Akademickie Koło Kresowe [Academic Association of Kresy] (1922-1939) : Episode of History of Student Life in Cracow

Akademickie Koło Kresowe existed for 17 years (1922-1939) as an organization for students coming from Kresy (Eastern Borderlands of Poland), studying at Krakow’s universities (in the years 1922-1923 and 1933-1939 Association functioned as an institution gathering only the academic community of the Jagiellonian University, and in the years 1923-1933 and 1939 as an intercollegiate organization). The organization had more than 750 students for the period of its existence. They found here a help (accommodation, meals, grants and loans), a forum for exchanging ideas (mainly in the context of the situation of Kresy in a past and currently), a place of entertainment social (balls, fun, holidays, mountain tours), and even a substitute for the family (long friendships, marriages). Among the famous members of the Association should be mentioned such a person as: father Władysław Bukowiński, prof. Karol Górski, journalist Ksawery Pruszyński, painter Józef Czapski and many others. This article tries on the basis of Jagiellonian University Archive’s records to reconstruct the history of the organization, its ideological assumptions, structure, financial situation and fields of activity. In the end, it tries to answer the question of what importance were Kresy in later life of members of the Association and how they perceive Kresy.