The self-identification and language awareness of poles in Eastern Podolia: survival or decline of "polishness"? (based on the 20th-21st century materials from Grodek Podolski)

Размещено на http://www.Allbest.Ru/

The self-identification and language awareness of poles in Eastern Podolia: survival or decline of “polishness”? (based on the 20^th-21^st century materials from Grodek Podolski)The speech was delivered at the Summer Convention of the Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies entitled “Cultural Wars” held at the University of Zagreb (Croatia) on June 14th-16th, 2019. The present paper is a revised and extended version. Publikacja powstala przy wsparciu finansowym uzyskanym z Programu zintegrowanych dzialan na rzecz rozwoju Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego (ZIP), wspфlfinansowanego ze srodkфw Europejskiego Funduszu Spolecznego w ramach Programu Operacyjnego Wiedza Edukacja Rozwфj 2014-2020, sciezka 3.5.

Yuliya Domitrak

Annotation

The article deals with the main principal categories of Polish minority self-identification and some problems of religious and language awareness in Eastern Podolia. The analysis is based on recordings collected in Grodek, Podolski and its neighbourhoods at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries. The author of the paper analyzes what is the image of the identification being reflected in the statements of local Polish inhabitants, finds out what motivates the interviewees to define themselves as Poles, and describes the ways of eliminating the Polish population in Eastern Podolia by authorities, through indicating the main factors that hinder the Poles' self-identification. The paper concludes that the Catholic religion is an element integrating the national minority that enhances the Polish national identity and maintains the transmission of cultural traditions. The language as a bearer of the sense of identity influences a person's self-presentation, becoming its integral component. Language awareness often coincides with the national and ethnic identity. Despite the harmful policy of Soviet authorities against Poles and all their efforts to suppress religion, Polish culture and language, the Polish population has never stopped to consider themselves as a related part of the entire Polish nation by keeping national traditions, they were faithfully committed to the Catholic Church, tried to preserve their language and history for younger generations.

Keywords: Polish minority in Ukraine, Podolia region, Grodek Podolski, self-identification, religious identity, language awareness, Polish dialect.

Анотація

Ю. Домітрак. Самоідентифікація та мовна свідомість поляків на Східному Поділлі: збереження чи занепад «польськості»? (на матеріалах із Городка Подільського, зібраних на межі XX-XXI ст.)

Постановка проблеми. Історична, мовна і культурна спадщина польської меншини на території Західної України привертала увагу польських і українських науковців починаючи з другої половини XX ст. та залишається актуальною сьогодні. Останнім часом можна відзначити зростання інтересу до вивчення польського питання в історичному контексті крізь призму архівних документів, в яких показано ставлення радянської влади до громадян польського походження. Теоретичною основою поданого у статті аналізу слугують праці Януша Ріґера (1996, 2019) і Гелени Красовської (2007, 2012), в яких висвітлено проблематику ідентифікації поляків у Західній і Південно-Східній Україні.

Мета статті. У статті розглянуто основні категорії самоідентифікації польської меншини, а також деякі аспекти релігійної і мовної свідомості на Східному Поділлі (на схід від річки Збруч) - території, яка в XVIII ст. входила до складу Російської імперії. Аналіз ґрунтується на аудіозаписах, зібраних під час польових досліджень на межі XX-XXI століть у містечку Городок Подільський та його околицях. Городок був культурним і релігійним центром, в якому проживала значна кількість поляків. Місцеві поляки вважали його «другою Варшавою», або «своєю маленькою Варшавою». Автор аналізує, який образ ідентифікації відображається у висловлюваннях місцевих жителів польського походження, з'ясовує, що спонукає респондентів визнавати себе поляками та описує способи винищення польського населення на Східному Поділлі, вказуючи на основні фактори, які перешкоджали самоідентифікації поляків.

Методи дослідження. Під час аналізу матеріалів використовували такі методи дослідження: метод відкритого біографічного інтерв'ю, емпіричний аналіз даних, метод опису одиничних випадків (case study), а також соціолінгвістичний підхід, яких дає змогу показати сучасну мовну ситуацію на тлі історичних і соціальних умов.

Основні результати дослідження. Спостереження та аналіз зібраних матеріалів свідчать про високу свідомість ідентифікації поляків і добре збережену польську діалектну мову (навіть у змішаних сім'ях). Зазначимо, що католицьке віровизнання є елементом, який інтегрує етнічну меншину, зміцнює польську національну ідентичність, сприяє передаванню культурних традицій і збереженню польської мови. Мова як носій почуття ідентичності впливає на самоідентифікацію людини, стає її невід'ємною складовою. Визначено, що збереження «польськості» у багатьох випадках пов'язане з відродженням мови у молодшого покоління, її комунікативною функцією в суспільстві і вивченням мови у школі.

Висновки і перспективи. Незважаючи на згубну політику радянської влади щодо поляків і всі її намагання ліквідувати релігію, польську культуру і мову, польське населення ніколи не переставало почувати себе невід'ємною частиною польського народу і держави, підтримувало національні традиції, залишалося відданим католицькій церкві, намагалося зберегти свою мову, а також передати молодому поколінню збережену в пам'яті історію. Розглядаючи проблематику ідентифікації поляків на Поділлі в Україні, варто порівняти її з іншими регіонами Східних Кресів, наприклад, із Браславським районом у Білорусі та Віленським районом у Литві, у яких простежується значна схожість у процесі їх самоідентифікації. З іншого боку, детермінанти польської ідентифікації деякою мірою відрізняються, зважаючи на різні історичні, соціальні і культурні аспекти, які мають великий вплив на ситуацію у кожній країні зокрема.

Ключові слова: польська меншина в Україні, Поділля, Городок Подільський, самоідентифікація, релігійна ідентичність, мовна свідомість, польська діалектна мова.

Introduction

Polish population in Ukraine is generally scattered on the territory of Western and Central Ukraine. At the beginning of the nineties, there were about one million Poles. According to various statistics, the number of Polish minorities vary from 600 thousand to 1,5 million (Rieger, 2002, p. 11). It is difficult to determine the exact number Poles currently living in Ukraine due to the lack of recent census dataThe territory of Central Ukraine differs from the Western one due to the lack of ethnic conflicts, therefore the Ukrainian-Polish relations there are slightly different, and national awareness is not related to hostility. It is not easy to define who should be considered a Pole in present-day Ukraine.. Nowadays only single Polish families remain. However, there are also villages with large numbers of Poles, especially in Khmelnitsky and Zhytomyr oblast. Despite the reducing group of Poles in Ukraine, many still preserve and use their language even under the influence of other languages (such as Ukrainian and Russian). Sometimes they pass their home language, traditions and customs on the younger generation.

The long-term research concerning the Polish minority, Polish cultural and language heritage at the former Borderlands of Western Ukraine has been being conducted since the 80s of XX century, and continue today. The results of the investigation were published in numerous articles, monographs, collections of scientific paperCp. J. Rieger, I. Cechosz-Felczyk, E. Dzigiel, R. Dzwonkowski, H. Krasowska, J. Kosc, J. Rudnyckyj, W. Paryl and others., e.g., volumes Studia nad polszczyznq kresowq (1982-2010), Jqzykpolski dawnych Kresow Wschodnich (1996-2012), Jqzyk polski na Ukrainie w koncu XX wieku (2002, 2007), series of publications Polskie slownictwo kresowe edited by J. Rieger (2004, 2007, 2015) etc. My paper complements this ongoing research.

In the article, I will draw attention to the principal criteria of Poles' self-identification in Eastern Podolia mainly based on materials collected at the turn of 20^th-21^st century. I will concentrate on some problems of language awareness and religious identity in Eastern Podolia (to the east of river Zbruch), i.e. the territory that after the separation of Poland in the 18^th century was occupied by Russia. On the Western Podolia some aspects of Poles' thinking were developed in the 19^th and 20^th century in a different way.

Theoretical background. As for the theoretical basis for my analysis, I directly refer to works of J. Rieger (1996, 2019) and H. Krasowska (2007, 2012). The authors highlighted some issues concerning the problems of Poles' identification in Western and South-Eastern Ukraine.

Methodology and materials

The research purpose and objectives of the article are as follows:

1) to analyse, what is the image of the identification being reflected in the statements of local Polish inhabitants of the city Grodek and its neighborhoods in Podolia region;

2) to find out, what motivates the interviewees to define themselves as Poles and what factors obstruct the Poles' self-identification;

3) to detect the significance of religion and the Polish language awareness. I am particularly interested in the declared attitudes of informants towards individual elements of identifying “polishness”, their individual perception.

The bases for my analysis are recordings made in Grodek PodolskiIncluding small villages that now belong to the city Grodek.Grodek (Ukrainian Городок) a city in Khmelnytska oblast on the Smotrych river (about 60 km north from Kamieniec Podolski). In 2009, it had approximately 17 000 residents. Slownik geograficzny Krolestwa Polskiego i innych krajow slowianskich states that Grodek was a city with 7 500 inhabitants (including 2 500 Jews, the rest were Catholics, the so-called “Mazury” former colonists from the San and Vistula). Grodek was founded in 1362 as a settlement, and has been a city since 1957. The Tatars destroyed it in 1550. Later it was ruled by the Herburts and Swierczowie, then it belonged to the Zamojski family, the 1st vote of RadziwiH, Deville; in the years 1830-40 it was sold to the general Baron Gejsmar, later to the head of the Kiev bank Winogrodzki (SGKP, 1881, p. 818-819). and its surroundings at the turn of the 20^th and 21^st century (about 25 hours). Janusz Rieger and his team collected the materials principally from the oldest generation in 1990-2003. I also use the most recent recordings received from the middle-aged generation that I made in 2010-2011. The value of older recordings lies in asking people who themselves witnessed the events taking place in the first half of the 20^th century, and today meeting with such people could be uncommon. As an example, I will cite the original informants' statements in a Polish dialect (the abbreviation after each statement includes initials of name and surname, and the year of informant's birth If this information is unknown, it is marked as NN1, NN2 etc.). What is not obvious in the English translation is the influence of Ukrainian phonetics (pronunciation, word stress) and vocabulary, due to a constant language contact that leads to interference.

The subject field of my study is not occasional. There are several reasons why I am interested in this area. Firstly, great number of Poles living there, including the descendants of the nobility In the 18^,h-19^th century, nobility was very numerous particularly in Podolia, where it constituted 2/3 of the entire noble class in Ukraine. In the western provinces the nobility (called szlachta zagonowa, zagrodowa, czqstkowa, bezrolna) was a central cohesive source of support and stability, a proud and rebellious element, accustomed to the borderland life (Skrok, 2007, p. 99; Kolberg, 1994, p. VII-VIII). Slownik geograficzny reports that the number of nobility in Eastern Podolia, decreased from about 93 thousands in 1822 to about 22,6 thousands in the second half of the 19^th century (SGPK, 1881, p. 442-443). In the 21^st century during the field research we found the descendants of nobility; in some villages of Eastern Podolia (e.g. Zielona, Kupin, Czerowne, Hajdajki) in the the consciousness of Poles there is still division into Mazury and Lachy. who are considered “a keystone of polishness”. At the end of the 19th century, the general number of Poles-Catholics in Podolia was nearly 263 thousand (Welhorski, 1959, p. 87-88). According to the statistics from 1932, the Grodek region of Podolia was inhabited by the largest number of Poles - 18,4% of all population (CrpoHCbKHH, 2017, p. 101). Even nowadays, the great number of Poles are living there that is often underlined by informants:

Przed wojnq najwi§cej bylo tut Polakow i Zydow w Grodku, Ukraincow mniej bylo WM19 - Before the war, there were many Poles and Jews in Grodek, Ukrainians were less'; [A tut na Marchliowce zyjq Polacy?] Poliaki takwielie wieliePoliakow je, wze ta wulica tez wsi Poliaki, i tam dal'sze przez jedne chaty UkTainiec, a to wsio Poliaky AK17 - `[Are there any Poles living in Marchlowka?] So many Poles are living here, on this side street everyone is a Pole, and there through one house is a Ukrainian'; [Duzo tu jeszcze sq Polakow?] Oj duzo, Grodek to nazywali, ze to jest druga Warszawa tak mowili, zartowali. No w ogolie to w Grodku jest duzo Poliakow, takzeby samo wziqc, jakniewymieszanejuz IS67 - `[Are there any Poles living here?] Oh, many; they called Grodek second Warsaw, in such way they were talking, joking. Well, in general, there are many Poles in Grodek, just to take only unmixed families'

Secondly, Grodek is regarded as a cultural and religious center of Eastern Podolia. In the informant's opinion it is one of the largest parish of the Roman Catholic Church in Ukraine, e.g. Tut wiqcej Poliakow, nu zmiszanych Poliakow, wiqcej, bo tut w Grodku to same wiqksza parafia na Ukhainie - `Here there are more Poles, but more mixedfamilies, because in Grodek there is the largest parish in Ukraine'. Moreover, there is the Higher Theological Seminary of the Holy Spirit, which history goes back to the XVI century; in 1991 it was renewed and headed by pastor Jan Olszanski. Nowadays it is not only the institution where hundreds of future priests are studied, but also a center that unites the Polish community, and place, where different activities are being organizedThe history of Theological Seminary was presented by Serhij Lenczuk Including support for old people, young families and children (the House of Mercy, family circles, rosary groups, The Congregation of the Immaculate Sisters of the Holy Spirit and library are functioning there).. Besides, Poles living in neighboring villages came to Catholic Churches in GrodekMostly to baptize children, to make confession, to take a church wedding, to participate in ceremony of confirmation or festive liturgies etc., when other churches and chapels in Eastern Podolia had been destroyed during the Soviet totalitarian regime, and for a long period, it was difficult to get permission for renewing or building churches in small villages.

Thirdly, observation of the situation during the field research and analyzing the materials from Eastern Podolia allow to state the high consciousness of Poles' identification, good level of preserving the Polish language and traditions (even in mixed families). In the mind of local Poles, Grodek Podolski considered as “small Warsaw” or “second Warsaw”, i.e. their local homeland, to which they are firmly attached, because it is the land of their ancestors and the land of the Polish nation.

Kiedys Grodek u nas byl samo pol'ski (...) bardzo malo Ukraincow, malo. I do te pory nazywajo to mala Warszawa GX11 - `Once Grodek was only Polish (...) there were few Ukrainians. We call it small Warsaw untill nowadays'; Grodek nasza malienka Warszawa, temu ze u nas fajny kosciol i fajny taki koliedz tam uczq ksiqdzow (...) mnie tam przyjemno duze przyjechac do swoji Polszy malienkie Warszawy, zeby tut wmierac HS35 - `Grodek is our small Warsaw, because we have nice Roman Catholic Church and college, where priests are studied. It is so pleasant to come back to my Poland, small Warsaw, to die here'.

Analyzing the materials, I used some research methods, mainly: open biographical interview method, empirical data analysis, method of description single cases and sociolinguistic approach, showing the current situation against the background of historical and social conditions.

The principal categories of Poles' self-identification and language awareness

The main criterion of belonging to a particular nation is first of all - self-identification of a person. Identification is considered as the phase in the development of identity ', conditions and mechanism of its formation, in other words the process through which the individual defines himself, his own identityAccording to E.H. Erikson (1956) notions “identity” and “identification” should be differentiated; they have common roots, however, the phenomena they denote are various stages of the process of developing “ego”.The definition of T. Eliot in the sociological vocabulary H.P. Fairchilda (cited: Synak, 1998, p. 41).

Similar situation occurred in Belarus.. At the forefront comes two basic criteria: their own declaration (those who consider themselves Poles) and ethnic criteria (having Polish ancestors). There are also cases of changing identities or having more than one (often in mixed multi-ethnic families). After an analysis of collected materials, several categories of Poles' self-identification in Grodek Podolski can be singled out.

• Identification based on blood ties - because of blood ties to ancestors, parents and grandparents, because of being aware of their Polish roots.

Most often the connection with “polishness” is confirmed in it is biological origin (the law of blood ius sanguinis). They are strongly convinced that one can feel a Pole when he/she has been born in a Polish family. They declare their Polish origin in many generations. Most of the respondents declaring their Polish origin stated that their parents (also grandparents) were Poles; some of the middle-aged informants were born in mixed families.

Ji tato Poliak, mama Poliaczka, i did, baba AK17 - `Her father is a Pole, her mother is a Pole, grandfather and grandmother too'; Doki ja zapami§tala, to dzi- ady nasze byli Poliaki i pradziady Poliaki FS25 - `As far as I can remember, our grandparents and great grandparents were Poles'; My jestesmy Poliaki takie z korzenia LG32 - `We are Poles by roots'; No wu mnie i menz Poliak i ja Poliak tom}u i wsi dzieci puchodzo z Polsky, nu wze wielie wielie wielie pukuli^en, ze my wsio polskie JC49 - `My husband is a Pole, I am too, and all my children are Poles, we are all Polish people in many generations'; Byla toze Poliaczka mama z domu, tak u nas z pokolienia w pokolienie Poliaki tak u nas, i tata i wsi wsi my WN53 - `My mother was a Pole, everyone in our family is a Pole from generation to generation, and my father and everyone'.

Currently, the biological and ethnic continuum is still an attribute for some Poles; there is an increasing tendency for mixed Polish-Ukrainian families, who often try to keep both the Catholic and Orthodox traditions, and speak Ukrainian as well as Polish.

• Identification through the documented Polish nationality - because of possessing any documents that can prove Polish descent.

According to informants, an official annotation confirming their Polish nationality plays a very important role. The interviewees declared their Polish origin by stating that they have a passport, birth-certificate or other documents (e. g. military identity card) where they were documented as Poles.

Piszo sie Poliaki (...) nu Polak, wpaszporcie PoliakAK17- `They are documented as Poles (...) so I am a Pole, in the passport a Pole'; Moj ojciec, chociaz takie nazwisko, alie Poliakzapisanyjeszcze zpradziadka, i nie bylo nijakichprobliemow NN1 - `Myfather, though he has such a surname, but is documented as a Pole from a great grandfather, and there were not any problems'; [A skqd Pani j^zyk polski zna?] Nu my z Poliaki, my tak do dzisiaj piszem sie w dokumentach ze wszystkim Poliak, ojciec Poliak, matka pol'ska Poliaczka i my Poliaki. I tak ja w pasporci Poliaczka, i tut ni ma odkazu ni WM22 - `Well, we are Poles that is written in documents, my father is a Pole, my mother is a Pole and we are Poles. And I am a Pole in my passport, and it could not be denied'.

Recollections of people from Ukraine behind the river Zbruch, who applied for passports after the Second World War to have the entry “Pole”, indicate that the authorities were definitely striving to put down Ukrainian nationality, because such an entry may be one of the elements of choosing a nationality ¹. Sometimes the parents wanted to hide their origin, so they initiated themselves a record of a nationality other than Polish. Reasons for this were various: saving their family from deportation, ensuring the good situation for their child at school and giving them a chance to get an education, trying to find a better job, improving relations with the local inhabitants. This was mainly due to the social and historical conditions. After the Second World War, not only names and surnames of the Poles were distorted, but their nationality was regularly changed without their consent (often under the threat or pressure). People were forced and pressed to except Ukrainian nationality. Some agreed and other stood their way, proved or fought for Polish nationality (even burned their passports with other then Polish nationality). The authorities not only refused to entry of the Polish nationality, but the Poles were threatened by deportation and repression.

Trzydziesci siodmym roku to nichto nikogo nie pytal tego, ze u mnie jes niby syno- wa z wioski no to ja pytaljej babci, matki pytal, ojca jej pytal, czego wsi ponapisy- wane my pozapisywane Polaki, tu pozapisywane Ukraincy je, ze my Poliacy jestes BM22 - `In 1937, none asked about origin. I have a daughter-in-law in the village, so I asked her grandmother, mother andfather why we are documented as Poles in passport, and here we documented as Ukrainians, but we are Poles'; Nu jak pasport, Polka wze w stronu, Ukrajinka trza pisac. Jaka ty Poliaczka! Krzyczy, nie piszcie ty jaka! W nas duzo je Poliaku, ze ma pasport Ukrainka nie Polka. A ja taki mam i metryka Polka i pasport Polka, ja Polka WK23 - `He told we should write a Ukrainian in passport. He shouted: you are not a Pole! There are many Poles here, who had been documented as Ukrainians in their passports. But I have both birth certificate and passport with Polish nationality, I am a Pole'; Ja jestem Poliak, moja zona tez Poliaczka, a mojej zony brat Ukrainiec. Jak mozna bye Ukraincem, kiedy ojciec Poliak i matka Poliak, babusia Poliaczka, dziadusio Poliak, i tak idzie to ja nie wiem do jakiego pokolienia tam. On kiedys tam dzies cos tam robil i popad w wienzienia i jemu mowio tam w wienzieniu, ze jagzesz ty bedziesz Poliakiem ty bedziesz siedzial do skonczenia swoich liat w wienzieniu, jak ze ty bedziesz Ukraincem ty juz nie bandzior. Ty przyjmi sobie Ukrainiec, nie pisz sobie w paszporcie nacjonalnosc tam jes Poliak, napisz Ukrainiec. U niego ko- rzenie polskie, alie jemu skazali nie tylko w wienzieniu skazali, a ji w milici, kiedy mu przyszlo paszport dostae, napisz sie Ukrainiec, musial napisae Ukrainiec BUk50 - `I am a Pole, my wife is a Pole, and my wife's brother is a Ukrainian. How could one be Ukrainian if his parents, grandparents and other older generations are Poles? My wife's brother was in prison and he was told: If you were a Pole, you would be sitting in prison until the end of your days. He was considered a Polish bandit (...) He is a Pole by origin; when he got his passport, but was told in prison and at the militia he had to write a Ukrainian'.

The ignorance of Polish culture and history, growing children in different (not native) culture, lack of language skills Two-thirds of Poles in Ukraine do not know Polish language., as well as documented “Ukrainian” nationality in passport favor the ethnic assimilation. In a new passport, the Ukrainian authorities omitted the column “nationality”, which leads to integration by the general awareness of the mixed population. However, in respondents' mind, a passport still defines a person's nationality that is considered very important.

At the same time, we could observe affection to the area of residence that means that people declare themselves as local Poles, Poles from Ukraine or Grodek:

Tam Poliaki z Polski to byli osobnie o, a takie my tajak z Ukrajiny (...) nu to my takie byli Poliaki stqd TS26 - ` Over there Poles are from Poland, they are separately, and such as we are from Ukraine (...) so, we are Poles from here'; My Poliaki, my miesne Poliaki, u nas tu wszyscy polski j§zyk znajo FS25 - We are Poles, we are local Poles, and we all know the Polish language'; My mowili, ze my miesne. To ojciec tam w Smotryczu zyl kolo Kamienca Podolskogo, a matka gro- decka. Poliaki tut byli WM22 - ` We said we were local. My father lived in Smot- rych near Kamieniec Podolski, and my mother was from Grodek. The Poles lives here'. Ta pami§c trzyma nas na ziemi i ta pami§c nas wola do naszej malienkiej Warszawy Grodek HS35 - `Our memory connects us with this land and calls us to our small Warsaw that is Grodek'.

Identification through belonging to the Church - because of being a Catholic

religious linguistic consciousness рolish minority еastern рodil

In the borderland area, Catholicism was historically associated with “pol- ishness” It is a generally accepted rule: Catholics are Poles and Orthodox - “Ruthenians”

Nu ja wim, ja jak by skazac pu pol'sky niby gordzus swojom wiarom, swojom pol'skom, ze ja jestem katolikiem na dzisiejszy dzien. Tak, tak katolik to Poliak JC49 - `I want to say, that I am proud of my Polish faith, that I am a Catholic until present days. Yes, certainly a Pole is a Catholic'

According to official church sources, there are at present over half a million Roman Catholics in the Ukraine, most of them consider themselves as Poles (Dzwonkowski and others, 2000, p. 221). Being a Catholic can mean identification by inheritance (being a member of Catholic family from ages), from upbringing (religious practices) or by choice. The Catholic religion is very important criterion for self-determination of most respondents. Often the answer for the question concerning their nationality was declaration “I am a Catholic”. The Roman Catholic Church played an important social and cultural role in the lives of Poles, especially on the Borderlands. Besides, it helps to preserve the Polish language in the subject region (together with the Polish school).

Jestesmy katolikami, to modlijcie sie po polski, to trzeba, jestesmy Polakami TS26 - `We are Catholics, we pray in Polish that is why we are Poles', [Co jest najwazniejsze, zeby tutaj si§ polskiego nauczyc?] Nu tak kosciol kosciol, wo corec- zka do szkoly chodzi, a tak kosciol (...) Nu czego my Poliaki my powinny swego sie trzymac WN53 - `[What is the most important thing to learn Polish here?] Well, the Catholic Church, the church, and my daughter also goes to school (...) we are Poles and should stick to our principles', Kosciol mnie zdaje sie to tez bardzo jest taki najwazniejszy w tym takom jakoms rol'gra wot, bo w koscielie i msza i kazanie (...) wtedy to po polsku spowiadali sie, dliatego starali wszyscy wiedziec ten polski j§zyk, zachowac jego po prostu MS59 - `To my mind the Catholic Church plays an important role, because liturgy and homily was in Polish, earlier people made their confession in Polish, that is why we try to know the Polish language'.

In some regions, religious identity is even more important than national or language identity. Grzegorz Babinski, in his work about the Polish-Ukrainian borderland, indicates that national identity is very often determined directly from religious identity (Babinski, 1997, p. 120). Often people who have “ukrainised” in regards to language and culture (e.g. influence of the younger generation or mixed marriages), do not lose their Polish identity because they belong to the Roman Catholic Church, e.g. My wiemy my katoliki, my nie czysto Polaki. [My] rymokatoliki - ` We know we are Catholics, we are not hundred percent Polish; we are Roman Catholic'. Self-identification in many cases can be connected with the confession or with a parish of the Catholic Church.

During the Second World War, many churches were burnt and demolished; priests were persecuted, imprisoned, deported and mistreated. After the war, the churches were turned into storehouses, granaries, concert halls, etc. Religious education and preparation for the sacraments were conducted secretly. Poles prayed at home, in chapels, “quietly” participated in religious life. Some of them were afraid to go to church, pray and celebrate holidays; others were forced to work in holidays. Mostly informants declared piety and prayerfulness in their families, and their children went to the church regardless of the school administration prohibitions. The Soviet authorities tried to weaken the religious awareness of Poles, especially children and adolescents who were intimidated and punished at school, and sometimes mistreated for violating the requirements of the school administration. The teachers being “stubborn communists” made sure that the children did not go to church, especially during the holidays (teachers even checked whether the children had eaten kutia if they see poppy seeds).

Oj za Sawieta bali sie wsio, nawit' i rozaniec trze bylo po cichu mowic chto, wszystko jedno jak chtos umar to rozaniec sprawiali za jego dusze, to trze bylo cichsze (...) to chodzili do kosciola to tam uczyteli na drogach stawali, pryzirali, nie puskali, potemu w szkoli tam wsio bylo na nich w\yhowor jim dawali, alie nasze dzieci iszli i nie bali sie.... Sze co tam, nawet dzieciom w z§by zagliqdali czy kutie jedli czy swiqtkuje swieta czy makjedli [w ktorych to latach?] nu caly czas od kiedy sowiecka wlasc byla tut FS25. Religia bylaprzesliadowana w szkolie HG52. Jajim ten list przeczytalem i przetlumaczylem jim na polski mowi, co tam ciocia ta jim pisala. A na drugi dzien mnie w NKWD wyzwali, ,,szo wy tam na jakijs mowi, wy tam szos tam wczyte i tak dalsze”, to bardzo strogo, bo zaraz ktos donosil.

Despite all this, Poles from Grodek region showed their firmness and declared strong Catholic faith. People were greatly supported by priests who defended the Roman-Catholic Church and all members of this community. Informants often underlines the tight relations between clergy and local Poles, manifesting their active participation in religious life and withstanding the struggle with the state authorities.

Kosciol katolickiprzetrwal dzi§ki komu, dzi§ki Poliakom, Poliacy zachowaly wiare - `The Roman Catholic Church survive thanks to Poles, Poles preserved their faith'; Tu zawsze bylo ksi§dzy, zawsze i tak stala wiara byla u nas taka, stalie do swojej wiary wszystkie liudzie. Jak bylo jakies cos tam gdzies cos powiedzieli na ksi§dza, to wszystkie liudzi iszli i tak odslajowali swego ksi§dza, takie bylo (...) Bo u nas byl taki ksiqdz, taki ksiqdz byl, ze jakos tak zawsze obstawal te prawa, i modlil sie, i pokutowal i nawet na kamieniach plakal bylo widno za wszystko, tak wymodlil te wiare i obronil ten swoj kosciol HG52 - ` We always have priests and constant faith; all people have stood by their faith. If someone said something bad on a priest, everyone uphold and defended the priest (...) We had a priest, who always prayed, suffers and even wept on the stones, so he prayedfor this faith and he defended his church'.

* Identification with the Polish nation and culture as a kind of emotional affection towards “polishness” - because of feeling oneself to be a part of Polish nation, because of preserving Polish traditions and celebrating Polish holidays.

Identification can be proclaimed through the so-called `declaration of will'. Besides, Polish traditions are still cultivated in families, also thanks to the activities of Polish diaspora organizations.

Ja czuje si Pol'ko, tak. Niech mnie co chto mowi to ja swego trzymam si GO36 - `I feel I am a Pole. No matter what people say, but I am keeping my own'; Te polskie tradycje to my staramy sie podtrzymywac i przekazac swoim dzieciom i wnukam, zeby pamitali jak to bylo dawniej TS26 - `We try to support our Polish traditions and pass them on to our children and grandchildren, so that they remember how it was in the past'.

A retrospective mechanism plays a significant role in defining of the image of one's own identity that consists in referring to the past of the native ethnic group. The connection with other Poles is expressed by sharing mutual fate in the past (also common ancestors expressed in words “my nation, my blood”) and in active battles for the Roman Catholic Church and priests, in efforts to build chapels and churches, as well as in demonstrating their strong patriotic feelings.

Some interviewees indicated an emotional connection with Poland. In numerous statements, people expressed regret that for various reasons they had not left to Poland. Very often local authorities (including the administration of the kolkhoz) put some obstacles for them by refusing for leaving or destruction some papers.

* Identification through language as a value of “polishness” - because Polish is regarded as the native language.

In a situation of the cultural interpenetration, a language is the basic distinguishing feature of a minority group among other communities. A language holds an important place among other determinants of identity, especially in “small” communities of Slavic languages and national minorities living in the foreign surroundings, e.g. Lemkos in Poland, Poles in Ukraine and Lithuania, Ruthenians in Slovakia. Keeping the core of their own language is a precondition for maintaining the continuity of their cultures.

Certainly, the most important and universally recognized factor constituting the identity of communities and individuals is the Polish language. This can be confirmed in the statements of some informants who are proud that they know the Polish language and try not to forget it.

Ja wim pol'skyj jenzyk to mi nie misza (...) alie ja rada, ze ja wumim pu polsky gadac, ze ja rozumim pu polsky i ja tym ciesze sie JC49 - `I know Polish language (...) I am proud that I can speak Polish, I am glad that I understand Polish', Alie swojej mowy [polskiej] nie zapominamy nigdy LCh46 - `However, my own Polish language I will never forget.

Theses “Polish is the one who speaks Polish” or “Polish was spoken in Polish families” declared older respondents (often having noble origin).

A tu wszystkie my Poliaki po polskie rozmawiajo BM22 - ` We are all Poles here, because we speak Polish', A my tak u nas tak duzo mowio, sqsiady nasze grodeck- ie to wsi po pol'ski rozmawiajo (...) jaki onpol'ski j§zyk onz miszany FS25 - `Here we speak in Polish; our neighbors in Grodek speak Polish, but mixed language', A wdoma to wu nas nie bylo ukrajinskiego j§zyka, tylko wsio po polsky TS26 - `At home, we speak only Polish; we did not know Ukrainian'.

There were also those who spoke other languages besides Polish (there are Ukrainian and Russian), but felt like Polish. One of the informants underlines that the way not to forget the language is to think in Polish.

Uczyla nas polskiego jzyku ciocia, siostra naszego ojca. A jej jeszcze babcia u nas byla taka, z wielkich panow, ona umiala osiem jqzykow. Ale ze juz dawno bez polskiego j§zyku i zapominam o tym, a ona [ciocia] mowi, ze nie zapomnisz jak bendziesz myslec po pol'sku, bo ja zawsze myslie po polsku i nie zapominam GX34 - `Our aunt, ourfather's sister taught us the Polish language. Moreover, her grandmother came from rich landowners 'family, and she knew eight languages. It has been a long time since I use Polish and I forget a lot. However, my aunt says that you will not forget if you think in Polish, because I always think in Polish and I do not forget it'.

It is also necessary to take into consideration the problem of national bilingualism (or multilingualism).

With that as background, my research questions are:

1) what are the functions of the Polish language, particularly in the opposition „home language” ~ „public language”,

2) what languages - Polish, Ukrainian, Russian - do respondents choose in various situations,

3) are there are any boundaries between languages and

4) how do different languages influence the awareness of their users.

Review of the related literature shows that the relationship between language and identity on a cultural and linguistic border can be often uncertain and indistinct The issue concerning the language as an indicator of identity on the boarders was the subject matter of many Polish scholars, e.g. Z. Gren, R. Dzwonkowski, A. Engelking, I. Kabzinska, H. Karas, H. Krasowska, J. Rieger, E. Smulkowa, J. Straczuk, A. Stelmaczonek-Bartnik, B. Synak, A. Zielinska etc.. Iwona Kabzinska considers that the Polish language has lesser importance in ethnic identification. Her research among `church Poles' in Belarus proves that it is not always treated as `generic value', i.e. those factors which are perceived by members of a given community as a directly connected with their group identity, as crucial in differentiating their culture from other cultures. In the surveyed community, some of the interviewees, especially from the older generation, but also some younger ones, were of the opinion that a Pole should know the Polish language, but others did not think it is necessary. The middle-aged subjects were not fluent in Polish or did not know this language at all, but still wanted to be counted as members of the Polish-Catholic minority. For several years, various forms of Polish education have been increased. Such developments enhance the influence of the language on the process of individual's identification with the Polish minority (Kabzinska, 1999).