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XXIV Artistic Presentation of Kurpie
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History
Under the kingship of the Piast lineage, the land of today's Forest of the Kurpie region, frontiered with Prussia. Poor soil were not attracted to settle in the area.. At first, inhabitants of the surrounding areas were here seasonally to hunt, bee-keep or fish. In the XIVth century the Mazovian Forest has tempted many princes who became interested in the area and perceived it as an attractive ground for haunting. The boom of settlement on this land apperared in the XVth century. There were numerous reasons of increased settlement. In 1526 the Mazovian Duchy was joined to the Crown. The Prussian Homage in 1525 and the union with Lithuania eliminated the threat of invasions from the North. Royal starostas in Ostrołęka, Łomża, Przasnysz were interested in the use of the land and they gladly gave newcomers plots of lands.
Finally,those who wanted to settle were encouraged by a guarantee of personal freedom.Some of them previously escaped from manorial farms of a gentleman. Till the XVIIth century, the economy of the Forest area was based exclusively on exploitation of natural goods. People were hunting, fishing, smelting iron of turf ore. Forest bee-keepers were especially privileged. They had their own organization that constituted the law. At first the low was customary, then, in 1559 and 1616, it was written and approved in 1630 by Zygmunt Waza III. Inhabitants of the Forest were patriotic population which cherished freedom and devotedly stood up for the independence and laws. In that part of Poland there were excellent shooters. Guerrilla units of the Kurpie region fought against Swedes during historic" potop" in the middle of the XVIIth century. They played glorious role in the struggles for national independence. In 1809 the 6 Regiment of Pedestrian Shooters took part in the war with Austria. The regiment was organized by Ignacy Zieliński. During the November uprising ,26 May 1831,a famous battle took place near Ostrołęka. Gen. Bem turned out to be brave and outstanding military leader. The citizens took active part also in January uprising. The person who especially became famous at that time was Zygmunt Padlewski- an insurrectionary governor of the Płock. After the January uprising a wasteful exploitation of the Forest started; hunting was no longer allowed and usage of the weapons was forbidden. A forest bee-keeping downfell and poor soil could not support the population.That caused mass emigration, particularly to America. During the First World War, due to strategic meaning of the river Narew, these lands became a front line. At the beginning of the war, Russian set off to attack the Eastern part of Prussia. After Russians defeat near Stębark there was a front line, which was broken by Germans in July 1915. During the Second World War lands of the Forest were under German occupation.
From 1 September, 1939 Polish groups such as “Modlin “army and Self-reliant operational group; “Narew" - fought against Germany. On the 3th October the defence line of the army "Modlin"was broken. Germans forced Narew, hitting through the White Forest.
On 8 October the enemy forces occupied Ostrów Mazoviecka. The SGO units "Narew", in spite of heroic actions near Wizna were finally defeated nearby Zambrów area. They capitulated on 13th October 1939. During the Nazis occupation, there were attempts from the Nazis side to create the separate state for "Kurpie" in the part of the Green Forest due to their alleged Nordic roots. These attempts were unsuccessful.
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