{"id":38713,"date":"2025-06-05T10:45:47","date_gmt":"2025-06-05T08:45:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sybir.bialystok.pl\/?p=38713"},"modified":"2025-06-18T10:46:56","modified_gmt":"2025-06-18T08:46:56","slug":"wierszyna-poles-in-siberia-meeting-with-maciej-jastrzebski-and-ewelina-wizentas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sybir.bialystok.pl\/en\/wierszyna-poles-in-siberia-meeting-with-maciej-jastrzebski-and-ewelina-wizentas\/","title":{"rendered":"Wierszyna. Poles in Siberia \u2013 Meeting with Maciej Jastrz\u0119bski and Ewelina Wi\u017centas"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Jastrz\u0119bski, a veteran foreign correspondent for Polish Radio who has reported extensively from Russia, was joined by Wi\u017centas \u2013 a native of the Siberian village of Wierszyna and a PhD candidate at Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toru\u0144.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The conversation focused on Wierszyna itself \u2013 a village in Siberia where Polish settlers established an enclave of national identity that has remained virtually untouched by time. For more than a century, the community has preserved its language, culture, and traditions, forming a resilient and close-knit society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI arrived in Wierszyna almost by accident, with no real idea of what to expect. I only knew it was something of a legend \u2013 a place people began speaking about more openly only in the early 1990s. Meeting Grandma Franciszka \u2013 the main subject of my reportage \u2013 opened my eyes to the extraordinary history of this village. Franciszka is Ewelina\u2019s great-aunt, and Ewelina, who\u2019s here with me today, also became one of the voices in my story,\u201d said Maciej Jastrz\u0119bski.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Wierszyna was founded in 1910 by Polish settlers, most of whom came from the D\u0105browa Basin region, lured by the promise of a better life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAuthorities promised them land and opportunity \u2013 even claiming that \u2018bread grew on trees.\u2019 These were often simple, uneducated people, not politically involved. Since they lived under Russian rule, they didn\u2019t technically cross any border. They left Russia\u2026 for Russia, in search of a better future,\u201d Jastrz\u0119bski explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The conditions they encountered were far more difficult than expected. Still, the Poles quickly gained a reputation for being hardworking and resilient, capable of adapting to the harsh Siberian climate. They supported one another and learned survival techniques from local communities \u2013 such as the Buryats \u2013 who taught them how to endure the winter and cultivate the land. Within just a few decades, Wierszyna\u2019s residents began to rise in both social and economic status.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the years that followed, even as life stabilized, some villagers dreamed of returning to Poland \u2013 but that possibility soon faded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFirst came the revolution, then collectivization and the seizure of property. Then the war \u2013 once again, no chance of returning. And after that, deep isolation. For decades, Poles in Siberia had no way to contact their homeland. The borders were closed and tightly guarded,\u201d Jastrz\u0119bski noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, Wierszyna is home to more than 500 people. Remarkably, despite the passage of time, it remains a community where the Polish language is taught and Polish traditions are still practiced. The village has preserved its ethnic identity \u2013 mixed marriages are rare, and the culture, language, and customs have survived in near-original form.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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For nearly 80 years, the community remained largely unknown to the outside world. Only in the 1990s \u2013 as Polish-Russian relations began to improve \u2013 did journalists begin visiting Wierszyna. The village became a symbol of the endurance of Polishness under extreme conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among those who continue to speak Polish and uphold local traditions is Ewelina Wi\u017centas\u2019s great-aunt, Franciszka.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGrandma Frania was born in 1932. She completed four years of school in Wierszyna and spent her life working hard \u2013 first in a kolkhoz, then in a shop, all while running a household. She still vividly remembers those times and shares her memories with great detail and emotion. When someone visits Wierszyna \u2013 whether a journalist, a tourist, or a guest from Poland \u2013 everyone says: \u2018Go to Grandma Frania, she remembers everything.\u2019 And it\u2019s true \u2013 not only does she have an incredible memory, but she\u2019s also wonderfully hospitable,\u201d said Ewelina.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can listen to Maciej Jastrz\u0119bski\u2019s reportage HERE<\/a>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We warmly invite you to join us for the next author event at the Sybir Memorial Museum after the summer break.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Another author event took place at the Sybir Memorial Museum, this time featuring Maciej Jastrz\u0119bski and Ewelina Wi\u017centas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":38313,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_editorskit_title_hidden":false,"_editorskit_reading_time":0,"_editorskit_is_block_options_detached":false,"_editorskit_block_options_position":"{}","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38713","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWierszyna. 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