{"id":45148,"date":"2026-04-14T10:45:54","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T08:45:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sybir.bialystok.pl\/?p=45148"},"modified":"2026-04-15T10:46:25","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T08:46:25","slug":"the-meeting-with-prof-anna-zapalec-is-now-behind-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sybir.bialystok.pl\/en\/the-meeting-with-prof-anna-zapalec-is-now-behind-us\/","title":{"rendered":"The meeting with Prof. Anna Zapalec is now behind us"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cBut should this concern us at all?\u201d Tomasz Danilecki, PhD, from the Research Department began provocatively during yesterday\u2019s discussion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than a hundred guests attended the event, including Sybiraks, students, participants of the University of the Third Age, and a large group of young people from the 10th High School named after Wis\u0142awa Szymborska in Bia\u0142ystok.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cToday marks the anniversary of the Katyn massacre and the anniversary of the second deportation. These events, contrary to appearances, are very closely connected. But why should they concern us?\u201d Danilecki, PhD, continued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cHistory teaches us to draw conclusions, to listen, to meet people, and to talk. That is precisely why I decided to travel to Russia to conduct my research,\u201d said Prof. Anna Zapalec, who approaches historical research in a unique way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the one hand, she conducted scholarly research in Russian archives; on the other, she combined the work of a historian with anthropological methods. She travelled across Russia and Siberia to speak with local people and reach places that have long remained abandoned. During the meeting, she presented photographs from her research trips to locations where Soviet labour camps once existed. It was also an opportunity to explain the difference between terms that are often confused or used interchangeably.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So what was a \u201clabor camp,\u201d and what was the GULag?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Soviet system of repression was an extremely complex structure, creating a network of camps, settlements, and various forms of persecution. It was managed by a central authority \u2014 the Main Administration of Camps and Special Settlements, known as the GULag. The individual forced labour camps, of which there were thousands, were called \u2018lagiers.\u2019 In addition to them, the GULag also administered special settlements. That is where deportees were sent \u2014 people not sentenced to labour camps but forcibly resettled,\u201d explained Prof. Zapalec.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRussia is the largest country in the world,\u201d added Tomasz Danilecki, PhD. \u201cWhen you fly from Moscow to Siberia, for several hours you see nothing but empty space \u2014 tundra, forests, sometimes a large river, and only very rarely a settlement. Thousands of kilometres of emptiness. That is where deportees were sent. Is it easy today to reach such a camp?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is very difficult. They were located far from major railway lines and main cities. After travelling by plane, train, and car, to actually reach these places you need to know local people who will take you there and are willing to show them. These are areas far from civilisation, with no roads.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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After the meeting, participants asked how such research expeditions are organised, whether trips to such places are still possible, and whether the chapter of forced labour camps can be considered closed in history. Young people showed strong interest in the topic and eagerly shared their impressions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was very surprised by the scale of Soviet repression \u2014 how many of our compatriots died in the camps and during transport by trains,\u201d said one of the students at the end of the meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

More than a hundred guests attended the event, including Sybiraks, students, participants of the University of the Third Age, and a large group of young people from the 10th High School named after Wis\u0142awa Szymborska in Bia\u0142ystok.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":45109,"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-45148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe meeting with Prof. Anna Zapalec is now behind us - Muzeum Pami\u0119ci Sybiru<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sybir.bialystok.pl\/en\/the-meeting-with-prof-anna-zapalec-is-now-behind-us\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The meeting with Prof. Anna Zapalec is now behind us - 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