PL-trav 27232 961122 Tracing Your Roots in Poland. (travelogue)
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TRACING YOUR ROOTS IN POLAND
by Leonard Markowitz
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A JewishGen InfoFile
Recently, my wife and I travelled to Poland with ambitious plans to
visit archives, synagogues, cemeteries and Jewish foundations in eleven
cities and towns. This required many months of planning and preparation.
While we were already seasoned travellers who have travelled extensively
around the world, this trip was to be oriented toward genealogical
research, which made it quite different from all of the others.
PRELIMINARY HOMEWORK
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Five years ago, I began generating family trees for my wife's
family and mine. Both sets of grandparents were selected as the starting
points. Since one pair of my grandparents emanated from the Ukraine, the
trip to Poland involved tracing the ancestors of the other three pairs
of grandparents.
Phase I of my genealogical efforts was to determine and network all
relatives who ever lived in the US. This was accomplished in about three
years and included approximately 800 relatives. It was anticipated that
Phase II, the tracing of ancestors in Poland, would be a more difficult
task and that proved to be the case.
After the inspection and correlation of all available information
in this country, I concentrated on reviewing all pertinent metrical
documents at local Family History Centers (Mormons). This was an almost
blinding experience. Most of these excerpts on microfilm were
handwritten in archaic, practically illegible Polish. Fortunately, after
each grouping of these excerpts, there is an index of names with
paragraph numbers, which facilitates scrolling back to the indicated
paragraph which I then printed-out. What I was left with was a thick
file of these excerpts which required translation into English. While I
did attempt to translate these data using a Polish-to-English dictionary
and the Translation Guide by Judith Frazin, it became immediately
evident that I would not be successful at this effort because of the
illegible nature of the handwritten Polish script. Fortunately, various
Translators were kind enough to help with these translations.
Using the information derived from my research of available
documents on file at the National Archives, the Library of Congress and
many, many other sources in this country as well as the information from
the Family History Centers, I then turned my attention to obtaining
metrical information directly from Poland. This is where Judith Frazin's
book was a valuable tool. The information in the book enabled me to send
letters, in Polish, to the Polish State (National) Archives located at
ul. Dluga 6 in Warsaw, Poland. I reasoned that if I made an attempt to
communicate with that office in Polish, they would be more disposed to
reply favorably. While they did not have metrical records for all of the
ancestors sought, I was successful in tracing my father's ancestors back
to about 1816 in Piotrkow Trybunalski. In addition, they informed me
that there were no Jewish metrical records in the State Archives for
several of the my targeted shtetlach in what was formerly Galicia.
However, they forwarded a letter of permission for me to visit all
Regional offices of the State Archives in Poland.
After I had exhausted all avenues of approach in this country with
respect to tracing ancestors in Poland, I decided that it was time to
travel there in an effort to enhance the information which I already
possessed.
PREPARATIONS FOR THE TRIP
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The success of a trip such as this one is predicated upon an
element of luck and three factors; preparation, preparation and
preparation.
Read the Travel Books
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It is important to read the most current travel books describing
Jewish travel in Poland. Perhaps the best of these are "Jewish Heritage
Travel" by Ruth Ellen Gruber and "Poland's Jewish Heritage" by Joram
Kagan. Other information can be obtained from a plethora of other
sources. LOT Polish Airlines has an excellent brochure on Jewish travel
in Poland. Additional information concerning the location and the status
of Jewish cemeteries in Poland were obtained from Arline Sachs' cemetery
database and from Samuel Gruber, Director of the Jewish Heritage Council
of the World Monuments fund. In reciprocation of this assistance, I
filled-out questionnaires concerning the conditions of cemeteries
visited for the Jewish Heritage Council on my return from this trip
Communicate with People Who have Been There
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I received invaluable inputs about travelling in Poland from
members of JewishGen and others who had visited Poland recently. Take
advantage of this. It will preclude the expenditure of very precious
time on needless pursuits.
Determine the Logistics of Your Trip
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Prepare a personal brochure of your projected activities for every
day that you are in Poland. Indicate what you will be doing, where it
will be done and the time which will be allocated for that pursuit. Be
cognizant of the visiting hours at archives, synagogues and cemeteries.
These vary from place to place and may impact the sequence of your
travel.
Select a Good Travel Agent
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
While I, generally, do not use the services of a travel agency,
some people find it useful to do so. There are several, which are
located in New York, which specialize in arranging Jewish heritage
travel in Poland. LOT Polish Airlines will also arrange this type of
tour for you.
Perhaps the best tours can be arranged with Jewish travel agencies
in Poland. These include-
Our Roots, plac Grzybowski 12/16, 00-104 Warsaw, POLAND
Tel: 011-48-22-20-05-56
Jano-Tour, Sw. Filipa 5/5, 31-150 Krakow, POLAND
Tel: 011-48-12-33-61-46
Judaica Foundation, ul. Rabina Meiselsa 17, 31-058 Krakow,
POLAND Att'n: Joachim Russek Tel: 011-48-12-23-55-95
Consider using the telephone to communicate with these and other sources
in Poland. They are six hours later than EST, therefore, if you call at
6-8 AM, EST, the average cost of a call will be about $2.
Select LOT Polish Airlines
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I have travelled on just about every major and many minor carriers in
the US as well as many international airlines. I consider LOT Polish
Airlines as good as the best I have used. They are the only airline
which flies non-stop from Newark or Kennedy to Warsaw. LOT uses Boeing
767 aircraft and leaves and arrives on time, which is an unusual
occurrence with most other airlines. Perhaps the most attractive feature
involves packages which combine flight and land arrangements. If you can
arrange to fly there and return on a weekday, the cost is extremely
attractive.
The Guide
~~~~~~~~~
The most important consideration of a genealogical research trip to
Poland is the utilization of a capable guide. This is true even if you
are fluent in Polish. The rapport between an experienced guide and the
staff at the various archives and other facilities is invaluable. Guides
charge between $50 and $100 per day, plus the use of a car, which is
about another $50 per day depending on the mileage. In addition, if the
guide cannot return home each night, you are responsible for the cost of
his room and board.
Take a Tape Recorder and Camera
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I found it useful to use a small tape recorder and a camera to
record the events of trip. So much happens within a short time span that
important features of the trip can easily become forgotten without the
use of these tools. However, I don't recommend that you spend major
portions of your visit behind a camera or speaking into a tape recorder.
Many tourists overuse these instruments which diminishes the value of
the broader picture of where they are.
Assume a Positive Attitude
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My wife and I have an attitude that no circumstance can occur,
outside of a tragedy, which will spoil our trip. Do not allow minor
annoyances, real or imagined, to confuse or annoy you. If a mid- course
correction is necessary, then go with the flow.
THE ARRIVAL IN POLAND
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The non-stop flight on LOT, from Kennedy Airport to Warsaw took
seven hours. Always assume that you will lose a day flying to Poland and
another day on the return. This includes packing, travelling to the
airport etc. If you take LOT Airlines, a car will be waiting to take you
to your hotel in Warsaw. As I previously mentioned, LOT airlines is an
excellent carrier from every standpoint.
A car was supposed to be waiting for us at the airport to transport
us to our hotel. Someone had neglected to inform us that Warsaw had just
changed to standard time, which meant that is was 8 AM and the car was
supposed to arrive to transport us at 9 AM. No matter, when the LOT Rep
saw our dilemma, he immediately obtained a car for us, at LOT expense,
and we continued merrily on our way to the hotel.
The Hotel Forum, part of the Orbis chain of hotels, is located in
downtown Warsaw. The hotel was comparable to any commercial, first class
hotel in Europe. It was my plan to stay in Warsaw for three days, see
the sights and spend one day on a side trip to Przasnysz to inspect the
archives in that small town.
During our first day in Warsaw, we travelled via tram (trolley car)
to a stop near the Nozyk Synagogue, in the former Ghetto area. It was
Succoth and we attended services. Of course, as is the case with almost
every synagogue in Europe, the Nozyk schul was orthodox which meant that
my wife was required to be in the balcony with the rest of the women.
There were about twenty older men populating the sanctuary in addition
to Yale Reisner, Director of the Jewish Genealogical Office of the
Ronald S. Lauder Foundation as well as a couple visiting from the
Chicago area. We remained at the service for approximately one hour
during which time I was given the privilege of an aliyah on the Bima. I
might also mention that a Succoth celebration class was being held for
children at a Ronald S. Lauder school in a building next to the
synagogue. The class was being taught by Yale Reisner's wife. As we were
returning to our hotel, we passed the Menorah Kosher restaurant which
was also in the Ghetto area.
The next day we had breakfast with our guide, Krz, and we discussed
plans for our visit to Przasnysz that day. Our first stop was at
Poltusk, about half way to Przasnysz. Poltusk was a charming town and
the Regional Office of the State archives was located there. The
excellent rapport between our guide and the staff at the office resulted
in our obtaining several metrical records of families having the
surnames of interest to us. They recommended that if we were going to
Przasnysz, we should meet with Mariusz Bondarchuk who was the resident
maven on matters concerning Jewish genealogy and history there. We then
continued on to the USC (Civil Registration Office) in Przasnysz where
Mr. Bondarchuk was already waiting for us.
After obtaining more records at the USC office, Mr. Bondarchuk took
us on a tour of the town. It happened to be Tuesday, Market Day in
Przasnysz. street vendors displayed their wares in designated areas
throughout the town. As we walked, Mr. Bondarchuk described the history
of the Jews in that town and what Jewish life was like just before and
during the Holocaust.
Perhaps the most impressive aspect of our visit to Przasnysz was
the Jewish cemetery. During WWII, the Germans up-rooted all of the
tombstones from the Jewish cemetery and used them as paving blocks
throughout the area. After the war and at their own expense, the
Przasnysz Friendship Society and the citizens of Przasnysz attempted to
reclaim as many of these tombstones as possible. A 1000 square foot plot
was reclaimed on the site of the old cemetery and a monument was erected
in memory of the Jews who perished in the Shoah. This monument is
comprised of two large tablets (about 8 feet high), one inscribed in
Polish and the other in Hebrew. The common message is "In Memory of
Those Who Lived Among Us". Remnants of several tombstones are mortared
to the lower sections of the tablets, while other tombstones are
situated in the ground around the monument.
The following day in Warsaw included a more extensive visit to the
Ghetto area. The Ghetto was completely demolished during the Holocaust.
No walls remain to delineate the borders of what once was the temporary
home to thousands of Jews. There is large monument to the martyrs of the
Shoah in a plaza-like area at the entrance to the Ghetto. Other smaller
black granite monuments are situated around the periphery of the Ghetto
area.
We then visited the Jewish Historical Institute. This is a four-
story building which houses collections of Jewish artifacts from pre-
WWII Poland. On display were Torah ornaments, menorahs, kiddish cups,
tallaisim, and other items too numerous to mention. All of them were
elegantly and tastefully displayed.
On the fourth floor of the institute (everywhere we went in Poland
was located upstairs), was the office of Yale Reisner, Director of
Jewish Genealogical Research and Archives for the Ronald S. Lauder
Foundation. This is a one-man operation, charged with handling a
tremendous number of requests for help and advice from people around the
world who are seeking information about their ancestors. Yale showed me
a thick file of unanswered e-mail and regular mail which he just hasn't
had time to answer as yet. This was a particularly pleasant visit, since
it turned out that we were landsleute from the Wynnefield section of
Philadelphia. Unfortunately, the visit was limited to a half hour, since
two other people were waiting to also present their problems. Also
located in this building was an office dedicated to surveying the status
and condition of the various synagogues and cemeteries located
throughout Poland for the World Monuments Fund.
We then visited the Polish State Archives at ul. Dluga 6.
Bronislawa Witowska was not in, but we were able to discuss our
projected visit to the various shtetlach in what was formerly Galicia.
The one clerk in the office who spoke English reiterated that there were
no Jewish records left in the Regional Archives in Katowice, Nowy Sacz
and Krakow. However, she did agree that visits to the various USC
offices in these and other shtetlach were worth a try.
The next day we took the train to Krakow. Our guide had recommended
that we travel second class. There had been instances of train robberies
and travelling alone in first class would make us more vulnerable to
this type of crime. The trip was pleasant and took three hours. We
arrived at the Cracovia Hotel, which presented accommodations which were
quite adequate. I contacted Joachim Russek Director of the Judaica
Foundation and he invited us to an evening of song by an Israeli
vocalist. This performance was held on Friday evening, which was
somewhat surprising. The Judaic Foundation is housed in a very
attractive, modern building in the Kazimierz section of Krakow. We also
had an opportunity to meet the young man, Pawel, who was to be our guide
during the next several days.
On Saturday, Pawel and his driver collected us at our hotel and we
drove the 31 miles to Auschwitz. We had previously visited Yad Vashem,
in Israel, and the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. However, we felt
an obligation to visit the camp, to pass under that sign "Arbeit Macht
Frei" and to walk the walk. Our feelings during this tour would defy
description here.
Since there was a possibility that my grandmother was a resident of
Oswiecim during the latter portion of the nineteenth century, we visited
the Jewish Cemetery in that neighboring town. We were cognizant of the
restriction with respect to visiting a cemetery on Shabbat, but our very
strict schedule imposed this visit upon us. The cemetery is completely
enclosed by a wall. A sign on the gate indicated the location of the
caretaker and Pawel and his driver transported him to the cemetery. As
we entered the cemetery (an area I estimate to be about an acre), we
were impressed by it's good condition. There were an estimated 1000
tombstones, almost all in an upright condition. About 50 broken
tombstones were situated at the wall of the cemetery, but that was a
small number compared to the others. Two monuments were in evidence
which the caretaker claimed that he built. These monuments were
fabricated from broken tombstones and were tastefully designed. There
was an Ohel which contained about 5 graves of the Scharf family. The
cemetery was maintained in very good condition. The caretaker claimed
that the Germans had decimated the cemetery during WWII, but that it had
been completely re-built. It wasn't clear who paid for this or who paid
the salary of the caretaker.
The next day was Sunday. It was our intention to take a R&R day
off, rent a car and visit Zakopane, a ski resort in the Tatra mountains
(part of the Carpathians). However, the auto rental agencies were
charging outlandish prices for car rentals and we decided to tour the
Kazimierz section of Krakow instead. Kazimierz is the old Jewish section
of Krakow. Located there are a number of synagogues and other buildings
of Jewish interest. The Remuh Synagogue is the only one that is still
conducting services. The others are essentially museums of what once
was. There is a Jewish Cafe and a Kosher restaurant owned by Sigmund
Nissenbaum, who we had the honor of meeting during dinner one evening.
Sunday is Market Day in Kazimierz. Dozens of street vendors display
their wares on blankets spread-out on the sidewalks. Most of the
merchandise is new wearing apparel of some type. Hundreds of people come
from all parts of Krakow and elsewhere to take advantage of these
bargains.
We then went to the central market square of Krakow. This was an
area about the size of three football fields. The square was bordered by
shops and restaurants. People come there to see and be seen. At any
given time almost any type of entertainment could take place at the
Market Square. Most of the larger European cities have a similar type
square at it's Centrum.
On Monday, we again met Pawel and his driver and we proceeded to
Luzna, a tiny village approximately 58 miles east of Krakow. My wife's
grandmother immigrated to America from this village in 1900 at the age
of fifteen. As one enters Luzna, there is a small cluster of buildings,
including the Town Hall, where the USC office is also located. The staff
at the USC office informed us that they had no Jewish metrical records,
but suggested that we try to find this type of information at the
rectory of the Catholic church. The Rectory was located about 1/4 mile
from the "center" of town, directly across from the church, which
appeared to be much larger and more elegant that a village of that size
would seem to warrant. At the Rectory, the Priest found two Jewish
family records with the Morgenstern surname, commingled with the Polish
records. While I was aware that Jewish and Christian records were often
commingled up to 1826, it was somewhat surprising to see that these
Jewish records indicated dates between 1895 and 1930. The Priest also
described the history of the Jewish community in Luzna prior to and
during the Holocaust.
The village also had a large school complex consisting of several
buildings. There were a few additional stores. These few buildings
comprised the entire commercial, religious and governmental life of
Luzna. Evidently, the village remained as small as it was when the
Morgensterns and Oliners lived there during the nineteenth century.
Since those families travelled to Gorlice, the closest large town 5
miles away, to pray in the Synagogue, attend Cheder and to shop for
food, it was the next stop on our itinerary for the day.
Gorlice is a good size city with an active business community. We
were unable to find Jewish metrical information at the USC office or at
the local Catholic church. The staff at the USC office recommended that
we visit the local museum as they possibly had some Jewish records.
Unfortunately, it was Monday and the Museum was closed. We then
attempted to visit the Jewish Cemetery at the edge of town, but after a
long hike to the top of a hill, we found that it was a Christian, not a
Jewish Cemetery. We later found out that the Jewish Cemetery was located
over the wall and just beyond the Christian cemetery, on a lower level
of the hill.
The next day, we travelled to Nowy Sacz, which is a large city in
the south of Poland. We were very successful in obtaining many metrical
records at the USC office. In addition, the staff volunteered to
reproduce all of the records of interest at no charge. We also visited
the Jewish cemetery in Nowy Sacz. The keys for the cemetery and the Ohel
were obtained from an old woman who kept the keys in a box outside of
her second floor apartment. The cemetery appeared to be about 2-3 acres
in area surrounded by a steel picket fence which was mounted on a low
masonry wall. There was no sign of graffiti or other vandalism anywhere
in the cemetery.
There were more than 500 tombstones which were all were erect.
However, most were made of sandstone or limestone and the inscriptions
on the tombstones were severely eroded. The few tombstones made of
granite showed much less damage by erosion. While there was excessive
vegetation (low ground cover type) in the first half of the cemetery,
the back half of the area indicated that the grass was mowed much more
frequently. It was in this portion of the cemetery that the Ohel was
located. We unlocked the Ohel and inspected the inside which was
maintained in a clean condition. As in the case with the Ohel in
Oswiecim, this one contained four graves. These Ohels were what we would
call family mausoleums rather than a structure built to house the
remains of a Tzaddik or scholar.
We then hurried our return to Krakow so that we could attend the
Simchath Torah services at the Remuh Synagogue. We arrived at 3:50 PM
and, unfortunately, the Synagogue had already closed, although the sign
in front indicated that it would be open until 4 PM. The cemetery
adjacent to the Remuh Synagogue was also closed. We then returned to our
hotel to prepare for the train trip to Czestochowa the next day.
Unfortunately, my wife fell while entering a restaurant for dinner
that evening. The painful injury to her knee resulted in the
cancellation of the last portion of our trip to Poland. I was able to
arrange for transportation back to Warsaw and an earlier flight back to
the US. On the last day in Warsaw, I again visited the National Archives
office at ul. Dluga 6. This time Bronislawa Witowska was in. While she
could not speak English, we were able to communicate in German. I
explained that, because of my wife's accident, we could not continue our
trip to the State Archives in Piotrkow Trybunalski, Czestochowa and
Katowice. She recommended that I submit a request, written by me in her
office, for a search to be made for specific ancestors in Piotrkow
Trybunalski. I did this and hoped that the information which might
result from this request would somehow compensate for the lost time due
to the accident.
The next day, we boarded the LOT Airlines flight which would take
us to Newark, New Jersey. We noticed that security was much stricter
than when we arrived. The reason for this was that the Prime Minister
and most of the Polish Cabinet were aboard enroute to the celebration of
the 50th Anniversary of the UN. The flight time to Newark was 10 hours,
compared to a 7 hour flight to Poland (possibly a jet stream effect).
After landing in Newark, we then had the task to transfer to Kennedy
where our car was parked, but that is another story for another time.
All in all, I considered our trip to Poland a success. I found some
ancestors and the relatives of others. Poland is modern and vibrant.
Pollution remains a problem, but as economic conditions improve so will
pollution control. There are 6,000 - 12,000 Jews in Poland, today. A
number of young Poles are now finding that they are descended from
Jewish grandparents, a fact kept from them during the Holocaust and
Soviet era after WWII. As the Soviet empire crumbled and the Solidarity
Movement carried the day in Poland, these children were told of their
Jewish ancestry for the first time. After the first shock of this, they
have become curious and sometimes enthralled with searching for the lost
Jewish culture that was once so much in evidence in Poland. These young
people are attending classes in Hebrew as well as in Jewish history and
culture. What is even more surprising is that many young non-Jewish
Poles, especially in Warsaw and Krakow, are also becoming curious about
a culture that no longer exists there. They too are attending classes to
investigate what has become, to them, the mystique of Judaism.
We found little evidence of overt anti-Semitism in Poland. There
were small swastikas scrawled on walls in several locations, but no more
or less than you would find in the US. We found the people to be
generally friendly, however very few can speak English or German.
Intra and inter-city transportation is excellent and the roads are
in good condition. As is the case in most countries in Europe and even
in Israel, most tourists are German, because of the very attractive
exchange rate between the German Mark and other currencies. There are
also hundreds of young Israeli teenagers who are visiting the land of
their ancestors. They receive curriculum credit for these visits.
In conclusion, I would highly recommend a trip to Poland whether it
is to research your ancestors, see the sights or to merely to visit your
ancestral shtetl. Go and enjoy.
---
Len Markowitz is Monitor of the Yizkor Book SIG on JewishGen and is the
President of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Philadelphia.
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