When describing the history of the village of Pańków, one can, of course, cite the definition from Józef Niedźwiedź’s Historical Lexicon of the Villages of the Former Zamość Voivodeship[1].
I know Pańków from a slightly different perspective. Namely, I was born there and lived there for the first 11 years of my life. I remember that time with great fondness.
Pańków is a charming village with an unusual spatial layout – the so-called “oval” – with most farms located around a lake. Our farm was one of these. It consisted of a wooden house, a yard, an orchard, and then meadows and fields. Next to the house was a road, and then immediately the lake. The lake was (and still is) the center of the village. In the spring and summer, we fished.
The school I attended (preschool and grades 1-3 of primary school) was located almost opposite my house. Apparently, there used to be an Orthodox church on the school site. Below is a photo of the school, taken by me in 2019.
I remember a small wooden chapel where mass was held every Sunday. Eventually, a church was built in Pańków (between 1998 and 2000). I still remember how, in the 1990s, there was an empty square there and all the kids would gather and play “Schwarz.” In 1996-97, I also sang in the church choir (I still have the hymn book).
It was generally cheerful and joyful. We spent entire days, summer and winter, outside. By the lake, there was a huge tree where we played hide-and-seek or tag. The entire village (including the dirt roads) was used for playing hide-and-seek. In our yard, there were always at least two wrecked Zaporozhets (a kind of car, if you ask me), which we often played in. They were used by my dad to replace parts, as the car we drove back then was a Zaporozhets. To this day, my dad remembers that winters were harsh back then, and the Zaporozhets had a separate heater, and despite the sub-zero temperatures, the car was always very warm.
Next to our house, on the right (facing the lake), was an abandoned house. Some people said it was haunted. I think my friends and I went inside twice. I remember everything was left there: pictures on the walls, bedding, furniture, and even old eggs in one of the drawers.
In front of every house stood a wooden bench, used for neighborly conversation, gossip, and other exchanges of information. Such benches are hard to find in front of houses these days.
My parents, and before them, my grandparents, grew tobacco (also known as “bakon” in those parts), and working on it lasted all year round. In the spring, we planted, in the summer, we “picked” and threaded them on needles, then dried them in the dryer, and in the fall, we sorted them into classes. Of course, as young children, we participated in all these activities. Just like in any other household, really.
We spent most of the end of June and beginning of July in the forest, picking berries in the Szarowola forest (a forest between Pańków and Szarowola). We collected them in cups, and our mother in cans. At the end of June, in that fateful year of 1997, my sister Justyna, my brother Marek, and I went berry picking as usual. We heard thunder and emerged from the forest, but didn’t see any storm clouds, so we returned to the forest. Ten minutes later, an unprecedented storm broke out. We ran out of the forest and headed for home. We took my brother into the middle and ran as fast as we could.
I remember how we always looked for worms to use as fishing bait for my dad, who often went fishing with his friends. There was also a footbridge with a landing net (a fishing device) at the end. They also caught fish on it. Roma people often came to Pańków Lake (this was the first half of the 1990s), especially in the spring and summer. They would set up their camps and fish. They would also go from house to house, begging for food. I remember my grandmother giving them each a slice of bread with a cutlet, and then, in our yard, they threw the bread on the ground and ate only the cutlets.
Winter, on the other hand, was spent on the frozen lake (of course, after checking with adults to make sure the ice was thick enough). We also walked to school across the frozen lake in winter – it was much faster and more enjoyable.
I still have a diary from 1995-1997, in which friends, colleagues, family, and even teachers wrote their poems. I remember that everyone had one back then. More on that in a separate post:
https://agaarchivistka.blogspot.com/2023/04/fiku-miku-fiku-miku-jestem-w-twoim.html
I no longer live there, but I like to go there for recreation every now and then. Especially since Pańków has changed so much in the last few years – a pier was built on the lake, which adds even more charm to the town.
Last year, I found a YouTube video by Ryszard Molas, “Pańków – the Swans Have Arrived.”
I remember feeding the swans that often came to Pańków Lake, which made it even more special to me.
More photos in polish language version.
Peace 😉