In the Russian Far East, near the border with China and North Korea, stands a monument to a Polish January insurgent and hangman. Michał Jankowski has been described as homo culturalis and is considered the protoplast of Indiana Jones.

History of the creation of the monument to Michał Jankowski
The erection of a monument to Mikhail Yankovsky was sought by both the population of Bezverkhov, which has several thousand inhabitants, and local historians from nearby Vladivostok. In the 1980s, efforts gained momentum thanks to Boris Diachenko. This historian initiated the creation of several memorials in the Far East, but this memorial was unique. Although the times - it would seem - were not conducive to the work, as the Soviet empire trembled in its foundations. The union republics were looking for an opportunity to strike out for independence, and voices for autonomy were also ringing out in Russia.


The situation was no different in the Maritime Krai, whose capital is Vladivostok. Paradoxically, this atmosphere of uncertainty hastened the decision. Everyone wanted to help, everyone shelled out something. The director of the local sovkhoz, Ordinartsev, and the chairman of the village council, Popov, provided the funds for the construction, while the head of the repair yard, Merkulov, provided one and a half tonnes of scrap bronze.

Monument to Mikhail Jankovsky
The general architectural principles and text for the plaque were prepared by Boris Diachenko, while the design of the monument was done by sculptor Oleg Kulesh. The work was completed in the summer of 1991, and the unveiling was organised on 15 September.

And lo and behold, on the slope of sopka, a volcanic hill, 100m from Buchta (Bay) Heck, stood the monument to Mikhail Yankovsky. It was situated on the edge of the Jankowski Peninsula, formerly known as Sidemi, about which Jankowski himself had written more than a century earlier to the naturalist Benedykt Dybowski - "the easternmost part of Poland".

A 30-centimetre-thick granite slab was placed on the pedestal, on which a two-and-a-half-metre-high figure made of the same alloy was mounted on a bronze base. A plaque with the inscription was also inserted diagonally in front: "Yankovsky Mikhail Ivanovich / 1842-1912 / He was a nobleman in Poland, an exile in Siberia, / a home and fame he found in the Ussurian country. / What he gathered an example for future landowners". The last words are not explicit and the original "будущим хозяевам земли" can be read both as a recommendation to locals and as a general message to stewards under different latitudes.

Jankowski's character was marked by dynamism. The protagonist seemingly froze for a moment, but one has the irresistible impression that this calm is apparent. He is dressed in a shirt with the collar unbuttoned and the sleeves rolled up, wearing high boots. His left hand rests on his hip, in his right he holds a Winchester rifle, barrel down. He looks off into the distance and we guess that he is on the hunt and at any moment could fire in the direction of an unseen animal.

In the short text, included in the Vladyvostok University calendar, we also find a passus that is an interpretation referring to Jankowski's biography: "His pose is peaceful, but this man is ready to fire without hesitation. Such was also the image of the pioneer who, having come to these lands with peaceful intentions, was ready to defend himself and her in the moment of danger".

The same material also contains information about the guests who came to the unveiling. In addition to local decision-makers and media, there was "from California a granddaughter, poet Victoria Jankowska" with her son and his two daughters. There was also a grandson, living in the Russian city of Vladimir, later an important Memorial activist, Valery Jankowski with his son. The grandchildren of Fridolf Heck, Jankowski's companion, whaler and researcher of the Far East, also turned up.

Michal Jankowski in the memory of Poles
The Polish authorities were not represented at the ceremony, our historians and media representatives were absent, or at least the sources do not mention their participation. This is not surprising. Less than a month after the so-called Yanayev putsch (19 August 1991), the fate of the largest country in the world was a mystery and historical policy on the edges of the Soviet Far East was not a Polish priority.

In subsequent years, especially after the opening of the Polish consulate general in Irkutsk in 1997, Polish diplomats and officials visited Vladivostok and nearby Bezverkhovo (although a dirt road still leads to the settlement and it is still best to reach it from the sea).

More recently, in November 2021. - as highlighted by the chairman of the Vladivostok-based sightseeing society, Alexei Bujakov - the envoy of the President of Poland, Minister Andrzej Dera, arrived. He presented a stamp with Mikhail Jankowski issued by the Polish Post Office and laid flowers at his monument.

Thus, the figure of Jankowski and his achievements, which is undoubtedly too little known in Poland, is a topic that opens rather than closes the space for talks between Poles and Russians.

Who was Michał Jankowski
It would be appropriate at this point to ask who Michał Jankowski, born in 1842 in Złotoria near Tykocin, actually was. To say that he was a January Uprising insurgent exiled to Siberia and, as a result, a Polish pioneer of the Russian Far East, a naturalist and breeder, is too little.

He walked to Zabaikal for two years in shackles. There he worked in the mines, cut trees in the freezing taiga and survived despite everything. He was released from his imprisonment at the end of the 1860s and then came to the Russian-Korean-Chinese border, where he settled.

Jankowski a pioneer of the Far East
A man who had survived such extreme experiences could be anything he wanted in the Far East. Especially in a world where rivers carry golden sand, the eye of the tiger flashes between the trees and ginseng grows in forested intervals. Jankowski remained in the Far East, where he became known as a conqueror of tigers and hunhuz, i.e. cruel, opium-addicted Chinese bandits. He defended Korean villagers from them and defeated the boss of the gang with a half-round shot, which earned him the nickname Nenuni (kor. 'four-eyed').

Michał Jankowski as a naturalist and breeder
He was also a manager of gold mines and the creator of a remarkable farm on the Sidemi Peninsula. He was the first to cultivate ginseng, which it was believed could only grow in natural conditions. He also bred spotted deer and developed a way of cutting off their valuable antlers in a minimally invasive way, thus helping to preserve an entire species that was being massively killed by poachers.

Michal Jankowski also discovered numerous new species of flora and fauna. He bred a Far Eastern breed of horse; a stallion from his stud was worth at least 170 roubles, when a parade horse in St Petersburg cost an average of 150 roubles. "And last but not least", Jankowski wrote texts on archaeology and anthropology, in which he juxtaposed local 'shell mounds' with Scandinavian kjökkenmödding ('shell rubbish dumps') and proved the connectivity between peoples from the Atlantic and Pacific coasts.

Michal Jankowski's memoir in "National Geographic "
Michal Jankowski died in 1912 in Sochi, where he had gone for health reasons, and was buried there.

His work was continued by his sons. Unfortunately, the years of prosperity were interrupted by the arrival of the Bolsheviks. The family moved to Korea at the last minute. Jankowski's great material legacy in the Sea Country was squandered by the Soviet rulers.

The memory of Atlantis, erected by a Pole on the Sidemi Peninsula, has survived. It is nurtured by local historians together with local residents. It is thanks to them that the monument in Bezwierchów is always well cared for. We would say - it is just a symbol, surrounded by even more meaningful ruins.

A story from 77 years ago testifies to the strength and potential of the memory of Michał Jankowski. It was then that a well-known American journalist and traveller, Willard Price, looking for a topic for the first post-war issue of National Geographic, described the fate of the Jankowski family. In the photo featured in the article, we see Michael's son Jerzy and his children settled in Korea. They are holding a banner with the family coat of arms Nowina. A picture worth a thousand words - is what we used to say about such photographs.

1991

Oleg Kulesz

Andrzej Goworski, Marta Panas-Goworska