Page 196 - Ciancia, On Civilization's Edge

If, on one level, the situation appeared entrenched, KOP’s propaganda also argued that

physical outposts could serve as “centers of culture and education, beaming out to the surrounding

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and far-flung areas.” In fact, from the very beginning, KOP buildings had been designed as eastern
outposts of civilization, featuring not only military buildings and watchtowers, but also hygienic

accommodation that was supposed to provide tangible evidence of the state’s permanence,

benevolence, and commitment to higher standards of living. 114 The Ministry of the Interior stipulated

that soldiers’ quarters “should be warm and adjusted for the strong frosts that occur in the kresy,”

while soldiers were to be given proper beds, rather than wooden bunks. 115 The accommodation was

by no means luxurious—the architect charged with designing the initial KOP outposts drew up plans

for mainly wooden buildings that could quickly be constructed in regions where the transportation of

other building materials was difficult. But by the 1930s, border guard outposts boasted the kinds of

amenities that symbolized modern domesticity, but which the average Volhynian village—and, for

that matter, the average Volhynian town—lacked: clean water, sewer systems, electricity, toilets,

washrooms, and laundries. A photograph of an outpost near Korzec (Figure 5.3), which depicted

civilians gathered at the main door, suggested the didactic side of KOP’s mission. The presence of

chimneys and large open windows indicated that the building functioned as a counterpoint to the

poorly ventilated peasant huts of the Volhynian countryside.

[INSERT FIGURE 5.3]

Figure 5.3: Undated photo of local people posing at border guard outpost Nr. 96 near Korzec. Source:
The National Digital Archive (Narodowe Archiwum Cyfrowe).

113 Stanisław Falkiewicz kpt., “Praca Oświata,” in Czekaj-Wiśniewska et al., Korpus Ochrony Pogranicza, 28. The
image was also used by Frank Savery who stated that “the block-houses of the ‘Kop,’ with their radio and their
modest libraries, are little centres of civilisation” through which the Polish state attempted to educate the “extremely
primitive population.” See Report on the Eastern Marches of Poland (Mr Savery, July 1930), NAL FO 417/27/82.
114 Letter to the Commander of the Borderland Protection Corps (General Minkiewicz) from the Head of the General
Staff (General Haller) (September 6, 1924), AAN ATN 8/1.
115 Tadeusz Nowakowski, “Budowa Pomieszczeń Korpusu Ochrony Pogranicza,” Architektura i Budownictwo 10/12
(1933): 378.

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