World War I, Poles and forced displacement: Kharkiv silhouettes

Abstract

In the proposed article the author made an attempt through the prism of several biographies to show how the World War I and its consequences affected the fate of Poles associated with Kharkiv in various ways. She presented the life scenarios of the three categories of the population that appeared due to this military conflict. Among them are refugee poet Leopold Henryk Staff (1878–1957), civilian prisoner of war – artist Marian Antoni Ruzamski (1889–1945), emigrant – artist Boleslaw Cybis (1895–1957), who was forced to leave Kharkiv due to the occupation of the city in January 1919 by Bolshevik troops. The conclusion emphasizes that there were three cultural figures to have brought glory to Poland and Kharkiv which in turn became a stage in their lives – forced or of good will. Special attention brought to perpetuating the memory of prominent Poles in calendars “Outstanding Poles and Kharkiv ‒ 2018”, “Polish artists and Kharkiv ‒ 2019”, which feature silhouettes of Leopold Staff, Boleslaw Cybis, Marian Ruzamski.