The text describes a fire in Dolsk, as a result of which an ancient Gothic palace-pavilion burned down. According to reports, the fire consumed the entire building - only the old guard tower remained (Source: "Ilustrowany Kurier Codzienny", Kraków 1936, R. 27, No. 12, p. 8, after: Małopolska Biblioteka Cyfrowa).

A modernised reading of the text

How a Polish cultural centre in Wołyń was destroyed by fire

On 16 December of last year, a fire broke out in Dolsk ("IKC." No. 58, 21 XI 1935) on the estate of Countess Emilia Rzyżewska in Volhynia. The ancient Gothic palace-pavilion, picturesquely situated by a lake in the shadows of an ancient park, fell victim to the dangerous element. The destructive element consumed the entire historic building, with only the old guard tower remaining. Many of the stylish furnishings burned down, as did the valuable collections that had been painstakingly collected over the years in the form of rare books, including white ravens and old chronicles, as well as rare ornithological specimens. The manor house in Dolsk has had a very hard time: the Russian army marched twice, the Germans invaded, Petluraeus invaded, the Bolsheviks invaded in 1920 and the local peasants were robbed several times.

Today, the fire seems to have brought to an end the misfortunes weighing heavily on this distinguished Polish borderland family, for what still survived the pogroms, what the owner and her son were able to replenish or gather later, has now been largely destroyed. From the earliest times, several hundred years ago, this manor house was a centre of Polish culture, its source of life, beating a hot rhythm through the land of Volhynia. It carried high the banner of self-sacrificing Polish work in spite of the Tsarist regime, which was always particularly harsh on the borderlands, and has managed to hold on to its hard-to-maintain bastion to this day.

The fire has already passed, having destroyed many valuable monuments of native culture and mementoes of historical value, and caused damage that cannot be compensated for - it is hard - bad to pass up, but after the fire some sad and unpleasant reminiscences arose, in the face of which it is impossible today to refrain from criticising our borderland agents responsible, our clumsiness, or even ill-will. A beautiful building was on fire - there was no wind! When the roof was on fire - the whole floor and downstairs were still salvageable! When the fire was noticed, Kowel, only 28 kilometres away, was immediately notified by telephone. The brave, self-sacrificing head of the post office in Toczysk made the call personally. There are two motor pumps in Kowel.

Although one sent immediately, it would have arrived in Dolsk then on a good, frozen road, without snow, in an hour and a half. Such a pump would have worked wonders with the lake next to the palace, extinguished the fire and saved, who knows, if not the whole building! Meanwhile, Kowel did nothing, did not send any help that was requested, seemingly forgetting about the motor pumps. And simply alerting the surrounding police stations was no help at all. This is how the Kowel authorities allowed the only monument to the manor house in the district to burn to the ground, and due to the originality of the building, perhaps the only one in the whole of Volhynia! Once, when the red wings took over the town of Lutsk, 50 kilometres from Kowel, a motor-pump from Kowel went there at once, as well as to some village in the district, where there was a fire, for effective rescue.

The help of the officials and servants of the estate - the entire local Polish and Ukrainian population - in fighting the red element, to snatch and save as much property as possible, was extremely brave, courageous and self-sacrificing.