Few heads up: A part of my family comes from Kresy. Three generations of our men worked as head foresters in Podolia - both under Austria and for independent Poland. [The fourth one - after receiving his education in Forestry faculty at Adam Mickiewicz University of Poznań - also became a head forester around Toruń and - after the war - one of the directors of the Directorate of the National Forests at Toruń and then Gdańsk.]
One of my great great aunts taught several generations of Hucul children in their native Rusyn language. Six other women from my family, three generations of them - all rooted in Kresy, were also teachers. Lack of intelligence?
You conveniently forgot about Lwów culture - its two universities (Uniwersytet Jana Kazimierza and Politechnika Lwowska), its Polish School of Mathematics, its Scientific Society, Picture Gallery, Great Theater, National Museum. You forgot about scores of intelligentsia and their families deported to Siberia and Kazachstan, and many scholars and scientists murdered by NKVD and NAZIs.
And then, Stanisławów, or Iwano-Frankiwsk - ignorantly mocked by you in some other thread. I personally knew several Polish families that came from that city. The most intelligent, funny, social and cheerful people. For example, Pan Staś, aside from doing boring accounting, he also had a very good baritone voice, played guitar quite well and knew several dozens of Kresy songs. I still remember some of them. His wife, pani Frania, taught us alternative history lessons in our primary school (but only when some students were absent). About Katyń, Wołyń, Jałta, Mikołajczyk and all that ****. "Children, let's go out to our woods to have a botany lesson."
And if this personal relations do not impress you then go to wikipedia, http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanisławów, and scan the list of famous people related to Stanisławów: actors, generals, politicians, scholars, engineers, economists, diplomats, architects, singers, musicians, sportsmen, etc. Not producing intelligent people?
Then take some little places, such as Czortków in Tarnopol Province: population 5,200 in 1921, 19,000 in 1931.
Here are few excerpts translated from Jarosław Abramow-Newerly, Granica Sokoła
- We had in Czortków our own City Theatre, although an amateur, but at a quite high level. There were the ladies: Krukowska, Krzyżanowska, Wasilewska. The latter was also a guide of a "Sokół" (Falcon) movement, an excellent actress. Similarly as Kostkiewicz, a locomotive engineer, who played additionally in orchestra on a piccolo. This troupe presented the New Year's Czortków Nativity Scene, which was shown several times, because it was so liked. They mocked the local authorities. Some felt offended, I remember.
- But not Mayor Michałowski?
- No, no. The Mayor had a sense of humour.
…
- We were often visited by the professional theatre of Madam Łozińska from Stanisławów. It was excellent, but our local one was not any worse. A famous Warsaw's actress Ewa Bonacka came from Czortków, sir.
- A wife of Władysław Daszewski, a stage designer?
- That's it. Her mother was so proud that her daughter were succeeding in Warsaw's Polish Theatre. - She gets so many flowers, always - and she showed us how many. We also head a theatre in our school, directed by our Latin teacher, professor Krwawicz. He also directed the City Theatre and he directed our symphony orchestra. We were not short of musicians, because there were music schools of two Stanisławs: Łukasiewicz and Mucha.
…
Oh, Czortków, sir, it was an unusual city. Unusual. Clean, well maintained. Blooming. As a little Lwów. With wonderful orchards. In every garden bunches of grapes. And if we had not enough of them we took the express train to Zaleszczyki for the fruits. Zaleszczyki was called the Polish Merano. Similarly as the famous Italian city, Zaleszczyki was located on a peninsula, shaped like a horseshoe. Flown around by Dniestr river. Unusually picturesquely located, with sunny climate, where fruits ripened: grapes, watermelons, peaches, apricots, melons.
…
- Every self-respecting citizen of Czortków. sir - continued pan Jan - had his own wine cellar. And what kind! "Palcy lizać. Sam mniód!" And the great people. Hearty, warm, "adhesive" - as I usually say. I will always recognize a countryman from Podolia -- wherever he would be.
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