The Story of Piotr Raczkiewicz

Piotr was characterized by extraordinary honesty and warmth, as if he wanted to give his soul away.” This description by his nephew Eugeniusz Raczkiewicz describes the type of person Piotr was. Eugeniusz also remembered what he looked like and said that he looked like the pictures he has recently seen of older sibling Antoni. Antoni was 5’5” tall, 145 pounds and had brown hair and gray/blue eyes. ***** Piotr was born May 13, 1897 at 5:00 in the morning. Piotr was the fourth of nine children. His father Jan was 32 years old and still a peasant in the village of Sabaudia. His mother Katarzyna was 25 years old. ***** His father Jan, along with witnesses Michal Kielar, age 50, and Josef Kondra, age 30 reported the birth two days later in the town of Tomaszów, about two miles away from their village. The baptism was at 3:00 in the afternoon and his godparents were Michal Kelar and Antonina Kurkiewicz. The baby was given the name Piotr in honor of Saint Apostle Piotr. ***** Piotr was 26 years old when his younger sister Mary left for the U.S.in 1923 and listed him as her contact in Poland. ***** Piotr Raczkiewicz lived in the village of Podhajce near Łaszczów. Piotr married Józefa Szczupakowska. They worked as farmers. They had two sons: Jan, born in 1927 and Zdzisław Mieczysław, born in 1934. Time with his siblings was important to Piotr. After church, Piotr would often enjoy a small beer with sister Paulina and brother Bolesław. ***** Piotr lived in Łaszczów, a 30 kilometer horse-drawn cart ride on a bumpy road from his brother Boleslaw. Bolesław and his family would leave home at dawn and return late at night to travel the 30 kilometer (approximately 18 and a half miles) horse drawn cart ride over the road bumps and through the forest to work their own land and visit with Piotr. “The brothers met with great cordiality and joy” according to Eugeniusz. ***** Andrzej Dubiel believes that Piotr attended his older sister Maria’s wedding. It was about the year 1976 and he remembered that Piotr was very old then. In fact, Piotr would have died soon after. Piotr’s wife Józefa died in 1946. Piotr died 31 years later at age 80 on January 30, 1977 in Podhajce.