Tatars in Poland: Adopted Homeland

Ewa Górska, Maurits Berger, Tostanki.pl

Join us on a podcast journey into the rich and often overlooked world of the Tatars in Poland—a Muslim community with over six centuries of history in the heart of Central Europe. Hosted by Maurits Berger, professor of Islam and the West at Leiden University, and Ewa Górska, socio-legal researcher at the University of Wrocław, this podcast explores the cultural heritage, everyday lives, and religious practices of Polish Tatars. Together, we travel across the Polish landscape meeting Tatars from different backgrounds and discovering stories that reveal their past and present.

Episodes

  1. 08/19/2025

    8. Last Words

    Almost two years after the roadtrip, when the podcast is finished after much work, Ewa and Maurits meet online to evaluate their findings. Was it what they expected? And what had they expected in the first place? At the same time, the world had changed radically with a continued war in Ukraine and an Israeli onslaught in Gaza turning in a genocide. How does that reflect on this Tatar community in the far eastern corner of Europe?

  2. 08/12/2025

    7. The Next Generation

    Ewa and Maurits are heading back to Gdansk. During the long ride from Podlachia, they discuss everything they heard and Ewa makes a confession. Halfway the trip, they stop along the road to listen back to a few interviews. They realize that the Tatars are a vibrant community, but also insecure about their future: what will the next generation do? Will they continue the work of the people we have been talking to? They speak about this with the custodian of the mosque in Gdansk, who comes from a prominent Tatar family.

  3. 08/05/2025

    6. The Imam and the Mufti

    Ewa and Maurits meet some of the leaders of the Tatar community, including the mufti. They learn how the Polish state structure works, and how the communist times still play a role in the manner that the Tatars organize themselves. They visit one of the few Polish imams who studied abroad, and who now works as a bus driver. Gradually a picture emerges of a community that is still in the process of finding its identity—are they a cultural or a religious community?—and organizing itself in the Polish state that recently has undergone enormous changes.

  4. 07/29/2025

    5. The Headscarf

    Ewa and Maurits travel to Białystok, the symbolic heart of Tatar Islam in Poland. They begin at a strikingly modern mosque surrounded by grey communist-era apartment blocks—an architectural contrast that mirrors the conflicting impressions they have about the Tatars' Islam. Their walk through its empty corridors prompts the question: why to cover one’s hair in an empty mosque? Then they visit Dagmara, one of the few Tatar Muslim women they meet who wears a headscarf and teaches Islam. It's Ramadan, and they’re welcomed into her home during a time of fasting. Dagmara shares her story of faith, gender, and identity that is quite unlike what Ewa and Maurits have heard so far. Visit the website for more details, maps and photos: tatarpodcast.eu/episodes/episode-5-the-headscarf

  5. 07/22/2025

    4. Religion or Culture

    What does it really mean to be a Tatar in Poland today? In this episode, Ewa and Maurits explore the blurred lines between religion, culture, and identity among the oldest native Muslim community in Europe. They speak with theatre director Róża Chazbijewicz and members of a local Tatar association, unearthing contrasting views on whether being Tatar is a matter of faith, blood, or heritage. Along the way, they examine centuries-old prayer books written in Arabic script but in Polish and Ukrainian languages—and meet a sociologist whose research reveals how funding, nationalism, and Islamophobia shape modern Tatar identity. As they move between museum archives, family stories, and academic insight, they discover that Tatarness is both proudly preserved and constantly reinvented. Visit the website for more details, maps and photos: ⁠tatarpodcast.eu/episodes/episode-4-religion-or-culture/

  6. 07/15/2025

    3. The Cemetery

    In this episode, Ewa and Maurits travel through Poland’s eastern borderlands of Podlachia (Podlasie)—once the heart of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, now a quiet region marked by layered histories. They visit grand palaces, mosques, and forgotten synagogues, exploring the multicultural past of Podlachia. But the journey takes a somber turn as they reach a remote Tatar cemetery where recently buried graves belong not to local families, but to Muslim refugees who died crossing the Belarus-Poland border. What begins as a historical exploration ends in a confrontation with Europe’s present-day borders—and the people lost along the way. Visit the website for more details, maps and photos: tatarpodcast.eu/episodes/episode-3-the-cemetery/

  7. 07/08/2025

    2. The Tourists

    Ewa and Maurits travel to Kruszyniany, a quiet village on Poland’s eastern border—and the heart of the country’s Tatar heritage. What they find is part cultural revival, part tourist attraction. Over meals, mosque visits, and long conversations with local Tatars, they uncover stories of resilience, memory, and unexpected religious traditions. What does it mean to preserve identity in a place where Islam blends with local customs—and what happens when tourists become part of that story. We ask ourselves to what extent the Islam practices of the Tatars are influenced by Catholicism, and pose this question to professor Drozd who comes with a surprising answer. Visit the website for more details, maps and photos: tatarpodcast.eu/episodes/episode-2-the-tourists

  8. 06/30/2025

    1. The Warrior

    In this opening episode, we begin our journey with the legendary trumpet call in Krakow and the story that frames the Tatars as ancient invaders. But the truth is far more complex. Hosts Ewa Górska and Maurits Berger trace the history of Tatar warriors who became part of the Polish nobility and military tradition. Along the way, they visit a mosque in Gdańsk, meet a Turkish imam, and reflect on what happened to Poland’s Tatar Muslims—and where to find them today. tatarpodcast.eu/episodes/episode-1-the-warrior

  9. Trailer

    Trailer

    Join hosts Maurits Berger and Ewa Górska as they introduce Tatars in Poland—a podcast exploring the rich, six-century history of Poland’s Muslim Tatar community. In this series, we travel across the country to meet Tatars from all walks of life, uncovering stories of faith, heritage, and identity in a largely Catholic society. This trailer sets the stage for a journey into one of Europe’s most overlooked yet enduring Muslim communities.

Trailer

About

Join us on a podcast journey into the rich and often overlooked world of the Tatars in Poland—a Muslim community with over six centuries of history in the heart of Central Europe. Hosted by Maurits Berger, professor of Islam and the West at Leiden University, and Ewa Górska, socio-legal researcher at the University of Wrocław, this podcast explores the cultural heritage, everyday lives, and religious practices of Polish Tatars. Together, we travel across the Polish landscape meeting Tatars from different backgrounds and discovering stories that reveal their past and present.

Information

  • Creator
    Ewa Górska, Maurits Berger, Tostanki.pl
  • Years Active
    2025
  • Episodes
    9
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Ewa Górska, Maurits Berger, Tostanki.pl
  • Show Website
    Tatars in Poland: Adopted Homeland