Bronislawa Raczkiewicz was born April 1, 1918 in Bay City, Michigan

My grandfather Anthony Raczkiewicz and his 1rst wife Klementyna Golebiowska had a daughter,Bronislawa, on April 1, 1918 in Bay City., Michigan I am not sure why in Bay City instead of Grand Rapids -- I think his first wife Kkementyna had family there. (By the way--her mother’s maiden name is Roczniak.) Additionally, the priest that married Anthony and Klementyna at Sacred Heart Church in Grand Rapids, had previously been in Bay City. Bronislawa’s mother died three days later of complications of childbirth, in Grand Rapids Michigan. Their child Bronislawa died a few months later (July 12) at three months 12 days old. She died in Blodgett Children’s Home in Grand Rapids, which was some sort of children's hospital. She died of congenital heart disease. She was under the care of a physician for the previous month. Image: Mohammed Tawsif Salam, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

A Little Family History Humor

Apolonia Travels From Pennsylvania to Michigan and Loses Her Citizenship

While their home was of modest value, Anthony and Pauline Raczkiewic (my grandparents) took pride in the contributions they made in the development and continuation of their church and in helping family and friends. She helped others in the Polish American community to get needed benefits, arrange emigration from Poland and solve problems of daily living for people of little means and a language barrier. She lent money, wrote letters, read documents for people and even went to court with them. At least once, she needed to go to court for her own interests. Pauline’s trip to court for herself was to regain her US citizenship that she lost without ever leaving the United States. Pauline was born a United States citizen. “Apolonia“ was born on April 23, 1904, in Oil City, Pennsylvania, to Anna Agnes Barsch, age 21, and Walter Eugene Skrobat, age 30. Her parents had both been born in Poland but she was born after they came to the United States. Appallonia (spelling on the document) was baptised at the Church of Saint Joseph, 35 Pearl Avenue, Oil City, PA on April 24, 1902 after being born the previous day. Her sponsors were John Barzzcz and Anna Szczepanik. John was probably related to her mother. Pauline never traveled outside of the United States and in fact the farthest trip she made was from Michigan to Pennsylvania. She traveled when she was a young woman from Oil City to Grand Rapids with a friend and never went back. She met and married Anthony Raczkiewicz while on the visit. The short version of the story is that her mother was difficult to get along with and expected her to take care of the family’s many children. I recently learned that her parents had 13 children. At least five of them have never been heard of by a relative that lives in Oil City so they likely didn’t live past childhood. Pauline’s mother was still having children with her sister Jane born on June 3, 1922, in Oil City, Pennsylvania, while Pauline was already married and had one living child. Knowing more about this trip to Grand Rapids and how Pauline and Anthony met would also make for a good story. So how could a woman born in the United States and who never left the United States lose her citizenship? The answer lies in a little known law. American women who married between 1907 and 1922 lost their American citizenship if they married an “alien” even without leaving the United States. This was because of the Act of March 2, 1907. Women became the citizens of the country of their husband--obviously this was during a time when women did not have a lot of rights. Since Anthony was an “alien” when he and Pauline married in 1920, she lost her citizenship due to the then current law which didn’t change for many years. He began the process of applying for citizenship October 7, 1921 and was at the stage of “First Papers.” (And there is no evidence that he completed the process. When I sent away to the National ARchives for his naturalization paperwork, the only thing I received was his registration as an “alien” in September, 1940. An attempt was made to give American women who married foreigners back their rights. The Cable Act of September 22, 1922 was repealed so anyone married after that point would not lose their American citizenship by giving women equal citizenship and nationality rights. Unfortunately, this didn’t solve the issue for women previously married like Pauline. Another revision in 1931 corrected more problems. The Act of June 25, 1936 allowed widowed or divorced women to repatriate -- all others had to go through the entire naturalization process. Again, this version did not help Pauline since she was married to her husband and he was still alive. Finally, the Act of July 2, 1940 changed things again so that all women who had lost citizenship by marriage could repatriate regardless of their marital status. An Oath of Allegiance was all that was required with no need for a no declaration of intention. On March 30, 1943, Pauline took the “Oath of Allegiance to the United States under the Act of June 25, 1936, as Amended and Form of Such Oath” in the Western District of Michigan (Southern Division) Court of the US in Grand Rapids, Michigan. At the time they still lived at 501 Milwaukee NW and Pauline was a 40 year old housewife who had not been a citizen for the previous 23 years. (As those of you who knew my Grandma’s tendency to change her age, I had to calculate her age several times before I could make this statement.) Because Pauline had married in 1920, she lost her citizenship. Many women were unaware of this situation and there is no way to know how or when she figured it out. They did receive an English and Polish newspaper regularly and participated in activities at the halls for Polish Americans. It wasn’t until 1940 when the laws had changed that she would have been able to fix it. This helps to solve the mystery of why among the small amount of records I found, that there was an Oath of Allegiance to the United States signed by my U.S, grandmother. It didn’t make sense to me why she needed to take an oath when I found it. This was one of the early stories that really hooked me in to learning more about my family history.

Wojciech Kurkiewicz was born March 29 1891

Wojciech Kurkiewicz (1rst cousin 3x removed )was born 29 March 1891 at 3:00 in the morning. His parents were Ignacy Kurkiewicz, 40, townsman of Tomaszow and Antonina nee Czarnopys, 20. (They are my new-found relative Mike Liszewksi’s great grandparents.) They had 11 children -- all but two made it to adulthood. The declarants were Walenty Lisikiewicz, 40, & Antoni Kenke, 30, both townsmen from Tomaszow Lubelski. The Godparents were Walenty Liszewski and Katarzyna Raczkiewicz. Sadly, Wojciech died a month later on May 11, 1891.

Katarzyna Grabek died 28 March 1853

Katarzyna Grabek (my 3x great grandmother) died 28 March 1853 at around 50 years old. The cause of death is not given. There was The Great Famine in Galicia from 1853 to 1855. The witnesses were Jakob Raczkiewicz, 29 and Josef Sidor, 36. She was born in Laszczowka but had lived in Majdan Gorny for the previous 31 years after she married her husband Lukasz Grabek. They had six children at least. Their youngest was ten years old when Katarzyna died but it doesn’t appear her husband remarried. Her parents were Antoni and Dorota Krawczyk. ********** The image is of a funeral in Galicia in 1882. Image: By Teodor Axentowicz - http://www.pinakoteka.zascianek.pl/Axentowicz/Index.htm, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12546957 ********** https://europebetweeneastandwest.wordpress.com/2015/06/19/an-austro-hungarian-tragedy-the-kingdom-of-galicia-lodomeria-part-two/ ********** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Famines_in_Austrian_Galicia ********** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Galicia_and_Lodomeria **********

Palm Sunday & Other Easter Traditions

Tomorrow is Palm Sunday. You can read about it and other Easter traditions from Poland. https://polishshirtstore.com/blogs/blog/happy-easter-in-polish Autorstwa LeCornichon 02:25, 27. Aug. 2007 (CEST) - Fotografia własna, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18987182

Antoni Dominik Died as a Beggar

A beggar died at 10 o’clock on a Saturday night in the village of Majdan Górny on April 25, 1854. . His name was Antoni Dominik (my 3rd great uncle.) He died at the young age of 40 in the village in which he was born. No cause of death is given in the record. Going on at the time in 1854 there was cholera in Galicia and famine from 1853-1855 in Galicia -- the Great Famine. Antoni was a widower. His wife Barbara died 12 years early.When he married at age 24 he worked as a peasant but for some reason was not able to work in that capacity when he died at age 40 and was listed as a beggar (zebrak.) “Begging (also panhandling) is the practice of imploring others to grant a favor, often a gift of money, with little or no expectation of reciprocation. A person doing such is called a beggar or panhandler. Beggars may operate in public places such as transport routes, urban parks, and markets. Besides money, they may also ask for food, drink, cigarettes or other small items.” Four days after he died, the informants, Marcin Karwan ,33 and Jakób Ziamek ,47 , both peasant farmers from Majdan Górny, went to Tomaszow Lubelski on Wednesday and registered the death at 8 o’clock in the morning. His parents were Tomasz and Regina Dominik, who were deceased. They had been peasant farmers in Majdan Górny. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Begging#Poland Image: Chris from Poznań, Poland, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

A Little Family History Humor

https://www.facebook.com/TwistedTwigsGenealogy/photos/a.572131016185551/3740583102673644/

Katarzyna Grabek died 28 March 1853

Katarzyna Grabek (my 3x great grandmother) died 28 March 1853 at around 50 years old. The cause of death is not given. There was The Great Famine in Galicia from 1853 to 1855. The witnesses were Jakob Raczkiewicz, 29 and Josef Sidor, 36. She was born in Laszczowka but had lived in Majdan Gorny for the previous 31 years after she married her husband Lukasz Grabek. They had six children at least. Their youngest was ten years old when Katarzyna died but it doesn’t appear her husband remarried. Her parents were Antoni and Dorota Krawczyk. Image: By Teodor Axentowicz - http://www.pinakoteka.zascianek.pl/Axentowicz/Index.htm, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12546957

Theresa (Kufta) Parkansky--A New Found Relative

I am very excited that I have found living relatives of my grandfather’s sister Marion who moved to Muskegon from Poland, a few years after her brothers came to Grand Rapids, MIchigan. Theresa (Kufta) Parkansky (my 1rst cousin 1x removed) was her youngest daughter. I will let her introduce herself: “My name is Theresa kufta Parkanzky. I am 85 years old and live in Van Wert, Ohio. I grew up in Muskegon, Michigan. I graduated from high school and went to college in Detroit. I graduated from Mercy College with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 1957. I married in 1958 and had 6 children: Daniel, Marie Halloran, Karen Vogler, Connie Snyder! Paul David, and John. My husband Ernest passed away in 2011. I had 2 sisters, Wanda Kozicki and Irene Mastee -- both deceased. I remember as a child going to my uncle's home and as I recall his name was Tony and his brother was Joe? Nothing was ever discussed re my mother Mary’s background. My memory may be foggy and unfortunately my sisters are gone and may have had more information.” Theresa is my mother Shirley (Raczkiewicz) Longwell's first cousin. My Mom is also 85 years old and has some similarities in her story: She went to X-Ray school at St. Mary's Hospital in Grand Rapids, Michigan and married in 1957. She and my Dad (Roy Longwell) had three daughters, me, Linda, and Lori. Shirley remembers visiting the Kufta house in Muskegon. She can only remember one time and has no idea how she got there since her parents did not have a car. She remembers going to a baseball game with their family. She recently remembered that Frank and Mary came to her wedding.

Holy Cross Cemetery

Burials in my family at Holy Cross Cemetery in Grand Rapids, Michigan span over 100 years. The last family member buried there was Thomas Peterson (my brother-in-law) in 2019. The first ones were Klementyna (Golabiowskia) Raczkiewicz (my grandfather’s first wife) and Bronislawa, their child in 1918. My Mother (and others) still tend to family gravesites in the cemetery. It was founded as the Polish Catholic Cemetery. The cemetery is pretty large, at 55 acres. It is located next to West Catholic High School, one of two Catholic high schools within the city of Grand Rapids. I grew up within walking distance of this cemetery. It is one of five Catholic Cemeteries run by the Diocese of Grand Rapids. One of the most notable people buried at Holy Cross was a Hall of Fame professional boxer known as the “Michigan Assassin.” He was born 1886 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, to a Polish immigrant family and raised in West Michigan. He had his first professional fight in 1903. By 1910, his final total was 54 wins, 49 by knockout, with 4 losses and 4 draws. He was worn out from a fighting style that was fierce. He was murdered the same year, possibly by a jealous boyfriend of a woman he was involved with. His body was returned to Grand Rapids for the largest funeral ever in the city until that of ex-President Gerald R. Ford. Jan Raczkiewicz (my great uncle) was living in the Polish westside for a few months at the time period of this funeral. There are still mysteries to solve related to people buried in this cemetery. For instance, I recently had the pleasure of meeting sisters Joan Kessler and Susan VandenBerg. They are related to Andrzej Dubiel on his Dubiel side. I am related to Andrzej on his Raczkiewicz side. Anna and her husband Walter Roczniak, settled in northern Michigan after immigrating from Poland. They eventually ended up in Grand Haven, Michigan. There are six Dubiels buried in Grand Rapids -- are they related or is it from a different family? Also, there are a few Raczkiewicz that I do not know who they are and I can’t find my grandpa’s oldest brother here or anywhere else. They have a Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Holy-Cross-Cemetery-Mausoleum/115825171771369 Here is a link to search records within the cemetery: https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/738/holy-cross-cemetery

A DIFFERENT Joseph Raszkiewicz Died March 22, 1967

It was logical to check for my relatives at Holy Cross Cemetery, the Polish Catholic Cemetery in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It is near where I grew up and I have been there often when family members were buried there. I did find some people with similar names that do NOT seem to be related. For instance, on this day (March 22) in 1967, a 59 year old Joseph Raszkiewicz died. This is NOT my great uncle Joseph who died May 17, 1971 at age 80. Additionally, Infant Raczkiewicz was born and died November 4, 1920. I thought this child was my grandparents but I found out the parents were Maguesz & Agnes Raczkiewicz. It is likely the name is Matuesz but someone had trouble reading it. I do not know who these people are. A Wincenty Raczkiewicz died March 26, 1920. He was the son of Thomas Ratkiewicz and Petronella Dryziecz and married to Sophia. Another set of people I do not know. There was a John Roszkiewicz who died July 10 1923. I thought he might be my grandfather’s oldest brother but his parents were Joseph and Julia nee Velach from Czechoslovakia.

Franciszek Eifler (1rst cousin 4x removed) born March 22, 1841

I don’t share the births and deaths of many of the “cousins” but this one shows the connections between the families I have met doing family history. Franciszek Eifler (1rst cousin 4x removed) born March 22, 1841 at 3:00 in the afternoon in Tomaszow Lubelski. His father Jan was a 26 year old shoemaker. His mother was Apolonia nee Kurkiewicz (my 3rd great aunt.) One witness was Krzystof Bender,33 who was a colonist from Rogózno Colony. (Remember the Eifler’s ancestors are related to new found relative Curt Wolf and were part of the people who came from Germany as colonists in Rogozno.) The other witness was Antoni Roczniacki ,41, farmer from Tomaszów Lubelski. (By the way, my grandfather’s first wife Klementyna had Roczniak for her mother’s maiden name. The godparents were Krystof Bender and Ewa Kurkiewicz (my 3x great grandmother.) Sadly, Franiszek died on 4 July 1841 at 4:00 in the morning at less than four months of age. Franiszek’s grandfather Antoni Kurkiewicz, 56 (who is my 4x great grandfather) went with his father Jan Eifler to report the death. I just wrote about Antoni's death two days ago--he died 11 years after this grandson was born and died.

Rogozno Part 2: From Curt Wolf

Why would this group of Germans move east? (George Eiffler was Curt Wolf’s 5x great grandfather) At the time of George Eiflers arrival to Poland in 1784, both the land in Germany and Poland was ruled by the Hapsburg Dynasty of the Austrian Empire. To extend their wealth, the Hapsburgs wanted people to settle these empty lands to the east. There was a notable nobleman in Poland’s history named Andrzej Zamoyst who worked a deal with the Hapsburgs to have these families come live on his estate. The Emperor paid for their travel, new housing, livestock, and many other things. George Eifler, who lived on less and poorer land in the foothills than the offer in Poland figured this was a much better situation so he went for it. None of the “colonists”, as they were called, were forced to go but went freely for their own economic advantage. Each colonist family signed the contract along with Zamoyst and a representative from the Hapsburg family. According to the contract, George received 40 acres to lease with his family The actual contract . . . is a fascinating read of a “do it yourself commune of the 18th century”! Andrzej Zamoyst was well respected, holding one of the highest positions in Poland. He was considered a great man of integrity, was influenced by the enlightened principles that gave birth to America, and was the first of the large landowners in Poland to create positive reforms in the abusive Serfdom system. It is nice to know that our ancestors enjoyed some of these reforms. This contract was for the most part honored by many families until the early 1900s although some released themselves from the contract over time. The Russians honored it when they took over the area from the Hapsburgs in 1815 but it was totally disregarded when Russia turned communist. Finally, to keep these “family writings” within reasonable length, I will end with a paragraph summarizing the contract done by a descendant of the Thor colonist family. More on the Eiflers next time before we get to the Niedzwiedzki side. Curt Contract Summary: It was December 1784, when the Thors came to Zamość with representatives of, among others of the Klaudel families (Claudel spelled at the time), Gryn, Sprenger, Belz, Müller, Albinger, Pfeiffer, Lambert, Szmidt, Tur, Altmajer, Eifler, Bender and others. Among hundreds of colonist families, 90 were farmers, the rest were craft families. Among them was a blacksmith, carpenter, carpenter, miller, tailor, shoemaker, fisherman, beekeeper, stonemason, and nail builder. Settlers were settled in various places of the Zamość Ordinance. Eight families in each of the following colonies: Białobrzegi, Huszczka, Płoskie, and Zamch. Six in the Brody Stare colony, five in the Rosary colony, nine in the Korchów colony, 10 in the Rogóźno colony and 12 in the Sitaniec colony. On February 28, 1785, at the Zamoyski estate office in Zamość, the ordinate Andrzej Zamoyski signed a contract with German settlers. Zamość contract. 100 colonists (including four illiterates) and a representative of the Austrian authorities signed it. The contract concluded for eternal times, precisely defined rights and obligations in 44 points. He normalized that every farming family would receive from the ordinance in a designated colony 30 morgas (40 acres) of land for development, including the arrangement of an orchard, vegetable garden and meadow. He warned that artisans could not have more than 15 morgas so that they would not neglect their profession. Within 2 years, the ordinate undertook to build a residential house for the colonists, consisting of a large room, a chamber and a kitchen with a brick oven and a chimney, which led to the roof. Covered with straw and a wooden floor in living quarters. Each farm was to have a wooden stable for 8 cattle and a granary for grain at the cost of the ordinate. Each settled family was to receive, in proportion to its land, in the first spring of settlement 2 horses, one gelding and one mare, 2 draft oxen, 2 cows and 1 sow, all of the best species. And also 1 iron forged wagon, iron plow, 2 wooden harrows with iron teeth and an iron shovel. The value of dead and livestock was to be returned in six installments over a period of six years, starting from January 1791. The contract regulated the issues of farm inheritance, compensation, obtaining wood for fuel from ordinance forests, courts, rents, taxes, settlements, and fortunes. He stipulated that in the event of neglect, rascality, bad will, destruction of the farm by the settler or rent debts, the ordinate may remove the colonist without compensation.

Antoni Jozef Kurkiewicz Died March 20, 1852

The record of the death of Antoni Jozef Kurkiewicz (my 3x great grandfather) is cool for several reasons. He is only the 2nd person with a middle name that I have found so far. Also, his son Jozef (my 2x great grandfather) signed the record and there are very few records signed by anyone other than the priest. Also, when I originally received this record, I found out his parent's names so it helped me work one more generation back in that line. There are 16 people in this generation and I have found parents for eight of them. Antoni Jozef Kurkiewicz died March 20 1852 at 7:00 in the morning in Tomaszów Lubelski. The cause of death is not given. A cholera outbreak was going on in Poland at the time. He was 67 years old and his wife Marianna (nee Kiszczynska) had died six years earlier. He worked as a shoemaker. He was the son of Marcin Kurkiewicz and Franciszka nee Rzeczycki. His son Jozef, age 37 and his son-in-law Jan Kaminski, age 23, both farmers from Tomaszów Lubelskie. went two days later to report the death.

Walenty Grabek Died March 19 1812

Walenty Grabek (my 4th great grandfather) died 19 March 1812 at 6:00 in the evening. He was only 44 years old. He died in Górno in house number 11. He was married but his wife's name is not listed in the death record. But one of the witnesses -- Marcin Walewender -- was her brother. The other witness was Jan Prsybysz. They were both his neighbors. I have only found two children for him and his wife Teresa Walawender -- Lukasz (my 3rd great grandfather) and Zofia. Eleven month after his death, his widowed wife Teresa re-married (to Grzegorz Lebiedowski.) Her husband’s death is listed in this marriage record except he is called Jozef -- not Walenty -- and the death is reported as January 1811 --not March 1812. Someone made an error in this record because later records when his children get married are clear that his name was Walenty. Teresa (my 3rd great grandmother) and her second husband Gregorz Lebediowski had one child Agnieszka.

Joseph Raczkiewicz (my great Uncle) celebrated his name day on March 19

Wszystkiego najlepszego z okazji imienin. (HAPPY NAME DAY) My great uncle Joe didn’t really know when his birthday was so he celebrated his name day on March 19. (It turns out his birthday was February 18.) My Mom remembers that it was celebrated on this day. The Michigan Death Index listed the March date since that is what the people reporting the death would think it was. I never knew this but apparently if you celebrated St. Joseph’s Day as your name day, there was a special dispensation for this. The normal Lent prohibitions were suspended for the celebration. Image credit: By Guido Reni - http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/r/reni/2/joseph_i.html, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1813919

Sabaudia youtube

Anthony Raczkiewicz (my grandfather) and his siblings were born in Sabaudia, near the city of Tomaszów Lubelski. This video will give you a glimpse of the village: “The very name of the village of Sabaudia reminds us exceptionally European. No wonder, because apart from Poles, it was also founded by foreigners, five Germans and a Dane. Until today, some residents have retained foreign-sounding surnames and remember their ancestors who came to this area in 1840 looking for their place. Today's inhabitants praise their town very much. They have good access to the city, beautiful views and a school. The Tomaszów Lubelski commune has made many investments for them: a new road or lighting are just two of many examples of investments, which often use European Union funds. It is also thanks to them that the Polish countryside develops, becomes more friendly to its inhabitants and more attractive to tourists and new settlers. While traveling through the Tomaszów Lubelski Commune, we will visit every town in this commune. We will show people who create it, the traditions that are cultivated there, monuments worth visiting and the quiet, idyllic life of the inhabitants of this wonderful region.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgJ50bNX5rw

Laszczow Used to Have Many Jewish Inhabitants

My Mother’s DNA included 4% Jewish which means it could be anywhere between 1 and 6%. If there is a relative or more that was Jewish, I have not yet found that out. Because Laszczow had such a large population of people who were Jewish, I wondered if there was any connection. There is a list of over a hundred Jewish households from this time period that lived in Laszczow and I do not recognize any of the names as surnames in our family. . http://chelm.freeyellow.com/laszczow.html ----------------------------- Laszczow had a large Jewish community, They made a living in trade of grain and craft and lived in the Market Square. There was a Jewish printing house. The Jewish population increased over the 19th century from 826 people in 1827 to 1,621 ipeople n 1897. At that point, Jews were over 90% of the population. In the 20th century, Laszcow was mainly Jewish. The area suffered many times from attacks from various sources. A Jewish surgeon, Alfrons Brawstedt opened a 30 bed hospital that treated men wounded in the November Uprising (1830-1831.) In 1920, the Russians attacked the town, harming and killing many people. Many fled and those that remained lived in poverty. In 1939 the Nazis occupied the town and over the next several years sent the inhabitants to slave labor and death camps. Few survived. On Christmas Eve, 1942, 75 Poles were murdered in retaliation for an earlier confrontation between several villagers and four armed German police officers. In 1944 the Ukranian Insurgent Army burnt down the village. -------------------------------------------- http://iajgscemetery.org/eastern-europe/poland/laszczow https://sztetl.org.pl/en/towns/l/713-laszczow/99-history/137619-history-of-community Image: Tomasz Zugaj, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons https://www.historiaregionu.org/posty-autorstwa-slawomira-litkowca?lang=pl article about 1942 75 Poles killed

Kazmierz Krawczyk (my 5th great grandfather) died March 16, 1823

Kazmierz Krawczyk (my 5th great grandfather) was a 75 year old widower when he died. He died March 16, 1823 at 1:00 in the morning. He was born in about 1748, His two sons, Wojciech and Bartłomiej, 30, went to report the death in Tomaszow Lubelski. They were both peasants. Kazmierz lived with his son Wojciech and Wojciech’s wife Rozalia when died in their house #10 in Łaszczówka. Kazmierz probably moved in with him some time after 1814 when his wife Rozalia (my 5x great grandmother) died in house #5, in the same village. Both his wife and his daughter-in-law were named Rozalia. Łaszczówka is a village about one mile east of Tomaszów Lubelski. It has about 1,000 residents. Family members lived there for several generations of Krawczyks. Image credit: http://niezalezna.pl/94988-samuel-laszcz-i-modna-fryzura-szlachty

US Time Change is March 14; Poland is 28 March

March 14 is the day of the time change in the United States. Poland’s date is March 28. We lose an hour of sleep because we set the clocks ahead one hour. While that sounds like no big deal, some of us struggle for almost a week to adjust to the change in sleep schedule. Apparently the first Monday after the time change there are more car accidents than is typical. There are proposals to leave us on Daylight Savings Time. Image: By United Cigar Stores Company (sponsor); artist unknown - Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, WWI Posters, LC-USZC4-10663 (color film copy transparency),uncompressed archival TIFF version (60 MB), Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1783933

Klementyna Gołębiowska (My Grandpa’s 1st wife) Was Born March 13 1896

Klementyna Gołębiowska (my grandpa Anthony Raczkiewicz’ first wife) was born 13 March 1894 at 8:00 in the morning. .She was born on the same day as her husband but two years later. Her death record has the wrong date but her husband was likely reporting it and the immigrants often didn’t know exactly when their birthday was. She was from the same area of Poland--she was born in the city of Tomaszów Lubelski and he was born in the nearby village of Sabaudia. Her father Wojceich, 35, was a blacksmith in the city. Her mother was 37 year old Katarzyna nee Roczniak. The witnesses were Ludwik Skibiński, 45 and Konstanty Kudlicki, 34, both from Tomaszow. Her Godparents were Ludwik and Antonina Roczniak. Her name is written various ways: Klementyna, Clementina

Anthony Raczkiewicz born March 13, 1896

When Anthony John RACZKIEWICZ (my grandfather) was born on March 13, 1896, in the village of Sabudia, his father, Jan, was 28 and his mother, Katarzna (nee Kaszucka) , was 24 years old. Jan was a peasant farmer and his wife had come from a family of furriers from the city. Their family already consisted of 5 year old Jan and 4 year old Jozef. Mikołaj Roczniak, 30 years old, and Andrzej Lisikiewicz, 23 years old accompanied Jan to report the birth of his son in the city of Tomaszów Lubelski. His Godfather was Mikolaj and the Godmother’s name hasn’t been deciphered in the record, which is written in Russian. The document was read out loud, and signed by the priest , because they could not read or write.

Klementyna Immigrates To the U.S.

In March of 1913, Anthony’s future first wife, 17 year old Klementyna Goleiowska, (my grandfather Anthony Raczkiewicz’ first wife) traveled to the U.S, six months after Anthony. She landed in New York with a final, planned destination of Grand Rapids, Michigan. She had a brother-in-law, Wicenty Zyzyk who was already in the U.S but the ship manifest is not legible enough to discern where he was living. She was a 17 year old servant girl traveling with a friend, Paulina Malec, a 17 year old farm hand. Also on the ship from the same home town of Tomaszow was Katarzyna Nadowornik , a 45 year old housewife and her children Feliska, 17, Katarzyna, 14 and Joseph, 11. Katarzyna was a witness later at Antoni and Klementyna’s wedding on 20 June, 1916. Klementenya left from Rottendam, Holland and arrived in New York on March 11, 1913. When I wrote this at the beginning of February 2020, I didn’t know if they knew each other In Tomaszow or met in Grand Rapids. Since then I have learned that someone with Klementyna’s maiden name was named Godfather for Anthony at his birth. When Klementyna immigrated from Poland, several people from Tomaszow were traveling with her and their destination was also Grand Rapids. Katarzyna Nadowomik, 45, a widow and her children Felika, 14, Katarzyna, 14, and Jozef, 11 were traveling with her. One of them ended up being one of the witnesses at the wedding --Catherine Nadwomik. The other witness was Anthony’s brother Joseph. Clementena’s sister, Marya Golebiowska, immigrated the same year as her, arriving August 5 1913. She traveled to Grand Rapids from Tomaszow with Stanislawa Kudlicka (and Anthony’s brother John married Frances Kudlicka.) (BTW, Klementyna’s mother’s maiden name is Roczniak. I recently had the pleasure of communicating with some of Andrzej Dubiels relatives--Joan Kessler and Sue Vandenberg. Their relative Anna Dubiel had immigrated to Emmett, Michigan. They had a picture of her and her family that I asked about. I also know that the family that Klementyna and my grandfather Anthony visited in Bay City, Michigan when their daughter was born, that the wife’s maiden name was also Roczniak. I am sure I will find more connections!)

Emigration from Poland

“In the early 1900s, steamship tickets for America cost between $30 to $35 for steerage or third class.” That would be about $792.67 to about $920.87 in current dollars! “Paying for their ticket was . . . a challenge. People had to save money for years to buy their tickets, or they borrowed the money from relatives. Personal items may also have been sold to pay the passage. “In a few cases, the father or a son went first to earn the passage for the rest of the household.” “Polish immigrants were prolific letter writers to their relatives in Poland.” Their letters were about their new life, encouragement to family members to join them, directions and recommendations on how to get to the port, what to avoid, how to survive, etc. Money for the voyage was often sent. “Immigrant ships were used to haul goods such as cotton, tobacco, and other raw products from America to Europe.” The companies began advertising to immigrants to fill their cargo holds for the return trip which was the least expensive way to travel to the United States. “If you were leaving home forever, what would you pack? Travel documents, clothes, tools (if the family’s livelihood came from a skilled trade), possibly a family Bible, family heirlooms, and necessary provisions for the trip. These items were typically packed in one trunk or perhaps a few suitcases. “The initial phase of the journey for the emigrant was the trip to the port.” The emigrants either took the train there or traveled by foot. They likely had to pass a border station where officials from the country they were entering, policemen and an agent of the steamship company would review papers and determine if they were healthy enough to enter. After this they re-boarded the train for the ride the rest of the way to the port. Some Poles chose to avoid the border stations but sneaking across the border could be dangerous and difficult. Once they arrived in the port, they either stayed in shipping company accommodations or found somewhere to stay until the ship was ready to leave. “Hopefully, the wait was short because the cost of the room and food would tax the meager funds that they needed to make a start in America.” “In the early 1900s, competition among the steamship companies for travelers leaving northern Europe brought about improvements.” Steerage cabins for 2 to 8 people included a bunk, a set, a washstand and more privacy. “Third class still included large compartments. These were occupied by single male passengers. . .” “The menu for third-class dining on a voyage that took place in 1912 included: Oatmeal porridge, fried tripe, bread, butter, marmalade, milk, tea and coffee for breakfast; Soup, roast beef with brown gravy, green beans, boiled potatoes, biscuits, bread, prunes and rice for lunch; Rabbit, baked potatoes, bread and butter, jam, coffe and tea for dinner.” ---------------------- ARRIVAL “After the immigrants had left the ship, they were suddenly confronted with crowds of people they could not understand. Attendants yelled commands in a strange language and pointed their fingers sharply to where they should go.” “They waited in long lines for their turn for processing and admittance.” “They knew that the inspectors might reject some of them, and they feared that family members could be separated if some were accepted and others rejected.” “The medical and legal examinations for the steerage passengers were efficient and quick but sometimes were done callously.” “Over the years about two percent of the arriving immigrants were turned back and returned to Europe.” “As our Polish immigrants stepped through the gate into America, they claimed their luggage and then exchanged their foreign money for U.S. dollars.” “The immigrant trains were crowded and uncomfortable, but the cost of the ticket was low, so the immigrants endured again to save what little money they had.” ---------------------- Border Crossing from Canada to the United States “When the train stopped at the border, U.S. inspectors boarded the train and collected the Certificates of Admission.

Battle of Tomaszów Lubelski

This video shows the beginning of the conflict that resulted in Franciszek Raczkiewicz’s (my great uncle) death four years later. It is about the Battle of Tomaszów Lubelski which occurred 18 September to 20 September 1939. According to the Youtube post, it was the second largest battle of the Invasion of Poland and also the largest tank battle of the campaign. It resulted in the surrender of Army Krawko on 20 September 1939. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCejwWM2N1E (link is active on the Facebook page)

Jan Raczkiewicz Died March 8, 1915

Jan Raczkiewicz (my great grandfather) died March 8, 1915 at 5:00 in the morning in the village of Sabaudia. Jan worked as a peasant farmer. He was only 50 years old when he died. The record does not give the cause of death. What was happening in the world around him? World War 1 was happening and “in the summer of 1914 fierce battles raged around Tomaszow Lubelski and a fire broke out there, destroying many houses. In the summer of 1915 the area was conquered by the Austrians and the Germans.” Austria was in the middle of a cholera epidemic. There was an outbreak of typhus that had just started in Russia.. Jan was the son of Antoni and Katarzyna (née Grabek) Raczkiewicz, who were both deceased. He left behind widow Katarzyna, née Kaszucka who was 44 years old at the time. “Marian Skurcz, 50 years old, Christian from Sabaudia, and Walenty Liskiewicz, 59 years old, townsman from Tomaszów, came and declared” the event to the officials. Their oldest child Jan, had left for the United States five years before and Anthony (my grandfather) and Joseph had left three years earlier. Jan had just been shot in front of his house a month before this in Grand Rapids, Michigan. . I wonder how and when the three brothers heard that their father had died. The six remaining children were between nine and 20 years old. The youngest child, Boleslaw, would have been nine years old (he is the grandfather of Tomasz and Jacek Rączkiewicz.) Their second youngest child Paulina would have been 14 years old (she is the grandmother of Andrzej Dubiel.) His wife Katarzyna lived another 29 years but did not remarry. As far as I can tell so far, Katarzyna had no living siblings. So far, I have only found one sibling of Jan and she was deceased by this time. But Katarzyna and her husband had a lot of cousins. This record was found and translated by Andrzej Dubiel 1/24/2021 https://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/pinkas_poland/pol7_00237b.html

Looking Back at World War II

Rotunda's gate. The temporary camp for the prisoners of Security Police. ***** I asked Andrzej Dubiel (my 2nd cousin) about family history during WWII. “My father didn't talk about it. My mother sometimes mentioned that her aunt's house was burnt by Germans and they had to run off and had to hide. It was in Sumin, a village near Sabaudia, located about 10 kom north of Sabaudia on the way to Zamość.” ***** Between November 1942 and March 1943, the Germans forcibly removed Jewish people from the area around Tomaszow Lubelski. They were taken to a camp in Zamosc and from there it was determined if their next step was slave labor or a concentration camp. Children were separated from their families. ***** I asked Andrzej what he knew about the Jewish community within the area. He told me, . “When I was younger I didn't realize that there lived so many Jewish here. The Germans destroyed almost all evidence of their lives. The synagogue was torn down, the cemetery was devastated and people forgot about them.” ***** The link about this part of polish history is active on the Facebook Page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_cleansing_of_Zamojszczyzna_by_Nazi_Germany ***** Here is an interesting website about Jews in Tomaszów.(issues even before 1943) https://sztetl.org.pl/en/towns/t/51-tomaszow-lubelski/99-history/138161-history-of-community ***** Image: By Aung - Own work, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1998069

Franciszek Raczkiewicz (brother of my Grandpa) Was Shot By Germans in the Rotunda in Zamosc

My Mom has a memory about hearing what her fatherś family was experiencing in Poland. She told me, “There were letters that came back and forth from Poland. Occasionally the relatives in Poland would send mushrooms to my Dad. What I remember is my mom said that Dad’s brother got shot or killed stealing his own corn for food. They were under siege to the point they couldn’t take their own food. That is all I know, not sure what brother it was. My mom wasn’t telling me that -- I am not sure who she was talking to and I heard the story. I was a kid at the time.” ************************************** I was curious to see if this story could be verified but I did not really know how to go about it. Recently, I read this account on the family tree of Andrzej Dubiel: (Janina Bender's testimony - my grandmother's on August 25, 2010.) The people who had been settled in Savoie, called Czarnuchy or Romanians, were given their fields and Poles were not allowed to harvest them. She was in danger of dying for harvesting her crops. Franek and his wife left for Łaszczów. After some time he returned to silently take something from the field. According to aunt Wana (report of August 25, 2010) he went for apples, potatoes, maybe grain and loaded them onto a wagon. He was caught under the statue. And then the grandmother's story: Franek loaded the car in the evening and left in the morning, but MINKA (I DON'T KNOW IF THERE IS ANY PERSON, AS MUCH AS I REMEMBER THIS) caught him at the bend near Bogdan, just like the road, and was arrested. There was an investigation and he was asked who was with him, but Franek did not give up anyone, for which he ended up at the Rotunda. Further Wanda's account: My mother (Frank's sister) used to visit him in Zamość. They read him the death sentence. He bit his fingers out of fear. He was shot. ***************************** I asked Andrzej about this and he told me the story was from the grandmother of Tomasz Raszkiewicz. She was married to Boleslaw, the youngest brother of my Grandfather. Andrrzej didn't know about this story before. He told me: My mom often said something about "czarnuchach". They were called "czarnuchy" because of their uniforms, but they weren't German soldiers, they came in order to take farms here. **************************** Franciszek died in 1943 at the age of 45. His mother died the following year in 1944 at the age of 73. His brother, Anthony (my grandfather) was a machinist at the time, living at 501 Milwaukee NW. He was two years older than his brother Francis. I wonder how and when he found out about his brotherś death. ------------------------- I attempted to understand what was going on in this time period in order to understand Franciszek’s experience of being forced to steal his own crops to survive and being shot in the Rotunda in Zamosc for it. I found an article that is about the German invasion in the area my family was from. It is written from the Ukrainian perspective. It sounds like after Germany invaded Poland in September 1939, German troops occupied the area. Ukrainian cultural activity did well under their regime and they resumed control of some churches which had become Roman Catholic,there was more use of their language and they had some positions of leadership. In 1942, the Polish underground fighters attacked the Ukrainians who retaliated. Whenever a country took over, they moved out many of the people living in the area and chose who would move in as settlers. “In 1943 the Germans began forcibly deporting the inhabitants of many Polish and Ukrainian villages in Zamość and Tomaszów Lubelski counties with the aim of resettling Germans there and undermining the popular base of the undergrounds.” The forcible deportations led to an increase in Polish resistance. **************** “On 3 September 1944 the Polish-Soviet authorities had signed an agreement in Lublin on the voluntary resettlement of Ukrainians living in Poland to Ukraine and of Poles living in Soviet Ukraine to Poland. The population transfer began in October 1944.” In this the Poles and Ukrainians were united in opposition but did not succeed.****************************************** From Wikipedia: 8000 people died in the Gestapo Rotunda camp in Zamość.[2] Nobody was judged for those crimes. During Generalplan Ost and Ethnic cleansing of Zamojszczyzna by Nazi Germany from Zamość Region Germans resettled 297 villages, about 110,000 Polish people, including 16,000 to Majdanek concentration camp, 2,000 to KL Auschwitz-Birkenau. 30,000 children were resettled. 4,500 Polish children from Zamosc Region deported to Germany in order to be Germanized[3] The gate which leads to the yard has the original doors with an inscription in German which reads: The temporary camp for the prisoners of Security Police. In German: Gefangenen-Durchgangslager Sicherheitspol. Last execution took place on 20 and 21 July 1944, when 150 people were shot[4]************************ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotunda_Zamo%C5%9B%C4%87 By Ziuteknowocz - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=66983474 Ziuteknowocz, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons Ziuteknowocz, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons By Ziuteknowocz - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=66945992

Where are you from?

I am learning how to ask and answer this question in Polish. POLSKA, GŁÓWNE MIASTA Skąd Pan / Pani jest? (where are you from? - formal) Skąd jesteś? (where are you from? - informal) Jestem z Krakowa. Jestem z Rzeszowa. Jestem z Opola. Jestem z Warszawy. Jestem z Nowego Jorku. Jestem z Ameryki. Jestem z Francji. Jestem z Japonii. Jestem z Hiszpanii. Jestem z Polski. Image: Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2964084

First Communion Shirley Longwell

I believe this picture is from the first communion of Shirley Longwell (my mother.) All of her sacraments took place at St. Adalbert Church, Grand Rapids, Michigan. She is pictured with her younger brother Ronald. I do not know who her sponsor was for this. Her Godparents at her baptism were Walter Swiegoski & Victoria Palczewski. I do not know who Walter Swiegoski was. Victoria was her aunt. She had followed her sister Pauline Skrobat to Grand Rapids and they both married and lived there. Shirleyś confirmation sponsor was the daughter of another sister of her mother from OIl City, Pennsylvania. Eileen (Schossler) Gabreski (my 1rst cousin 1x removed) was Shirleyś confirmation sponsor. Her mother Mary (Skrobat) Schlosser was the sister of Pauline Raczkiewicz (Shirley´s mother and my grandmother.) In the late 1940s, Eileen was a student at St. Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Indiana. She always had high aspirations--in her high school yearbook it says she planned to enter Temple University and study medicine. Instead of traveling back to Pennsylvania for school holidays, she would visit with her Aunt Pauline and family in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In this way, Shirley got to know her older cousin.

March

Check out the Facebook page Kids in the City to find out about Poland in March. https://www.facebook.com/kidsinthecity.poland

First Communion

My First Communion class picture was taken in front of St. Adalbertś Church. I was nine years old. My confirmation sponsor was my older cousin Yvonne Raczkiewicz. The saint I picked was Maria Goretti, an Italian martyr. I am suprised my card only says Maria because the teacher insisted I keep looking since Maria had already been selected by so many girls. I must have found a loophole by finding a different Maria. I remember being in the school library at big tables as we looked up saints in the books they had there. My only other memory of that library was the kids looking up swear words in the dictionary--not me of course or did I?