Rola pożywienia zbieranego z natury w życiu Polaków deportowanych do ZSRR w okresie drugiej wojny światowej

Abstrakt

Polish exiles in Siberia and other eastern parts of the USSR during World War II used edible wild plants and animals only when other possibilities were not available. In this paper, archival reports of one hundred people who survived the exile were analyzed. People were using 68 taxa of plants, 15 taxa of fungi and 33 taxa of wild animals. This means that the Polish deportees were using a relatively small variety of plants, animals and fungi. The steppe environment, mainly of Kazakhstan, does not abound in great quantities of edible plants and animals. The daily diet consisted mainly of leaves, fresh fruits and the simplest meals. In contrast to the steppe, in the taiga environment plants played a significant role in survival. Natural food was in use primarily during the spring and summer,  owever the majority of families also prepared winter stocks. The model of wild food consumption used by Polish deportees in Siberia did not differ significantly from eastern Polish traditions. During the stay in exile, the main role of food supplier was played by children. Boys took part in hunting expeditions more often than girls. Wild food usually came from the neighborhood of settlements. The exiles got basic knowledge about wild food from native inhabitants. However, some aboriginal eating habits were unacceptable for Polish deportees. All in all, wild food was poorly evaluated by Polish deportees, although it helped them to survived these difficult years.