Dorothy Kraus Memoir - Life on the Farm

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Dorothy Kraus Memoir

Life on the Farm
To me life on the farm was the sweetest. The peasants were nice. They played with me, made dolls out of kerchiefs and threw snowballs at me in the winter. The women often invited me to their houses. My curiosity was endless.

Each house, actually a hut, had one room with a low ceiling. The furniture consisted of a table with two narrow benches placed near the the tiny window. The large plastered oven occupied most ot the rest of the room. It not only served to heat the room but also as the bed for the entire family. In a corner hung a picture of a pretty lady with a baby in her arms, and before the picture there was a candle. The peasants would make a gesture with their hands on their chest upon entering their house while looking in the direction of the picture. These were mysterious pictures. We didn't have such pictures. Grandmother once came back from a trip to the big city and brought a picture. But it was a picture of a farm with trees and cows and chickens. There was something striking yet awesome about the other pictures that kept me from asking questions about them.

Editor's Notes: Kraus seems to be describing her visits to Belarusian, rather than Polish, peasants. The native Belarusians were usually members of the Russian Orthodox Church. Their ritual included devotion to icons.

This material is from Original Page 8.

Page Last Updated: 28-Aug-2012