Syberia w pamięci zesłańców i ich dzieci. Studium przypadku rodziny Żukowskich
Syberia in the Memories of the Polish Exiles. Case Study of the Zhukovsky Family

Summary/Abstract: The story of the exiles of the Zhukovsky family is presented in the paper. Analyses were based on interviews with Dagmara, the daughter, two documentaries: On memory paths and Crust of Bread, and a manuscript written on the basis of Danuta and Bogusław recollections by Dagmara. Hypotheses of the paper were the following: a story of a family is the history of a nation. There is a parallel between historical events and an individual’s fate. The ancestors, need to tell one’s story and the descendants’ need to hear it are reciprocal ones and can be interpreted as a cultural mechanism of incorporation new texts into a culture memory. On an individual level it gives rise to the feeling of dignity and power. Marianne Hirsch’s theory of post‑memory and Yury Lotman’s concept of ‘remembering – forgetting’ mechanism were utilized to present and interpret memories of Boguslav and Danuta Zhukovsky and their descendant – Dagmara. The reasons for reaching into the past and coming back to Syberia were also analysed.

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