This is a memoir of Divin, a small and very old village southeast of Brest.
We learn about the geography and ancient history of Divin, from its dimly-illuminated founding, through religious and political changes – some benign, some cataclysmic– and wars, to about 1967.
This memoir is written from the viewpoint of old family of Divin, among those now known as native Belarusians. We observe how many Belarusians of the region came to loathe the Poles, who they saw as invaders and often-cruel exploiters, and the Roman Catholicism the Poles brought with them. The almost uniformly poor peasants of Divin and its region viewed the advent of Communism as bringing hope to them for economic improvement and fair treatment by the government. And so from the earliest times of Soviet success, during WWI, they welcomed the institutions of Soviet Russia. They were not disappointed: life was better under the Soviets.
From very early, and until the Nazi devastation of WWII, Divin contained a significant Jewish population, which in this memoir appears as well-integrated into the community. Reading these texts, Jewish descendants of Divin can get a unique view of that community from the perspective of a respectful non-Jewish neighbor.
Credits
Audrey Newman located the author during her 2010 visit to Divin, developed a warm relationship with him,
obtained the document, arranged a translation, and followed through long-term.
Translated by Arthur Getman, who also provided extensive Editor's notes.
Translation and further advice: Yuliya Abramovna Getman.
Long-term liaison with the author: Oleg Medvedevsky
Additional translation and transliteration: Google.
Land area conversion: convertunits.com
Adaptation/Editing
The material has been adapted from the original manuscript form for web presentation:
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The Chapter-Section organization present in the original has been extended. Original Chapter and Section headings have been adjusted for clarity and in some cases shortened to fit the site's format. Chapter and Section headings have been added in cases in which the manuscript omitted them. Sub-Section headings have been added. Chapter and section introductions have been added to make the material more accessible. Also added for the same reason: brief explanations within the texts.
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Paragraph breaks have been added for readability.
• Some rearrangement of the material has been done within individual sections for clarity. Usually this takes the form of grouping similar material together.
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Many of the Translator's notes have been moved to the Notes box at page bottoms.
• Links have been added to important reference materials.
• Names. Where, in the original, family names were followed by given name(s), these has been rearranged to customary Western order (given name–patronymic–family name).
• Quotations.
The manuscript is often informal with respect to systematic denotation of direct quotes. In some cases these have been resolved as seems logical. In other cases, the informality has been preserved. In some cases, the authors appear to quote freely from official patriotic sources, without attribution. No effort has been made to identify these sources.
• The translation from Russian has been edited for clarity, grammar, and other elements for readability.
• Though this might not be exactly right, a resident of Divin is herein called a Diviner.
The manuscript may be viewed by clicking on page numbers enclosed in curly braces, e.g.,
{1} opens a new web page containing an image of original page 1.
