At last I am sitting down to write the story of my month in Poland with my partner, Jim Borzym. What an experience!!!! I was last there 20 years ago, so there are many changes apparent. And I am told the majority of these changes have occurred just in the last three years since the collapse of the Communist government. For Jim, it was a first visit to the country of his ancestors. And, as you will read below, it included finding and reuniting with both branches of his father's family.
Poland is a land of contrasts. Alongside vegetable stands in the market are small stands selling denim jeans, Sony walkmans, digital watches, or rock'n'roll cassette tapes. Whereas last time I was in the country the shops were empty, and people had zloty's to spend, now the shops are full but because of >100% inflation per year for a few years the people have little money. Some things much as I remember from my last visit: Half of the farms are still plowed by horse and raked by hand. 80% of the population is still agrarian, and the majority of these farms are very small and privately owned. Driving along the main highways, cars shared the road with horse-drawn carts, trucks, bicycles, and buses.
We saw churches abundantly decorated with gold leaf, rococo ornamentation, and marble alters in every side niche. Contrasting with this are cement block high-rises. Housing is so scarce, however, that people have had to wait 9 to 15 years to get an apartment in one of these buildings. Consequently, many extended families live together. We saw much construction of 1- and 2-family homes as we crisscrossed the country.
We flew into Warsaw, arriving early on Sunday September 1st. We checked into the Warsaw Mariott, which felt like having only one foot in the country, what with the luxurious accommodations, a staff that spoke English, and access to a swimming pool and sauna. Following a recommended regimin to avoid jet lag, we dropped our bags and jumped right into the current time zone. We started by touring the Lazienka palace (Bath house palace) and grounds, and then walked the entire length of Nowe Swiat (New World street). Along the route we noted landmarks, such as the place the Bolsheviks threw Chopin's piano out of the window, and stopped in to see several richly ornamented churches. Upon arriving at the old square, we were surprised to see a large crowd gathered around a ring of Hare Krishna chanters and dancers. Around another corner were a group of South American street musicians. This was not the Poland I remembered. However the square still held it's share of street artists selling watercolor paintings. And we dined on traditional barszcz and bread in an old restaurant on the square.
Monday morning we picked up our rental car, delighted to find out that they had run out of the tiniest Fiats (the 'A' size car which we had reserved), and so gave us a 'B' sized car at the same price. We then drove out of the city, to the southernmost tip of Poland. The region is known as the Tatra Mountains, and the town we were heading for was Zakopane.
The countryside was beautiful. Everywhere families were harvesting their fields. Potatos, beets, cabbages, and apples filled the carts. The terrain gradually became more hilly. Many steep slopes were farmed that would have been left fallow in the U.S. Zakopane itself is at the edge of the mountain ridge that borders on Czechoslovakia.
Upon arriving in Zakopane we saw some of the prettiest architecture of the whole trip: Wooden homes with carefully crafted doors and railings, braided hemp detail between the large logs that made up the walls, wooden gutters supported by handselected young trees with the root ball still attached as a hook.
The disappointment upon arriving in this lovely spot was that the dance festival we had planned the trip around had been rescheduled. For the last 20 years it had been the first week in September. But this year it was held in August!
We did get in a couple of days of hiking. The trails are heavily used, and there was more litter than I can ever remember seeing on a trail. Everybody hiked - from little children to grandparents - and in slippers and high heels as well as hiking boots! From the top of the ridge we gazed into Czechosolvakia. Looking back into Zakopane, a heavy brown cloud was apparent. In fact, the air was markedly polluted throughout the country. 45 years of no regulations, accompanied by prevailing winds that bring in acid rain from industrialized western Europe have taken their toll.
While in Zakopane we also attended a Goralski folk-opera. The dancing was exciting and the costumes stunning, in spite of the fact that the language was totally beyond us! Jim and I each bought come costume pieces in this haven of Polish folk culture, as well as some wooly sweaters and examples of carved wooden plates.
Our next stop was Krakow. We tried camping one night, but the price was almost the same as the inn (U.S. $7.50 for the two of us). So for the rest of the trip we left the camping gear in the car. Krakow showed us its famous old town square and market, two street bands playing traditional music, the famous castle (complete with legendary dragon), and an impressive church housing the remains of many famous Polish kings, including Casimir the Great.
We used Krakow as a base camp for a couple of day excursions. One was to the concentration camps in Oswiecim (Auschwitz). I never would have grasped the magnitude of this place and its history without the guided visit - including a tour in English. Rows upon rows of stark barracks. Drawings by inmates, intact on the walls. Photos of prisoners. And mounds and mounds of shoes, suitcases, hair, and clothing left merely from the final round of arrivals, preserved in a museum to their memory.
The other excursion was to the Salt Mines in Welicka. We climbed down 39 flights of stairs to the first layer of the mines, and later down two more layers to witness this source of Poland's wealth for several centuries. Salt had many uses: to preserve food, manufacture glass, make ammunition. The miner held a revered position. No prisoners, thieves, or foreigners were allowed to work in the mines. It was, in fact, a hereditary position to be a salt miner. In the cavities left behind from the removed salt, the miners built chapels, monuments, and elves all carved from salt. In one immense chamber there is a cathedral, complete with salt crystal chandeliers, a salt tiled floor, and relief carvings of the life of Christ on all the walls. The mine is still in operation today.
After touring the mines Jim and I walked about the town and played hackysack in the park, which began one of our greatest adventures in Poland. [Hackysack is a game played with a small leather bean bag, juggled with any part of the body except the hands and arms. It was an easy game to bring along on the trip, although both Jim and I were just figuring out how to play it ourselves.] The hackysack broke the ice for meeting a group of four miners in the park who were sharing a bottle and relaxing after the day's work. We fell into a conversation of sorts - between my spotty Polish and their fragmented English and the ever-present Polish English/English Polish dictionary we managed to keep the talk going. One fellow knew no English, but spoke some French. So, since we were foreigners, he used French. Jim happened to mention that we were going to try to find his relatives.
Jim's grandmother had corresponded with her niece and nephew in Poland 15-20 years ago. Jim's uncle, a stamp collector, happened to save the envelopes which included a return address and postmark. One week before our trip Jim acquired copies of several of these envelopes. No one had corresponded with the relatives in the interim. We were on a hunt for the towns on the return address and postmark.
It turned out that one of the fellows shared a surname with Jim's great aunt. He also said he knew where the town Siedliska was.
So, the next day we set out for Siedliska. Only problem was, it was the wrong Siedliska. There are thousands of tiny villages and towns in Poland. Most of them are not on the map, and many of them are too small to have a Post Office. Also, there are many postal districts in Poland, called 'Wojawista' [Wojewodztwa - JSW], and it is possible for each wojawista to have a town named Siedliska. Then there can be 'big Siedliska' and 'little Siedliska' on opposite sides of a wojawista.
In the end, we visitied several post offices, gradually honing in on the Siedliska we were looking for. We gave a ride to a couple of fellows who knew where the town was. About 4:30 in the afternoon we pulled in to what turned out the be the right Siedliska. The town had about 100 homes, one big church, and a general store. We went into the general store and asked expectantly, pointing at the envelopes, 'We are looking for these relatives. Do these people still live here?'
'Oh, yes, go back down this road, just past the church on the opposite side of the road.'
We found a woman working in her yard, and asked her. 'Oh yes, come with me.' She walked down a few more houses, walked into her neighbors kitchen, and said 'Here are your relatives from America.'
Well, Sofie was shocked, amazed, delighted, and flustered. She accepted us immediately and set about making us welcome. She sent her son to the store for some sausage. She pulled out ALL family photographs. Lo and behold there was a photo there of Jim as an infant in his mother's arms! She sent word to the other relatives in town - Czeslaw and his wife and children and grandchildren, and Helen and her sons. Helen, Czeslaw, and Sofie's husband (who had passed away a year before) were the neice and nephews that Jim's grandmother had written to. Sofie contacted a local high school student who had studied English in school for 3 years. He served as our interpreter. The whole family gathered that evening at Czeslaw's home. There was LOTS of food, drink, talk, and laughter.
The next morning Sofie took us on a tour of her town, including the newly built and partially completed church (in operation), the community building (for weddings, parties, etc.), the school, and the general store. When Jim and I got out concertina and penny whistle, respectively, and played a little, Sofie fetched a lad of about 14 and his accordion. Such amazing and wonderful music! This young man played tune after tune, with variation after variation, and with gusto!
We bid good bye late morning to head for Czechosolvakia to visit my brother, Mike. But we promised to return for one more day on our way back from the neighboring country.
Upon crossing the border to Czechosolvakia the countryside transformed from a patchwork quilt of private family farms and fields to huge rolling fields and woods. Farms here are predominantly collective. We arrived at the edge of Kosice to see a panorama of concrete high rises. There was no trace of older architecture.
The phones worked better in Kosice than in Poland. [We had tried twice to phone from Poland to no avail. The advice was that it would take a wait of 12 hours in the post office to maybe get through to Czechosolvakia from Poland.] Since it was now late afternoon, we couldn't change any money. However, a generous gas station attendant lent us the coins we needed for the phones. We phoned the home where Mike is living, and got directions to the place he was attending a Baha'i meeting that evening. About 45 minutes after the informal English session began, Mike arrived. He was, as ever, very busy. He has two jobs teaching English - at a 'gymnasium' which is the college-bound high school, and at a Veterinary college. He is also working with a production agency that brings rock concerts to Czechosolvakia. At the time of our visit they were just a week away from a big concert with a group called Deep Purple. And in addition, of course, he is very active with the Baha'i community in Kosice.
Mike made contact on our behalf with a folk dance contact in Kosice. |
