Page 237 - Ciancia, On Civilization's Edge

92
prioritized those sites that had particular significance for its version of the Polish nation. In Łuck,
Kowel, and Sarny counties, for instance, the TRZW organized a “route of the legions,” which

focused on the sites of battles between Piłsudski’s legionnaires and Russian forces in 1915-16, and

also promoted parts of Łuck, Równe, and Sarny counties that featured beautiful forests, fields of

93
azaleas, and several health resorts. Although they recognized the challenges of developing tourism

in former Russian areas that lacked access to the sea or mountains, they argued that the lakes and

forests of the kresy offered a “primitiveness” that was “sought-after” by the modern Polish tourist

94
who wished to escape the grueling demands of urban life.

While much of the literature on tourism appeared to be produced for an imagined visitor from

somewhere else in Poland, portrayals of Volhynia as an attractive destination were also created for an

internal provincial readership. As the 1930s wore on, local newspapers featured more and more

articles that described the province’s natural beauty. The many rivers that traversed the area, one

article in the newspaper Volhynia argued in 1938, each possessed unique characteristics that

contributed to a diverse whole—from the beautiful Horyń, the magisterial Słucz, and the peaceful

95
Ikwa to the rapid Styr and the one hundred branches of the Stochód. Elsewhere, the newspaper

suggested that the so-called Volhynian Fairs (targi wołyńskie), which drew tens of thousands of

visitors to Równe every September and had a primarily economic focus, might serve as a base from

96
which people could visit Volhynia’s many rural attractions. Other towns, which had been maligned

elsewhere as unhygienic and backward embarrassments to the Polish state, were similarly showcased

as both modern centers that offered comforts to the tourist and places of intense historical interest,

92 In 1935, summer train tickets to the eastern provinces were sold at around half price. For more on the society’s
efforts to promote tourism in eastern Poland, see Michał Kacprzak, Towarzystwo Rozwoju Ziem Wschodnich 1933-
39 (Łódź, 2005), 69-72.
93 Mieczysław Węgrzecki, “Potrzeby turystyczne Polesia,” Rocznik Ziem Wschodnich (1937), 206-209.
94 Mieczysław Węgrzecki, “Turystyka,” Kalendarz Ziem Wschodnich (1935), 282-3.
95 “Wrzesień na Wołyniu,” Wołyń, September 25, 1938, 7.
96 In 1936, the fair attracted 96,000 visitors. See Mędrzecki, Województwo wołyńskie, 55.

237