IMAGE OF A ‘SMALL HOMELAND’ IN HISTORICAL MEMORY OF PEOPLE DISPLACED FROM KHOLM AND LEMKO REGIONS

Abstract

Based on the interviews conducted by the author the article recreates the image of a ‘small homeland’ preserved in minds of people displaced from Kholm and Lemko regions as a result of World War II. It proves that this image is a part of historical memory of people deported from the Ukrainian-Polish borderline. Forced resettlement and following hardships caused idealization of time and space spent in borderline regions. Therefore, borderline regions are mostly remembered with nostalgia; these are memories of child- hood, poetic descriptions of places, positive and even slightly idealized stories about life of multi-ethnic community and its structure.