Obóz koncentracyjny

• Stutthof

 Concentration Camp                

                                                   

                                                     

                        Watchtower and gas chamber at Stutthof  November 2016
                                                               

Dedicated to my Grandfather's cousin-Josez Podsiadłowski-Prisoner #6783. The Stutthof Archives verified that he was amongst the first to  arrive at the camp on September 2, 1939. They were unable to verify 'why' he was arrested by the Gestapo  or when he 'left' the camp...it remains a mystery...The registrations of prisoners arriving in Stuttof began with the number 6600

On July 22, 1940 Jozef was admitted to the camp's hospital with a cellulitic infection of his foot.

The following are excerpts taken from various web sites.

"...Endlessly caught in a tug-of-war between Germany and Poland, the end of WWI saw the League of Nations come up with a hare-brained solution to the ceaseless bickering – it matched the city to neither suitor, instead assigning it the title of Free City of Danzig. Despite the large German speaking population, the country was in no condition to look after the population...giving it to the newly reformed Polish state was a gamble; would the Poles side with their Slavic brothers to the east and turn red? Anything was possible in this volatile post-war Europe, and the thought of Danzig/Gdansk – then a hugely important international trading route – falling into the hands of the communists was all too much. And so it was that Danzig/Gdansk became a semi-independent state, an answer that pleased neither Germans nor Poles...

On August 31, 1939, Nazi units dressed in Polish uniform infamously staged a mock attack on a radio tower in the German border town of Gleiwitz. Pictures of the victims (actually corpses of concentration camp inmates dressed in German uniforms) were flashed across the world, with Hitler claiming a provocative attack by the Polish army. The following dawn, Germany launched a strike on Westerplatte,.." 

https://www.inyourpocket.com/gdansk/World-War-II-in-Gdansk_73591f

• ...At the end of August 1939, the German pre-dreadnought battleship Schleswig-Holstein sailed to Danzig under the pretext of a courtesy visit and anchored in the channel 150 m from Westerplatte. The Germans had an SS-Heimwehr force of 1500 men led by Police General Friedrich-Georg Eberhardt and 225 Marines under Lieutenant Wilhelm Henningsen to attack the depot.

• The Battle of Westerplatte was the first battle in the Invasion of Poland and marked the start of the Second World War in Europe. Beginning on September 1, 1939, German naval forces, soldiers and the Danzig police assaulted the Polish Military Transit Depot on the peninsula of Westerplatte, in the harbour of the Free City of Danzig. The Poles held out for seven days in the face of a heavy attack that included dive bomber attacks.

• On the night of 3–4 September more German attacks were repelled. On September 4 a German torpedo boat T-196 (ex G196) made a surprise attack from the seaside...On September 5, a shell-shocked Sucharski held a war council and urged the surrender of Westerplatte, considering they were only supposed hold out for twelve hours..."

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Westerplatte

"...Both Germans and Soviets made every effort to place Polish people under their absolute command. To this end, they sought to eliminate the Polish intelligentsia and to deprive young Poles of educational opportunities. Universities and comprehensive schools were closed down, with only vocational schools’ being allowed to function. The enemy troops  arrested academic professors, pre-war social and political activists, artists, teachers, doctors and priests...

http://www.dublin.msz.gov.pl/resource/c965265f-f903-461b-a777-6256a0e7166e:JCR

The Nazi authorities of the Free City of Danzig were compiling material about known Jews and Polish intelligentsia as early as 1936 and were also reviewing suitable places to build concentration camps in their area... It was built in a secluded, wet, and wooded area near the small town of Sztutowo (German: Stutthof) 34 km east of the city of Gdańsk in the former territory of the Free City of Danzig. The camp was set up around already existing structures after the invasion of Poland in World War II, used for the imprisonment of Polish intelligentsia. The actual barracks were built in the following year by hundreds of prisoners enslaved in specialized commandos. Stutthof was the first camp outside German borders, in operation from 2 September 1939, and the last camp liberated by the Allies on 9 May 1945. More than 85,000 victims died in the camp out of as many as 110,000 inmates that were deported there".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stutthof_concentration_camp

• "...The first inmates imprisioned on September 2, 1929 were 1500 Polish citizens, arrested on the streets of Danziz right after the outbreak of the war...

                                                                                 

                                  Prisoner's sketch: the hanging of 2 young brothers in Stutthof

•  The inmate population rose to 6,000 in the following two weeks, ... Tens of thousands of people, perhaps as many as 100,000, were deported to the Stutthof camp including non-Jewish Poles and both communists and Jews from all of Europe..."

                                                                               

Prison log...Jozef Podsiadłowski,wheelright, born 6/7/1906 in Gross Lensk (present day Wiełki Lęck)

• In November 1941, it became a "labor education" camp, administered by the German Security Police. Finally, in January 1942, Stutthof became a regular concentration camp..."

• A crematorium and gas chamber were added in 1943, just in time to start mass executions when Stutthof was included in the Final Solution in June 1944. Mobile gas wagons were also used to complement the maximum capacity of the gas chamber (150 people per execution) when needed...

• Conditions in the camp were brutal. Many prisoners died in typhus epidemics that swept the camp in the winter of 1942 and again in 1944. Those whom the SS guards judged too weak or sick to work were gassed in the camp's small gas chamber. Gassing with Zyklon B began in June 1944. Camp doctors also killed sick or injured prisoners in the infirmary with lethal injections. More than 85,000 people died in the camp...

• When Russian forces moved into the areas close to Stutthof on 25 April 1945, those in control of the concentration camp forced the remaining prisoners to march to the coast and then commanded them to board river barges...On 5 May 1945, the day Denmark was liberated from German occupation during World War II, a barge with 370 starving prisoners from the Stutthof concentration camp near Danzig  was brought into Klintholm Havn... "

• Stuttoff held a total of 60,000 political prisoners from twenty-five nations and twenty-eight ethnic groups,.

In 2006 a sample of  soap archived at the International Court of Justice in The Hague was given for analysis to Andrzej Stołyhwo, an expert in the chemistry of fats from the Gdansk University of Technology in Poland. He concluded that some of the fat in the sample tested was of human origin. The sample of soap had previously been used as evidence in the post-World War II Nuremberg trials, but at the time the technology was unavailable to determine whether the soap

had been produced from human fat. The human remains used to make the soap were believed to have been brought from Bydgoszcz and Stutthof concentration camp.

http://auschwitz.org/en/museum/news/human-fat-was-used-to-produce-soap-in-gdansk-during-the-war,55.html

Somehow, Josef did indeed survive the war...

He died in 1977 and is buried in Gdansk.

http://www.cmentarze-gdanskie.pl/cmentarze/chapter_77037.asp?smode=2&p1oid=F1C2576C2E99437AB795FDA70BC19881

ONLINE RESEARCH

• BMDs  birth, marriage, death records

Poczekalnia, or "waiting room," is a collection of BMDs that have been photographed and are awaiting indexing by Geneteka. You may access the site - first click on "wejscie" or "entrance".

  :http://poczekalnia.genealodzy.pl/

http://metryki.genealodzy.pl/metryka.php?ar=13&zs=0644bd&sy=1906b&kt=1&plik=008.jpg#zoom=1&x=2402&y=193

Above is Jozef's birth certificate, June 20,1906, Klein Lensk in East Prussia. (today is Mały Łęck – wieś w Polsce położona w województwie warmińsko-mazurskim, w powiecie działdowskim, w gminie Płośnica, Poland) ...the document is written in German. 

Along the side the page are notations. They were later made regarding the birth of his 4 children-all of whom were born in troubled times in 'Danzig' (Gdańsk): Antoni Jozef -June 1936, Rzyard Franz -September 28,1937.  Teofil Ludwig- February 19, 1939. Martha Marie-Feb 18, 1843.

At the bottom are details of Jozef's marrying on  March 14, 1944 -a year after the birth of his daughter.

These notations imply that he was released from Stutthof- mid year 1942.

• Indexed Records 

• Geneteka

http://www.geneteka.genealodzy.pl/index.php?lang=pol

This database created by volunteers of the Polish Genealogical Society contains over 10 million indexed records. They are often times linked to digital images. Records are included from parishes across many regions of Poland. Mazowieckie (452 parishes) is well represented.  Warmińsko-mazurski (77 parishes-Wielki Lęck: marriages with scans 1872-1906)). Pomorskie (90 parishes including Gdańsk-I require later dated records). Access is free.  It is updated on a regular basis. Many times the index alone gives you the parent's names of your searched individual.

Eg-http://www.geneteka.genealodzy.pl/index.php?op=gt&lang=pol&bdm=S&w=14wm&rid=S&search_lastname=podsiadlowski&search_name=teofil&search_lastname2=&search_name2=&from_date=&to_date=

All of my blood relations are below underlined.

1884 Akt 10 Franciszek Podsiadłowski ,F-Frederich, M-Anna Gatacek (sic) Galązka. and  Rozalia Sobotka. F Jan. M-Anna Szczepanska,  Wielki Lęck

1887 Akt 6 Hipolit Tylicki, F-Kazmierz (sic) Antoni. M-Wiktorya Chodzińska (sic) Chadzyńska,  and Marianna Podsiadłowska, F-Jan  M-Anna Galązna (sic) Galąlzka,  Wielki Lęck

1887 Akt 3 Johann Karl Kozłoski. F-Jan. M-Gottlieba and Wilehelmine Podsiadłowska. F-Fredrich, M-Anna Galązka,  Wielki Lęck

1889 Akt 20  Teofil Podsiadlowski, F-Fredrich. M-Anna Galoska (sic) Galązka and Teofila Szinska. F-Mateusz. M- Maria Konopacka,  Lidzbark miasto

Marriages took place in the bride's parish.

Siblings- Franz, Marianna, Wilehelmine and Teofil Podsiadlowcy-Their father's name is actually-Johann Fredrich (Jan in Polish).

  

• IPN  Institute of National Remembrance

Institute of National Remembrance - Commission for Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish 

Nation... Division of the Institute archive collects, records, stores, develops, provides

and protects the documents from the years 1917 to 1990 crime and documents showing the facts and circumstances regarding the fate of the Polish nation in the years 1939-1990 and informing incurred victims and caused damage seems on the basis of their certified copies, extracts, extracts and reproductions of stored documents.

Wojewódzki Urząd Spraw Wewnętrznych w Gdańsku [1945] 1983-1990
Przyporządkowanie
Podzespół:	Wojewódzki Urząd Spraw Wewnętrznych w Gdańsku 1983-1990
Seria:	Materiały osobowe
Podseria:	Sygnatura V
Opis zawartości
Tytuł:	Akta osobowe funkcjonariusza UB/SB: Józef Podsiadłowski, imię ojca: Teofil, ur. 17-06-1906 r.
Daty wytworzenia dokumentów
Data początkowa:	1945
Data końcowa:	1968
Posteriora:	1975
Opis zewnętrzny
Forma fizyczna:	Dokumentacja aktowa Fotografia
Liczba tomów:	1
Liczba kart:	77
Informacje identyfikujące
Sygnatura IPN:	IPN Gd 214/1505
Sygnatura dawna (wytwórcy dokumentów):	5088/V, 5088/A
Sygnatura dawna (poprzednich archiwów):	591/g
Miejsce przechowywania
Nazwa archiwum:	Oddziałowe Archiwum Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej w Gdańsku

http://inwentarz.ipn.gov.pl/showDetails?id=3234326&q=podsiad%C5%82owski&page=1&url=[|typ=0]

 Źródło: Muzeum Stutthof w Sztutowie 

nazwisko	Podsiadlowski
imię	Józef
data urodzenia	1906-06-17
miejsce urodzenia	Lemks

uwięziony
rodzaj uwięzienia	obóz koncentracyjny
okoliczności zatrzymania	placówka kierująca do obozu:Gestapo Danzig
miejsce osadzenia	Stutthof
data osadzenia	1939-09
numer	6783
dodatkowe informacje	pobyt w szpitalu1940-07-22

http://straty.pl/index.php/en/szukaj-w-bazie

• BOOKS and FILMS

• The battle at Danzig has been the subject of two Polish films: Westerplatte in 1967, and the 2013 film Tajemnica Westerplatte (The Secret of Westerplatte)

• Balys Sruoga - Diev miškas (The Forest of Gods) describing the everyday life of this camp.

• Olstyn ARCHIVES

Katholische Kirche
Gross Lensk index 1906-1917
Zepol 367
Sygnaturia 42/367/0/79
Sekretariat@olsztyn.ap.gov.pl



Copywright 2017 NRCelleri
Information may be shared only in the pursuit of one's personal family history

Topolcza and WWII

Mass in the forest for the Podkowa squad

II wojny światowej 
Topólcza

Topólcza – wieś w Polsce położona w województwie lubelskim , w powiecie zamojskim , w gminie Zwierzyniec .

 A village in the administrative district of Gmina Zwierzyniec , within Zamość County, Lublin Voivodeship

The parish and village of my grandmother's birth in 1894.

I have memories of my grandmother packing LARGE boxes "for Poland" in the early 60's.  She filled them with clothing, while stuffing the socks with money.  A close friend, Mr. Nolan, would later drive her and the boxes to the post office in Morristown, N.J.

I have little doubt that the postmark on those boxes read: 'Topolcza'.  At the time I had no idea of the suffering the people, of this far away village, had endured.

Years later, my mother told me her aunt had witnessed
her husband's murder.  He had been shot, by the Germans, in the woods behind their farm house during WWII.

This page is dedicated to my un-named grand aunt and uncle.


Topólcza parish includes the rustic villages of Topólcza , Turzyniec and Wywłoczka

"...After the September campaign when "Zamoyskie" was occupied by Russia, it was the one of the first places where under ground forces were formed. Fighting there lasted long after the war - untill the mid 1950s.

In  the area of Topolcza- there was command centre of the "Podkowa" squad, the famous leader of second battalion of  Oddzialy Partyzanckie 9 regiment of infantry.

On November 18, 1942, German gendarmerie shot three Jews.  On Mach 3rd, 1943, the Germans killed 6 people from the Panas family; On May 10th, another 11 people, including two citizens of the village.

In June of 1943, in Topolcza, partisans killed the German informer Leon Niechaj who was from Błonie. On Dec. 10, in Topólcza, squads of gestapo and SS-responded to the partisan attacks on German colonists in Źrebce- 9 prisoners brought from Zamosc.
Some of Topólcza's citizens were taken for forced labor to Germany, others were taken to concentration camps.

Mar. 10, 1944,  two partisans from the squad of "Podkowa" fought against two Russian liberation army who were robbing in Topólcza.  One RLA member was killed. In March that year, a mine exploded on the road, killing one and hurting eye of other man.

People were threatened not only by Germans.  A lot of bad things happend because of gangs , especially in 1942/43. People feared sleeping in their houses (especially in Topólcza), they slept in forests, haystacks etc.

Because of fear, people never informed police or gendarmerie about therobberies. In Feb of 1943, bandits attacked a wealthy farmer Józef Świstek. He was beaten so hard and was in such a bad state, the  family had to drive him to hospital in Szczebrzeszyn. Another citizen of the village Władysław Małysz, after being attacked and his household burned, moved to Szczebrzeszyn.
Major victim of the gangs was teacher Piotr Wachowicz, between June 1942 and end of January of 1943 he was robbed 84 times, and robbers broke through the floor in search of valuables  (my-interjection--maybe in search for proof of underground actions?).

After that people asked the underground to cease. In June of 1943 companies of "Norbert", "Podkowa" and "Kompania Warszawska" removed bandits from forrests near Topólcza.  Another case are moral choices of people during occupation,especially when the  war was coming to an end. In Jan of 1945, two people running from the army from Bialka died. On of them it is said had a couple of thousand zloty and some boys from Topolcza robbed them and killed them.  On April
5th, , "Polish" soldiers  were driving from Zwierzyniec to Kaweczyn to pick up supplies. Underground forces, thinking that they were attack forces, shot at them killing three.

War losses in gmina Zwierzyniec in which Topólcza, Turzyniec i Wywłocza lies, are counted as 40%. The first police command in Zwierzyniec was Roman Lipiec from Topólcza..." (1)

Pacyfikacji Zamojszczyzny

Written below is an auto translated excerpt from: http://www.polskieradio.pl/39/156/Artykul/871267,Niemcy-nie-mieli-litosci-podczas-pacyfikacji-Zamojszczyzny

"...The first actions of the Germans against the population of the Zamość region began at night from
November 27-28, 1942.  The displaced Poles were allowed only to take personal luggage, not exceeding 30kg and 20 złoty.  Familes were separated.  The children were taken from their parents, except for infants under 6 months who were left with their mothers. Many people who refused to leave thier homes were killed. The displaced persons were sent to camps in Zwierzyniec and Zamość.

Some of the Nordic race characters were directed to a special camp in Lodz, where they were subjected to a scam.  Others, able to work, were sent to the Reich as forced laborers. Persons over the age of 60, unable to work, and children up to the age of 14...were sent to special villages in the districts of Garwolin, Siedlce, Misńsk and Sopot.  Many of them did not withstand the transport and died of exhaustion. Nearly 1/5 of Zamość's inhabitants were found in concentration camps, mainly in Auschwitz-Birkenau and Majdanek.

The second phase of displacement and pacification campaign lasted from June to August 1943.  The Germans had intended to pacify nearly 700 villages. Thanks to resistance from inhabitants and organizations of Underground Poland, mainly peasant battalions, the Nazis were able to only evacuate the populations from 293 towns..."



IMAGES

https://www.google.com/search?q=pacyfikacji+Zamojszczyzny&espv=2&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj3y6Drpa7TAhXH5CYKHTJSDbIQsAQIQA&biw=911&bih=393

http://www.martyrologiawsipolskich.pl/dokumenty/zalaczniki/31/31-8957.jpg



YOU TUBE

Powstanie Zamojskie Wielki plan cz 1 2006 DVBRip
Powstanie Zamojskie Nie dali ziemi cz 2 2006 DVBRip
Powstanie Zamojskie Kryptonim Wilkolak cz 3 2006 DVBRip


Published on Sep 26, 2015.
A three part story about guerrilla skirmishes with Germans,1942-1944 by the Poles in the Zamość and Tomaszów powiats. The Nazis deported these inhabitants from their local villages and  brought them into their lands. Such a fate was met by nearly 150 villages. Tens of thousands of peasants were sent to extermination camps. The battalions of the Peasant Batt-alions and the Home Army were fighting to defend the displaced.The biggest battles were fought on 1 February 1943 under Zaboreczne, 2 February under Róża and 4 February at Lasowców.
The first episode tells about the deportations in the Zamość region.
*Powstanie Zamojskie cz 1 Wielki plan    youtube

Published on Sep 26, 2015 The "Werewolf" cryptogram received partisan battles fought with Germans in 1942-1944. The authors of the program follow in the footsteps of the crimes committed by Germans in the Zamość region, irritated by the failure of the resettlement plans. 1943 brought pacification of entire communities, the destruction of villages. An additional elementis the use of anti-Poles by the Ukrainian police and silent acquiescence of neighborly crime. Category People & Blogs License Standard YouTube License Music "Darkside 1" by Carlo Maria Cordio Listen ad-free with YouTube Red
*Powstanie Zamojskie cz 2 Kryptonim Wilkolak

Representatives present fate of the units of the Home Army operating in Zamość from January 1944 - the date of crossing the eastern border of the Republic by the Soviets- until January 1945. Since 1942, units of the Polish Underground and the Peasant Battalions made an active resistance to German units and formed by Ukrainian nationalists UPA fighters. Thiswas AK's response to the large-scale expulsion of civilians in those areas and the intensification of repression.
Category People & Blogs License Standard YouTube License Music "Infernal
Tournament" by Nélio Listen ad-free with YouTube Red
*  Powstanie Zamojskie cz 3 1944


BOOK and BLOG regarding this area during WWII

Zygmunt Klukowski, Zamojszczyzna 1918-1943, KARTA, Warsaw 2007, Vol I, pp 353-356 -Pacification of Szczebrzeszyn (local municipality) and its environs.


Brzoza i głaz- Alfred Budzyński -born 1935 in the nieghboring village of Turzyniec. Alfred gives a harrowing first hand account of the times and troubles in the Zamość region durring WWII.
Turzyniec is actually my ancestral village.  It is where my grandmother's father- Wojciech and his father- Jan Panuciak were both born.

http://okupowanamlodosc-animator.blogspot.com/2012/05/brzoza-i-gaz.html

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


PARISH HISTORY

At Topólcza there was originally an Orthodox parish belonging to the Chełm diocese. In 1596, this orthodox church becamethe unicam (Greek Catholic Church) of the Nativity of the Mother of God.

After the January Uprising in 1864, when the Russification of Russia intensified in the Kingdom of Poland, Tsar AlexanderII Romanov liquidated the Union, forcing the Greek Catholics in 1875 to convert to Orthodoxy... In 1906, Vladimir Galikowski, an Orthodox priest in Topólcza, began efforts to build a brick church...

As a result of WWI, the number of orthodox populations in the area was considerably reduced. By the end of June 1915, the last Orthodox clergyman, with most of his faithful, had left. The Austrian army were in the depths of Russia, In 1917 the Austrians handed over the church to the Catholic Church.

On April 5, 1919, Lublin bishop Marian Leon Fulman erected a Roman Catholic parish in Topólczy, nominating her pastorFr. John Makulca. In May tr. So called. Reconciliation of the temple ( liturgical rite restoring sacred character to devastated or defiled temples, etc.), made by Dean from Szczebrzeszyn. (2)

1772-1809 the parish was part of the Austrian Partition

MAP GMINA Zwierzyniec

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Gmina+Zwierzyniec,+Poland/@50.5944106,22.8518808,11z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x472345bebfe334b5:0xe0c3a3d138f5521f!8m2!3d50.6230144!4d22.9928084



EXTANT RECORDS

Www.topolcza.zamojskolubaczowska.pl

Topólcza
Greek Catholic voucher 1858-1866, 1869
Greek Catholic marriage 1811-1818, 1826-1855, 1857, 1870-1873
Greek Catholic marriage 1858-1869
Greek Catholic birth 1811-1818, 1826-1855, 1857, 1870-1873
Greek Catholic birth 1858-1869
Greek Catholic deaths 1811-1818, 1826-1855, 1857, 1870-1873
Greek Catholic deaths 1858-1869


Szczebrzeszyn
Greek Catholic marriages 1811-1812, 1816-1874
Szczebrzeszyn
Greek Catholic birth 1718-1738, 1753-1758,


There are three cemeteries in the parish of Topólcza: the Uniate (early 19th century), the Orthodox (the second half of the 19th century) and the Catholic (early 20th century), where valuable gravestones are located. Ks. Roman Koziewicz (died 1834) and Modest Laurysiewicz (died 1889), the last plenipotent hr. Tomasz Zamoyski.

Topólcza 21, 22-470 Zwierzyniec
Tel. 84 687 29 05


BMDs AVAILABLE ONLINE

Search engine of regional database of indexes and metrics USC

http://lubgens.eu/portal.php

http://regestry.lubgens.eu/viewpage.php?page_id=1052&par=366a



Archwum Państwowe z Zamościu
22-400 Zamość, ul. Hrubieszowska 69A
tel. (84) 638-93-82
fax 639-23-35
email ;archiwum@zamosc.ap.gov.pl

RECORDS

Zespól:72 Akta gminy Zwierzyniec
1901-1951
Gmina: Zwierzyniec
Księgi ludności stałej, rejestr osób przybyłych i opuszcz
Book of the populace, regestry of people coming and going.

Zespól:72 Akta gminy Zwierzyniec/ sygnatura:299- Topólcza/sygn:300-Turzyniec
1932
wieś
Skorowidz do rejestru mieszańćow
Index to regester of residents (by villages)


Zespól:72 Akta gminy Zwierzyniec/ sygnatura:287- Topólcza
1932
wieś
Rejestr mieszkańcow
Regester of residents

Zespól: 1271 Gminna Spóldzielna "Samopomoc Chlopska" w Zwierzyńcu/spis poz. 51-Topólcza
             1271/48 1948-1950-wieś: Turzyniec
1945-6
wieś
Rejestr członków gromadzki
Members of the district





1) Tranlation by Feliks Grabowski taken from 'Historia Parafii Rzymskokatolickiej Topólczy 191-2005 pp28-9, Jarosław Poznański.  A special thanks to 'Maggie' for sending me this book for my birthday!
2) Auto translation from  http://www.zamosc.opoka.org.pl/mapa/szczeb/9.htm

http://apolishamericantimetraveler.blogspot.com

© 2017 NRCelleri

Where it all began-cemeteries!

Cmentarze

I often wonder how I became so enchanted with the idea of visiting dusty archives, spending endless hours scrolling through microfilm and strolling through ancient graveyards, often times thousands of miles from home...searching for that one small crumb of information. And once found, it would lead  me to a dozen more questions about each of my forbears. 

I believe it was, in fact, my maternal grandmother who is somewhat responsible.  As a child, she would take my brother and I to Gate of Heaven cemetery (Hanover, N.J.) each and every Sunday that we visited.  Gram actually visited grandpa's grave every Sunday after mass.  She had done so since grandpa died in 1942.

Those were happy excursions. After we tended to the gravesite and watered the flowers, we would always feed the llamas in a small farm across the street.

To this day, I enjoy visiting cemeteries...any cemetery...but, especially those in Poland.  They are tended to with such reverence and care.  I've witnessed many Polish women on their hands and knees scrubbing  ledgers and headstones. It was then I understood my own grandmother's devotion in tending to her late husband's grave, for so many years.

Unfortunately, cemeteries in Poland may not be the most lucrative place to search for one's Polish ancestors.

http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~pollubel/cmentindx.html

"...Many graves were destroyed as a result of legal regulations in the 1950s, when a statute was enacted stating that graves neglected, abandoned, and not paid for, according to the rates in effect, were to be eliminated, and the plots were to be reused for new burials. According to the regulation, one could bury the next body in place of the previous one after 20 years had passed. In practice it seems this meant the old plates were removed and the next body was buried on the remnants of the old one..."

This was apparent in Topólcza, where grandma Eugenia Panuciak was born.  I was blessed in being able to visit the village. Unfortunately, I could only afford one day in this remote area of Poland.  I walked through all 3 area graveyards.  It was indeed difficult to find a grave pre mid 20th century. No one spoke English and my knowledge of Polish was sadly nill.  I hope I am able to return someday, better prepared.

I was more fortunate, years late, finding some of my grandfather's family in Pepłowo (Mława) and Kuczbork.  I was so fortunate, having more time and resources, to visit all the cemeteries affiliated with his line. 

Szreńsk cemetery and church

http://niedziela.pl/artykul/32045/nd/Kosciol-budowany-z-pokolenia-na-pokolenie

This was the largest of those I visited that were directly connected with my research...I walked up and down it's entire length...the sun set and a cool misty rain ensued...I was determined, but nary was a Tylicki grave found.  There were indeed many headstones inscribed with our family names of Ługowski, Bońkowski, Chądzynski and Szcypyorski.  None were old enough to be 'mine'.

Kuczbork cemetery  and church

https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ko%C5%9Bci%C3%B3%C5%82_%C5%9Bw._Bart%C5%82omieja_w_Kuczborku-Osadzie

Here I was given me a few glimmers of hope-situated up on a hill, across the street from the beautiful old church Sw. Bartłomieja-Apostola    http://diecezjaplocka.pl/parafie/kuczbork-sw-bartlomieja-apostola.

Unfortunately, the church itself was closed on the cold rainy November day I visited in 2016.  But the cemetery, like most in Poland was opened and filled with family members paying their respects.  I read each and every headstone, taking pictures of those that caught my imagination. In 10 minutes time I came upon not 1 but 4 Tylicki stones.  I could not tie any directly to my family...though, I was certain they were somehow connected.  This is not a common name in this parish.  I had records that showed, amonst many other Tylicki family members, my grandfather's grandfather Antoni Tylicki was born in Chodubka!   Antoni and his wife Wiktorya (nee Chądzynska) were both born 'nobles'...sometime mid century they lost this status.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Szlachta

They left the area in 1845, moving about quite a bit.  The reason for so many moves was to be unearthed in the death certificate of Antoni's son Josef.  It listed the father's occupation of zakladnik.

http://forum.polishorigins.com/viewtopic.php?p=17332#17332

Jabłonowo-Adamy is where they eventually put down stakes.

Wieczfnia  koscielna cemetery and church

http://www.parafiawieczfnia.pl/

It was here, in my grandfather's parish that I hit paydirt...though the words on the headstone were haunting: "Zgineli śmiercia tragieczma w 1945r"- they died a tragic death in 1945  :(
to be continued...

© 2017 NRCelleri

Genealogists...why we do what we do !

Who isn't fascinated by the concept of time travel?  Perhaps, this was my motivation to pursue the hobby of genealogy, which quickly became my life's passion. Most of us are collectors of coins, sea shells, stamps etc.  I, like many, became a collector of ancestors. After all, what other hobby allows one to become an explorer, historian, researcher, story teller, scribe and puzzle solver all at the same time?

This blog is dedicated to my Polish heritage.  Long ago, my Australian cousin and I published a book 'The Ryan Road" regarding our shared Irish forbears. These past few years, I have concentrated on my Polish heritage.  I long avoided doing so being intimidated by the language.  With the help of many at Polish Origins and the Genealogy Translations on Facebook, that impediment faded.  I have also met many people along the way who have been generous with their personal time.


This effort is one in which I hope to preserve the story of my Tylicki clan for posterity. Both of my grandparents- Boselaw Tylicki and Eugenia Panuciak -emigrated from Poland to Newark New Jersey, via Ellis Island.  They left Poland just before WWI.  I would later discover that they hailed from different backgrounds.  My grandfather descended from minor nobility, my grandmother from proud peasantry!


I was privileged to know my grandmother, my grandfather died long before I was born. I have gotten to know them both a bit better during the course of this hunt.  I know that they were both hard working, determined and kind individuals, who had strength of their convictions.

Of course, the holy grail for a genealogist is to discover living relatives, that we never even knew we had.  I have been many times blessed with this reward.  Perhaps, blogging will produce more new found 'riches'.  :)  This is my hope...