Movement of Polish Nationalists Zadruga was a Polish
neopagan
Modern paganism, also known as contemporary paganism and neopaganism, is a term for a religion or family of religions influenced by the various historical pre-Christian beliefs of pre-modern peoples in Europe and adjacent areas of North Afric ...
nationalist movement.
History
It was founded in 1937 by
Jan Stachniuk
Jan Stachniuk (13 January 1905 - 14 August 1963) was a Polish philosopher, an editor-in-chief of the Polish pre-war nationalist journal „Zadruga”, the creator of Zadruga's Movement, a theoretician and the founder of culturalism.
Jan Stachni ...
. It published a monthly political and cultural bulletin ''Zadruga''. The group that coalesced around this bulletin was the most active neopagan group during the 1918–1939 period in Poland, with around 300 followers in 1939. However, the Zadruga movement never formalized its membership.
During 1945–1947, as part of the Nationalist opposition, Zadruga published the ''Zryw'' in Poznań and ''Arkona'' journals in Bydgoszcz. The movement leaders were arrested in 1949 by the Communist regime, accused of collaboration with
Neo-Fascists
Neo-fascism is a post-World War II far-right ideology that includes significant elements of fascism. Neo-fascism usually includes ultranationalism, racial supremacy, populism, authoritarianism, Nativism (politics), nativism, xenophobia, and an ...
, and were imprisoned in 1952.
After the amnesty in 1956, they were released. Rather than resume their former activities, they transformed into an informal intellectual movement, based in
Wrocław
Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, rou ...
. Attempts in the 1980s and 1990s to revive the association were not successful.
Use by later movements
After 1989 the elements of ''Zadruga'' were used by Bolesław Tejkowski in his ideology of Polish
anti-clerical
Anti-clericalism is opposition to religious authority, typically in social or political matters. Historical anti-clericalism has mainly been opposed to the influence of Roman Catholicism. Anti-clericalism is related to secularism, which seeks to ...
nationalism of the Social-National Union (''Unia Społeczno-Narodowa''). The ideology was propagated separately by the
Toporzeł The Toporzeł is an emblem, created by Stanisław Szukalski in 1935, as Polish nationalist symbol, used by racist and antisemitism, antisemitic groups. It was created by combination of axe and eagle. The head has the form of a hook, which symbolizes ...
Publishing House. Many former participants of the informal Zadruga intellectual groups became members of the
National Movement (Ruch Narodowy) or of the Nacjonalistyczne Stowarzyszenie ''Zadruga''.
The foundational writings of Stachniuk and Wacyk are used now by certain Polish
Slavic native faith
The Slavic Native Faith, commonly known as Rodnovery
* bg, Родноверие, translit=Rоdnoverie
* bs, Rodnovjerje
* mk, Родноверие, translit=Rodnoverie
* cz, Rodnověří
* hr, Rodnovjerje
* pl, Rodzimowierstwo; Rodzima ...
groups, especially by the Union of Native Faith (
Rodzima Wiara
Rodzima Wiara (meaning "Native Faith") is a Polish Rodnover religious organization, founded in 1996 by Stanisław Potrzebowski in Wrocław as ''Zrzeszenie Rodzimej Wiary'' (meaning "Union of Native Faith"). The name was changed to the current one ...
) and by the
Association for Tradition and Culture "Niklot" (Stowarzyszenie na rzecz Tradycji i Kultury „Niklot”):.
Slavic Native Faith
Its spiritual guide was Antoni Wacyk, who promoted a return to
Slavic native faith
The Slavic Native Faith, commonly known as Rodnovery
* bg, Родноверие, translit=Rоdnoverie
* bs, Rodnovjerje
* mk, Родноверие, translit=Rodnoverie
* cz, Rodnověří
* hr, Rodnovjerje
* pl, Rodzimowierstwo; Rodzima ...
. Stachniuk promoted an ideology of
culturalism, aiming at the unification of Western Slavic peoples based on the reconstruction of their original national culture. Stachniuk believed that Christianity, especially the Catholic clergy, presented an anti-cultural influence and promoted a culture of
laxism
In Catholic moral theology, probabilism provides a way of answering the question about what to do when one does not know what to do. Probabilism proposes that one can follow an authoritative opinion regarding whether an act may be performed moral ...
,
escapism
Escapism is mental diversion from unpleasant or boring aspects of daily life, typically through activities involving imagination or entertainment. Escapism may be used to occupy one's self away from persistent feelings of depression or genera ...
, and consumption.
Jan Stachniuk: ''Wykład teoretyczny "Zadrugi" i jego zadanie''
in: "Zadruga", nr 7 (maj 1938)
in: "Zadruga", nr 5 (marzec 1938)
in: "Zadruga", nr 7 (maj 1938)
in: "Zadruga", nr 16 (luty 1939) It was believed that unification under the Slavic native faith would prepare these nations for an inevitable confrontation with Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
and German expansionism and that each nation would build its own strength through its ''collective matrix'' (a term used in ''zadruga
A zadruga (, ) refers to a type of rural community historically common among South Slavs.
The term has been used by the Communist Party of Yugoslavia to designate their attempt at collective farming after World War II.
History
Originally, gene ...
),'' after the original Slavic notion of the organization of rural communities. According to the movement, the Western Slavic nations should function as one centralized state with the collective ownership
Collective ownership is the ownership of property by all members of a group. The breadth or narrowness of the group can range from a whole society to a set of coworkers in a particular enterprise (such as one collective farm). In the latter (narro ...
of land and industry, based on grass-roots enthusiasm and heroism.
Stanisław Potrzebowski
Stanisław Potrzebowski (born 9 February 1937) is the founder and Naczelnik (leader) of Rodzima Wiara, a Polish rodnover organisation, and of the European Congress of Ethnic Religions.
Career
Between 1954-1957 Potrzebowski was studying geology ...
, the founder of Rodzima Wiara and ''zadrugist'', noticed the influence of the ''Zadruga'' movement on Slavic Native Faith
The Slavic Native Faith, commonly known as Rodnovery
* bg, Родноверие, translit=Rоdnoverie
* bs, Rodnovjerje
* mk, Родноверие, translit=Rodnoverie
* cz, Rodnověří
* hr, Rodnovjerje
* pl, Rodzimowierstwo; Rodzima ...
, as described in his book ''Slavic movement Zadruga''. He stated that ''Zadruga'' and Slavic Native Faith were linked by a common set of values
In ethics and social sciences, value denotes the degree of importance of something or action, with the aim of determining which actions are best to do or what way is best to live (normative ethics in ethics), or to describe the significance of dif ...
. He expressed an appreciation of the work of Zdzisław Słowiński, founder of Toporzeł Publishing House, which triggered the rebirth of zadrugist thought in the Third Polish Republic
Third or 3rd may refer to:
Numbers
* 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3
* , a fraction of one third
* 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute''
Places
* 3rd Street (disambiguation)
* Third Avenue (disambiguation)
* Hig ...
from Polish and Ukrainian Rodnover groups. According to Potrzebowski, the founding of World Congress of Ethnic Religions
The European Congress of Ethnic Religions (ECER) is an organisation for cooperation among associations that promote the ethnic religions of Europe.[Vilnius
Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...](_blank)
, coincided with Stachniuk's dream of the "renovation of Aryan people's unity" and a number of joint initiatives of Rodnovers from different countries. For example, the Generic Weche of Slavs is a realization of the social-political program of pre-war ''Zadruga''.
References
Footnotes
Sources
* M. Łapiński, T. Szczepański: ''Czciciele Polski pogańskiej'', in: "'Karta" nr 19, 1996.
Tomasz Szczepański: ''Mniejszości narodowe w myśli politycznej narodowo-demokratycznych (endeckich) ugrupowań opozycyjnych 1980-1989''
in: "Mazowieckie Studia Humanistyczne", nr 1-2, 2005.
Mariusz Filip: ''O etnografię rodzimowierstwa. Wprowadzenie do etnografii Zakonu Zadrugi "Północny Wilk"''
in: "Państwo i Społeczeństwo", t. VIII: 2008, nr 4.
* Tomasz Szczepański: ''Rodzimowierstwo polskie a życie publiczne po 1989 r. Próba szkicu'', in: "Państwo i Społeczeństwo", t. VIII: 2008, nr 4.
* Tomasz Szczepański: ''Ruch zadrużny i rodzimowierczy w PRL w latach 1956-1989'', in: "Państwo i Społeczeństwo" t. IX: 2009, nr 4.
* {{cite book, last=Potrzebowski , first=Stanisław , date=2016 , title=Słowiański ruch Zadruga , trans-title=Slavic movement Zadruga , language=pl , location=Wrocław , publisher=Wydawnictwo Triglav , isbn=9788362586967
External links
"Zadruga" monthly (1937-1939) - full text
ZADRUGA RODZIMEJ WIEDZY - SĘDRUGA Publ.
- Reprints of original texts by Jan Stachniuk and Antony Wacyk (in Polish)
- Concize summary of the ideology of Zadruga movement (in Polish)
Paweł Bielawski: Zadruga tradycjonalistyczna a ortodoksyjna. Przyczynek Zadrugi w XXI wieku
Analysis of the ideology of "Zadruga" and of that of its followers (in Polish)
Paweł Konar: Pochwała neopogańskiej twórczości. Jan Stachniuk i „Zadruga”
- Biography of Jan Stoigniew Stachniuk with bibliography (in Polish)
Slavic neopaganism
Political history of Poland
Modern pagan organisations based in Poland
Defunct modern pagan organizations
Modern pagan organizations established in the 1930s