My tour with Zenon ended much too soon, but we spent 7 more days in Krakow and enjoyed the medieval city and soaked up all the history there. Now I am home with my souviners, photos and memories. I’ve been reviewing my notes and genealogical information that I collected during my tour and I made some exciting discoveries.

I realized that one of the birth records that I recorded was actually the wife of my great uncle John Kanty Kadlub. I can’t wait to show it to my cousin in Erie, PA.

Another great find was the marriage record for Vincent Kulawiak and Theckla Rafacz. When I examined this information closely, I realized that Vincent was the brother of my g-g-grandfather Andreas Kulawiak. The family tree of Vincent Kulawiak and Theckla Rafacz, who emigrated to Chicago, was one the first items that I located online when I really got moving on my genealogy last year. But since the tree only moved forward toward his descendants and had no information about Vincent’s ancestors, or the name of his birthplace, I could not establish a link to my family. I am now in the process of contacting the administrator of that family tree to meet my distant cousins.

This has all been quite exciting and I am so pleased to have found PolishOrigins and Zenon. This was a trip of a lifetime and the gift of family was more than I could have hoped for from this trip. I look forward to reading more blogs from other members.

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Map of our tour. Point B is Odrowąż, point C is Lusławice.

Best Regards,

Shellie

Our last day in the village.

The night before we left, we stopped by Jozef’s bell foundry to say goodbye.  He was not home, but his wife Maria promised to give him our best regards and thanks for a wonderful visit. We also stopped by his mother’s house to bid farewell to his parents.  Mama Kulawiak said that we would probably never see one another again, but told her I would always remember her in my heart!  I really wish I could have gone back far enough in our family tree to find a relationship with her family!

We also took a few more drives around the area so I could get more photos. Odrowaz is on hilly land, and the main village sits in the center of an area surrounded by 7 hills.  Odrowaz has been called the Rome of the Podhale region of Poland because Rome was also build near 7 hills: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_hills_of_Rome
Although I looked at Odrowaz on the map before my trip, now that I have seen the land with my own eyes, the map now has more meaning to me.  When I look at a satellite image of Odrowaz, I can now see the 7 hills surrounding it.  Amost all of the hills have a dark green area where the trees cover the hill top and I can see the farms running along the valleys inside.

Odrowąż on google map (click to enlarge).

On our last day, Victor took us to see where the Kulawiak house once stood.  The Kulawiak home stood in an area just a little to the north west of the center of the village.   The site was on a slope and overlooked a small valley and hills nearby.  Victor sold the land several years ago. As we approached the site, Victor pointed out 2 barns and said there were once 2 houses (one little, one bigger) near where the barns now stood.  The houses were torn down many years ago and all that remains is a cellar, now covered by corrugated tin.  Victor and I then dug up some land for me to save and we spent some time taking photos and talking about the land until we were chased off by an old woman with a hay rake!

Original home stood near these barns

Old buidling near homesite

Kulawiak home site was left of this barn

Kulawiak earth

Our visit ended to quickly, but we know that we will see Victor again, maybe in Chicago.  We gave him a bottle of vodka to remember us by and soon headed off to Krakow for the rest of our trip.

Time to say goodbye

A last look at Odrowaz

Zenon dropped us off in the historic part of Krakow, where we reserved an apartment for a week.  After hugs and promises to update him on my genealogy efforts, Zenon headed back to his family in Warsaw.  My blog ends here but my journey continues.  I can’t wait to share all of my photos and memories with my family in the US.  If anyone reading this blog is considering a Forefathers Traces Tour with Zenon, you will not regret it.  This trip was so exciting and rewarding for me and I could not have had a better guide during this wondrous journey to my ancestral home.  Thank you Zenon!

Shellie

Wow! What a great day! Tonight we went back to see my newly found cousin Vicktor. We made the mistake of going out for dinner before we arrived at his house and couldn’t eat all of the food that he put out for us! As soon as we arrived, he ushered us into his living room and before we knew it, we all had tiny glasses of vodka in our hands and toasted to newly discovered family.

Beginning of the second visit.

Seeing the family photo of Stanislaw & Aniela and their children brought a tear to his eye. Vicktor said that his grandfather Michael was a wonderful man, but he died when Vicktor was 6 years old. He said that the photos of Stanislaw looked just his grandfather Michael, which was certainly possible since the 2 were brothers. We spent the next couple of hours talking about family and comparing notes. Stanislaw’s wife died about 16 years ago and he divides his time between Chicago and Odrowaz. It was just sheer luck that he was here at the exact same time as my visit.

We were later joined by Vicktor’s friend Władysława, a lovely lady from a few doors down. She did not speak English, but Zenon and Vicktor helped to translate. At one one point when we were talking about Aniela’s Kadlub family, Władysława sat up and excitedly told us that her grandfather on her mother’s side was a Kadlub from Piekielnik. She also said that her grandfather and his brother went to the US to work in the coal mines near Pittsburgh. I couldn’t believe it! I told her that I had friends whose ancestors were Kadlubs from that village. We compared some notes, but she couldn’t recall family names much further back than her grandparents. Nevertheless, I told her that I would be in touch with her after I returned to the US and gave this great news to my friends Michelle, Patty and Joanne (are ya’ll reading this??).

Jerry and Władysława

Next we suprised my father and my uncle by calling them in the US to introduce them to their 2nd cousin. They were both very excited to hear that I had found a relative in our ancestral home.

Talking to relatives in America

Talking to relatives in America 2

Our night ended too quickly, but the great thing is that Vicktor’s brothers live near Krakow and I might be able to meet them next week. And, since Vicktor lives in Chicago, I will be able to introduce him to our family in Pennsylvania. Too soon, it was time to say goodbye, but not until Vicktor coaxed us into another shot of Polish vodka.

Victor sent us off with the promise to meet us the next day and show us where the Kulawiak family lived when Stanislaw and Michael were boys.

Today has been the best day and it’s not even over yet! We traveled to Zakopane this morning to visit the mountains and while we ate breakfast, Zenon reminded me that there was another Kulawiak family that he spoke with before our trip. That family was not related to us, but he called them back to ask if they knew Leopold, the son of Michael, who was the brother of Stanislaw, my g-grandfather (did you follow that?). Since Leopold and his wife still had a headstone in the churchyard and someone was placing flowers on the grave, we figured that some relative had to be somewhere nearby.

Kulawiak Leopold grave

Kulawiak Leopold headstone

Kulawiak Leopold headstone photo

So Zenon made some calls and found out that Leopold’s sons were recently here in the village. One lived near Krakow and one lived in Chicago. He was also given the name of someone who could tell him more about Leopold’s family. I was so excited that I almost headed right back to the car to return to the village. But since we were already there, we first spent a few hours looking around the mountain town and then headed back by 4PM. Zenon stopped and spoke with a few people in town and with a smile told me that Leopold’s son Victor was here from Chicago and we could find him at the house next to the fire station! Within a few minutes I was standing in front of my cousin, Victor Kulawiak. I was stunned, it all happend so fast! When I arrived here I did not even know whether my g-grandfather had siblings, now I was standing in front of my own family! He had my grandfather’s beautiful blue eyes and my great-grandfather’s large widow’s peak hairline that came to a point at his forehead! Victor gave me a big hug and a kiss and spoke to me in English! He has been living in Chicago for over 22 years and comes home regularly. He gestured to the farm behind him and said he works on the land while he is here. He was still busy working but invited us back to visit later this evening. More exciting details to come after our visit!

Shellie and Wiktor

Shellie

On Wednesday, we traveled to Lusławice, where my grandfather was born! Luslawice is about 30 miles east of Krakow, so we headed north east from our village. I snapped photos all along the way, but we joke that I only photograph trees and cars because when I see something that looks interesting and try to snap a photo with my digital camera, I end up with a car or big tree in the photo because of that frustrating delay so characteristic of digital cameras! We stopped to visit 2 old wooden churches. One was locked, but at the other, the priest gave us a tour! He produced a ring of large ancient looking keys and opened a small door on the south side of the church. When we stepped inside, we were in a tiny room that looked and smelled like a cellar! The priest then unlocked another small door and we stepped into the most amazing church I have ever seen. The wooden interior was even more remarkable than the exterior. The best that I could describe it is that someone built a beautiful church inside a large barn. That is what all the wooden walls reminded me of. It was built in the 1500’s and once had beautiful murals painted on the walls. In the 1970’s, someone painted over the murals with white paint and it was almost impossible to recover these priceless works of art. Still, we could make out many faint images on the walls. Pictures can never catch the true essence of this church, you just have to be there to believe it.

A wooden church Christ the Savior

A 1500's wooden church. The doors.

A 1500's wooden church.

A 1500's wooden church. Interior.

I was looking forward to our visit to Lusławice because I wanted to see where my grandfather was born, and to collect images and information for me and my new friend Lisa who was researching her Osiecki ancestors from the same area. The villages of Lusławice and Kończyska turned out to be tiny, without their own churches; the villagers traveled to nearby Zakliczyn, another Galician town. Zenon drove us around the entire village area while I captured images of trees, houses, farms, more trees, and walls :).

A farm in Lusławice

We also drove past the manor house in Lusławice where we think that Lisa’s great grandmother Anna Osiecki worked. It is now owned by a famous composer and is not open for tours. It is also surrounded by a large wall, so it was impossible to get a good look at the manor house. Still, I got some great photos of the walls!

A manor gates at Lusławice

I saw some church steeples in the distance, so we headed off to Kończyska to see if these were some churches that we did not know about. We actually ended up finding a convent, a Jewish war cemetery and a monastery.

A Jewish World War I cemetery

Next we headed to the Zakliczyn church. It was quite large and beautiful inside, but sadly, the inner doorway was blocked by a metal gate. This was disappointing because I wanted to walk inside the church where my grandfather was baptized and take photos. I stuck my camera between the bars and captured a few shots and then we headed off to find the cemetery down the street.

A look at church in Zakliczyn

My great-great-grandfather, Andreas Kulawiak, died in 1909 in Luslawice, and was probably buried here, but I knew better than to expect to find his grave. Still, I stubbornly tried to examine every old stone in this large cemetery. Of course I came up empty handed, but I did get some photos for Lisa of Osiecki, Koza and Nowak headstones. I also photographed some stones that looked interesting and also some that had photographs. I didn’t know any of the names, but they were interesting and I can post the photos on find-a-grave or some other genealogical website.

A view of cemetery in Zakliczyn

We hurried back to Odrowaz to visit Jozef Kulawiak’s parents. His father Wincenty is 91, frail and very quiet. Mama was quite lively and served us a delicious cake with blackberry filling and talked about living in the area.

A mama Kulawiak's wonderful cakes

We were hoping that she might remember something about Leopold (my great-grandfather’s nephew). She recalled that he was a construction worker who built roads, and that about a year ago, his son visited the village. She did not recall his name, but thought that he lived here in Poland. Maybe we will be able to locate him while I am here!