Niebezpieczeństwa przymusowej podróży na Syberię w relacjach dziewiętnastowiecznych polskich zesłańców
The Perils of Exile to Siberia in Nineteenth-Century Accounts of Polish Deportees

Summary/Abstract: Descriptions of exiles to Siberia occupy a significant place in the diaries and letters of Poles deport-ed there in the 19th century. The journey, spanning thousands of kilometres, was undertaken byhorse-drawn carriages (kibitka), occasionally by ship, and after 1863, certain sections by rail, butmost frequently on foot. The carriages travelled at high speeds, often resulting in fatal accidents.During the months-long marches, the exiles faced numerous dangers: the torment of heavy shack-les (the iron caused wounds; people of different postures and ages were chained to shared beams),hunger, and cold. The natural environment also proved dangerous (frost, gales, floods, heat). Allexiles (including women and children) were subjected to the ordeal of overnight stays at stagingpoints (etapy) – appalling filth, stench, a plague of vermin, indescribable overcrowding, and thenecessity of attending to bodily functions on the floor beside other sleeping individuals, leading toillness and epidemics. The exiles were also exposed to the brutality of the Russian guards (severebeatings). The sense of danger was heightened by anxieties about their fate and the fear accompa-nying the crossing of the border between Europe and Asia.

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