Memory of the Granddaughters of Peasant Refugees of 1915 Cover Image

Bieżenki - pamięć wnuczek chłopskich uchodźców z 1915 roku
Memory of the Granddaughters of Peasant Refugees of 1915

Author(s): Danuta Zawadzka
Subject(s): History, Social Sciences, Cultural history, Sociology, Local History / Microhistory, Social history, Recent History (1900 till today), Migration Studies
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu w Białymstoku
Keywords: World War I; refugees; mnemohistory; memory; female perspective; Podlasie

Summary/Abstract: The article is devoted to the mnemohistory of the exodus, bieżeństwo. It refers to the history of the escape of Orthodox peasants from the eastern territories of former Poland from the German front during World War Iin 1915. The text takes into account the feminine and peasant aspects of experience and memory. In addition to the interpretation ofAneta Prymaka-Oniszk’s historical reportage Bieżeństwo 1915. Zapomniani uchodźcy [Biezhenstvo 1915. Forgotten refugees] and memory studies, the author draws on her own participant observation during the preparations for the 2018participatory performance “Bieżenki”, which involved the granddaughters of the bieżeństwo refugees from Białystok and Podlasie. She traces the trans-generational transmission of the bieżeństwo in the three-generation family with an emphasis on the generation of granddaughters. She also drawsattention to the parallels between the events of 1915 and 2015 (migration crisis), as well as 2021, present in literature and theater,among others,asking – as did Astrid Erll – about their role as the media of remembrance.

  • Issue Year: 2021
  • Issue No: 19
  • Page Range: 51-80
  • Page Count: 30
  • Language: Polish