Last time I shared the reason for our visit to Poland - connecting with some of my past. To be honest, before coming we weren't sure what to expect. Warsaw definitely exceeded our expectations. Our next stop was Poznan which is ~200 miles west of Warsaw and ~175 miles east of Berlin. It is only ~100 miles from the German border. We chose Poznan because of my family history (more to come on this one). However, as we met people in Warsaw and they asked us where we were going next, the common response was "Poznan? Do you know someone there?" It obviously was not a common choice for tourists. We began to wonder what we were getting ourselves into - and specifically Craig was wondering what I was getting us into :). I am happy to share we really enjoyed our time in Poznan and felt like we discovered a really special place in Poland. I will warn in advance this is a particularly long post - we did a lot over the last couple of days but I also want to capture a lot of the history to ensure it is remembered in years to come.
First, one last fun story from our time in Warsaw. After posting the previous update we went out for dinner for our last night. We went to a restaurant in the town square - perfect weather sitting outside, tons of people out for the night and great food. As we were eating, a young man sitting behind Craig turned around to talk to us - he was excited to meet people who spoke English. We learned he was from Denmark - 19 years old - traveling around Europe for a couple of months - he was just in his first week. He asked us to take a picture of him to send to his mom as she was worried about him and he wanted to show her he was doing good. We had a fun conversation with him and Craig shared that we will be visiting Denmark to meet some of Craig's family and see some important places from his past. We also discovered that we'll be visiting the small town, Aalborg, where he is from during our travels. As we were finishing up we took a picture and realized we didn't know his name - it is Rasmus (first name) - which happens to be my mom's maiden name. Small world.
Ok, back to our time in Poznan. Unfortunately we don't have exact information on my great grandparent's place of birth. We do know that they were from the Prussian area as they reported "Poland Germany" for the US Census. I did some research to try to locate more information. Kaczmarek (and different variations) is an extremely common name in the area - this confirmed it was likely the right region but it was still difficult to find documents for our relatives. I did some research and thought I had a lead - so we engaged someone locally to help. They followed a few paths - and thought they had found my great grandfather's birth records only to discover the Tomasz Kaczmarek we found never left Poland :). They found a couple they thought might be my great great grandparents but the records were not complete. During the research, I think I found a picture of my great grandfather from 1910 when he was a coal miner living in Minonk, IL. He is the one on the bottom right.
Even though we didn't have exact information we arranged for a tour of the surrounding areas to see some of the villages and churches where likely some of our relatives lived many years ago. Our guides were Anna and Agnieska (Agnes). It was an amazing experience.
As we drove through the countryside it reminded us of central Illinois - farmland with small towns. We toured a home that was built in the early 1800s. It was owned by nobility - and was quite nice for the time. We learned the custom was for the husband and wife to have separate bedrooms (with very small/short beds). Apparently the husband would "call for" his wife when he wanted her to join him. The childrens' room was off of the mom's bedroom. Good to see we have evolved a bit! Here are some pictures from the tour.
Farm machinery.
Dining room.
Really large bed :)
Living room.
Old "calculator" - an abacus.
Old Polish flag.
In front of the home.
We visited a church that was the largest in the area and from the 19th century. (1868) They felt it was likely that my great grandparents could have been baptized at the church as it was the one where people came to from all of the surrounding areas for baptisms. It was a beautiful church and I found myself quite emotional feeling the connections to the past. Here are some pictures from our visit.
We also went by the local cemetery to see the grave of the Tomasz Kaczmarek who stayed in Poland. He was born the same year as my great grandfather which is what caused some of the confusion. Even though not my great grandfather I like to think there was some connection. As we were going to his gravesite we happened to walk by another Kaczmarek grave.
They then took us to the small village where the wedding was held between Wojciech Kaczmarek & Marianna Pieszak (who they thought might possibly be my great great grandparents) and also the church from the town where Marianna was born. Again, they may not be direct ancestors but, if not, are likely related at some point.
As we were talking I shared stories about my Grandpa Ketchmark. When I told them he had owned a motel they both reacted. Apparently "Kaczma" in Polish means Inn. When I looked it up later I discovered it can also mean Tavern. My Grandpa K owned both Ketchmark's Motel and Ketchy's Tavern. A couple of pictures of the tavern below. Funny the connections.
Anna and Agnes were awesome. Spending the day with them felt like spending a day with family. They were wonderful sharing their love of Poland - and particularly this region - with us. The challenging history has created very strong, hardworking people with a strength of conviction and ability to persevere. They also know that sometimes you need to just relax and enjoy.
We also took a walking tour of the city of Poznan with Justyna. It is one of the oldest cities in Poland and has a lot of historical significance. The first settlements of Poznan can be traced to the late period of the Stone Age - let that sink in for a minute... The city Poznan began in the 8th or 9th century located between the branches of two rivers - making it an ideal location. In the 10th century the tribe inhabiting the region, the Polans, became dominant over other tribes in most of the area of today's Poland. Poznan (or Posen at different times) was the first political center of Poland.
Poznan was part of Prussia from 1793 - 1918 except for 8 years in the early 1800s. This was the period of 100+ years when Poland did not exist as an independent country but was instead split between Prussia, Austria and Russia. After learning more about this time period, the people who lived in the Prussian region really endured a lot. While Austria and Russia allowed some degree of autonomy to the people of Polish heritage, Germany wanted full integration. They outlawed the Polish language - only German was taught in schools - so the Polish people had to teach their children secretly. The Germans were Protestant and did not support the Polish continuing to follow Catholicism. As Justinya said, this just made the Polish people stronger in their religious beliefs and connections to the church. I also learned that in 1886, Otto von Bismarck from Germany spoke about his concerns with the growing population of Polish people in the region and began to enforce further restrictions. I suspect it isn't a coincidence that my great grandfather left less than a year later with his wife and newborn son for the US.
We were able to tour Poznan Cathedral which is the oldest church in Poland. This is the location where the Duke Mieszko I was baptized converting to Christianity in 966 - also known as the Baptism of Poland. Two years later the Cathedral was built. Although it has experienced destruction from fires and war - some of the original building remains including parts of tombs of the early Dukes and Bishops. We were able to touch some of the original stone wall - from 968 - crazy.
Speaking of crazy history - we had a special treat. An Egyptian Obelisk of Ramsses II from the 13th century B.C. (yep B.C.!)is on loan and on display in a museum in Poznan that we were able to tour. It was amazing to see something from that many years ago. Ironically, after being removed from standing in front of the temple of the god Khenti-kheti it was used as a threshold in a house in Cairo in the 19th century. They had no idea of the history. It was discovered in 1895 and returned - and, honestly, is in amazing condition.
The town square of Poznan was really cool. Here are a few pictures.
We even found someone wearing a KC shirt. When we asked him if he was from KC / was a fan we learned he was from the UK and just bought the shirt because he liked the colors :)
We also saw a picture of someone with a resemblance to my dad in younger years. His name was Edward Klinik (July 1919 - August 1942). He was a Polish and Roman Catholic anti-Nazi resistance fighter guillotined in a prison in Dresden. He is one of the 108 martyrs of WW II who were beatified by Pope John Paul in 1999.
We also discovered an awesome beer garden - great beer and, honestly, it was so comfortable it felt like we could be sitting back home. Pretty fun how you can feel at home so far away.
One quick fun story about Poznan. Before we arrived, Tomasz had hoped we would get there no later than 11:45am so we could see the "goat fighting at the Town Center". We were thinking - what? - and, honestly were ok that our train didn't arrive until 12:15pm. However after hearing the story we wish we could have been there earlier. Hundreds of years ago there was a big celebration planned for the town center. The chef was preparing a feast but, unfortunately, burnt all of the meat. He was beside himself and didn't know what to do. He attempted to replace the meat by stealing two goats from a nearby meadow. Unfortunately for him, the goats escaped and ran up the town hall tower. At the top of the tower they began butting heads and attracted the attention of the townspeople who thought it was very funny entertainment. This saved the goats from becoming a meal - and led to the addition of mechanical goats at the top of the tower which "fight" each day at noon. They also have a statue where Craig and I had a little fun. The first picture is from the actual goats before battle - they dress them up for special occasions - like Christmas and Soccer (or football!).
We did learn a lot about history during our visit. The absolute worse was what happened to the Polish Jews. In Warsaw we learned that before WW II there were 250,000 Jews, today there are only 600. In Poznan there are only 50 today. Such atrocities. A very sad reminder in Poznan is the old Jewish synagogue that was directly next to our hotel. The Nazis took the synagogue and turned this religious building into a swimming pool. Finally that ended but now the building is in extreme disrepair. The local Jewish community is working to raise money to restore it as a museum to help honor the past - it sounds like they recently found some donors to help make that a reality. It is impossible to get your head around what was done - pure hatred and complete evil.
We stopped in Wroclaw to have a chance to see one more city in Poland before leaving for Prague tomorrow. It is another beautiful city with a wonderful old town square. We just had our last dinner in Poland - had to have one last meal of Pierogi - very yummy. Here are a few pictures from Wroclaw.
Crazy tall hotel room door.
Not sure the reason - but Wroclaw has a ton of dwarf statues literally all around town.
Wroclaw cathedral.
Town square - we ate in one of the restaurants.
Odd status of an alligator tied with a balloon on its' mouth - being from FL we had to get a picture.
Last dinner in Poland.
We have really loved our time in Poland. I know some of it is because of the personal connections I felt while here - but beyond that - it has a lot to offer. There are beautiful cities, lots of history, and warm people. I came wanting to say I had been here - but now we could definitely see coming back in the future and would recommend to others. It definitely exceeded our expectations.
Until next time,
Cieszą się Podróżą! (Enjoy the Ride!)
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