The Wysłouch family of the Odyniec coat of armswas one of the oldest Polish families in Polesie. Its family tree dates back to the 16th century. In the following centuries, the Wysłouchfamily was known in Polesie for its patriotic attitude, which did not prevent it from maintaining verygood relations with the local Belarusian peasants. The military turmoil and social revolts also painfully affected the Wysłouch family. The war wreaked havoc on Pirkowice, and the Bolshevik Revolution broke up this large family (eight sons and a daughter). One part (with the matriarch Seweryna) sat out the Bolshevik coup in Kiev, where they went to as part of the evacuation carried out by the Tsarist army. One brother (the eldest, Witold) stayed in ‘red’ Russia and never returned to Poland. The author focuses his reflections on the person of Seweryn Wysłouch, whom he considers to be one of the family’s outstanding representatives. This Polesie family was distinguished by a spirit of multiculturalism and an intellectual atmosphere at home, permeated with the spirit of Polish patriotism, religious and national tolerance. These and other noble qualities of this family were the main causes of its tragedy in 1939–1941; the Soviet authorities saw these features as posing a threat to the Stalinist totalitarian system. At the same time, the same features helped some members of this family to survive the red onslaught and to inscribe themselves permanently in the history of the Polish nation around the world. The new generation of the Wysłouch family is successfully continuing this beautiful tradition.