Object structure
Title:

The expulsions from the ‘Congress’ Kingdom of Poland and Galicia as seen from personal accounts (1914–18)

Subtitle:

Acta Poloniae Historica. T. 113 (2016) ; Occupation Experiences, 1914–18

Creator:

Sierakowska, Katarzyna ORCID

Contributor:

Mękarski, Artur : Tr. ; Institute of History of the Polish Academy of Sciences

Publisher:

Institute of History of the Polish Academy of Sciences

Place of publishing:

Warszawa

Date issued/created:

2016

Description:

p. 65-87

Type of object:

Journal/Article

Subject and Keywords:

World War, 1914-1918 - Galicia - Poland and Ukraine ; World War, 1914-1918 - Poland ; World War, 1914-1918 - refugees ; World War, 1914-1918 - deportations from Poland ; World War, 1914-1918 - deportations from Ukraine ; World War, 1914-1918 - personal narratives - history and criticism

Abstract:

The article discusses the refugees’ life during the Great War, focusing on the living conditions on their route to and in exile. The aim here is to grasp the experience that the refugees underwent when they were still uncertain of their future, and when they were venturing into the unknown without being aware of where their journey would take them. The source material concerns refugees who fled from the ‘Congress’ Kingdom of Poland and Galicia to central Russia and western part of the Austro-Hungarian empire. It involves personal documents, especially those created during this exile experience, and the accounts included in the press, notably in Ognisko Polskie. The evidence presented in the article shows that the exile was among the most traumatic war events. It also demonstrates that the flight and exile affected various groups in different ways. Children and elderly persons were most vulnerable and most likely to suffer damage to their health or even to lose their lives. It was particularly difficult for them to endure adverse weather conditions and malnutrition. They were also more prone to contagious diseases, especially typhus and cholera. The stay in the barracks camps established in the Austro-Hungarian Empire was another difficult experience. Especially initially the camps were not fi t for housing so great a number of people of different age and gender. Finally, the analysis of personal documents shows the use of different survival strategies in the exile. The refugees showed much determination in finding employment or seeking compensation and various benefits; and there was a significant social mobilization to organize assistance to the refugees.

References:

Gatrell Peter, A Whole Empire Walking: Refugees in Russia during World War I (Bloomington and Indianapolis, 1999).
Handelsman Marceli (ed.), Polska w czasie wielkiej wojny (1914–1918). Historia społeczna i ekonomiczna, ii: Historia społeczna (Warszawa, 1936).
Korzeniowski Mariusz, Na wygnańczym szlaku … Działalność CKO KP na Białorusi w latach 1915–1918 (Lublin, 2001).
Korzeniowski Mariusz, Mądzik Marek, and Tarasiuk Dariusz, Tułaczy los. Uchodźcy polscy w imperium rosyjskim w latach I wojny światowej (Lublin, 2007).
Lasocki Zygmunt, Polacy w austriackich obozach barakowych dla uchodźców i internowanych.
(Wspomnienia z czasów wojny światowej byłego posła do parlamentu austriackiego) (Kraków, 1929).
Sierakowska Katarzyna, Śmierć, wygnanie, głód w dokumentach osobistych. Ziemie polskie w latach Wielkiej Wojny 1914–1918 (Warszawa, 2015).
Spustek Irena, Polacy w Piotrogrodzie 1914–1917 (Warszawa, 1966).

Relation:

Acta Poloniae Historica

Volume:

113

Start page:

65

End page:

87

Resource type:

Text

Detailed Resource Type:

Article : original article

Format:

application/pdf

Resource Identifier:

2450-8462

Source:

IH PAN, sygn. A.295/113 Podr. ; IH PAN, sygn. A.296/113 ; click here to follow the link

Language:

eng

Rights:

Creative Commons Attribution BY-ND 4.0 license

Terms of use:

Copyright-protected material. [CC BY-ND 4.0] May be used within the scope specified in Creative Commons Attribution BY-ND 4.0 license, full text available at: ; -

Digitizing institution:

Institute of History of the Polish Academy of Sciences

Original in:

Library of the Institute of History PAS

Projects co-financed by:

-

Access:

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