Polesye village and landowner (pan) (oral recollections of the inhabitants of former Skirmunt’s manors in the Pinsk region)

Abstract

The author of the article tried to understand the correlation between thenational and the social in the history of the Western Polesye in the interwar period. That was done on the basis of oral historical accounts (collected during expeditions in the years 2001–2008) devoted to the image of pan Skirmunt. The image of the pan was re-created on the basis of an analysis of such traditional values of the peasant’s outlook as work, the earth and belief. The analysis indicates that the relations between the pan and peasants in the Western Polesye in the interwar period were still defined by social problems. National problems were not significant, and had no influence on the image of the pan.