Trauma w procesie – o podlaskiej recepcji bieżeństwa

Abstract

The article discusses the reception of bieżeństwo – the exodus of about three million inhabitants of the western borderlands of the Russian empire deep into Russia in 1915. It was part of the “scorched earth” tactics conducted by the tsarist authorities, which were supposed to hinder the German army’s march eastward. Using the category of “cultural trauma” formulated by J.C. Alexander, the author seeks to dicover why biezenstwo did not become a part of the collective memory of Poles and how it now functions in the collective memory of Podlasie residents. The research was based primarily on Aneta Prymaka-Oniszk’s reportage Bieżeństwo 1915. Zapomniani uchodźcy [Biezhenstvo 1915. Forgotten refugees] and the anthology Jestem, bo wrócili [I am because they came back].