lithuanians
(1%).
Before the
Second World War the Jews were the most numerous, but today only
492
have
remained. Each of the larger minorities has its own community centre or national
culture centre, financed from the town budget (this applies also to the Latvians). Today,
Daugavpils is governed by women, and these are women from the minorities: Mayor
Rita Strode, and Deputy Mayor
Eleonora Kleszczyńska.
Men and women of Polish
origin sat in the local government bodies of all the towns visited by the participants of
the field trip (i.e. Daugavpils, Kraslava,
Ilukšte, Svente
and Jekabpils).
In Daugavpils and southern Latgallia, as the researchers were wisely informed by
one of the respondents, Poles are a status group in the sense defined by Max Weber:
they are distinguished from others by their ethos of well-brought up, polite people
with competence in upper culture. In their majority, the Latvian Poles themselves feel
that they maintain this ethos as an honourable obligation to their native tradition, and
in accordance with the customs of the nobility (i.e.
szlachta)
and the inteligentsia.
Also, their attitude is partially related to the history of the Polish Livonia (where
the ruling class was, until the nineteenth century, predominantly Polish-speaking,
maintained the Polish ethnic identity and participated in the common Polish culture),
and to the memory of the land s past unity with the Commonwealth. Actually, the
social composition of the Polish minority is far more varied, with roughly a half being
208
Poles on shores of the Daugava river
arrivals from the neigbouring borderlands and mostly not having the family tradition
of noble descent.
Having lived for generations in a region very varied ethnically, many inhabitants
of Daugavpils are rooted in more than one culture. Asked about their origins and
ethnic identity, they would often answer: a Latvian and a Pole and a Russian, a little
bit of each . The means of recognising Polish origins are several
-
among them are
not only the language, Polish forefathers, membership in a Polish organisation, or the
Roman Catholic faith, but also, for example, a person s first name. Giving a Polish-
sounding name to a child is perceived as an identity marker communicated to the
society in general, forever indicating the Polish origins of the bearer.
The status of Poles in Latgallia is quite exceptional, difficult to compare with the
status of the Polish diaspora in any other country. On the one hand, in a multi-cultural
environment
-
a town which is proud of being inhabited by over seventy nationalities
-
the fact of some people being different is obvious and to a large extent invisible .
The respondents uniformly stressed the firm tradition of conflict-free coexistence of
various faiths and nationalities. It is also probable, however, that the absence of fear in
identifying oneself as a Pole is connected with the fact that in Latvia, the main conflict
is between those who identify themselves as Russians or Russian-speakers and
those who see themselves as Latvians . The identification a Pole does not seem to
arouse emotional responses, but merely serves a descriptive function.
On the other hand, however, Latvia is a state in which many residents find it difficult
to obtain citizenship. A large part of inhabitants remains non-citizens; about one-fourth
of the Poles interviewed by the participants of the field trip had a non-citizen status.
As it turned out in the course of the interviews, not having the Latvian citizenship
was clearly connected with a more frequent rejection of (or perhaps rather with just
not choosing) the Latvian identity. Among the Daugavpils Polish community,
41%
of
those who had a Latvian passport felt themselves to be also „Latvian , whereas those
who did not have the citizenship only
25%
admitted to this identification. It was not,
however, an unconditional connection
-
there were, indeed, some Poles who did not
have a Latvian passport, but still felt themselves partly Latvian and accentuated the
Latvian right to self-determination. Some of the Polish interviewees, however, instead
of the Latvian, chose the ethno-regional, Latgallian identity
-
this was the choice of
one-third of those respondents who did not have the Latvian citizenship, while only
of
16%
of those who had it. Many respondents stressed the paradox: although in the
referendum they voted for the independence of Latvia, the state later refused them
citizenship. This obviously caused much distress and resentment.
These results are crucial from the political point of view, as they corroborate
the conviction of many Latvian Poles that the annoying requirement of passing an
examination in Latvian is in their case unnecessary, as even not knowing the language
fluently they still feel themselves attached to Latvia, and not to the former colonialist
empire that had ruled Latvia, repeatedly, in its recent history. It has, however, been
noticed that Poles not having Latvian citizenship much more often feel themselves
alienated from the political life of the country. The prevalent conviction within this
group was that their influence on the life of Latvia is limited
(78%
of the non-citizen
respondents) or even minimal
(40%).
Among the citizen respondents, the percentages
209
Polacy nad Dźwing
fali to
48%
and
26%
respectively, so it appears that less than a half of the respondents
feels alienated. There exists, in fact, a clear link between the feeling of alienation and
the response to the question whether the present democracy is better or worse than
life in the former Soviet Union. Among the Poles who are Latvian citizens, a clear
majority
(75%)
perceives the advantages of democracy. A majority of non-citizens
(56%)
shares the view, but the percentage of those who appreciate the Soviet reality
more than the democracy grows from
17%
(citizens) to
34%
(non-citizens), making
it one-third of the respondents. To hazard a guess, it appears that in the case of the
Polish minority in Latvia, political alienation causes a tendency to reject democracy,
but not a tendency to reject the attachment to Latvia itself.
The Polish cultural identity is necessarily parallel to the participation in a multi¬
cultural, multi-ethnic environment: every second marriage is mixed, the circles of
friends and acquaintances are generally mixed as well. In this context, the younger
and better-educated the individual, the greater problem he or she will have to retain
their Polish identity in a world of an increasing cultural and ethnic pluralism.
Among the Daugavpils Poles the memory of Communist persecutions is still fresh
-
as it is in all post-Communist countries. Those persecutions were simultaneously of
national and religious character. Because of their participation in religious practices
and their Polish origins, the respondents families, and in many cases the respondents
themselves, experienced deportations, forced resettlements and the milder forms
of persecution, for instance harassment. On the one hand, this experience was an
obstacle to organising a wider Polish community, but on the other, as an experience
that was common and shared, in the early period of transformation it became a firm
foundation for re-creating stronger ties within the community. With time, however,
those memories became part of a private, individual experience and no longer serve
as a basis for group identification.
Daugavpilsians of both Polish and other origins unanimously admit that the Roman
Catholic church has played an inestimable role in keeping the Polish community
together. At the present moment, for the older generation (who still tends to use the
terms a Pole and a Catholic interchangeably) the church is still an institution
of crucial importance, but increasingly less young people are regular churchgoers
-
a phenomenon explained, among others, by their growing migration to the richer
regions.
The responses seem to indicate a feeling that the region is a double periphery : the
centre and the point of reference are Riga on the one hand, Poland on the other. That
Poland is perceived as the centre, is indicated by those respondents who had stressed
the advantages of life in Poland in contrast to life in Latgallia. They underlined not
only the economic, but also the cultural superiority of Poland, and ascribed greater
politeness, courtesy and cultural level to Poles than to the inhabitants of Latvia. Such
responses clearly indicate a positive evaluation of Poland as the centre. It is possible
that in the past, an affirmation of their unique advantage, i.e. their Polish roots, and
availing themselves of the benefits offered by their faraway second homeland may
have been an easier route to social advancement for the Latgallian Poles than the
route leading to the capital, Riga, which was attractive to all. It may be assumed that
with time, in view of the growing legal employment and settlement opportunities in
210
Poles on shores of the Daugava river
the countries of the old European Union, less and less of the Latgallian Poles will
perceive Poland as an attractive route to social advancement.
An interesting question to pose is whether the Latgallian Poles resemble any other
group of the Polish diaspora, as described in the relevant literature. The most striking
similarity seems to be that to the old
Polonia
resident in many countries. Polish
schools and community centres, as well as cultural events such as folk concerts or
parish festivals are important everywhere, as they fulfil a very special function of
cultivating the common culture. Yet, they refer to Polishness of the ethnic, folk
kind, which is extremely traditional and usually linked to the Catholic church. This
is exceedingly important to Latgallians of Polish extraction, who for decades were
unable to cultivate their national roots and are now proudly and joyfully returning to
their traditions, as if coming back to the sources of their indentity. There is, however,
a certain risk involved in cultivating such a very traditional perception of Polishness:
it is hardly attractive to the younger generation. The young prefer different pastimes
or forms of entertainment, and would enjoy different cultural activities.
The inhabitants of Daugavpils compare their own quiet environment to that of
the capital, which they perceive as the seat of discord, struggle and rivalry: there
are no conflicts here, the conflicts are in Riga , they say, yes, there are conflicts
in Latvia, but not here, here the relationships are good, this is characteristic of our
region . It is possible that such favourable view springs, at least in part, from a natural
idealisation of the local homeland ; but in part it is a result of a truly good and
fruitful cooperation of various national groups. In Latgallia, and particularly in the
multi-ethnic Daugavpils, the Latvian-Russian conflict that sets the tone of national
politics is significantly soothed by an active participation of all the larger minorities
in the common public life. The Daugavpils Poles are a well-integrated group and
-
with the exception of the oldest members of the community
-
do participate in the
wider, multi-ethnic life of the town and the country, although perhaps not to the extent
which would reflect their numbers. It appears, nevertheless, that due to the remarkable
arrangement of the town s public life, the aspirations of Daugavpils Poles to visibility
on the public scene can be realised through the activity of the local branch of the
Promień
Union of Poles in Latvia. Their group interest is, above all, to retain their
cultural identity
-
and to this, the overwhelming majority of Daugavpils Poles see
no obstacle whatsoever. As their main problem they perceive the fact that the Polish
group is age-diversified, and after decades of the Soviet system the middle generation
is to a large extent Russified. It cannot be ruled out, of course, that this confident
evaluation of their own group s situation may be no more than
a façade, but
even in
that case the willingness to conceal problems from the researchers would indicate
a high level of integration with their Daugavpils and Latvian environments.
Regarding the Union of Poles in Latvia, however, it is obvious that its members
are mostly older women. If the Union would like to be
-
as it claims to be already- the
focus for the Polish-culture movement in Daugavpils and the Poles representative in
the local public sphere, then recruitment of men and the young generation ought to
become its main task.
In the region with which the research was concerned, the question: to assimilate or
to abide with our own culture? may now be resolved in a very different manner than
211
Polacy nad Dźwina
it was before Poland and Latvia had joined the European Union. In Latgallia, just as
in many of the less-affluent regions, where the routes to promotion and advancement
are few, the greatest threat to Polishness is not assimilation, but rather mobility of
the younger generation, the members of which are moving to the other European
Union countries in search of better opportunities, higher wages and more accessible
promotion. The fears for the continuing existence of the Polish diaspora and for the
future Polish identification of the region s inhabitants do not seem to be ungrounded.
During the course of the research, the topic of the exodus of young people from Latvia
emerged in various contexts and in almost all conversations. In greatest numbers they
are pouring out from the ill-financed regions in which the research was conducted,
often from villages which have traditionally been Polish . Just as in today s Poland,
they are heading towards the affluent countries which have opened up their labour
markets: to Great Britain and Ireland. The falling fertility rate and the exodus of the
young generation were often quoted by the priests as the reasons for the seemingly
paradoxical fact that the decline in the numbers of regular churchgoers began just as
independence was regained. Now, when the freedom of worship has returned, few
children and adolescents take the Sacraments. In the future generations, the Polish
indentification may in many cases be lost not to the Latvian one, but to the Irish or
British citizenship. It is also possible that the European citizenship will prove the most
attractive to this young, mobile generation, which does not settle easily and does not
decide their identification willingly.
The Daugavpils Poles can retain their Polish identification only if they receive
support in their familiarity with the Polish language. One reason for this is that with
time Latvian will be increasingly essential as the means of communication, also on
the local level. Attractiveness of the Russian pop-culture to the young generation
is, naturally, linked with the relative weakness of the native, Latvian pop-culture.
It seems that Polish pop-culture, with its interesting traditions, might constitute an
attractive alternative to the Russian one. The various national forms of folk and high
culture should by all means be supported, but apart from those, the Latgallian youth
ought to be introduced to Polish popular music
-
music which is, after all, performed
in a language understood also by young people fluent in other Slavonic languages.
The success of the linguistic re-Polonisation notwithstanding, special attention
should be given to the Polish-language audiovisual media (e.g. TV
Polonia),
which
are the most widespread source of knowledge regarding Poland, as well as a means of
contact with the day-to-day life of the country. The question remains to what extent
TV
Polonia
can be used as a tool for acquiring reading skills in Polish. The issue
seems trivial, but the norm there is to have the subtitle strip in English
-
the Polish-
language subtitles would be far more useful and ought to be introduced as soon as
possible. After all, TV
Polonia
is practically the only point of contact with the living
Polish speech available to the Polish diaspora, and the only means of learning how
to correlate speech to written text. It also does not provide enough Russian-language
educational programmes addressed specifically to Poles.
On a more optimistic note, many young people declared that they used the Polish-
language areas of the Internet. The research was unable to answer, however, whether
the Polish Internet sites was used in the teaching process at Polish schools
-
and if so,
212
Poles on shores of the Daugava river
to what extent; the researchers only saw it used by a small group of young pepole in
the
Dom Polski
community centre. It is also unclear whether the Polish-language
Internet sources are at all applied in the children and teenagers religious education.
The research conducted in Daugavpils during the Chair in Sociology of Custom
and Law field research trip in June
2007
was the first systematic research of the local
Polish diaspora. For the participants, it was the first contact with this interesting
community. These two facts in connection inevitably caused some confusion and
numerous omissions in the questionnaire. If others follow in their footsteps, the
present researchers will be very happy; it would certainly be profitable to replicate
the research with the application of a different methodological schedule. With
the Daugavpils Polish minority being, according to the official data, around
15%,
a random sample of two thousand city residents ought to result in finding ca.
250
Poles
speaking Polish or Russian. Interviews with them would yield a more representative
image of the local Polish community than the present research, which focused on the
representatives of the Union of Poles in Latvia as the core group.
Tłum. Klaudyna
Hildebrandt
213
|
| any_adam_object | 1 |
| author_GND | (DE-588)128667419 |
| building | Verbundindex |
| bvnumber | BV036058581 |
| callnumber-first | D - World History |
| callnumber-label | DK504 |
| callnumber-raw | DK504.35.P6 |
| callnumber-search | DK504.35.P6 |
| callnumber-sort | DK 3504.35 P6 |
| callnumber-subject | DK - Russia, Soviet Union, Former Soviet Republics, Poland |
| ctrlnum | (OCoLC)551079746 (DE-599)BVBBV036058581 |
| edition | Wyd. 1. |
| era | Geschichte gnd |
| era_facet | Geschichte |
| format | Book |
| fullrecord | <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><collection xmlns="http://www.loc.gov/MARC21/slim"><record><leader>02034nam a2200469 c 4500</leader><controlfield tag="001">BV036058581</controlfield><controlfield tag="003">DE-604</controlfield><controlfield tag="005">20100331 </controlfield><controlfield tag="007">t</controlfield><controlfield tag="008">100302s2009 ab|| |||| 00||| pol d</controlfield><datafield tag="020" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="a">9788323504375</subfield><subfield code="9">978-83-235-0437-5</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="035" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="a">(OCoLC)551079746</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="035" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="a">(DE-599)BVBBV036058581</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="040" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="a">DE-604</subfield><subfield code="b">ger</subfield><subfield code="e">rakwb</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="041" ind1="0" ind2=" "><subfield code="a">pol</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="049" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="a">DE-12</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="050" ind1=" " ind2="0"><subfield code="a">DK504.35.P6</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="084" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="a">7,41</subfield><subfield code="2">ssgn</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="245" ind1="1" ind2="0"><subfield code="a">Polacy nad Dźwiną</subfield><subfield code="c">red. Jacek Kurczewski i Małgorzata Fuszera</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="250" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="a">Wyd. 1.</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="264" ind1=" " ind2="1"><subfield code="a">Warszawa</subfield><subfield code="b">Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego</subfield><subfield code="c">2009</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="300" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="a">223, [1] s., [12] s. tabl.</subfield><subfield code="b">il. kolor. - Ill., Kt.</subfield><subfield code="c">24 cm.</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="336" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="b">txt</subfield><subfield code="2">rdacontent</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="337" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="b">n</subfield><subfield code="2">rdamedia</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="338" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="b">nc</subfield><subfield code="2">rdacarrier</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="500" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="a">Zsfassung in engl. u. lettischer Sprache u.d.T.: Poles on shores of the Daugava river</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="648" ind1=" " ind2="7"><subfield code="a">Geschichte</subfield><subfield code="2">gnd</subfield><subfield code="9">rswk-swf</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="650" ind1=" " ind2="4"><subfield code="a">Polish people</subfield><subfield code="z">Latvia</subfield><subfield code="z">Daugavpils</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="650" ind1=" " ind2="4"><subfield code="a">Polish people</subfield><subfield code="z">Western Dvina River Region</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="650" ind1="0" ind2="7"><subfield code="a">Polen</subfield><subfield code="g">Volk</subfield><subfield code="0">(DE-588)4046497-0</subfield><subfield code="2">gnd</subfield><subfield code="9">rswk-swf</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="651" ind1=" " ind2="7"><subfield code="a">Düna-Gebiet</subfield><subfield code="0">(DE-588)4440250-8</subfield><subfield code="2">gnd</subfield><subfield code="9">rswk-swf</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="655" ind1=" " ind2="7"><subfield code="0">(DE-588)4143413-4</subfield><subfield code="a">Aufsatzsammlung</subfield><subfield code="2">gnd-content</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="689" ind1="0" ind2="0"><subfield code="a">Düna-Gebiet</subfield><subfield code="0">(DE-588)4440250-8</subfield><subfield code="D">g</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="689" ind1="0" ind2="1"><subfield code="a">Polen</subfield><subfield code="g">Volk</subfield><subfield code="0">(DE-588)4046497-0</subfield><subfield code="D">s</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="689" ind1="0" ind2="2"><subfield code="a">Geschichte</subfield><subfield code="A">z</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="689" ind1="0" ind2=" "><subfield code="5">DE-604</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="700" ind1="1" ind2=" "><subfield code="a">Kurczewski, Jacek</subfield><subfield code="d">1943-</subfield><subfield code="e">Sonstige</subfield><subfield code="0">(DE-588)128667419</subfield><subfield code="4">oth</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="856" ind1="4" ind2="2"><subfield code="m">Digitalisierung BSBMuenchen</subfield><subfield code="q">application/pdf</subfield><subfield code="u">http://bvbr.bib-bvb.de:8991/F?func=service&doc_library=BVB01&local_base=BVB01&doc_number=018950118&sequence=000003&line_number=0001&func_code=DB_RECORDS&service_type=MEDIA</subfield><subfield code="3">Inhaltsverzeichnis</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="856" ind1="4" ind2="2"><subfield code="m">Digitalisierung BSB Muenchen</subfield><subfield code="q">application/pdf</subfield><subfield code="u">http://bvbr.bib-bvb.de:8991/F?func=service&doc_library=BVB01&local_base=BVB01&doc_number=018950118&sequence=000004&line_number=0002&func_code=DB_RECORDS&service_type=MEDIA</subfield><subfield code="3">Abstract</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="940" ind1="1" ind2=" "><subfield code="n">oe</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="999" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="a">oai:aleph.bib-bvb.de:BVB01-018950118</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="942" ind1="1" ind2="1"><subfield code="c">900</subfield><subfield code="e">22/bsb</subfield><subfield code="g">438</subfield></datafield></record></collection> |
| genre | (DE-588)4143413-4 Aufsatzsammlung gnd-content |
| genre_facet | Aufsatzsammlung |
| geographic | Düna-Gebiet (DE-588)4440250-8 gnd |
| geographic_facet | Düna-Gebiet |
| id | DE-604.BV036058581 |
| illustrated | Illustrated |
| indexdate | 2024-07-09T22:10:31Z |
| institution | BVB |
| isbn | 9788323504375 |
| language | Polish |
| oai_aleph_id | oai:aleph.bib-bvb.de:BVB01-018950118 |
| oclc_num | 551079746 |
| open_access_boolean | |
| owner | DE-12 |
| owner_facet | DE-12 |
| physical | 223, [1] s., [12] s. tabl. il. kolor. - Ill., Kt. 24 cm. |
| publishDate | 2009 |
| publishDateSearch | 2009 |
| publishDateSort | 2009 |
| publisher | Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego |
| record_format | marc |
| spelling | Polacy nad Dźwiną red. Jacek Kurczewski i Małgorzata Fuszera Wyd. 1. Warszawa Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego 2009 223, [1] s., [12] s. tabl. il. kolor. - Ill., Kt. 24 cm. txt rdacontent n rdamedia nc rdacarrier Zsfassung in engl. u. lettischer Sprache u.d.T.: Poles on shores of the Daugava river Geschichte gnd rswk-swf Polish people Latvia Daugavpils Polish people Western Dvina River Region Polen Volk (DE-588)4046497-0 gnd rswk-swf Düna-Gebiet (DE-588)4440250-8 gnd rswk-swf (DE-588)4143413-4 Aufsatzsammlung gnd-content Düna-Gebiet (DE-588)4440250-8 g Polen Volk (DE-588)4046497-0 s Geschichte z DE-604 Kurczewski, Jacek 1943- Sonstige (DE-588)128667419 oth Digitalisierung BSBMuenchen application/pdf http://bvbr.bib-bvb.de:8991/F?func=service&doc_library=BVB01&local_base=BVB01&doc_number=018950118&sequence=000003&line_number=0001&func_code=DB_RECORDS&service_type=MEDIA Inhaltsverzeichnis Digitalisierung BSB Muenchen application/pdf http://bvbr.bib-bvb.de:8991/F?func=service&doc_library=BVB01&local_base=BVB01&doc_number=018950118&sequence=000004&line_number=0002&func_code=DB_RECORDS&service_type=MEDIA Abstract |
| spellingShingle | Polacy nad Dźwiną Polish people Latvia Daugavpils Polish people Western Dvina River Region Polen Volk (DE-588)4046497-0 gnd |
| subject_GND | (DE-588)4046497-0 (DE-588)4440250-8 (DE-588)4143413-4 |
| title | Polacy nad Dźwiną |
| title_auth | Polacy nad Dźwiną |
| title_exact_search | Polacy nad Dźwiną |
| title_full | Polacy nad Dźwiną red. Jacek Kurczewski i Małgorzata Fuszera |
| title_fullStr | Polacy nad Dźwiną red. Jacek Kurczewski i Małgorzata Fuszera |
| title_full_unstemmed | Polacy nad Dźwiną red. Jacek Kurczewski i Małgorzata Fuszera |
| title_short | Polacy nad Dźwiną |
| title_sort | polacy nad dzwina |
| topic | Polish people Latvia Daugavpils Polish people Western Dvina River Region Polen Volk (DE-588)4046497-0 gnd |
| topic_facet | Polish people Latvia Daugavpils Polish people Western Dvina River Region Polen Volk Düna-Gebiet Aufsatzsammlung |
| url | http://bvbr.bib-bvb.de:8991/F?func=service&doc_library=BVB01&local_base=BVB01&doc_number=018950118&sequence=000003&line_number=0001&func_code=DB_RECORDS&service_type=MEDIA http://bvbr.bib-bvb.de:8991/F?func=service&doc_library=BVB01&local_base=BVB01&doc_number=018950118&sequence=000004&line_number=0002&func_code=DB_RECORDS&service_type=MEDIA |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT kurczewskijacek polacynaddzwina |