Counting the consequences of the Second World War is no easy task. The 80th anniversary of the war's end prompts us to reflect both on its course and its effects. Not least important is the fact that Poland found itself in the Soviet sphere of influence for several decades. Recalling the postwar fate of Home Army soldiers who took part in Operation “Burza” in 1944, viewed through the lens of their deportation deep into the USSR, offers an introduction to this little-known subject.
The temporary exhibition “The Ryazan Men. Home Army in the Gulags” is devoted to Home Army soldiers imprisoned in camps in Ryazan on the territory of the Soviet Union. The exhibition may become an interesting contribution to building a new perspective on Operation “Burza”. The fate of these soldiers shows that 1945 was not the end of the war for many of them, but rather the beginning of a new struggle. It was a struggle in which the Red Army proved to be not an ally but an enemy. The then order of the Home Army Commander-in-Chief told soldiers of the underground to reveal themselves and cooperate with the Red Army in joint military actions against the Germans. However, the Poles were treated by the Soviets as prisoners, and it was at this time that many of them were interned in NKVD camps.
One of these was the camp in Ryazan, where the monotony and stagnation of confinement created a distinctive community in which we can observe a range of human attitudes. On the one hand this was caused by collapse and hunger, on the other by the liberation of creative forces among the imprisoned. Many drawings from this time have survived; two satirical wall newspapers were produced in the camp, and a theatre and an instrumental ensemble were organised. We also have from this period souvenirs of artistic and utilitarian craftsmanship. The history of Ryazan is also the history of the families formed there; some of them had children, who were cared for by the whole camp.
The planned exhibition aims to present the history of the Soviet labour camp from the perspective of an archivist and diarist, one of the prisoners, Jerzy Polaczek, through the prism of graphics that talented draughtsmen produced in the camps. Its backbone is the aforementioned iconographic layer, presented on 24 panels, enriched by mementos of Home Army soldiers interned in the Soviet Union.
The exhibition was created in cooperation with the Biblioteka Jagiellońska in Kraków and the Fundacja Centrum Dokumentacji Czynu Niepodległościowego, while the partner is the Stowarzyszenie Środowisko Borowiczan Sybiraków.
The curator of the exhibition is Dr Tomasz Dudek of the Uniwersytet Jagielloński/Biblioteka Jagiellońska/Fundacja Centrum Dokumentacji Czynu Niepodległościowego.
J. Szarek, Introduction to the exhibition catalogue >>>
Exhibition catalogue >>>
Exhibition catalogue, part 2 >>>
The Ryazan Men. Home Army in the Gulags
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