Life in Poland in 1800-1900

hello,
for a challenge, i'd like to write a short story with setting of poland around 1800-1900
the thing is i don't know anything about it^_^;
also wikipedia and textbook doesn't really help ... mostly they only say things about wars...
so, do you have any good source on description of life/culture in poland around that time? (how people dress, food, architecture etc?)
web article, book or movies?
please help, thanks^_^

Well,good luck with that since there was no Poland in 1800-1900.

pick a one or two year period, check some old maps for that period, check distribution of people and religion, read wikipedia's history of Poland, read a book/novel set in that period, for fashion: check paintings/art from the period. weave the lot together.

In short - people lived in this:



wore this

worked here: and in their free time they were occupied with this

Great idea to make a few bucks!
Tomorrow I am starting to write a story about, let`s say, 19 century China, though I know nothing about it. :):):):) Wiki and google will let a hand!

PS. I heard there were a few revolts in China in 19 century - Boxers` and other.

I can't stop laughing......

Yes, books from that period. Try The Labors of Sisyphus by Stefan Żeromski. You can also read The Peasants or The Promised Land by Władysław Reymont or Nad Niemnem by Eliza Orzeszkowa. You're lucky. The end of XIX cent. is a period of realism in literature so there are many novels from that period which describes the life and social problems of that time in very detailed way.

If you are intrested in the earlier period (1811-1812) you can read "Pan Tadeusz" by Adam Mickiewicz.
You need also study history a lot as well...

Read this. It has everything you've requested: gutenberg.org/files/28240/28240-h/28240-h.html

Watch Chłopi

That was neat. I enjoyed watching it. Now at last I have an Idea of the life my Folks lived in that period in Poland.. They too were Peasants

I am writing a family history the beginning of which is in Jaski, Poland during the early 1900s. Family legends says the village was burned down on two occasions by the Russians. I would like to confirm this and any history of Jaski throughout the war years. Where can I go for history on my father's homeland.

According to Wikipedia, Jaski (if this is the same one) was burnt by the Germans in 1944.

It isn't impossible that there was damage and destruction in the 1920 war, however the page doesn't mention that.

pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaski_(województwo_podlaskie)

BTW, there's a Jaski and there's a Jaśki, both a few kilometres apart.

In fact there are several places called Jaski /Jaśki

pl.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ja%C5%9Bki

pl.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaski_(wie%C5%9B_w_wojew%C3%B3dztwie_lubelskim)

The fact that it is said to have been burned by Russians may suggest Eastern Poland but we still don't know which place and years you're interested in.

I am looking at the yearof 1888 to 1945 years in Jaski in the Bialystok region of eastern Poland annexed by Russia after the Soviet-Poland War. There was extensive burning of villages in Bialystok but my father's family, Mikucki, only have family lore about Jaski being burned twice. If I can get two confirmations or printed data to verify, would be useful.

@lmikucki
Polish Wiki mentions the village was burned by Germans in 1944.
pl.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaski_(wojew%C3%B3dztwo_podlaskie)

It also mentions a census from 1921 so I don't think it was annexed by bolsheviks in the Polish -Bolshevik War.
Was there anything?

The census mentions that in 1921 the village had 180 inhabitants so it was pretty small. And it probably experienced pretty much the same as other villages in the area. It wasn't a peaceful time.

Roughly speaking:
During the partitions of Poland it was in the Russian partition
1914 -1918 -WW1
1918 -Poland regains independence
1919 -1920 Polish - Bolshevik War
1939 - Poland is attacked by Nazis and Soviets.

The note about Nazis burning the village comes from a book on Nazi crimes in the area. Bolsheviks/Soviets weren't probably any better.
Some local historians may know more.

Can anyone put me in the direction of a historian and/or photographer who has background or photos of Jaski during the years of 1921 - 1945. There seems to be a huge amount of historical data and geneology information recently uploaded in Polish which allows me to feel hopeful

There is the Narodowe Archiwum Cyfrowe (English version available) with tons of scans of documents and pictures.
Their motto: Each picture has his own history, some histories have their pictures.

nac.gov.pl/en/

Ziemowit, thank you for that! I never thought to check such a thing when I was hunting for historical pictures of Poland's borders :) I've just found some pictures that I've never seen before, and it looks like this will be a real goldmine!

YEs, those pics bear the stamp/logo NAC.