Polish Peasants in 1913
“Niech bendzie pochevalowy” (Christ be praised). “Na wieky” (for ages and ages). This is the customary greeting and answer among the Poles. It will be heard everywhere in travelling through…
From: 1913 C.E. To: 1913 C.E.
Location: Poland
Note: This article has been excerpted from a larger work in the public domain and shared here due to its historical value. It may contain outdated ideas and language that do not reflect TOTA’s opinions and beliefs.
From Poland of To-Day and Yesterday by Nevin O. Winter, 1913.
“Niech bendzie pochevalowy” (Christ be praised). “Na wieky” (for ages and ages).
This is the customary greeting and answer among the Poles. It will be heard everywhere in travelling through that country. The peasant will always remove his hat in a truly gracious way, when he thus greets a noble or a stranger.
It cannot be said that the Polish peasant shines intellectually. For that matter few peasants do, since there has been little opportunity to develop his intellect. As a consequence he impresses one as being rather slow in both thought and action. But he is not so slow as the Russian peasant, and he has more independence of thought and action than his Slav brother. This quality sometimes approaches unruliness, as the Russian autocrat has experienced on many occasions. One will observe crudeness, but seldom coarseness or vulgarity. It is said that there is not even any slang in the Ianguage. He is generally a self-respecting, even if poor, individual, and he has a great deal of good common sense.
The Polish peasant, like the Russian moujik, is essentially a tiller of the soil, for the Poles have always been an agrarian people. This has been his occupation during all the preceding generations, and it still continues to be the height of his ambitions. His talk is of agriculture, and most of his joys are connected with the different seasons. He loves to live thus close to Nature's heart. Only in Russian Poland has the peasant been drawn in large numbers to the cities. He is compelled to live simply, for his financial condition does not admit of luxury. Most of his food is raised in his own garden or fields. Potatoes are a great staple, and cabbage is almost as important. Beans, com and beets also add to the larder. Cabbage is much used in making the thick soups so well liked, and a soup is also made of red beets. In summer his costume is simple, consisting only of thin shirt and trousers, but in winter a sheepskin coat with the wool turned inside is added. To the bare feet are also added coarse boots, and to the bare head a hat for the cold weather.
The lot of the women, however, is especially hard, as it is with all Slav races, and this is noticeable throughout all the Polish provinces. They do more than their full share of the family work. Sometimes one will see more women in the fields than men, and a kaleidoscopic effect of colour is then visible. Blue, green, yellow, gold and silver are mingled in various combinations. They pin up the overskirt, which leaves a bright petticoat exposed to view.
A woman is valued chiefly for the work she can do, and she is expected to bear a large family of children as well. For a man to say that his wife does more work than a horse, or two horses, is considered the acme of praise. It is no wonder that a girl naturally attractive soon grows old and haggard. Hard work with little pleasure, the care of a numerous family, and no regard for personal attraction must inevitably leave their mark before many years. Hence it is that many of these Polish women look haggard and old even before they have passed the third decade of life.
There are indeed few bright spots in a Polish peasant girl's life after marriage. In their youth some of the girls are very attractive, and they look quite charming in their picturesque national costumes that are still common in Galicia. They generally go bare-footed in summer, for boots cost money. Sometimes they will carry their boots when going to church, and only put them on just before entering the sanctuary.
“Do women work on the railroads as section-hands?” I asked a fellow passenger on the railway in Galicia. I had seen groups of women along the track with pick and shovel in hand, but could scarcely believe that they did the hard work of that occupation!
“Yes, and they do the work better than the men, he replied.
At Cracow I have seen them carrying mortar for the masons and plasterers, where new buildings are being erected. They were spading the flower-beds in the parks, and were doing the work as well as the masculine overseer could have done it. They can hang paper or paint a house. It did not make any difference whether there were three or a dozen women working together, there was always one man who did nothing but act as overseer. Along the roads they may be seen carrying heavy bundles or pushing loaded wheelbarrows. Everywhere they may be observed doing work that involves considerable physical strength.
Quaint villages are scattered everywhere throughout Poland, for it is thus that the peasants dwell. Especially will the villages be found interesting on Sundays and holidays, when costumes are donned. In the suburbs of Cracow and Lemberg are thatch-roofed cottages, just as simple and crude as can be found in the remotest village, while the streets and sanitary arrangements are just as much neglected. The cottages are generally made of stone or boards plastered over, and are then covered with a coat of whitewash. The straw roof is frequently crowned with green-growing moss, which adds to its picturesque appearance, if not its healthfulness.
The interior is usually divided into two rooms. In one room the entire family live, eat and sleep; in the other, in more or less uproarious contentment, dwell the cows, pigs, chickens and geese. No household would be complete without a number of geese. In our American cities it is oftentimes difficult to persuade the Polish immigrants to give up keeping some of these fowls. They want the feathers as well as the flesh. Around the cottage a number of children are sure to be seen playing, for the Poles are a prolific race.
A dozen or twenty or thirty of such cottages, each separated only by a small yard, make up a village. A few trees add shade and beauty to the landscape. A long pole, balanced near the centre, forms the well-sweep, which is used to draw water from the wells. The peasants of a village elect an official, somewhat after the communistic plan of the Russian peasants, and he acts as a sort of petty squire among them.
If there is a marriageable daughter in the house, the lintel of the door and the window surroundings are ornamented with little irregular hands, which is a notice to the marriageable young man that he may find a wife within. The marriage-day is the one bright spot in the girl’s life, since it is made the occasion for festivities, and the ceremony itself is very picturesque. There is music by peasant musicians, who play their liveliest times, and there must be some kind of liquor so that every one can drink the bride's health. The whole village turns out on such occasions. Joy and jollity reign supreme for the day. The landlord generally attends, and he and his family are supposed to dance with the peasants.
There are many holidays in all parts of Poland, and no people look forward to such occasions more eagerly than the Poles. With each holiday is associated some legend or primitive custom. Christmas is an important occasion. The singing of Christmas carols is almost universal, and the Poles sing them well. For several days prior the women are busy fashioning things for the feast on Christmas eve. When the first star appears the parents and children enter the dining-room. The table is laid as richly as circumstances afford. Under the table-doth is laid a little hay in memory of the fact that Jesus was bom in a manger. After partaking of a wafer, which has been blessed by a priest, the supper is eaten. Then the music is started, and the singing of carols begins.
Important as Christmas is, however, Easter is a still more ceremonious period. Holy Week is a great occasion, for each day has its own meaning. Figures of Judas are submitted to every kind of indignity. He is beaten, drowned in the ponds, and burned. It is somewhat like the Mexican custom of “exploding” the papier mache representations of that arch traitor.
On Easter Monday the peasants pour pails of water over each other in a spirit of fun. On Sunday morning the peasants take baskets of eggs, cheese and bread to the church to have them consecrated for the Easter dinner. This is the most elaborate meal of the year with both nobles and peasants. For several days previous preparations have been made, and the table is set with the symbolical lamb in the middle.
Many festivities follow the harvest season, just as they do in Russia. In Podolia, one of the provinces of the Ukraine, they have quite a pretty custom. After the wheat or rye has been gathered, the prettiest girl is selected by ballot. A wreath of flowers is woven and placed upon her head. Two other girls are also selected as her attendants, who are likewise decorated with flowers. Then all march to the house of the landlord, where they are awaited, singing on the way. The lord or lady of the manor takes the wreath from the girl's head and gives her money, all of which the Ruthenian peasants then proceed to spend in a good time with eating and drinking.
Winter, Nevin Otto. Poland of To-Day and Yesterday. L. C. Page and Company, 1913.
About TOTA
TOTA.world provides cultural information and sharing across the world to help you explore your Family’s Cultural History and create deep connections with the lives and cultures of your ancestors.
