We Just Stayed, 2019/2020
I grew up in Masuria, northern Poland, spending my childhood surrounded by lakes and forests. I come from Kętrzyn (Rastembork). My parents were born only twenty three kilometers away in a town called Korsze (Korschen). My grandparents came to this region from completely different parts of the country: Warsaw, Vilnius, Zamojszczyzna or what is currently Belarusian territory. They landed in Masuria by accident which happened to be The Second World War. I remember them telling me stories about the moment they came there. All of the houses were empty and you could occupy the first one you have found. As a child, I couldn't understand that. Empty houses? Whose houses? Why abondoned?
1945 was the begining of a nightmare for the old residents of this land. Borders were redrawn overnight, and the Soviet Army was marching relentlessly from the East. A significant majority of the people escaped or tried to leave for Germany. There was no time. The decision to leave their belongings, their land, and all their past forever, had to be made quickly. I always thought that every single one of them had left. After all, everyone I know there is Polish. But it turns out that there are individuals, or single families, who couldn't or didn't want to leave their home. Lonely, confused, forced to assimilate in this new reality.