Opozycja "przeszłość - teraźniejszość" w wypowiedziach starooobrzędowców regionu suwalsko-augustowskiego

The Russian Orthodox Old Believers who now live in the Suwałki–Augustów region are descendants of Russians who refused to adopt the mid-17th century church reforms as promoted by Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov and implemented by Patriarch Nikon of Moscow. Old Believers in Poland are an example of ethnic, religious, cultural and linguistic minority. They lived in homogeneous village communities and they managed to maintain their religion, traditions and language through ages. In the last period one can observe many modifications in Old Believers' way of life, in their culture and traditions. Old Believers' who live in the Suwałki–Augustów region often compare the present with the past and they tell about changes that have come about in their way of life, their worldview and their attitude to their own uniqueness. They characterise the past positively and describe the present negatively.