The Tartars

Dr. Dżenneta Bogdanowicz

Winter Forest Road

Dr. Dżenneta Bogdanowicz

Tartar Soup

Red Cheeks From The Siberian Wind

Forest Path

Yurt Interior

Yurt

Tartar Dance

Mosque Interior

Our Guide

Wild Silver Dollars

Bocian Nest (Stork)

Mosque

Sunday November 18^th 2007

Today would be the Last day that I would be able to spend with Pawel. He had a new production of Szopka that would be starting up in the coming week. This production is a revival of an old Polish tradition that takes place during the Christmas season. Please click on the link to view an article about Szopka.

Szopka Explained

Today Pawel and I drove to the village of Kruszyniany, which is located about 2 kilometers from the Belarus border. This is an ancient village that features a Muslim Mosque. This mosque is one of two in the Podlasie region. The village is comprised of a small population of Poles that are descendants of the Tartars.

Mr. L. Bohdanowicz in his article describes the Polish Tartars:

The Polish Tartars. Summary of a Communication by

Mr. L. Bohdanowicz : 7 December, 1943.

The Polish Tartars, numbering some 7,000

originate from the Golden Horde. Their ancestors

began to settle in Poland from the second half of the

fourteenth century as a result of the policy of alliance

practiced with regard to the latter by Poland. In

settling them in the country, the Kings of Poland wanted

to populate the deserted regions of the North East.

They guaranteed them complete religious toleration and

granted them land in return for military service in case

of war. Thus originally the Tartars occupied themselves

above all with two professions-agriculture and war. In

the course of time they became completely Polonized to

such an extent that they forgot their mother tongue, and

were indistinguishable from the surrounding Poles.

Thus geo-political circumstances had determined their

origin and the exceptionally favorable treatment by

the Poles-an extraordinary thing during the epoch of

severe struggles between Christianity 'and Islam at the

end of the Middle Ages. The study of their history

constitutes an interesting contribution to the history of

the Golden Horde and also the example of the possibility

of perfect adaptation of a people of Asiatic origin to the

conditions of European life.

The Ministry of Interior and Administration provides the following about Poland’s minorities:

Poland is inhabited by the representatives of 9 national minorities: Belorussians, Czechs, Lithuanians, Germans, Armenians, Russians, Slovaks, Ukrainians, Jews and 4 ethnic minorities: Karaites, Lemkos, Roma and Tartars. Further in pomorskie province there are Kaszubs - the community which used regional language. After the nationwide census which was carried in the year 2002 it was possible to determine a precise number of the representatives of national and ethnic minorities.

The official website describes the Tartars as…

Tartars, of whom there are 447 citizens of Poland, live in indigenous Tartar colonies in the podlaskie prowince (Bohoniki and Kruszyniany) - 319, pomorskie province - 28, mazowieckie province - 22, wielkopolskie province - 20. Until the end of the 14th century, Polish Tartars used to live in the lands of the Grand Lithuanian Duchy. Their predecessors were either émigrés or refugees from the Golden Horde or Crimea. The Polish Tartars have lost their mother tongue and they have no minority schools of their own. They are Muslim.

Sadly, today the population is greatly diminished but the spirit in this village is quite strong.

Pawel and I walked to the mosque but found it locked. We continued our forest walk to the cemetery and spent quite a bit of time there. We returned to the village cold and hungry from our walk. A cold wind was again blowing from the east. We located the restaurant in the village which serves authentic Tartar food. Our host, Dr. Dżenneta Bogdanowicz explained her culture to us and our meal was brought to our table. It consisted of a hot, delicious soup with a meat filled potato dumpling. We drank mugs of Tartar coffee laced with cardamom, similar to coffees I have had from further in the east. Desert was a Jabalka or Apple yeast cake, another traditional Tartar dish. Dr. Bogdanowicz stayed at our table and answered my questions about the Polish Tartars. This fascinating time helped to dispel the sadness of my upcoming return to the States that Pawel and I were feeling. We drove to the border and then returned to Bialystok after picking up a student that was hitchhiking back to Bialystok. Pawel decided that it was too cold for the fellow to wait for the bus so we stoped and took him back to Bialystok with us.

We arrived back in Bialystok and discharged out student and we continued on to dinner at Pawel’s parent’s house. We were both careful not to disclose the fact that we had already eaten in the village. Again we dined on his Mother’s Borscht and a wonderful Polish meal followed by my own favorite, pancakes, otherwise known as Blintzes. I said my goodbyes to Pawel’s parents and Pawel went on to his Pre-Cana classes at the Red Church.

Dr. Dżenneta Bogdanowicz's Website on Tartar Culture

Special thanks to Dr. Dżenneta Bogdanowicz for her gracious hospitality!