«Adjusting to Siberian life»: the historical experience of adaptation of peasant settlers in the Irkutsk province and its contemporary legacy
https://doi.org/10.21285/2415-8739-2025-3-97-107
EDN: KAXLXM
Abstract
This article analyzes various factors affecting the adaptation of peasant settlers in the Irkutsk province. The settlers were of various nationalities and religions, but they shared a spirit of hard work, freedom of action, and love for the land. Those who went to Siberia were typically peasants of average income, yet willing to work hard to achieve a good harvest. This reform had a positive impact on Russia's geopolitical situation, as Siberians demonstrated strength, courage, and patriotism during the Great Patriotic War, both in battle and on the home front. By this time, the children of the settlers had also grown up and joined the Red Army; however, the Golendry (Golden peasants) were recruited only into the labor army. The reasons for these differences are presented in the study. Informants helped to describe the positive and negative experiences of their relatives in the harsh climatic conditions of Eastern Siberia. Additionally, information is provided on the construction practices of the first settlers, particularly on differences with older settlers, as well as the culture and spiritual life of the Golendres (Dutch), Belarusian, and Polish peoples who are still alive and residing in the well-known villages of Pikhtinsk, Turgenevka, and Vershina in the Irkutsk region. The analysis was conducted in both scholarly articles and interviews with informants in these villages, as well as in articles dedicated to the research. The author concluded that the «settlers» do not plan to leave their already native Siberian places; on the contrary, at various times, young people are ready to live and work in rural areas, provided that work and housing are available.
Keywords
agriculture,
settlers,
Dutch,
Poles,
Belarusians,
collective farms,
labor activity,
houses,
spiritual life
About the Author
A. V. Prokopieva
The East Siberian Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Anna V. Prokopieva, Cand. Sci. (Economics), Associate Professor at the Department of Philosophy and Socio-Humanitarian Disciplines
110, Lermontov St., Irkutsk 664074
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