Roczniki Socjologii Morskiej. Annuals of Marine Sociology. Vol. XXIV (2015).
Polish Belles-lettres as a Source for Research on Culture of
West Pomeranian Boat Fishermen after 1945
Piotr Maliński
(University of Szczecin)
ABSTRACT
The article contains a review of the creations of belles-lettres where the titular issue is found. In the first part
there are presented epic pieces, and in the second – poetry pieces. In both parts, the material is ordered by
authors, taking into account the meaning and value of their achievements. The whole text is ending with a short
summary, containing reflections on the topic of the image of traditional fishing in Western Pomerania after 1945,
presented in Polish belles-lettres.
Keywords: Polish belles-lettres, maritime culture, fishing, fishermen, Western Pomerania
The fish are caught by nets – the people, by beautiful words1
Introduction
After the World War II the region of historical Western Pomerania (Cispomerania,
Hither Pomerania) was divided between Poland and Germany. The border of both countries
in this region runs along Odra and Western Odra, and from Mescherin runs on the land to the
west of Szczecin (Stettin), goes through Nowowarpieńskie Lake (Neuwarper See), Szczecin
Lagoon, the Isle of Uznam and reaches the Baltic Sea. Currently, on the both sides of the
border function the units of administrative division, which names are related to historical
Western Pomerania: in Germany federated state Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (known in
English as Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, though it is not an accurate translation), while
in Poland – West Pomeranian Voivodship. The area of this voivodship is commonly called in
Poland “Pomorze Zachodnie” (the Western Pomerania) – though most of the Poles (including
the author of this text) are aware that in Germany there is also an enormous fragment of
Pomerania, situated west from the Polish Western Pomerania.
The consequence of territorial changes which occurred after 1945 on the historical
area of Western Pomerania were the migrations of people. The majority of German people
has left Poland, and the deserted cities and villages were populated by newcomers from
other, sometimes very distant regions. To the Polish Western Pomerania have come the
emigrants from Kresy (literally “borderlands”, eastern territories of the Second Polish
Republic during the interwar period, which after the war have become a part of Soviet
Union), the people of Greater Poland, Masovia and military settlers. This way, the mentioned
area was populated by a multiethnical, multicultural community of extraneous character.
These people, far from their native land, tried to create a new community on the foreign area.
This situation has impacted the forms of culture and social organization, which have arisen
after 1945 in the Polish Western Pomerania – also on the local economy, in which a major
role played fishing.
The West Pomeranian fishing from many centuries were not only an important
branch of the regional economy, but also constituted a significant cultural differentiator of the
1
Old Polish proverb (Moczulski 2012: 11).
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local regionalism. Before and during the World War II the German researchers, aware of the
meaning of this profession to the culture of the region, have dedicated a series of scientific
elaborations to the mentioned issue (Brunner 1917; Borchers 1935; Mitzka 1933; 1940;
Zimdars 1941). The research of the West Pomeranian fishermen was continued in Germany
also in the post-war years (on the area limited by German borders), which has brought
several valuable works about folk boat building (Rudolph 1961; 1962; 1966; 1967; 1969;
Timmerman 1962; Dahle 2000), as well as scientific monography about fishing communities
of the isles Rügen and Hiddensee (Peesch 1961).
In the post-war Poland the research of traditional fishing in Western Pomerania was
also conducted, though its character was rather random and concerning selected aspects of
fishermen culture (Znamierowska-Prüfferowa 1968; Kopczyński 1997; Skowronek 2012) or
specific localities (Matławski 2012; Sawala 1992; Zabel 1980; Zieziula, Malkowska 2010).
Valuable, though very fragmentary information about regional fishery are present in reports
of ethnographic research, conducted by the workers of National Museum in Szczecin in
selected counties of West Pomeranian Voivodship (Gerlach 1967; Nowakowski 1980;
Pinińska 1971; Średzińska 1979). An interesting contribution is an article about Soviet boat
fishing (employing German fishermen), which was functioning in Szczecin area in the years
1945-1950 (Techman 2000). However, only a few publications of Polish researchers are
referring to pre-war fishing in Western Pomerania2. It can give an impression that the
meaning of West Pomeranian boat fishing was sometimes marginalized by Polish
researchers, because in certain reviews this phenomenon was completely omitted
(Gosieniecka 1991). To change this state, the researchers of University of Szczecin have
undertaken in recent years a research of fishing in the Western Pomerania, which resulted in
scientific monography (Matławski, Piasecki 2014)3.
After all, basing on the above, dispersed and fragmentary elaborations it would be
rather difficult to sketch a consistent image of West Pomeranian fishing community and its
cultural specifics after 1945. This task is even more hard due to small base of written sources
(of diverse source value), which researchers of culture could analyse4. There is, however,
another significant category of text, in which a motif of traditional West Pomeranian fishing is
present. These are the pieces from the sphere of belles-lettres.
The belles-lettres is traditionally divided in Poland into three literary forms: epika
(prose), liryka (poetry) and dramat (drama). In Polish literary science it is a basic mode of
classification of literary works. It enables a general division5 of their structure from the
formal side, regardless of epoch and place where a given piece was created. The following
text contains a review of the creations of belles-lettres (ordered according to the above
There exists a publication of an ethnologist Karol Walczak (2001) published under somewhat
misleading title Życie codzienne zachodniopomorskich rybaków (An everyday life of West Pomeranian
fishermen) though it concerns only a pre-war period and was written primarily on the basis of German
sources, referring to the area of Łeba (Leba) and Rügen island. A part of archival sources to the history
of West Pomeranian fishing was also set together and initially compiled by Radosław Gaziński (1997).
3 The book was a result of realization of the project “Traditional boat fishing in West Pomeranian
Region after 1945 – research and promotion”. The subject of the titular research was a local fishing
economy and its actual transformations, as well as material and non-material cultural heritage
connected to fishing. The project was realized by a Chair of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology of
University of Szczecin, and financed by Local Fishing Groups of West Pomeranian Voivodship.
Operation was co-financed by the European Union from the resources of the European Fisheries Fund
ensuring investment in sustainable fishery. Project of cooperation realized in Priority Axis 4 of
Operational Programme “Sustainable Development of the Fisheries Sector and Coastal Fishing Areas
2007-2013” (Measure 4.2 – Support for inter-regional and transnational cooperation).
4 These are mostly publications of report character (Demel, Milanowski 1949; Talarczak 1951; Anonim
1955), specialist literature (Strzyżewski, Wiktor, Żukowski 1955; Neja 2011; Stütz 2011), and
fragments of general description on the topic of Polish fishery, referring to the region of Western
Pomerania (Ludynia 1984: 61-72) as well as fragments of monography of the region describing the
local fishing (Horoszko, Müller, Schmook 1998: 120-123).
5
It is a division basing on type of expression and structure of the piece.
http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodzaj_literacki, accessed July 27th 2014).
2
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division), where the titular issue is found. In the first part there are presented epic pieces, and
in the second – poetry pieces6. In both parts, the material is ordered by authors, taking into
account the meaning and value of their achievements. The whole text is ending with a short
summary, containing reflections on the topic of the image of traditional fishing in Western
Pomerania after 1945, presented in Polish belles-lettres.
Is it reasonable to consider this picture at an angle of usefulness in ethnological
research? Though it is not a work of scientists and was not created by methodical studies or
research, it still has a great informative potential, which could be useful for a culture
researcher. The authors (among which there are professional fishermen) created it basing on
their own experiences, therefore their creations gain a character of literary document
(sometimes even a diary or journal). Critical analysis and proper interpretation of such a
material (taking into account the element of fiction) allows for its efficient use in ethnological
studies.
It is worth mentioning, that fishing is a very thankful material for literary creation. It
is proved by series of works describing fishermen and their work, which entered a canon of
world belles-lettres. An example could be Pêcheur d’Islande (Fisherman of Iceland) by Pierre
Loti (1886) or The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway (1952)7. Of the more recent
works should be mentioned The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against the Sea by
Sebastian Junger (1997), a creative nonfiction book, screened by Wolfgang Petersen in 2000.
There are also more known novels, which plot describes hunting – though not fish, but other
marine animals. Surely, they include The Sea-Wolf by Jack London (1904), where action takes
place on a schooner of seal hunters. Much more important work is of course Moby-Dick or the
Whale by Herman Melville (1851), acknowledged as a masterpiece of world literature and a
classic of American literature. This extraordinary novel combines different styles and
conventions – from adventure novel, through drama, philosophical musings, to scientific
literature8. Undoubtedly, this work is an unusually valuable document describing XIX-century
whaling culture from the Nantucket island, which makes it one of key sources relating to this
topic9. What is important, this source sparked a number of treatises, including those from the
field of ethnology (Einarsson 1993; Marr 2001; Lardas 2003; Ploesch 2003; Armstrong 2004;
Cotkin 2012).
Undoubtedly, the West Pomeranian culture of boat fishermen is also worthy of similar
elaboration. Its currently vanishing traditional image has been written as belles-lettres.
Though the works of Polish writers, describing boat fishing, deal mostly with Gdańsk
Pomerania10 and Masuria (Paukszta 1953), also the Western Pomerania has impacted these
works. It is worthwhile to follow this impact through verses of prose and stanzas of poetry.
The author did not find any trace of the titular issue in drama. Though there is known a scenic piece
(vaudeville) entitled Wesele rybackie (Fishing Wedding), due to time of creation and place of the action
it is out of the scope of this article (Krumłowski, Grünberg 1924). Therefore, there is no part regarding
drama in the structure of this text.
7 The motif of fishing appears quite often in other creations of this writer, among others in novels To
Have and To Have Not and Islands in the Stream, as well as in stories The End of Something, Out of
Season, Big Two-Hearted River and Now I Lay Me, and also reportages On the Blue Water: A Gulf Stream
Letter and There She Breaches! Or Moby Dick off the Morro (Hemingway 1937; 1938; 1967; 1970).
8 As an example, the chapter entitled Cetology is actually a scientific treatise about biological
systematics of whales (Melville 1851: 126-138). At the end of the book there is a short etymological set
of names of whales in different languages of the world, and much more extensive set of quotes
containing the most important information about these animals – from bible verses, through fragments
of classical and medieval pieces, to the exceptions from the publications contemporary for the author
(Melville 1851: 534-545).
9 In Polish literature, a similar (though not so significant) role plays Flis by Sebastian Fabian Klonowic
(1595), which is extraordinarily significant source of knowledge of XVI-century trade shipping on
Wisła river.
10 Particularly Kashubia (Necel 1955; 1958; 1966; Jarosławski 1957; Rydzewska 1958; Zydler 1960)
and Żuławy Wiślane – the alluvial delta area of Wisła river (Gruszecki 1925).
6
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The review of Polish prose, in which the West Pomeranian boat fishermen are
described, should be started with the piece of Maria Boniecka (1950) entitled Nad Wielkim
Zalewem11. It is a first novel about Szczecin Land published after World War II. At the same
time, it is one of first Polish “production novels” (produkcyjniak), realizing the premises of
poetics of socialist realism12, and dedicated to the theme of socialistic rebuilding of the
country (http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Produkcyjniak, accessed 29.07.2014). In the fable
there are presented the fates of a little fishing community, living on titular Wielki Zalew (how
in first years after war the part of Szczecin Lagoon on the Polish side of the border was
called13). This is how the novel of Maria Boniecka is characterized by Szczecin literary
theoretic and critic, Erazm Kuźma:
It is a weird creation. Through 186 pages, it “deals” with all the postulates put then before
literature, and today may serve as a catalogue of literary sins. There is an issue of
production, but at the same time the author “deals” with a marine theme; it is about
increase of fishing results. The matter takes place in Trzebież14, and another issue is a
creation of fishing collective. So meanwhile, the village theme is “dealt”. There is a rich,
private fisherman, who exploits and pulls back poor people without their own equipment
from the collective – this way the problem of kulak and bednyak15 are “dealt”. There is an
old, but positive man, who errs a long time, but finally realized finds his way to the
collective and rouses all to work. There is of course a secretary16, a good spirit breaking
all the obstacles, there is also a saboteur. There is a hard working League of Women and a
peasant gaining education and promotion, etc. etc. (Kuźma 1967: 67).
Despite such a rigorous evaluation, it is difficult to acknowledge the said “production novel”
only as a “catalogue of literary sins”. It gains more meaning, when it is viewed in a sociohistorical context, in which it has been created. In the Western Pomerania, during the first
years after the end of World War II, there was neither prominent writers, nor a demanding
literary audience. The extraneous people (settlers) were not culturally uniform, also they
were mostly farmers, from lower social strata. The representatives of intelligentsia were rare,
therefore there was no local request for so called “higher literature”. The atmosphere of these
times was unfavourable for creation of literature, as was the feeling of uncertainty for the
future of the region17 (Kuźma 2005: 93). This specific “literary void” was easily filled by the
socialist realism, implemented top-down by the people’s government.
As it seems, the vision of fisherman society developing on Szczecin Lagoon, contained
in novel of Maria Boniecka, is intentionally simplified (because of intellectual level of
potential readers) and idealized. The content has a didactic message (it shows ways of
breaking through the difficulties and presents examples to imitate), while the development of
the action in the novel is clearly derived from ideological motivations. Therefore, the
On the Great Lagoon.
What is interesting, socialist realism in Polish literature was officially introduced and acknowledged
as obligatory on the convention of Polish Writers’ Union, which took place in 1949 in Szczecin (Kuźma
2005: 92).
13 It was the literal translation of German name Großes Haff. The part of Lagoon placed on the German
side was called Kleines Haff – Little Lagoon (http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stettiner_Haff, accessed
30.07.2014). The name Szczecin Lagoon (Stettiner Haff) was introduced by an official decree only in
1949 (http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zalew_Szczeci%C5%84ski, accessed 30.07.2014).
14 In another description of author’s achievements there is an information, that the action of the novel
takes place in Nowe Warpno (Iwasiów, Kuźma 2003: 160).
15 According to official classification in post-war Poland, the peasants were divided on biedniacy
(bednyaks, poor peasants), średniacy (serednyaks, averagely rich) and kułacy (kulaks, rich peasants).
Bednyaks were favorized by the authorities, serednyaks were treated neutrally, while kulaks were
stigmatized by propaganda and harassed in diverse ways, as the opponents of collectivization of
villages (https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ku%C5%82ak, accessed 11.03.2016).
16 A secretary of local department of political party ruling at that time in Poland.
17 The inhabitants of Western Pomerania in the first years after World War II were afraid that the
region in close indefinite future may be again annexed by Germany.
11
12
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discussed work is not exactly a literary document about West Pomeranian fishing (because it
does not show “how it is” but rather “how it should be”), but a testimony of socio-political
trends prevailing in Poland at that time, and finding their reflection in literature18. It is
however worthwhile to pay attention to three significant aspects of the novel Nad Wielkim
Zalewem, which have importance for the further considerations on titular issue. The first one
is a message of the text, which is in fact a veiled incentive for people outside of the region to
settle down on grounds around Szczecin. The second is a manner of presenting the Western
Pomerania and its post-war settlers, which shows a similarity with American Wild (nomen
omen) West, conquered by pioneers. The third aspect is an attempt to create new, West
Pomeranian regionalism, which purpose would be to culturally merge the people coming
there from different places after the end of World War II.
The aforementioned motifs are also present in the creations of Czesław Schabowski,
in which the theme of boat fishing in Szczecin Land played a significant, dominant role. This
publicist and autodidact-writer in some moment of his extraordinary life found himself (due
to his health problems19) in Western Pomerania, where he took up quarters at a fisherman’s
house. To decrease the cost of his stay, he began to help his host in preparation of the hook
fishing tools and repairing the nets, and finally he learned to sew the nets himself. The
acquired abilities opened him the way to the community of local fishermen, who began to
take him on fishing and helped him to achieve the fisherman’s license. Soon, the fishing
became not only his occupational work, but also a great passion, which ultimately prompted
him to settle on Szczecin Land. In the next years, Czesław Schabowski frequently changed
locations and methods of fishing, cooperating with many fishermen and fishing collectives. He
sailed on different areas of West Pomeranian inland and sea waters on various types of boats
(including some of his own), to ultimately become a crewman of a kuter (sea fishing vessel,
fishcutter) and participate in sea cruises. Such course of occupational career allowed him to
gain in-depth knowledge of specifics of West Pomeranian fishing and the environment of
people related to it20.
It is worth mentioning, that the author of the work, persecuted by Służba Bezpieczeństwa (Security
Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, functioning in Poland in the years 1956-1990), emigrated
from Poland to Australia, where in the 70s she published an autobiographical story Nad wodą (By the
Water), being a reference to the novel By the Great Lagoon. She describes a fishing collective as a place
of lawlessness and abuse of party officials and functionaries of Security Service – it is sort of miniature
image of the whole post-war Poland (Iwasiów, Kuźma 2003: 160).
19 The author himself explains the reasons for his moving: „I come from a very big city. I worked as a
cultural journalist and I fell sick on neurosis. I went to the sea to heal (…). I lived at a fisherman. (…) I
was working very hard, there was so much fish that I did not see neither sea nor sky, only eels,
flounders, turbots, zanders – I already have been bitten by a bug. (…) This way I got stuck in a new
occupation, which regenerated my health. This revelation enticed me and my wife to move to Western
Pomerania, while my wife never planned to go far from Warsaw” (Schabowski 1971: 7, 9-10).
20 Beginning with fishermen and their families, through boat builders, craftsmen, workers of fishing
bases, to party officials, superiors of fishing collectives and supervision inspectors, as well as
militiamen fighting poaching.
18
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Photo 1. Czesław Schabowski, writer and fisherman, who saved a colourful world of West
Pomeranian boat fishing from the oblivion
(http://encyklopedia.szczecin.pl/wiki/Plik:Schabowski_Czeslaw02.jpg, accessed 02.08.2014).
The most important thing is that Czesław Schabowski in this time did not neglect his
literary activity. In fishing season he searched for interesting topics and persons, which he
described during winter season (which was “dead” for fishing). This way he created four
series of stories and fishing tales: Pirat i Magdalenka (Pirate and Magdalenka21), Wielka
Zatoka (The Great Bay), Lisy morskie (Sea foxes) and Archipelag urzeczonych (Archipelago of
the fascinated) (Schabowski 1963; 1967; 1971; 1978). The literary critics emphasize the
documentary value of these creations, having mostly autobiographical character and written
in reminiscence convention. They also praise the author for the authenticity of form, live and
direct narration, a great observation and gossipy talent, excellent lingual hearing, an ability of
lapidary description of people and situations, and splendid sense of humour (Tuczyński
1975: 181; Telega 1978: 59). Thanks to this qualities, Czesław Schabowski created not only a
literary panorama, but also a cumulative portrait of extraordinary environment of boat
fishermen. It is characterised by Stanisław Telega, a connoisseur of Polish maritime
literature, on an example of one series of stories mentioned earlier:
In “Pirate and Magdalenka”, Schabowski shows (…) an archipelago of fisherman’s life,
situated among backwaters of Odra, Regalica, The Great Lagoon of Szczecin or Dąbskie
Lake and a various wilderness-isles, thicket-islets, canals, ditches, isthmuses in the entire
seashore of Szczecin Land. In this world, the fishermen are at the same time the farmers,
hunters, and before all else passionate poachers, boating for fishing not only with a
fishing equipment, but also with a gun or hare snares. They are not the peaceful littoral
Kashubian fishermen of Jarosławski22, Zydler23 or Necel24, neither are they lyrical, inland
Magdalenka is the diminutive of female name Magdalena – wich is Polish version of the name
Magdalene (the surname of Mary Magdalene from the New Testament).
22 It is probably referring to the characters in these novels of Mieczysław Jarosławski (1957), which
were written before World War II (Telega 1970: 149-153), and published in 1957 in a collection with a
somewhat misleading title Bunt na “Dalmorze” (Mutiny on “Dalmor”).
23 Stanisław Telega means here the characters from fishermen miniatures and images, collected in a
book of Mieczysław Zydler (1960) entitled Chleb to razowy (It is wholemeal bread).
24 Augustyn Necel is an author of Kashubian fishermen idylls, written however in Polish (Necel 1955;
1958; 1966; Telega 1970: 138-142).
21
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fishermen of Rydzewska25, caught through centuries in rigors of severe habits of morality
and tradition. It is somewhat wild, exuberant and restless new community, being up to
their eyes, to the core of their passion in a fishing, understood very peculiarly, and very
slowly creating a new fishing tradition and morality (Telega 1970: 156-157).
The author himself points out (in a story Czytanie morza – autoportret z flądrą26) to the
psychological conditioning of the occupation of boat fisherman:
These fishing, closest to the psychology of trapping, evoke a lot of emotions and are more
a game than a work. Thus the influx of restless spirits to the boat fishing. The boat fishing
collectives are the crews of perhaps the most interesting people on the Coast. Nothing
here is from basic rules of production and discipline of the work, and everything
resembles a gypsy tabor and something from “The River of the Beavers” by Collier27 and
XIX-century adventures of gold prospectors (Schabowski 1978: 275).
Due to aforementioned reasons, the creations of Czesław Schabowski seem a very
valuable material for a culture researcher, especially ethnologist. The mentioned stories are a
treasury of information, rarely encountered (or even unavailable) in other sources, on the
topic of local fishing economy28 and its dynamic changes (practically from season to season)
caused by a whole series of factors. These valuable data are supplemented by a lot of
professional vocabulary and unofficial names (e.g. types of boats or tools used for fishing), as
well as fisherman’s proverbs and sayings. The author also provides many examples of
convictions, ideas and beliefs connected with individual species of fish, basing on which the
fishermen formed strategies of catching them. This people’s knowledge, enriched by results
of his own observations (and sometimes also scientific data from the fields of ichthyology or
hydrology), helped to construct new forms of fishing tools by home inventors (also Czesław
Schabowski himself experimented in this field29). In some of his novels there are quoted
passages of local oral tradition (stories and legends30), though it is a relatively new tradition,
which arisen among the settlers after the war. The author does not avoid describing
problems and social pathologies present among the fishermen, such as alcoholism31,
violence32 (also sexual violence33), denunciation34, favouritism and corruption, as well as
diverse types of crime (including organized crime): poaching, stealing, intentional
destruction of property, cheating, and even murder (Schabowski 1971: 110-111).
Nina Rydzewska (whose poetic works will be discussed in the second part of this article) has written
a trilogy (non-finished) about the life of Kashubian boat fishermen (Rydzewska 1958).
26 Reading of the sea – a self-portrait with flounder.
27 By the River of Beavers (Nad rzeką bobrów) is the title of Polish edition of book entitled Three Against
the Wilderness by Eric Collier (1960; 1965). The book contains reminiscences of Canadian trapper, rich
in descriptions of dangerous adventures, struggling with forces of nature and encounters with wild
animals.
28 Also including the topic of the financial aspects, which the author describes in detail in many places
(Schabowski 1971: 8, 11, 89-90; 1978: 57, 246, 249, 296).
29 His own experiences in this scope the author describes, among others, in a piece Most do raju.
Kronika Zatoki Skalnowskiej (A bridge to paradise. Chronicles of Skalnowska Bay). The titular
„Skalnowska Bay” is a literary pseudonym of Kamieńska Lagoon (Schabowski 1971: 51-52, 69, 106).
30 Especially noteworthy are four legends about Chrząszczewska Island on the Kamieńska Lagoon
(Schabowski 1971: 64-65, 72-75).
31 A situation is well imaged by one of local proverbs, which is cited by the author (Schabowski 1971:
9). It goes: rybak bez wódki to jak krypa bez rumpla (a fisherman without vodka is like a boat without
tiller).
32 As an example, in a story Załoga „DZI 181” (The Crew of “DZI 181”) there is a fight between a
crewman and a skipper of the titular fishing boat. The incident takes place on the water, during cruise,
and in a fight except bare hands fishing tools are used (eel sea spear and a perch) as well as elements
of boat equipment – hawser and flare gun (Schabowski 1978: 98).
33 Czesław Schabowski describes a situation when somebody tried to rape his wife, at night on the
cemetery, while she was gathering earthworms as a fish bait (Schabowski 1971: 13).
34 The writer himself was, on the basis of denunciation, accused by local Polish authorities of an
attempt to escape by a fishing boat to Sweden, behind the “iron curtain” (Schabowski 1978: 296-297).
25
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Photo 2. A maritime writer and fisherman Jan Papuga, who tried to accomplish on the
Szczecin Lagoon an utopian idea of phalanstery.
(http://encyklopedia.szczecin.pl/wiki/Plik:Papuga_Jan01.jpg, accessed 02.08.2014).
His abilities in boat fishing on Szczecin Lagoon has also tried Jan Papuga – maritime
writer, and at the same time an experienced sailor (Iwasiów, Kuźma 2003: 253-255). The
fishing has played a major role in the life of this writer, who attempted to introduce on
Szczecin Land the idea of phalanstery35 – a community of free and equal people, living and
working together (Papuga 1958). The phalanstery had to be founded on Wolin island, in
Lubin village, where Jan Papuga owned a ruined fishing farm with small harbour. The
community was meant to support mainly by fishing. With his idea he tried to interest
different institution, among others the authorities of Szczecin department of Polish Writers’
Union (Misiorny 1969: 6), for a long time he gathered people willing to live in phalanstery
(Papuga 1983: 106-110). Finally, he came to Lubin by a rowing and sailing boat with only one
companion and a small set of fishing equipment (Papuga 1969: 183-198). However, the
dreamer schemes did not survive the crash with reality and the attempt to introduce utopian
socialism on the Szczecin Lagoon has failed. The causes of failure are explained by the writer
in the story Kaczy Dół (The Duck Pit):
We attempted to build a house from fishing, though I have neither seen a fisherman, nor
heard about one, who would do that on our Lagoon or on the whole coast to Koszalin. (…)
Through a month we caught nothing, only some eels on hooks and pikes on a dragnet, for
our own needs. (…) Each of us began thinking about retreat, not admitting because of
shame, when finally at the same time we unanimously agreed, that there is no sense
sitting here. (…) I have sailed through a lot of the world, there was no other place where it
was so hopeless (Papuga 1983: 78-82).
The author of the idea of phalanstery (phalanstère), created in first half of XIX century, was French
utopian socialist, Charles Fourier (Beecher 1986).
35
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Photo 3. Fisherman’s license of Jan Papuga, showing that he worked through some time on a
fishing boat, which shipowner was Czesław Schabowski
(http://encyklopedia.szczecin.pl/wiki/Plik:Papuga_karta01.jpg,
http://encyklopedia.szczecin.pl/wiki/Plik:Papuga_karta02.jpg, accessed 02.08.2014).
Another boat fisherman was also Ryszard Dżaman – a philosopher, journalist, reporter and
prose-writer connected with Szczecin (Iwasiów, Kuźma 2003: 177). A literary aftermath of
his fishing (and at the same time journalist) experiences is a novel entitled Powrót (The
Return) (Dżaman 1987). Its action is placed in a village Zastań on Kamieńska Lagoon. The
main character, a journalist from Szczecin and a former fisherman, arrives to the village in
order to gather a material to the reportage about changes in lives and work of its inhabitants.
On the very first day he romanticizes with the local boat fisherwoman, with whom he later
sails fishing to the Dziwna Strait and Kamieńska Lagoon. The author of the novel
professionally describes the local fishing economy in its various aspects, at the same time
successfully drawing the colourful characters of inland fishermen. Especially interesting are
these fragments, where appear detailed comparisons of traditional and modern methods of
fishing (this topic is contemplated by supporting characters of the novel). Considering the
authenticity of the description of boat fishing, one can suspect that Ryszard Dżaman actually
used a journalist material acquired in the field, as well as the knowledge which he gained
while being a fisherman36.
One can even notice a clear similarity between the experiences of the main character, and the life of
the author of the novel. What is interesting, the main character of The Return reminiscences that he
made his first steps in boat fishing under supervision of an old fisherman named Czesław. This
character, in many aspects, resembles Czesław Schabowski. Did Ryszard Dżaman want to celebrate the
memory of the writer-fisherman (who died in a year of publication of the novel)? Or maybe both
36
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The fishing plots appear also in a collection presenting the achievements of Literary
Club “On the Island” in Świnoujście (Mazurczyk 1972). In the short story Znad Zalewu (From
the Lagoon) Anna Modzelewska describes the fishing of tenches with the use of trap tools on
the lake Wicko Wielkie (Modzelewska 1972). The story by Józef Płomieniec entitled Bez
poręki (Without Guarantee) describes the fate of a sailor, who after military service in Polish
Navy seeks work as a fisherman. However, none of the fishing enterprises in Tricity37 wants
to hire him, because in his personal questionnaire there is an information, that during war he
served in Armia Krajowa (Home Army – conspired military force of Polish Underground
State; the members of Home Army were harassed by authorities of post-war Poland,
connected to Soviet Union). Unemployed, homeless and sick, with accidentally known
vagabond and thief, inhabits the ruins of Gdynia railway station. In the late autumn, for his
last money, he buys a ticket to Świnoujście, where he gains employment in a new-founded
fishing base38 (Mazurczyk 1972). The story explains in some way, why the post-war
environment of West Pomeranian fishermen was full of “restless spirits”.
Another member of the Literary Club “On the Island”, Anatol Drywa, worked as a
skipper in a lagoon and marine fishery on the Pomeranian Bay. He wrote a couple of
publications, which are reminiscences of his fisherman’s life, among others Rybacy Zatoki
Pomorskiej39 and Na Zalewie Szczecińskim40 (Drywa 1981; Białecki 1991). About his creations
(relatively little known41) informs a short note on the webpage of mentioned Literary Club:
On the wide panorama of waters of the Szczecin Lagoon and Pomeranian Bay, the history
of the beginning and the work of Polish individual fishing were outlined by A. Drywa.
These reminiscences have also their specifics. Drywa, besides the description of personal
experiences connected to this occupation, has also performed interviews with several
dozen fishermen in all of the fishing bases of the Szczecin Lagoon and Pomeranian Bay,
which he presented as longer or shorter biographies. So these are the reminiscences of
not only one fisherman, but several dozen of them (Białecki 1991;
http://klubliterackinawyspie.com.pl/o-tych,-kt%C3%B3rzy-odeszli.php,
accessed
31.07.2014).
Among the fishermen undertaking in their creations the theme of West Pomeranian fishing,
Juliusz Znamierowski has to be mentioned as well. He is an author of fishing trilogy,
consisting of novels Vulkan AG, Zielone światło (The Green Light) and Trzecia twarz miasta
(The Tird Face of The City) (Znamierowski 1962; 1963; 1966). The action of all three
creations is taking place on the eastern border of Western Pomerania – in Łeba. The first part
covers pre-war times, the second part refers to the last year of war and the first months after
liberation, finally the plot of the last part is embedded in the beginning of the 60s of XX
century. Thanks to this, the trilogy of Juliusz Znamierowski presents a literary image of
changes in the coast and marine fishing, which were unfolding during the several dozen of
years (e.g. the transition from rowing and sailing boats to the motor vessels) in the
background of historic and nationalistic processes. The author also presents examples of
fishermen ideology, which main expression is the relationship between fishermen and the
sea. It is verbalised in the statements of the novel characters, e.g. “the sea is a curse of people,
writers actually worked together as fishermen? The conclusion of this matter requires further source
studies.
37 Tricity or Tri-City (Trójmiasto) is a metropolitan area in Polish Pomerania consisting of three cities:
Gdańsk, Gdynia and Sopot.
38 As it seems, the story has an autobiographical character. Hanna Niedbał (1986: 138) mentions that
Józef Płomieniec (or rather Jan Jabłoński), fought as partisan in Home Army, and after the war he
served in the Navy and worked in an Enterprise of Far-Sea Fishing and Fishing Services “Odra”.
39 Fishermen of the Pomeranian Bay.
40 On the Szczecin Lagoon. In this creation there is an information, that its author in 1947 worked and
lived together with Jan Papuga on the Karsibór Island, on the Piast Canal (Drywa 1981: 58-60).
41 Perhaps because Anatol Drywa published his prose mainly in the local press. It is symptomatic, that
his name does not appear in the elaborations about West Pomeranian literates (Niedbał 1986;
Iwasiów, Kuźma 2003).
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who the earth cannot feed” (Telega 1970: 145). It is worth mentioning, that within the scope
of this article are only the second and third parts of the trilogy (because of the time of the
action), which were most harshly judged by the critics:
Unfortunately – (…) the ambitious plan has completely surpassed the strength of the
beginner author. The two latter tomes mentioned there do not match the first one with
composition consistency, suggestiveness of the images and snapshots and style or
problematics, but they succumb to rapid regression and artistic-problematic
impoverishment (Telega 1970: 147).
Juliusz Znamierowski was also accused for a lack of authenticity in presenting psychologic
and historic processes, as well as local customs. Perhaps this accusation is also connected to
the image of fishing nearby Łeba, which was described in the mentioned trilogy42.
As the final word in elaboration of prose creations concerning the West Pomeranian
boat fishing, it is worth mentioning one of the most controversial persons of literary life in
post-war Szczecin – Ludwik Kalkstein. In Poland, he is mostly known as an agent of Gestapo
(Geheime Staatspolizei, secret police of Nazi Germany), who contributed to arrest of the Home
Army Main Commander, general Stefan Rowecki (pseudonym “Grot”) on the 30th of June
1943, as well as over 500 commanders and co-workers of Home Army intelligence
(http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwik_Kalkstein, accessed 01.08.2014). Not everybody
knows, though, that Ludwik Kalkstein after war hided under false names (Wojciech Święcki,
Świerk, Świerkiewicz) in Szczecin Land, where he was, among others, technical manager of
fishing collective in Niechorze, and then a journalist of “Głos Szczeciński” newspaper and a
member of local department of Polish Writers’ Union. During his career as a publicist and
literate he wrote socialist realistic texts about sailors and fishermen – the novel Kapitan
Sydney, jeden z wielu (Captain Sydney, One of the Many) as well as cycles of maritime novels
(in “Express Poznański” newspaper) and a couple of press articles. In the years 1949-1951 he
wrote two novels: Bracia Bolda (The Bolda Brothers) and F-ma Cabeljan wznawia połowy
(Cabeljan Company Resumes Fishing) (Iwasiów, Kuźma 2003: 201). The title of the latter
suggests the fishing theme43. An interestingly started literary career of Ludwik Kalkstein was
interrupted by his arrestment by functionaries of Department of Security (Security Service of
the State, functioning in Poland in the years 1944-1956) on one of streets of Szczecin in 1953.
Photo 4. Ludwik Kalkstein – one of more controversial persons of literary life in post-war Szczecin
(http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwik_Kalkstein#mediaviewer/File:Ludwik_Kalkstein.jpg, accessed
01.08.2014).
To further explain this matter, more insightful and detailed research is needed with the use of
preserved archival materials.
43 It is, however, difficult to verify, since the novel never appeared as a book.
42
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Poetry
The marine poetry is one of significant spheres of Polish maritime literature (marynistyka). It
comprises a rather broad section of native lyrical creations, which was gathered into several
thematic anthologies44 (Prorok 1965, 1969; Jankowski 1977, 2013). The recent two of them
have been compiled and edited by Zbigniew Jankowski – a poet and fisherman in one,
associated with Western Pomerania. For three years he worked in an Enterprise of Fishing
and Fishing Services “Barka” in Kołobrzeg, during which he sailed on the sea several times. As
a writer, he co-organized Kołobrzeg Poetry-Art Group “Reda”45. In his poetry, sea and issues
related to it play a significant role, what is reflected in the titles of his poetic tomes: Ciążenie
morza (The Gravity of Sea) (1970), I gdyby wszystkie żagle (And If All the Sails) (1973),
Psałterz bałtycki (The Baltic Psalter) (1974), Wiązanie tratwy (The Tying of Raft) (1976) or
Ostrzeżenie przed lądem (A Warning of the Land) (1977). The topic of fishing appears mainly
in a tome Wysokie łowisko (High Fishery) (1972). It contains a poem Opowieść praktykanta (A
Tale of the Intern), in which the echoes of fishing experiences of the author clearly sound:
(…) The boats were moving on the sea
With the forks of masts digging in the clouds.
The blood was washed off the board
They said: hold the bucket
Steer left! Don’t look up,
The tops cannot fish…
From this time,
Curled up over the hatchway, over the icy breath
Of coffin of hold, I counted boxes with fish (…).
(Jankowski 1972: 32).
In his later creations (gathered in a tome entitled Żywioł wszelki. Wiersze wybrane i nowe (The
Every Element. Selected and New Poems)) the poet perceives the work of a fisherman in a
much broader meaning – as a struggle between man and nature. He points this out in poems
such as Rybacy (The Fishermen) and Kołobrzeg pierwszy i drugi (Kołobrzeg the First and the
Second) (Jankowski 1978: 135, 233). In the creations entitled Uziemienie (Earthing), Na
włosku mgły (On the Thread of the Fog) and Załoga II (The Crew II), the sea is also perceived as
a danger (Jankowski 1978: 81, 86, 133). In this background a motif of catastrophes and tragic
fate of fishermen is shown (the poems Litania za rybaków (Litany for the Fishermen) and
Morze bliskie i dalekie (The Sea Near and Far)). In these poems the sea is presented as a
destructive element and a dangerous opponent of a man, in struggles for life and death
(Jankowski 1978: 67, 187). In Tryptyk o nieudanym połowie (Triptych of Failed Fishing) the
lyrical subject even suggests, that similarly to fishermen catching fish, the carnivorous sea
tries to “catch” fishermen.
The life experience, that the poet gains during the work of a fisherman helps him to
understand the world (the poems Echosonda (The Depth Sounder) and Koniec połowu (End of
Fishing)), and the confrontation with the dangerous element not only provides him with
emotions and creative inspiration46, but also points attention to the world of inner
experiences of an individual (Jankowski 1978: 70, 89). Already cited Opowieść praktykanta is
ending with a deeper, mature reflection:
Some of the researchers of the literature, however, complain about lack of critical elaboration of
Polish marine literature (Miazgowski 1964: 254; Skutnik 1982: 136).
45 Another poet-fisherman being a member of this group is worth mentioning – Stanisław Wasyl, who
lived in Szczecin and Kołobrzeg, and worked as a deep-sea fisherman on the Pacific Ocean (Jankowski
1977: 390–391).
46 It is worth mentioning, that the work of fisherman was to Zbigniew Jankowski an inspiration also for
creation of the prose. He wrote a piece entitled Rozpędzone morze (z dziennika rejsów) [Running Sea
(From the Log of the Cruises)], similar in form to a log or a diary, which has been published only in
fragments (Jankowski 1977: 229–231; Skalimowski 1982: 118–119).
44
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And so
I began to fish
In the opposite areas
In the schools of my own pulse
Where the fishes do not escape through the fingers
But live
In self-fishing
Creator
(Jankowski 1972: 32).
Interestingly presented are further lyrical musings of the author over the relation man-sea –
especially in the context of fishing. In the next poems a significant over-evaluation can be
seen – it is not the sea that is dangerous to a man, but the man (and his civilization
momentum) becomes a danger to the sea as an ecosystem. It is accurately characterized by
one of the specialists of Polish maritime literature:
The most heard voice was the specific ecological catastrophism in the poetry of Zbigniew
Jankowski. How many stanzas were thrown out by Jankowski in defence of the seeds of
life willingly pecked out of the waters (by “clucking fishcutters”) – against thoughtless
pillage and the vandalism of technical pollution (Skutnik 1982: 158).
In turn, socio-economic aspects of West Pomeranian fishing (in context of historical
transformations) are present in poetry of Nina Rydzewska, a laureate of Szczecin Literary
Prize (1957), who in years 1954-1956 served as a president of Szczecin department of Polish
Writers’ Union (Miazgowski 1964: 233). She is best known as an author of unfinished trilogy
Rybacy bez sieci47 (1958), in which action takes place in the heart of Kashubia, on the lake
Wdzydze (Wadowski 1964: 261; Telega 1970: 134-138). Less popular is her lyrical creation
regarding the Western Pomerania. It includes a poem Sforsowali Pomorski Wał48, in which the
poet describes the war-time struggles and post-war economic revival of the region. The final
part of the poem is dedicated to Polish fishermen:
(…) the fishermen are coming out with seine
Wait, brothers, patiently wait for the ost49!
The silver shoals of fish on the shore will throw
This wind – your solace, this wind – a fishermen trost50!
Paint the boats with the tar,
Prepare the snares, cezy51 and żaki52 for the eels
Let the perches grow like dense forest on the dunes
And on the shallowest water!
Load the fishing boats with stuff
Pull in the buksy53 of rubber
Tomorrow is a great holiday –
The day we go into Polish Sea!
(…)
(Niedbał 1994: 136).
The Fishermen Without Nets. Its first volume Akwamaryna (Aquamarine) was created before the war
(Rydzewska 1937). The second volume, Mol na Krzyskim Wzgórzu (Moth on the Krzyskie Hill), has been
accepted to print two days after the death of the writer (Rydzewska 1958). This way, the trilogy was
unfinished (Tuczyński 1975: 180; http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nina_Rydzewska, accessed:
03.01.2014).
48 They Overcame the Pomeranian Wall.
49 Polish transcription of Kashubian word óst (“east wind”).
50 Polish transcription of Kashubian word tróst (“hope”).
51 Polish transcription of Kashubian word cézy, i.e. fishing gear of traditional type, used for bottom
trawling in the shallow coastal waters of Pomerania (plural).
52 Traditional type of fishing gear, used in Poland (plural).
53 Polish transcription of Kashubian word bùksë (“trousers”).
47
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Nina Rydzewska in the above text has demonstrated not only a great understanding of the
fishing techniques and tools, but also their traditional names (however derived from
Kashubia). By mentioning them, the poet probably intended to note the native fishermen
traditions and in this background stress the historical relationship between Poland and the
Baltic Sea.
In the poem Pokolenia (Generations) a literate from Police54, Marian Yoph-Żabiński,
shows the socio-economic transformations that occurred in Western Pomerania after 1945.
The poem is dedicated to post-war settlers on the Szczecin Land and – what is significant –
includes the influence of fishing on the development of the social group settled here.
They came here by first train
In the cargo cars
Like a live loot of the fate of war
With the bundles of warmth of icons and seeds
(…)
With their gods and happiness
They brought a handful of earth from Bug55
(…)
They got off on the station of history
At the chapter – Sea
(…)
They dug in the Piast56 earth
In the war powder faded by the plain of grain
Mixed up like pea with fish
They tried the pulse of the sea of nets
Drenched to the heart of the fish, they forgot the wormwood
(Niedbał 1994: 159).
Moreover, in the creations of many Polish poets appears a motif of fishermen and
their vessels (boats and fishcutters), presented in context of West Pomeranian places and
fishing areas. In their creations the fishing is shown as significant (and meanwhile as
picturesque) element of local environment, characteristic for the whole region. It particularly
concerns the coast of Baltic Sea, which can be seen in the poems of Anna Beata Chodorowska
(Dziwnów57, Międzyzdroje58 and Miasto między wodami59), Stefan Wolski (Na brzegu Rewala60)
or the whole set of creations by Helena Raszka entitled Niechorze61 (Jankowski 1977: 385–
386; Niedbał 1994: 21, 23, 26–27, 153). This Szczecin poet, not hiding her fascination with
sea, shows it in collection of poems Okruchy bursztynu (The Crumbs of Amber) and Bliżej dna
(Closer to the Bottom) (Raszka 1959, 1964). What is interesting, the motif of fishing has also
appeared in her poem dedicated to one of West Pomeranian water areas. In the poem Liwia
Police is a town in the West Pomeranian Voivodship, situated on the left bank of Odra river, south of
Szczecin Lagoon.
55 Bug is the fourth longest Polish river, which now forms part of the border between Poland and
Ukraine and between Poland and Belarus.
56 The Piast dynasty was the first historical ruling dynasty of Poland.
57 Dziwnów is a town in the West Pomeranian Voivodship, situated on the Baltic Sea at the mouth of
the Dziwna Strait.
58 Dziwnów is a town in the West Pomeranian Voivodship, situated on the Wolin Island.
59 A City Between Waters. The titular city is Świnoujście.
60 On the Shores of Rewal. Rewal is a village in the West Pomeranian Voivodship, situated on the Baltic
Sea.
61 Niechorze is a village in the West Pomeranian Voivodship, situated between the Baltic Sea and Liwia
Łuża lake.
54
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Łuża62 she presented a lyrical image of a lake and fishing boat “by the rhythm of the oars
chanted from fish-pot to fish-pot” (Niedbał 1994: 131).
Fot. 5. Helena Raszka, a poet from Szczecin. Fot. Włodzimierz Piątek
(http://encyklopedia.szczecin.pl/wiki/Plik:Raszka_Helena01.jpg, accessed 02.08.2014).
In the poetry of Józef Bursewicz (Nowe Warpno) boats of fishermen fishing on Szczecin
Lagoon appear, as well as the results of their work – the fish63 (Niedbał 1994: 20). A poet
Wojciech Lipniacki compares Trzebież village to the fish skeleton (Niedbał 1994: 93). The
rivers of Western Pomerania are presented – in the context of boat fishing – in Świt nad Odrą
(Sunrise over Odra) by Henryk Piotrowski (Niedbał 1994: 120) and List do rzeki Regi –
wodopoju wyobraźni (A Letter to Rega River – a Watering Place of Imagination) by Tadeusz
Żukowski. The latter points out a significant role of the river in the occupational life of a poet
and a fisherman. For a poet it is a source of inspiration (the titular “Watering Place of
Imagination”), thanks to which the poetry is created. For a fisherman, the same river is a
source of sustenance, “a moneybox of fish spurting on fishing rods and fish-pots” (Niedbał
1994: 165). The motif is further expanded by Tadeusz Grabowski in a poem Rybak64, where
he compares the work of traditional boat fisherman with creative effort of a poet, who
catches “silvery-gold carps of words dripping with emotions” (Kamiński 1958: 237). Janusz
Koniusz followed this trail (in a poem Ryba – The Fish) and compared the whole world to a
great fishing area (Jankowski 1977: 256).
The lake Liwia Łuża (area ca. 200 ha) is located on Trzebiatowskie Coast, in the community of Rewal.
It is a coastal lake of Baltic Sea, separated from it by spit of a width from 400 to 1200 m. According to
fishing typology, it is a tench-pike lake, and the dominating fish species are: common bream, white
bream, roach and tench (http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liwia_%C5%81u%C5%BCa, accessed
03.01.2014).
63 A motif of the marine fish appears in creations of Teresa Ferenc (co-founder of the mentioned
Kołobrzeg Poetry-Art Group “Reda”), for example in a poem Morze miłości pełne (The Sea Full of Love)
(Jankowski 1977: 258-260, 372-373).
64 The Fisherman. A motif of the fisherman is also present in a poem of Stanisław Srokowski Słuchanie
morza (The listening to the sea) (Jankowski 1977: 296). The person of a fisherman also inspired
Ireneusz Krzysztof Szmidt (since 1954 to 1991 he lived and created in Szczecin, where he was, among
others, a president of Literary Club by the local department of Polish Writers’ Union) to write
Przygotowanie do połowu (Preparation for Fishing), Połów (The Fishing) and Odpoczynek rybaka (The
Rest of the Fisherman) (Kwiatkowski 1964: 285-286, 343-344).
62
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Summary
The literary image of West Pomeranian boat fishing is extraordinarily picturesque
and multidimensional, but still coherent. It gives off not only the colours of fishing areas and
localities of Western Pomerania, but also unfolds before a reader the collective portrait of the
people connected to it. It shows clearly the differentiation of local fishing economy: individual
and collective fishing, lake, lagoon, coastal and marine fishing65. The Szczecin Land quite often
is seen in this visage as an area of “Wild West” of Poland, which attracts like a magnet not
only pioneer settlers, but also uncommon (and sometimes also socially misfit) individuals
from all of the country. These individualists, drifters, fantasts, dodgers and losers, drunk,
reckless and full of zest, realize their hunting passions (as well as material aspirations) most
often in a profession of the boat fisher. To this profession they bring not only the passion, but
also multiple experiences and love to risk and hazard, which is reflected in their fishing
experiments, introducing new techniques and tools. This colourful environment forms a
significant trait of West Pomeranian regionalism, because it creates a new tradition and
customs of fishing (Telega 1970: 157). Therefore, the boat fishing has become not only an
important component of local economy, but also a distinct and representative element of
cultural panorama of Western Pomerania after 1945. It is testified by the pronounced
presence of the mentioned phenomenon in Polish belles-lettres.
The documentary value of some creations, as a source of culture of West Pomeranian
fishermen is very high. The most valuable are the texts, which were created basing on
personal experience of the authors, their direct participation in the described events (not by
observation of the fisherman’s life from the land). These include the prose of Czesław
Schabowski and the less known creations of Anatol Drywa and Ryszard Dżaman. On the other
hand, the depth of psychological conditioning of the fisherman’s occupation is shown in the
poetry of Zbigniew Jankowski. In these cases the fishing and writing passion fortunately were
converged together, to result in creations which value – both artistic and as a source – is hard
to overvalue.
Both these and the remaining literary creations, presented in the scope of this article,
wait for insightful scientific analysis of their information potential from the perspective of
ethnology. The compilation presented above has to help realize the role, which could be
played by prose and poetry creations in source investigation of West Pomeranian fishing. The
interpretation of the data included in these creations is undoubtedly a difficult task, at least
because of elements of literary fiction present in them. Nonetheless, the mentioned creations
constitute a significant element of Polish cultural heritage connected to Western Pomerania
and its fishing.
In Polish belles-lettres there are also numerous prose pieces concerning deep-sea fishery, but they
are outside the scope of this article (Pachlowski 1971; 1997a, 1997b, Czerniawski 1980).
65
74
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