New Found Relative: Tomasz Raczkiewicz, an Opera Singer in Poznan, Poland

I have connected with a relative in Polish and he is an opera singer and actor! When Curt Wolf was sharing some information he had learned, he promised to forward a letter from someone he had connected with related to his trip. When Curt was on his way to Poland, he sent Facebook messages to people with the same last names as those that were in his family tree. He was amazed when he dug out the letter he promised to see if was from a Raczkiewicz since he knew that was the name of my grandfather. We quickly determined that Tomasz Raczkiewicz was the grandson of Boleslaw, one of Anthony’s (my grandfather) brothers. I was amazed to have confirmation of one of the siblings who stayed in Poland and also to find a living descendant who is still in Poland. Tomasz is actually my second cousin. To give an example in the language of levels of cousins, Sandy Spruit is my 1rst cousin and her children--John, Colette, Rachel and Heather--are my 1rst cousins, one time removed. I sent him a message and here is part of the response: “I am very happy to hear from you. My grandfather Bolesław is really your grandfather's brother. He lived in Sabaudia and died in a hospital in Tomaszów Lubelski at the age of 97. He is buried in the cemetery in Tomaszów Lubelski. He was a locksmith by profession, but worked most of his life as a farmer. He had two sons - the elder Eugeniusz, an engineer, and my father Mieczysław, who was a doctor of infectious diseases. My mother, Stanisława, worked with people with intellectual disabilities for most of her life and created several learning, care and work centers for them.” He let me know he is 47 years old, lives in Poznań and is an opera singer and actor by profession. http://raczkiewicz.com/ He has two brothers--Marcin died four years ago and Jacek, who is an IT specialist in Stockholm (who lived and worked in Boston for several years.) His sister Magdalena is a psychologist near Warsaw. He is raising three children--a boy and two girls. Tomasz knew about Marion who came to the US but did not know about Anthony or his brother Jan. Since our initial contact October 2, 2020 we have had the chance to “chat” on Facebook. Of course, we need to translate because he speaks and writes only in Polish and I speak and read only in English. Apparently one of his daughters can also translate for him. More information on the operas--check out the one he is in about hunting in Poland: https://www.facebook.com/zmuzykadoludzi/?ref=page_internal https://www.facebook.com/zmuzykadoludzi/