Summary

The article by Artur Markowski, presenting the demographic and statistical structure of Suwalki at the beginning of the 19th century, opens the fifth volume of the "Augustowsko-Suwalski" Yearbook. The author based his studies on two sources which were a kind of fiscal census stored in the State Archives in Suwalki in the section called the Files of the Town of Suwalki. The former is a taxation list of the Suwalki residents from the year 1811, the latter - The Inspection of People, Houses and Horses from the Year 1815. On the basis of these documents the author presented an attempt of characterization of the community living in Suwalki in the periodof the Duchy of Warsaw. He applied a category of demographic analysis - defining the number of population, its dynamics and changes, the size and characteristics of the family household, as well as the sources of income and wealth of its members.

Tomasz Naruszewicz, in his article The Bakalarzewo Parish in the First Half of the 17th Century basing mainly on the public register of births, marriages and deaths, discussed the most important historic events, the structure of population and the settlement network of the parish and the Town of Bakalarzewo in the period of their biggest development. He included a detailed description ofthe town’s infrastructure and the parish church. The author presented the structure of authorities, mentioning the people holding various posts, and also the number, activities and the residents’ sources of income.

The subject discussed by Artur Ochal concerns mobilization preparations conducted by the Polish Army General Staff in the 1920s in case ofa military confiict in the East. Using the materials stored in the Border Guards Archives in Szczecin, the author discussed various variants of mobilization of large military troops formed with the Border Security Corps troops, placing the biggest emphasis on mobilization plans of the "Suwalki" 1st Border Security Guards.

Jaroslaw Szlaszynski presented the development of educational system and educational institutions functioning in Augustow until the year 1939 in his studies The History of Education in Augustow until the Outbreak of World War II. He characterized the state of education and the inhabitants’ level of education in the prepartition period, problems in functioning of education in the first half of the 19th century, the changes which took place in its organization, and the Russification progressing after the fall of the January Uprising, as well as the rebuilding and development, and even the peak development of different levels of education in the inter-war period. A lot of space is devoted to the situation of students and educational opportunities of the Augustow youth, and also the presentation of profiles of many outstanding teachers.

A bigger portion of the materials published inthe "Announcements" section is the outcome of a scientific session titled "Education in the Suwalszczyzna in the 19th and 20th centuries", organized by the Augustowsko-Suwalskie Scientific Society on 27 November 2004 in the Maria Konopnicka Public Library in Suwalki.

In the report The Archival Complex of Karol Brzostowski Secondary School in Suwaiki 1919-1939 - the Condition of Preservation, Possibilitiesof Making It Available, Contents Slawomir Filipowicz showed the fate and research value of the collection of documents rescued from destruction and concerning the secondary school acting in Suwalki in the inter-war period, which is still highly valued.

Zbigniew Faltynowicz discussed the history of "Licealista" ("Secodary-School Student") - a school magazine (until 1980), published from the 1960s, at intervals, up till now by students of the Maria Konopnicka Secondary School in Suwalki. The author presented members of consecutive editorial teams, subject matter raised in the magazine, and also controversies provoked by some young authors’ publications. Jaroslaw Schabienski brought up a similar subject. He presented a history of a peculiar phenomenon of the 1980s opposition movement - the magazine "Lawa" ("A Bench"), published outside the official circulation as an initative of the youth in Suwalki schools. The magazine enjoyed a great popularity among its readers and aroused "big interest" of the party authorities andthe Security Service officers. Another study by the same author: Light-Life Movement in Suwalki in the First Decade of Its Existence presents the Catholic youth movement - the most numerous and flourishing initiative, independent of communist structures, gathering the Suwalki youth in the 1970s and1980s.

The development of education in Augustow in the post-war period - until the present day - is discussed by Andrzej Makowski. The beginnings of enlightment in the Suwalszczyzna (until 1795) are presented by the report by Rev. Czeslaw Matusiewicz. The material was written in the 1950s on the basis of previous studies by the author, among others, the parish files destroyed during World War II. In the report Commemorating Services and Remembrance of Jozef Pilsudski in the Suwalszczyznain the Inter-war Period Andrzej Matusiewicz presented initiatives of the inhabitants of the region, the army and local governments serving the commemoration of Jozef Pilsudski’s deeds.

In the "Materials" section there are two source materials. A report by an unknown author concerning the situation of the Jews and events in Kalwaria during warfare of 1915, which was translated from Russian and provided with a commentary by Artur Markowski. The other material, prepared by Wojciech Batura, Joanna Buchowiecka’s Testament is an interesting document, especially from the pointof view of social conventions, coming from 1838.

In the final part of the volume there are two reviews: one of the joint monograph on Suwalki edited by Janusz Kopcial - Suwalki, the Town on the Czarna Hancza, discussed by Adam Czeslaw Dobronski; and the other of the article by Henryk Bartoszewicz titled Pradzynski or Mallet. An Argument about the Authorship of the Augustow Canal Plans reviewed by Wojciech Batura. The chronicle of activities conducted in 2004 by the Augustowsko-Suwalskie Scientific Society,the Regional Museum in Suwalki and the State Archives in Suwalki closes the volume. 

Translated by Elżbieta Rzemieniewska