My family’s first immigrant ancestors arrived in America in the mid-1860s from a village in the northwest part of Poland in the Tuchola Forest. Another branch arrived in 1881 from the Poznan district. Finally in 1906-1907 my husband’s ancestors left from villages in Galicia and in the Kujawy area of north central Poland. Oral family history told that any relatives that remained in Poland relocated after World War II.
Our son-in-law suggested that my husband and I make this trip in 2012. He was to attend a business conference in Warsaw for a few days in October and invited us to join him there. He dedicated vacation time to stay longer and explore family villages together on a drive tour. It would be a whirlwind trip with overnight stays in different cities each night over eleven days. After day nine, our daughter and grandchildren would interrupt school schedules and meet us in Krakow. We would drive one day through part of northern Slovakia to see even more ancestral villages; then return to southern Galicia the same night. Finally, we would enjoy one more visit to Krakow before leaving Poland.
Here Conrad and Denise pose with son-in-law, Arif in Warsaw