Journey Through the Borderlands
Journal: Krakowskie Pismo Kresowe
Year: 2025

General Lucjan Żeligowski’s dilemmas regarding his national identity reflect the difficult choices faced by millions of people living in the borderlands between Russia and various East-Central European nations over the past several centuries. Born and raised in a Polish-patriotic family in 1865 in the heart of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which was controlled by Tsarist Russia, he joined the Russian Army out of poverty and became almost entirely Russified. Seeking a compromise between hi