Stanisław Burkot
Peregrinare necesse est...
Literary Studies in Poland 22, 103-124
L ite ra ry S tu d ies in P o la n d P L IS S N 0137-4192
S tanisław B urkot
Peregrinare necesse est. . . *
1
T ravelling, not ou t of one’s ow n choice, bu t o u t o f necessity, or ra th e r u n d er co n stra in t, is as old as w ars and conquests. V ictorious arm ies used to drive crow ds of prisoners of w ar a n d slaves and em ployed them for th eir ow n purposes. T he history o f the R ussian conquest o f Siberia, u n d o u b ted ly a form of great colon ial processes characteristic of E u ro p e a n policy from the discoveries o f C h risto p h er C o lu m b u s,1 started in the 16th century w hen a C ossak attam an , Y erm ak, escaped his d e a th sentence as far as th e U ra ls an d was hired th ere by th e S troganovs. Y erm ak recruited a sm all arm y for the S trog ano vs and organized th e first arm ed expeditions against the tribes w ho lived in C en tral Asia. T he p o p u latio n of C e n tra l Asia and Siberia was com posed of th e T urkic, M ongol an d Paleo-A siatic peoples, th e M an ch u rian s, Som oyeds, U igurs an d som e T unguistic tribes. V ery early R ussia started em ploying adv en tu rers, outlaw s and prisoners to extend her colon izatio n in Siberia. This w as th e begin ning of th e in stitu tio n of zsylka, th a t is, th e ad m in istrativ e d e p o rta tio n of people to Siberia, w hich co n tin u ed incessantly for a few
h u n d red years.
In th e first half of th e 19th century, th e century we are p a rtic u la r
* A part of Chapter III o f Polskie podróżopisarstw o rom antyczne (Polish Romantic
Travel Books), W arszawa 1988.
1 The process o f colon ial expansion in Siberia started even earlier. In the 13th cent, the boyars o f N ovogrod started to subordinate Pomoriye, the coasts o f the Arctic Sea, which opened the way to the areas beyond the Urals from the North. See A. K u c z y ń s k i , Syberyjskie szlaki (Siberian Tracks), W roclaw 1972, p. 27.
104 Stanislaw Burkot
ly interested in, Siberia was already changed. Som e native tribes becam e extinct due to ra m p a n t lawlessness and colonial extortion, o thers survived in a vestigal form having considerably chan ged their way o f life, beliefs and folklore u n der the influence of R ussian settlers. N ow adays som e old tribes are to be found only in a few villages. T hus the N entsy and N gasans, from the larger eth nic g ro u p of the Som oyeds, have only the p o p u latio n o f 1000 people each, just like the Eskim os, Itelm ens, and K ets from the P aleo-A siatic group. T here are only 4000 Aleuts left, and not m any m ore of the Y ukag- hirs, K aragasses, O ro ks, U lches, O rocznis, e tc .2
T he p o p u latio n of these tribes in the first half of the 19th century is unknow n. However, startin g from th e 16th c e n tu ry ,3 it is possible to find som e inform ation a b o u t the native Siberians, their beliefs and folklore in the accounts w ritten by Polish prisoners tak en d uring the M uscovite w ars w ho were exiled to Siberia and w andered along Siberian tracks. In the first half of th e 19th century ro m an tic interests in prim itive cultures an d folklore m otivated o u r Polish exiles to register the relics of cu ltu ral independence in Siberia and also fostered a profound, scientific reflection in th e field. It is im p o rtan t to stress th a t the exiles som ehow ex natura had w arm feelings to w ard s the co nqu ered natives; their accounts are free of the co n q u e ro rs’ feeling of superiority, and th us m ore objective.
T he rapid decrease of the native p o p u latio n started in th e 17th century. This process was intensified by the co rru p tio n and avarice of governm ent officials. F u r trad e becam e the source of great fo rtu nes an d was accom pan ied by merciless ex ploitation. The decrease in incom es from th e fur tra d e in the 18th cen tury caused the increase in the d ep o rta tio n s to Siberia, an d also b ro u g h t a b o u t the first a t tem pts at reaching legal agreem ents w ith the natives. These attem p ts tu rn ed out to be very helpful in recognizing and describing the econom ic potentials o f Siberia. T he discovery of precious m inerals
2 Ibidem, pp. 80-87.
3 M. J a n ik in his Dzieje Polaków na Syberii (A H istory o f Poles in Siberia), Kraków 1928, p. 36, tries to unravel the mystery o f the authorship o f the so-called
Kronika Polaka (A Pole's Chronicle). He reminds the reader that there was a Pole
em ployed as a secretary at the court o f Khan Kutchum, the ruler of Siberia, who was finally defeated by the Russians. The Pole was probably a Russian prisoner who fled to Kutchum.
Peregrinare necesse est. 105 and m etals, including gold, resulted in the developm ent o f industry. D epo rtees becam e the source of cheap m anpow er. It was at th at tim e th a t the m ost severe kind of d e p o rta tio n cam e to b ein g -h a rd lab o u r in the m ines of the U rals and beyond the m ountains, in the 19th century also in th e alcohol distilling tra d e and in new factories.
D espite the co n tin u o u s d ep o rta tio n s Siberia was scarcely p o p u la ted. In the early 1830s Siberian tow ns and villages were still in a colonial depression. M ost m o dern big cities were at th a t tim e built of w ood and th eir p o p u latio n s were never over 20000. T obolsk had 20000 inh ab itan ts. In the w hole cfuherniya (province) there were ap p ro x im ately 3432 villages and 540000 people. T here was just one secondary scool, 8 district and 4 parish ones; to g eth er there were 39 teachers and 735 pupils. Tom sk had 11000 in h ab itan ts and O m sk 11 428.4 T he calculatio ns concerning th e p o p u latio n are precise only in the case of big cities. They to ok into accou nt prim arily settlers, th e num ber o f no m ads and natives living in the wilderness could be only estim ated.
The consecutive stages of th e conquest and ex ploration of Siberia are a part of a m ore general E u ro p ean p h e n o m e n o n -th e great colonial expansion. T he conquest of Siberia required large arm ed forces in the area. In Russia an old m ethod was used for solving this problem . A n o th er category o f d ep o rta tio n s was c re a te d -to Siberian garrisons and fortresses, built, to a great extent, by the convicts them selves. In the 1850s, only in the region beyond L ake Baykal, there were 1600 Poles w orking in factories and 2500 serving in the a rm y .5 A nd this was only a sm all fragm ent of vast Siberian areas.
T he rapid changes and the g row th of the non-native po p u latio n g radually changed th e countries and peoples of Siberia. By 1850 the land was finally co n q u e red ; o u r Polish travellers under co n strain t faced only the relics of ab orig in al culture. M ore num erous nations and trib e s-a s the Y akuts, Altais, K hakass, N entsy, K h an ts, and prim arily the B uriats and T arta rs, could not escape the influence of
4 J. K o b y ł e c k i , Wiadomości o Syberii i podróże w niej odbyte w latach 1831,
1832, 1833, 1834 (Information on Siberia and Travels in this Region in ...), Warszawa
1837, pp. 57, 78.
5 A. G il l e r , Opisanie zabajkalskiej krainy w Syberii ( The Description o f Siberia
106 Stanisław Burkot
the new com ers despite efforts to preserve their uniqueness. As the tim e passed, there app eared certain rules of coexistence of the various groups. This m ade Siberia especially interesting for histo rians and stud en ts o f ethnology and linguistics. In the Polish culture of th a t tim e Siberian motifs and them es occupied a special place, side by side w ith the orien tal ones (in the E u ro p e an m eaning of the w o rd -co m in g from th e N ear East). This was also a consequence of the d e p o rta tio n of Poles to Siberia. T ravel accounts o f o u r exiles are im p o rta n t for u n d erstan d in g P a rt III of Dziady ( T h e Forefathers'
Eve), Anhelli, the w orks of G u staw Zieliński and of th e C aucasus
p o e ts.6
2
Z sylka was th en a state in stitu tio n in tsarist R u ssia-it served to
build up R ussian econom y, it enriched th e T sar an d his governors. This highly professional in stitu tio n em ployed a large nu m ber of people.
W hat was the trip like then? W e shall recon struct its picture on the basis of th e accoun ts w ritten by o u r travellers u n d er co nstrain t. They devoted m ost space in th eir diaries to the very trip to Siberia. Exile parties followed a regular ro u te on which, at intervals, there were etapes for rest. T he general ch a rac te r of travelling had not changed m uch from the reign o f C ath erin e the G re at. Som etim es co urt verdicts, special rules d urin g unrest, and finally th e inventive ness o f the w arders could cause m in or differences.
T he m ost detailed d escription of th e Siberian m arch and its
etapes was given by th e Rev. S tanisław M atraś, w ho, in 1863, was
sent from Jan ó w O rd y n ack i (west of th e Bug) to Ich era on the Lena (in the guberniya of Irkutsk ) for tak in g p art in the P olish uprising of 1863. E scorted by a sq uad of soldiers, he set out from Jan ó w on 20th o f A ugust, 1863 w ith 5 o th er prisoners and arrived at his d estination on 25th of June, 1864. He m ade alm ost half of the trip on foot. W hen he was suffering from ty p h u s he was being carried in
6 This was a group o f poets deported to the Caucasus to serve in the army: W ładysław Strzelnicki, Tadeusz Łada Zabłocki, Leon Janiszewski, M ichał Buttowt Andrzejkowicz.
Peregrinare necesse est. 107 a cart th ro u g h a p art of the guberniya of T om sk and the whole
guberniya of th e Y enisei.7 His ro u te was not the longest one. It took
2.5 years to get in etapes from St P etersburg to N erchinsk an d even longer to V ladivostok. C onvoys b o u n d for Siberia were form ed in stag es-co n v icts from jails in the K ingdom of P olan d an d western
guberniyas jo in e d them on the way. T he etape prison in M oscow was
the startin g po in t for the com plete convoy. All prisoners had had their heads shaved already before jo in in g the convoy: in the case of the political offenders it was one half of the head from the forehead to the nape, in th e case of the com m on crim inals, sentenced to hard lab o u r o r penal service in the arm y, the front of th e head from the forehead to th e ear line. T his was a m ild form of b ran ch in g ; in the
18th century convicts had had th eir ears or noses cut off.8
R ussian trib u n als used to give 4 categories of punishm ent which influenced th e trea tm e n t of the sentenced on the ro a d : h ard labour, penal serv itu de in convict gangs, arm y service of unlim ited d u ratio n , and forced co lonizatio n. U sually several convicts belonging to the first tw o categories were chained to a long pole and thu s tran sp o rte d eastw ards. T h o se w ho were to serve in convict gangs could expect to work in the garriso n s and citadels of E u ro p e an R ussia (hard labo ur and chores). T h ose w ho were to end up in the arm ed forces had the perspective of 15 up to 20 years of service, however, the c o u rt’s verdict could extend this punishm ent for the rem aind er of th eir lives. T he penal settlers were placed either in specially built colonies,9 or separately in villages, tow ns o r even cities, w here they directly depended on local ad m in istrato rs. T he exiles were often ac co m p a nied by their families w ho followed them on the road. T he convoys usually consisted of 300-500 people, an d they m ade their travels w ith irreg ular frequency. U sually, however, they set out to Siberia every week. After crossing the U rals the routes of p articu lar convoys were divided according to their d estin ation . T he last etape was a
7 S. M a t r a ś , P odróż po moskiewskich etapach w 1863 i 64 roku (A Trip through
Russian E tapes in 1863 and 64), C hicago 1895, p. 95. The Reverend Matraś was
looked after by Krasuski, a noblem an from Podlasie, who died on his way to Siberia having becom e infected with the disease.
8 This detail is m entioned by both Beniowski and Kopeć. It can also be found in Slowacki’s Beniowski, the poetic, ostensible biography o f the confederate o f Bar.
108 Slcmislaw Burkot
d istribu tin g place from w hich people were sent to their destinations. The exiles’ statio n houses, etapes, were situ ated at reg ular intervals of a b o u t 30 miles and were m eant to m ake th e m arches easier. The
etapes were crudely built log houses, su rro u n d e d by high spiked
fences, and divided in to 4 cham bers (kazamats). T he first ro o m was intended for the hard lab o u r convicts, th e second for th e penal settlers, the th ird for the exiles accom panied by th eir families, and the fourth for single w om en. T here was no furn itu re in th e room s and the prisoners slept on the dirt floor covered w ith straw . A sep arate building was used by soldiers an d officers. Between each two etapes there were the half-way buildings k n ow n as polu-etapes- here the guard s were changed. T he etapes were designed to provide a day’s rest for the prisoners, however, in spring and au tu m n , when the m ud m ade the ro a d a m orass after a d o w n p o u r, they som etim es had to spend w hole weeks at the etapes.
T he ritu al of tran sm ittin g the prisoners by th e g u ard s o f the neighbouring polu-etapes was qu ite c h a ra c te ristic -th e prisoners were to be counted, this was done by tw o soldiers. O ne of them coun ted aloud, the o ther touched the chest of each convict repeating num bers after his colleague. This p rocedu re was k n ow n as proverka.
Each prisoner was given a long grey or black w oolen overcoat, coarse tro users and a shirt, a visorless cap, an d a pair of shoes. The final d estin ations of the prisoners could be read on the trian g le shaped patches in yellow, blue o r red placed on their coats. The clothes were m eant for the six-m onth-long m arch. In w inter the convicts were given extra shirts, co ats and shoes and a p a rt from this, furhats, gloves, w oolenstockings and so-called berlaches.10 N oblem en am ong the prisoners had the right to tra n s p o rt their bundles on w agons, others had to carry them on their backs.
T he m arch con tin u ed irrespective of th e w eath er (with the excep tion of the above-m entioned spring and a u tu m n breaks). W hen the convoy had to m arch for tw o days, the rest was organized in the open air, the prisoners slept on the g ro u n d by cam p fires.
T he convoy had its own internal org an izatio n . T he prisoners used to choose from am ong them selves a selfgovernm ent o f six people. Its head was the starosta (chief), then there was the second
Peregrinare necesse e s t.
109
starosta, 2 maidanshchiki w ho were autho rized to buy p aper, candles,
sugar, tea, etc. for the w hole p arty (from the funds collected by the prisoners), and finally 2 p risoners responsible for w ater supplies for the convoy.
N o t all exiles could stan d the h ardships of this m arch. M any suffered from co ntag io u s diseases and individual ailm ents. The sick were either left behind a t the etapes, or piled into w agons. They were ta k e n care of by o th e r prisoners. T he dead were handed over to the a u th o rities in the nearest village w ho were obliged to b u ry them , and the convoy continued its m a rc h .11
T hose who could afford it were allow ed to hire w agons from p easants along the ro a d . T he penal settlers an d w om en were entitled to this privilege.12
B oth o rdin ary crim inals and politicals were tra n s p o rte d tog ether in the convoy. T heoretically, they were to have overcoats in different colours, but this d istin ctio n was not th o ro u g h ly observed. Som e p artic ip a n ts of the P olish uprisings of 1831 and 1863 w ore the uniform s of crim inals, and it was up to prison co m m and ers in E u rope w hether they w ere shaved as crim inals or n o n -c rim in a ls.13 T here were usually violent conflicts betw een these tw o g ro u p s which m ost often bro ke out at th e etapes. 14 If such conflicts th rea ten ed the ord er in the convoy, th e g u ard s intervened. T he guilty, an d often the innocent as well, were severely punished. Som etim es even the entire convoy was punished. A gato n G iller in his Prisoner's T rip to Siberia
11 M a t r a ś , op. cit., p. 95.
12 A private carriage was used by P. W ilczopolska and J. Rzążewska during their trip to Siberia. They were sentenced in the case o f the participants o f Sz. Konarski’s plot. See E. Felińska, Wspomnienia z podróży do Syberii i pobytu w Berezowie
(Reminiscences from my Journey to Siberia and S ta y in Berezovo), W ilno 1852, p. 11.
13 M a t r a ś (op. cit., p. 28) tells the story o f Ignacy Staniewski o f W erbkowice who was sent to Siberia for having been visited by Polish insurgents. There was no formal court verdict. It turned out that it was not Staniewski, but another prisoner, Staszewski, who was sentenced to forced colonization. When he wanted to clarify the matter, Staniewski heard from the prison com mander that he did not care who marched.
14 Som etim es there were psychopats in the colum ns, and this brought about a great havoc, in which the criminals attacked the politicals. See M a t r a ś , op. cit., p. 109.
110 Stanisław Burkot
in 185 415 describes this kind o f m ass penalty. All m em bers of the
convoy were lashed alth o u g h it to o k all day to carry o u t the punishm ent. P articu larly severe punishm ents aw aited th o se who organized escapes. F o r the first one they were put to p riso n for a year, received 400 lashes an d finally were sent to the arm y ; for the second attem p t there were 500 stick strokes and penal service in the arm y ; for the th ird 20 years of h ard lab o u r and 4000 sticks. In the last case, in fact, the real sentence was d e a th because it was hardly possible to survive this disciplinary action. H ow ever, even this was not the m ost severe punishm ent. Rufin P iotrow ski in his M emoirs
fro m Siberia describes in detail the execution o f F a th e r Sierociński,
D rużdżałow ski, Jabłoński, Szokalski and a R ussian co n sp ira to r M e- ledin. They were all sentenced to 7000 sticks for organizing an “uprising” in Siberia. T heir arm s were tied to a rifle carried by 2 soldiers who were leading the convicts along 2 lines of soldiers. Each soldier held a ro d w ith w hich he hit th e convict. A ccording to the rules, soldiers were not allow ed to m ove th e elbow to o far from the side and to step forw ard. T his lim itation w eakened the blows. The thickness of th e ro d was also defined by th e rules. T hree rods, of the k ind used for the punishm ent, were to fill in th e barrel, qu ite big, of the co n tem p o rary rifle. F a th e r Sierociński m anaged to walk once betw een the tw o lines, d uring the second tim e he was being carried in a sled, the following 3000 blows fell on th e dead body. The execution was being carried out till th e o rd er was fully p erfo rm ed .16 T here were nu m erous o th er exam ples of such m indless cruelty in convicts’ travel accounts. S tanisław M atraś in his Trip through
Russian Etapes (p. 94) tells the story of a ten-year-old child who,
persuaded by his m other, h ad set fire to the house of th eir hateful neighbour. T he prisoner was given the regular uniform and was handcuffed, tw o arm ed soldiers escorted him to th e court room , alth o u g h ju st one could carry him in his arm s. Even very old people
15 During his trip A. G i l l e r made detailed notes, they were taken from him in Kazan. His P odróż więźnia etapami do Syberii w roku ¡854 was published in Leipzig in 1856. Part III o f this work was lost in 1863.
16 R. P io t r o w s k i, Pamiętniki z pobytu na Syberii (M em oirs from Siberia), Poznań 1860-1861, vol. 3, pp. 23-31.
Peregrinare necesse est. 111 were sentenced to h ard lab o u r and m arched to S iberia in c h a in s .17 In the prison of M oscow , the iro n cage co n stru cted in the 18th century for P ugach ov was on d isp la y .18 This was a peculiar o b je c t- the convict could n o t m ove in it at all, and he h ad h ad to stan d d uring th e entire trip from Siberia to M oscow .
C o n tra ry to severe rules and cruel penalties on th e p art of the auth orities, the convict convoy was trea ted w ith sy m p ath y by local people along th e ro ad . A lthoug h R ussian p ro p a g a n d a presented Poles as sinners th rea ten in g th e H oly O rth o d o x C h u rc h an d the G o o d T sar, and th o u g h in w estern guberniyas an d in M oscow the crow ds reviled against th e m ,19 they were trea ted w arm ly and sym pathetically further on. In K azan, as the Reverend S tanisław M atraś rem iniscences, university stud en ts used to th ro w m oney and bread th ro u g h th e prison w indow s. M atra ś w rote:
The Russians and Siberians who live along the Siberian highway have a beautiful custom which I must mention. W hen the convict party is approaching a village or town, a soldier starts to beat the drum. [ . . .] Hearing the signal, the villagers are leaving their homes and are waiting with the alms for the prisoners. [ . . . ] M any times I saw the convicts load 2 or 3 wagons of bread in big and rich villages. In a word, I have to admit that Russians and Siberians living along the Siberian tract are very com passionate and understanding for the convicts and help them as they ca n .20
O th e r au th o rs of Siberian travel accounts are o f th e sam e o p i n io n .21 T he w arm -heartedness o f the local people did not m anifest
17 Another priest, Onufry Syrwid, an old man o f 60, marched with Matraś. He had been sentenced for 12 years o f hard labour. See M a t r a ś , op. cit., p. 70.
18 Ibidem, p. 82.
19 One o f the prisoners in M atraś’s colum n put som e better clothes on when they were marching through M oscow . This provoked a characteristic remark o f a Russian merchant: “L ook! His Highness! General G aribaldi, son o f a bitch has fallen into our hands” (ibidem, p. 67). G i l l e r also quoted a characteristic exam ple o f tsarist propaganda at work: “What, asked a certain Russian, aren’t the Poles revolting against us? The French will com e and you’ll probably join them and fight against us side by side trying to destruct the H oly C r o ss ... If you are Christians, why are you revolting?” (Podróż, pp. 142-143).
20 M a t r a ś , op. cit., p. 90.
21 There are a lot of exam ples quoted by Piotrowski w ho experienced this warm heartedness when he had difficulties during his escape. He was put up in secluded houses, invited to dinners, and an unknown hunter saved his life when he was lost in a forest.
112 Stanisław Burkot
itself only on the way to Siberia, but also in Siberia. O bviously, only in the case o f the forced settlers w ho were to live am on g Siberians. T he fate of th e people sentenced to h ard lab o u r o r p enal service in the arm y depended upon their g uards and officers, w ho were som e tim es hum an, som etim es cynical and cruel.
O ne should rem em ber th a t m ost R ussians living in Siberia were also convicts o r convicts’ descendants, th a t a g reat n um b er of R ussian liberals and revolutionists, w ho were all against autocracy, spent long years in exile. “All these noble-m inded R ussians, w rote Rufin P iotrow ski, gladly meet Poles for w hom they feel deep sym pathy.” 22
Ewa F elińska in her Reminiscences fro m my J o u r n e y ... presents the ch aracteristic scene of the arrival at her destin atio n . In the river po rt she was met by a local official w ho gave her a to u r ro u n d Berezovo so th a t she could choose a house w here she w ould like to live and then he asked the house ow ners to look after her. Ewa F elińska rem iniscened:
The host and hostess were very kind and sympathetic. They looked after us and treated us not like paid servants, but like friends and helpers. With great care, they prepared a room for us and made it as comfortable as they could, which was very com fortable indeed.
W hen, after 3 years in Berezovo, she was sent to S arato v she could not help her sorrow :
When 1 was departing, I wished it was possible to find such simple, frank and kind people in another country and under different circum stances.23
O bviously, not all forced settlers were received so w arm ly. If they had no financial m eans, they had to look for a jo b an d try various occupations, for which, taking in to account their social b ackg ro un d, they were n ot prepared. In big tow ns and cities they often becam e private tu to rs of F rench and music, som etim es they m anaged to establish th eir own b u sin e ss:24 in villages they earned their living as
22 P i o t r o w s k i , op. cit., vol. 3, p. 8. 23 F e l i ń s k a , op. cit., pp. 72, 328.
24 J. I. Kraszewski’s daughter and her husband were deported to U sal near Irkutsk in 1863. Their child died on the way. In Siberia twins were born, their mother made a living by baking and selling bread. After the death o f her husband, she decided to return to Poland, but she died on the way in 1871. See W. D a n e k , J ó ze f
Peregrinare necesse est. 113 hunters, hired w orkers etc. Som etim es, if it was possible, they w orked on their ow n fa rm s.25 Finally, there was a large g ro u p of Polish settlers w ho jo in ed various scientific expeditions organized to investigate Siberia’s n a tu ra l resources, or to m ake researches in to the cu ltu re and languages of its aboriginal pop u latio n . In such a way a great deal of them succeeded in tu rn in g their banishm ent into the great ad v en tu re of their lives.26 Polish convicts co n trib u ted significantly to the ex p lo ra tio n of Siberia, an d to R ussian geography, geology, eth nolo gy an d h isto ry .27
T he m ost severe punishm ent was katorga (hard labour). The treatm en t of the convicts depended u p o n th e caprice of their w a r ders. They were subjected to slave w ork and mercilessly exploited. T he convicts w ork ed over 11 hours a day and received only 3 roubles and 2 poods of flour (about 15 pounds) per m onth. They were supposed not only to live on this, but also to buy their clo th e s.28 All of them w aited for mercy, th a t is, for changing their sentence to colonization. F o r m any this d ream never cam e true.
In the above re co n stru ctio n of the trip to Siberia, based on travel accounts, especially on M atra s’s Trip through Russian E tapes,29 Ewa F eliriska’s Reminiscences fro m my J o u r n e y ...,20 A gaton G iller’s
A Prisoner s T rip to Siberia, and Rufin P iotro w sk i’s M emoirs from Siberia, we have not tak en into account the evolution of the d ep o rta
-25 Piotrowski (op. cit., vol. 3, p. 3) reminiscences that near Semipalatinsk there were one or tw o entirely Polish villages. G i l l e r (Opisanie, vol. 1, p. 59) writes about another village, Vierkh Chiti* where 4 Poles established and ran a farm.
26 This was the way o f Giller; E. Ż m i j e w s k i travelled through the steppes o f K uytun (Sceny z życia koczującego — The Scenes from N om adic Life, Warszawa 1859) and J. Kowalew ski travelled in M ongolia and China.
27 Am ong the outstanding explorers o f Siberia the follow ing should be m entio ned: Józef K ow alew ski, Benedykt Dybow ski, Aleksander Czekanowski, Jan Czerski, Edward Piekarski, W acław Sieroszewski, Bronisław Piłsudski, and many others.
28 P i o t r o w s k i , op. cit., vol. 2, p. 207.
29 The oft-quoted Podróż by Matraś is not very well know n by the historians of Siberian deportations.
30 E. Felińska undoubtedly did not know that she owed her transfer from Berezovo to Saratov to a desperate act o f her daughter who threw herself under the wheels of the carriage o f Tsar N icolas II shouting: “Your Majesty, save my m oth er” See S. C h o ł o n i e w s k i , Opis podróży kijowskiej odbytej w 1840 (The Account o f my
Trip to K iev in 1840), Lwów 1886.
114 Stanisław Bur kot
tion system as a tsarist state in stitutio n. We have only described the state which existed betw een 1831 and 1863, th a t is, betw een the N ovem ber an d Ja n u a ry uprisings in P oland, w hen zsylka becam e a mass p henom enon. The trip to Siberia in a w agon, kno w n as kibitka, the im age very vivid in Polish literature, was, as a m atter of fact, an exception. T he real trip to Siberia was m ost often an incessant m arch, not infrequently, o f 3000 to 4000 miles.
W ho were the people w ho set out for this jo u rn ey ? Polish con spirators, insurgents ca p tu red during the uprisings, p easants and petty nobility forcedly recruited to the arm y, but also crow ds of casual people. D uring th e uprisings and the sub sequ en t repressions, whole Polish families were being sent to S iberia from L ithu ania, P odolia and Volynia. A com plaint of revengeful neigh bou rs or peasants was enough to sent people beyond th e U ra ls .31 M ak sy m i lian Jato w t in his M em oirs presents the circum stances u n d er w hich he was arrested.
It was in 1846. I was barely nineteen and had just left school. O ne day, in the Vilno Hotel in Warsaw, sitting at the table with the hotel’s proprietress and her cousin N ow akow ski, I was telling the story o f Mr Karpiński from Lublin, G ross, Szym anowski and others who had all been sent to Siberia and whom I had seen off, with tears in my eyes, on the left bank o f the Vistula. I was also talking about certain details concerning the arrestment o f the court executive officers Zarzycki and N o w a kowski, who had been cruelly beaten by Russian soldiers for alleged connections with Father Ściegienny. As we were talking about all this, a young, elegant man came to our table. He was introduced to me as Brzeżański, a good boy whose father had emigrated from Poland, and who would help hie to becom e en façon. [ . . . ] Brzeżański was very kind to me. He liked me a great deal. [ .. . ] In a word, he visited me all too often, loved me a lot and very cleverly made me lose my m oney. Finally, it was high time to say good-bye. I told Brzeżański that I was leaving W arsaw and goin g home to the country, perhaps that very evening. I came to my hotel room , lay dow n on the sofa and started reading a paper. Suddenly, the door opened and som e m odest looking civilians, with suspicious physiognom ies entered the room under the orders o f the police inspector Grass, a favourite o f Paszkiewicz. All this happened in a wink. I turned round and noticed that the same thing had happened to N o w a k o w sk i.32
Jato w t was charged w ith “bad influence on o th ers,” “ill will,” and “the plan to escape a b ro a d .” He was sentenced to penal service in
31 M a t r a ś , op. cit., p. 27.
32 J. G o r d o n [M . Jatow t], Moskwa. Pamiętniki Polaka z K orony, obyw atela
Stanów Zjednoczonych (M oscow . M emoirs o f a Pole from the Kingdom o f Poland, a C itizen o f the U nited States), Pąris 1861, pp. 7-9.
Peregrinare necesse est. 115 the arm y, but he m anaged to escape at the beginning of his trip and got first to the A ustrian p art of P olan d, and th en to Silesia where, in M ikołów , in the W ężyks family estate, he was given a passpo rt and m oney by C yprian N orw id. In Paris, u nder N o rw id ’s nam e, he w orked in Prince C zarto ry sk i’s chancellery. He was to tran sm it C zartoryski’s secret do cum ents to th e R ussian Em bassy, w here he also returned N o rw id’s p assp ort. In 1848, while trying to get to the vicinity of P oznań, he had to cross the R ussian b o rd er and was then captured and sent to the arm y in the U rals. W hen he was transferred to the C rim ea, he escaped and ended u p in the U nited States, where he becam e an A m erican citizen. D u rin g the J a n u a ry uprising he cam e back to E u rop e w here he eventually settled in the A ustrian part of Poland.
N ot all details from J a to w t’s b iograp hy are clear and sufficiently confirm ed in h isto rio g rap h y -h e was an ad v e n tu rer and m egalom a niac. However, it is unquestio n ab le th a t he was a prisoner and fugitive twice. Escapes are an o th e r interesting aspect o f travels in Siberia. In the end of the 18th centu ry M aurycy A ugust B eniow ski’s
Pamiętniki (M em oirs) were very p o p u lar in E urope. They were
m ostly devoted to the a u th o r’s 2 escap es-th e first unsuccessful one from K azan, and the second one, w ith a g ro u p of o th er convicts ab o a rd the ship “Saint P eter and Saint P aul,” from B olsheretsko in K am chatka, along the shores of Ja p a n an d C hina, to M acau. Ja to w t’s 2 escapes described in his M em o irs33 point to certain affinities of the 2 characters. T he rigid system of the tsarist d e p o rta tions created the chance of escape for dare-devils w ho did not care ab o u t adversities. As is usually the case in such situation s, one never know s w hat is tru e and w hat is fiction in th eir accounts. T he fact th at both Beniowski and Jato w t were un acco un tab le, th a t it was im possible to foresee their plans was their great advantage.
However, even this herm etic an d stable system was not w ithout leaks. It could be overcom e th ro u g h perspicacious planning and
33 Apart from the quoted Pamiętniki which tell the story o f his escape in 1848, M. J a t o w t wrote: Soldat. N owe pamiętniki (A Soldier. N ew Memoirs), Brussels- Leipzig 1864; „Zapiski z pow stania 1863-1864” (N otes from the Uprising of 1863— 1864), Mrówka, 1869, and later separately as Obrazki z Galicji (Pictures from Galicia), Sanok 1869; Podróże po szerokim świecie (M em oirs from Travels in the Large World), Lipsk 1871.
116 Stanislaw Burkot
precise action. This was the very m ethod chosen by Rufin P io tro w ski. He p repared his escape dow n to the sm allest detail. He w orked in T a ra in an alcohol distillery. It is im p o rta n t to rem em ber th at he had been sentenced to hard labour, so he was un der stricter co ntrol th a n the settlers. He arrived in Siberia in 1844, and escaped in 1846 th ro u g h Irk u tsk , G re a t U stiug, A rchangel, St P etersburg, Riga to K önigsberg. F irst of all, he realized th a t a g ro u p escape could not be successful, th en he prep ared several possible routes. T he first one led from T a ra near Irk u tsk to O k h o tsk , from w here th ere was a chance of getting by sea to N o rth A m erica; th e second m ight lead so u th w ards th ro u g h th e plains o f K hirgizia to B ucharia, an d th en th ro u g h Persia to In d ia o r T u rk ey ; the th ird ro u te ra n so uthw estw ards to the U rals and th en to the C aspian Sea and th e C ircassians; th e fourth along the V olga to the U rals and then along the D o n to th e Black Sea. T he above four rou tes seem ed u nw orkable, so P iotrow ski chose th e fifth one leading w estw ards to T obolsk an d across the Pechora to Sweden. H owever, even the last plan tu rn ed o ut to be unfeasible. Travelling w estw ards, he kep t changing his itinerary according to circum stances. His only chance in this bold u nd ertak in g was to disap p ear in a crow d, to becom e ju st like his su rrou nd in gs. Hence Piotrow ski, w ho m ade his trip m ostly on foot, tran sform ed himself into a petty m erchant on his way to th e m ark et in the nearest tow n, or into a bohomolets, th a t is, a pious pilgrim on his way to the Solovetski m onasteries on the W hite Sea, and finally into a pedlar buying pig hairs for a rich dealer. In this way, he reached L atvia and decided to cross the P russian b o rd e r near M itava. He crossed it in the ap p aren tly m ost im p ro b ab le place-alm o st in front of the w in dow s o f a w a tc h m a n ’s cabin.
His once p o p u lar M em oirs fro m Siberia are now adays quite forgotten, alth o u g h their value, not only d ocu m entary, but also literary, m akes them one of the best m em oirs of th e 19th century. Im m ediately after th eir p u blication in Polish, they were translated into English, D anish, G erm an , D utch, Swedish, F rench and Russian (N o rrk ö p in g 1863), and becam e very p o p u lar th ro u g h o u t Europe. The ap p reciatio n the book enjoyed m ight be illustrated by the N orw egian w riter’s, K n u t H am sun's, declaratio n th at it was the m ost im p o rtan t book he had ever read. ’'*
Peregrinare necesse est. 117
3
Life in Siberia etched enduring m em ories in the convicts’ m inds. It was th e land of their sufferings, bu t after regaining freedom , they were filled with specific nostalgia for Siberia. K aro l Baliński, sen ten ced to d ea th in 1839 and then sent to Ishim instead, w rote in 1849:
After all Siberian nature is not without charm. As everywhere else, G od spread out beauty over that land. Everything there is im m ense-vast as the steppe o f Ishim, as the so-called hungry steppe. In winter it looks like an infinite sea o f ice with a hurricane passing over it from time to tim e-w h ite as a ghost, and as a ghost terrible. And it grows larger and larger, mightier and mightier, spreads its arms wider and wider till it reaches the w ooden tow n and makes a dash at it blustering and roaring and finally covers all its streets with the snow. In the old days I used to watch all that without seeing anything. You know that it is possible to watch without actually seeing. 1 could not notice anything because between my eyes and Siberia there were my c o u n ti), my brothers, my school friends and prison m ates.35
A sim ilar lyrical ap o stro p h e is to be found in Rufin P iotrow ski’s
M em oirs
:
Oh Siberia, the land o f winds and ice, o f tears and com plaints, why do I think and dream o f you so often? After all, neither fetters nor mines can tempt me, and your gold is not alluring for me. For som e time you were my grave, and for thousands of my com patriots you are the eternal grave. [ .. . ] This is already our third generation who leaves their bones in your vast wilderness, and a great number of us did not even bequeath any recollection (vol. 3, p. 1).
A m ong the parado xes of the h u m an psyche there is this very phenom enon th a t great suffering an d painful experiences, ’ which leave perm anent im prints in the hum an m em ory, are later ac co m p a nied in rem iniscences by a sense of their greatness. T he characteristic statem ent of A gaton G iller th a t “beyond Lake B aykal the traveller is freer th an in E urop e,” 36 is u n d o u b ted ly an exam ple of such a paradox.
This feeling of freedom was created by vast open spaces, om inous but beautiful n ature, and finally by the w arm -heartedness of the Siberians. It was also unusual to meet so m any ethnic groups, such a great variety of cultures, regions and custom s o f the native peoples. All th at m ade E u ro p e an clichés fall to pieces, and pointed to their lim itations and hypocrisy. E w a F elińska, looking from this very
35 K. B a l iń s k i, Pisma (Works), Poznań 1849, pp. X V -X V I. 36 G il l e r . Pamiętniki, p. 58.
118 Stanisław Burkot
perspective, found in Siberia “the best u n d ersto o d freedom of life,” 37 and Józef K ow alew ski fuli* led his sp iritu al needs studying the culture of the B uriats:
The trip across the Urals places in front o f your eyes lofty images which cannot be rendered in words. Nature, wild nature unveils here all her beauties. I walked today for 20 miles from 2 a.m., the m ost beautiful hours o f early morning, and enjoyed splendid views. I really regret not being a poet or a painter. I felt so unusually enthusiastic that I lost the sense o f distance. Our w agon rolled over ravines and steep slopes for over 60 miles. O n the highest summit I shook the European dust off my shoes. Farewell my friends! I am in Asia, a real A sian .38
R om anticism was b o rn ou t o f th e p ro test against the m ain directions of E u ro p e an civilization, w hich were, for th e gen eration of rom antics, defined by th e recent historical events: th e F rench R evo lution and the long period of N apo leo n ic w ars. T he abo ve-m en tio ned am bivalence in the reaction s of o ur P olish convicts has its sources in th e feeling of o p pression w ith E urop e. T he very m ech a nism o f d ep o rta tio n s to Siberia was a m o rb id creatio n of E u ro p e an civilization. E urope, not Siberia, was to be blam ed for th e fact th at vast steppes o f Asia becam e the land of misery.
In the first half of the 19th century m em oirs an d travel accounts from Siberia created tw o co n tra d icto ry pictures of Siberia. O ne was m ade up of all tragedies an d anguish of the exiles and assum ed the shape of hell on earth, the o th er one, a colourful m osaic, reveals the difficult b eauty of severe natu re, th e variety of local peoples and their cultures. L ater on, literatu re recorded in th e public conscious ness only th e first of these tw o versions. H ow ever, in the m em oirs and travel accou nts o f the exiles th ere are tw o distinct Siberias: one infernal and th e o th er tru ly adm irable. T he latter one can be found in the P olish c o n trib u tio n to th e scientific ex p lo ra tio n o f Siberia.
These tw o attitu d e s were characteristic o f P olish travels to Sibe ria from th eir very beginning. Poles were in Siberia long before the p artitio n of P oland. A ccording to historians, Polish travels to Sibe ria, except th e first one, were all c o m p u lso ry .39 O ld travel accounts
37 F e l i ń s k a , op. cit., p. 105.
38 J. K owalew ski, „Wyjątki z listów” (Excerpts from Letters), Tygodnik Peters
burski, 1830, no. 18. See also K u c z y ń s k i , op. cit., p. 220.
39 Som etim es Poles w ho were under the threat o f arrest left for Siberia voluntari ly. This enabled them to avoid the hardships o f the regular march to Siberia, and also to travel freely around Siberia, such a solution was chosen by W. Sieroszewski among others.
Peregrinare necesse est. 119 w ere w ritten either by prisoners of war, o r by people k id n ap p ed from bo rder tow ns a n d villages d u ring M uscovite raids in to o u r territories. O nly th e very first acco un t from 1215, which im plies the p artic ip a tio n of a Pole, is different in ch aracter. This is the re p o rt of th e legation sent by P o p e Innocent IV to the ruler of M ongolia called G uyack. A F ran c isc an G io v an n i de P lan o C arp ini was co m m issioned w ith this legacy. In B reslau B enedictus, called the Pole, jo in ed the p a rty .40 T he sto ry a n d re p o rt itself was rem inded by M ichał W iszniewski in his H istory o f Polish L iterature.41 This fact can be assum ed to be th e beginning of the historical reflection on P olish presence in Asia. T his reflection developed du ring the R o m an tic period an d was som ehow parallel to the rap id g row th of the travel acco u n t’s p op u larity . L ater it ap p eared in num erous editions o f old and new m em oirs, travel books, and also in the first attem p ts at synthetic w o rk s.42
T he rep o rt of C a rp in i’s m ission, presented at E u ro p e an royal courts, was focused not so m uch on th e jou rn ey , but ra th e r on the description of G u y a ck ’s capital, his arm y and political plans. It is difficult to call this re p o rt a travel account, but it is the earliest p resen tatio n of m ysterious and sinister Asia.
T he next P olish account from Siberia, K ronika Polaka (A Pole's
Chronicle), com es from th e 16th cen tury an d is an ano ny m ou s text,
probably w ritten by a P ole w ho escaped from a M uscovite prison to K h an K u tch u m in S ib eria.43 After the k h a n ’s defeat in 1598, the anonym ou s a u th o r re tu rn e d to M oscow w here he w rote his relation.
In the 17th century, d u rin g the P olish-M uscovite w ars a great num ber of Poles were ta k e n prisoner an d the nu m ber of accounts significantly increased. T he first Pole w ho left a description of Siberia and her peoples w as A dam K am ieński-D łużyk. He was tak en prisoner on the Basia river and then sent beyond the U rals. His “D iariusz w ięźnia m oskiew skiego m iast i miejsc” (A M uscovite
Pri-40 J a n ik , op. cit., p. 36.
41 H istoria literatury polskiej, Krakôw 1928, vol. 2, pp. 208-233.
42 Giller was m otivated by such intentions. Between 1855 and 1858, and in 1860 he travelled beyond Lake Baykal and collected materials about Polish exiles. He checked a lot o f names not only o f exiles and convicts, but also o f officials in Russian administration.
120 Stanisław Bur kot
soner’s A ccount of T ow ns and Places)44 was published in 1874 in the collection Warta and was not know n by the R o m antics. His w ork gives the earliest description of villages, custom s an d beliefs of the K h an ty an d M ansi. F o r ethnologists his w ork is an im p o rta n t early source w hich m akes it possible to reconstruct th e orig inal state of th e cu ltu re of Siberian peoples before the grow ing im m ig ra tio n from E u ro p e .45 K am ieński-D łużyk cam e across the T a rta rs an d o th er ethnic groups in Siberia w hen he reached d istan t areas u p to the Sea o f O kh otsk.
In the beginning of the 18th century Ludw ik Sienicki, C olo nel of the R oyal arm y, collected his rem iniscences from Siberia. H e an d his b ro th er G e n eral Sienicki were ca p tu red by the R ussians in 1707. Ludwik Sienicki was sent to T obolsk and later to Y ak utsk w here he stayed till 1722. After com ing back to P o lan d he published his rem iniscences in 1754 in W ilno. His book was entitled in th e m ann er which was characteristic of th at epoch: Dokument osobliwego m iło
sierdzia boskiego cudownie z kalwińskiej sek ty pewnego sługę i chwalcę swego do K ościoła Chrystusowego pociągający z wykładem niektórych kontrowersji zachodzących m iędzy nauką Kościoła Powszechnego K a to lickiego, a podaniem wym yślonym rozumem ludzkim luterskiej, kalw iń skiej, greckiej i innych w tej księdze wyrażonych i namienionych sekt, i z wspomńieniem o mniej znanych M oskiew skiego Państwa krainach w pogańskich błędach jeszcze zostających, dla duchownego p o żytku ludzi
w różnych sektach od jedności Powszechnego K ościoła odpadłych,
częścią z uporu, częścią z niewiadomości żyjących, w druku pierw szy raz wychodzący (T he Document o f God's Peculiar M ercy which M ira culously Saved a God's Servant and Praiser fro m the Calvinistic Sect and Returned Him to the Church o f Christ, together with a Lecture on Certain Controversies between the Teachings o f the H oly Catholic Church and the Inventions Created by the M embers o f the Lutheran, Calvinist, Greek and Other Sects M entioned in the Present Book, and with M emoirs from the Less K now n Lands o f the M uscovite Sta te which Still Persist in Pagan Errors. All This Published fo r the First
44 „Diariusz” was found by Father A. M aryański in Głębice. See K u c z y ń s k i ,
op. cit., p. 118.
45 Great ravages were brought about to Siberia when the Russian O rthodox Church started to convert the natives, especially those connected with the religion of shamans. There were several mass suicides at that time.
Peregrinare neeesse e s t.
Time in Print fo r the M oral Benefit o f People Living, P artly out o f Obstinacy, Partly out o f Ignorance, in Various Sects outside the Universal Church). D espite th e title the book does not belong to
d ev o tio n al literature, it was p ro b ab ly m eant to protect the au th o r from being suspected of ad vocating paganism . T he exclusive and presu m p to u s cultu re of the Polish nobility, th ro u g h the publication of D o k u m e n t..., cam e directly to con tact w ith an o th e r w orld in w hich it could h ardly believe.
Sienicki traveled along the track of the Siberian exiles which was being established at th a t tim e. T h ro u g h Perm an d V ierkhoturie he reached T obolsk, Ilim sk and Y akutsk. O n th e way he met the K h a n ts and S am oyeds (Nentsy), then the B uriats and Y akuts. He also m entioned th e K oriak s and C hukchis and K am ch atk ad als.
F ro m K am ień ski-D łużyk’s Diary we know th a t he did not travel alone but w ith 30 o th er fellow-sufferers. Ludwik Sienicki also m a r ched in a sim ilar way. H owever, the g rou ps were not very large. The m assive Polish colum ns of exiles heading for Siberia started only in 1768 after the defeat of the C o nfederation of Bar. By o rd er of C ath erin e II, 10000 Poles were sent to Siberia at th a t time. They were b ra n d ed like crim inals by cutting off their ears or noses,46 and, like their successors, they went to Siberia on foot. The etape buil dings were not ready at th a t time. T hose 10000 exiles were partly sent to Siberian garrisons, and partly were forced to settle in Siberia. M ost of them rem ained in Siberia for life. They assim ilated to Siberians an d ad o p ted th eir custom s. As Rufin Piotrow ski o ver generalizes: “All of them , w ithout any exceptions, ad o p ted the O rth o d o x religion an d Siberian custom s, in a w ord, they becam e Siberians.” 47 W andering beyond Lake Baykal, A gaton G iller met one of those old exiles. This is w hat he w rote abo u t him:
There is another Pole living here, I cannot recall his name, who was sent here for an unknown reason last century. He is now over 100 years old and became a real Siberian.48
46 People remembered about the cruelties o f K retchnikov. P i o t r o w s k i wrote: “D idn’t K retchnikov cut noses and ears off, didn’t he skin or cut off arms? D idn’t he cut out navels to fasten them to trees, and didn’t he then drive his unfortunate victims until, heartily laughed at, they threw out all their intensines and fell dead? I really believe all these stories!” (Pamiętniki, vol. 3, p. 3).
47 L.c.
122 Stanisław Burkot
T he m em ory of those first exiles on the m assive scale was very vivid am ong th e Poles in Siberia and in P o lan d in the first half of the 19th century. It was a p a rt o f the legend or m yth created in ro m an tic literature. It m anifested itself in w orks of M ickiewicz, Słow acki an d o th er rom antics.
T here is only one im p o rta n t relatio n com ing from th e circles of th e C o nfederation of Bar. Its a u th o r, K a ro l Lubicz C hojecki, was tak en prisoner by the R ussians in K ra k ó w du ring th e defense and siege of the W aw el Hill C astle. He was in co rp o rated in to the R ussian arm y corps statio n ed in O m sk. As a R ussian soldier he to o k p art in suppressing P u g atch o v ’s revolt an d then was sent to fight against the rebellious T a rta rs o n the Sea of Azov. He m anag ed to escape from there to P oland. His Pamięć dziel polskich, podróż i
niepomyślny sukces Polaków ( The M em ory o f Polish Works, a Journey and the Adverse Success o f the Poles) was published in W arsaw in
1789 an d could have been the beginning of the S iberian legend in Polish literature. C hojecki’s w ork is also im p o rtan t from an o th er point of view: the a u th o r m ade its subject th e account of sufferings and natio n al tragedies and th u s started a specific literary form devoted to th e m arty rd o m of the P olish n ation. This form was to ap p ear later in o th er S iberian m em oirs and travel accounts.
M aurycy B eniow ski’s M emoirs, w ritten in F ren ch an d po p u lar th ro u g h o u t E urope, also o rig in ated in the circles of the C on fed era tion of Bar, but their ch a rac te r is qu ite different. P olish tran slatio n was published in W arsaw in 1787 after P o la n d had lost in d ep en dence. B eniow ski’s M em oirs can be easily classified as an exam ple o f the convention les aventures prodigues w hich was very p o p u la r in the 18th century, an d in w hich th e re a d e r’s atten tio n is focused solely on th e uniqueness of the m ain hero ’s adventures. T he trag ed y of thé C on fed eratio n o f B ar did not have an optim istic d en ou em ent and Beniowski’s case, th ro u g h its exceptionality, co n trad icted th e public feelings.
T he p u blication o f Dziennik podróży Józefa K opcia przez całą
wzdłuż Azję, lotem do portu Ochocka, Oceanem przez W yspy K urylskie do N iższej K am czatki, a stam tąd na powrót do tegoż portu na psach i jeleniach (J ó ze f K opec's T rip across Asia to the Port o f Okhotsk, across the Ocean to the K u ryl Islands and to Lower K am chatka, and fro m there to the Sam e Port with a Team o f Deer and Dogs) was a
Peregrinare necesse est. 123 great event in th e R o m antic era. Józef K opeć, a general in the N a tio n a l Rising of 1794, was in co rp o rated in to the tsarist arm y after the second p a rtitio n of P o land. At th e news of the Rising, he m anaged to m ove his soldiers from a ro u n d Kiev an d jo in ed K o ś ciuszko. Injured d urin g the b attle o f M aciejow ice he was tak en prisoner. He was p ro n o u n ced a deserter, deprived of his nam e and secretly sent to K a m c h a tk a as a nam eless prisoner. He was released by T sa r P aul I in 1797 an d cam e back to P o la n d w here he died in 1827. His Dziennik was w ritten a ro u n d 1810. Before it was published as a whole, a fragm ent, entitled “C u stom s in K a m c h atk a,” h ad been published in the periodical G azeta L iteracka.49
M ickiewicz, en ch an ted by Józef K op ec’s Dziennik, devoted to this w ork tw o lectures (X III an d XXIV) in College de F ra n c e ,50 seeing in it th e beginning of P olish literatu re a b o u t Siberia. K op eć certainly was no t a great stylist, bu t his boo k is very consistent, sim ple and honest. He was prim arily interested in S iberian natu re, native p o p u lation an d im m igrants, he m ade notes of th e nam es of the P olish exiles he met an d described a great deal of tow ns and villages. We m ay say th a t th ere is no definite subject o f his Diary, there is ra th e r a great mess o f subject m atter. In general, how ever, he created a very tru e picture of tho se u n u su al lands. Let us q u o te as an exam ple just one o f his characteristic descriptions:
W e had to go through the w oods and marshes from Irkutsk to Tobolsk for about 2000 miles. Bridges are still built here o f round tree trunks, the cart jolted mercilessly along the road. Later I entered a vast open space called the steppe of Barabin. Views are incom parably beautiful here, the soil is very rich, alm ost entirely covered with red grass and white salt which is deposited in the ground. Villages are scarce but very rich. Their inhabitants are exiles and their offspring. There are countless lakes and rivers full o f fish, the lakes are surrounded by poplars which look as if planted here by a human hand. There are a lot o f flowers and sweet smelling herbs. The lakes are the hom e o f various species o f birds; the most com m on is the bird very much like our sw an-they are black, spotted birds with big throats. They swim in long lines in large flocks and joining their feet they drive fish to the bank. Then, fluttering their wings and screeching very loudly, they sw allow the fish at waterside. There are also a lot o f white pewits which som etim es may turn night into day. Their wings are o f unusual size.
49 J. K o p e ć , „Obyczaje kamczackie,” G azeta Literacka, 1821, no. 6. Dziennik
podróży was published by an outstanding historian and traveller Edward Raczyński.
50 A. Mickiewicz, Literatura słowiańska (Slavonic Literature), [in :] Dzieła, vol. 10, W arszawa 1955, pp. 284-303.
124 Stanisław Burkot
From this point it is possible to see very high hills decorated by nature with trees. There are old graves scattered here and there and som etim es one might find in them quite large pieces o f ivory, big statues and a great deal o f old weapons. However, nobody know s anything about local history an d traditions.51
D uring his long trip K opeć met the T a rta rs . B uriats, Evenki, Y akuts, Ainas, K a m c h atk d als, K oriaks and C h uk chas. He gave their short characteristics. He was interested in th e ways they found food, in their clothes, sh am an rituals, and finally in the rules of the trade betw een R ussian m erch an ts and the natives.
G en eral K opec’s concise, snapsh ot-like d escriptions m ake up a very rich, inform ative picture of Siberia. In com p ariso n to all our previous relations, this is the fullest and m ost valuable image.
Alm ost at the sam e tim e as G eneral K opeć, F au sty n Ciecierski, a D om inican from W ilno, travelled in Siberia. H e opens a long list of Polish co n sp irato rs driven along Siberian track s. Just after the fall of the 1794 N a tio n al Rising of K ościuszko, th e U n io n of Polish P a trio ts was founded in L ithuania. It was soo n discovered by the tsarist authorities. In 1797 arrests were m ade and F au sty n Ciecierski was sent th ro u g h the etapes of T obolsk, T om sk and Irku tsk to a m ining village called G ó rn a K a n to ra. His sentence was forced la bour, but after som e tim e it was changed to forced colonization. This was how C iecierski’s w ork, published in Lwów in 1865 by A ugust Bielowski, entitled: Pamiętnik księdza Ciecierskiego, przeora domini
kanów wileńskich, zaw ierający jego i tow arzyszów jego przygody do znane w Sybirze w latach 1797-1801 ( T he M emoirs o f Father Ciecier ski, the H ead o f the Dominicans o f Wilno, Containing His and His Comrades' Adventures in Siberia between 1797 and 1801) cam e to
being.
Ciecierski’s M em oirs, ju st like K arol Lubicz C hojecki’s M em ory, is focused on the fate* of Poles d ep o rted to Siberia. Ciecierski is a keen observer, delineates vivid p o rtra its not only of his fellow sufferers, but also of tsarist officials, settlers and natives. It m ay be well to stress th a t Ciecierski gave the description of the work cond itions in S iberian m ines at th at time, which is one of very few ones in Siberian m em oirs and travel accounts.
Transl. bv Zofia Iksińska 51 J. K o p e ć . Dziennik podróży. Wrocław 1837, p. 166.
