Family Bonds...Surviving One Hundred Years!

My great grandmother, Katarzyna and her husband, Jozef

While I walked through the Katowice Airport on Friday night, a number of emotions filled my heart.  Excitement was probably the biggest, I was about to meet part of my family that didn't immigrate to the U.S.  There was also a very real sense of amazement, that I would be so fortunate to have the opportunity to seek out my family history.  And then there was a few moments of holy crap, I'm about to spend the weekend with a family I've never met before because their great grandma and my great grandma were sisters who were separated over 100 years ago.

Throughout my entire childhood, whenever the importance of family was mentioned,  at Wigilia or Easter time, during Polish dance performances, at Polish Masses, my thoughts have always wandered to my great grandparents who decided to leave Poland and come to the U.S.

This weekend, I was welcomed to Katowice to meet the grandson, Jan, of my great grandmother's sister.  Between my Polish skills, Grzegorz's (Jan's son and my third cousin) English, a dictionary, and Google Translate, I spent the weekend immersed in the history of Poland and my family.

One of the pictures of Ciocia's birthday

In the early 1900s, my great grandmother Katarzyna Dec moved from Poland to Detroit.  She left her parents and seven siblings (three who eventually came to the U.S. and one to Canada).  Her sister, Magdelena is my connection to Jan's family.

My plane arrived late on Friday evening, so we just spent some time chatting around the kitchen table.  I shared some pictures my dad sent of my Ciocia Genia's 90th birthday.  Thanks to a letter from Ciocia and many emails from my dad and Uncle Jim, Jan was well acquainted with our family in the U.S. 

On Saturday, we went out to a palace in Pszczyna. It's much different than any Polish palace I have seen before because it served as a hunting palace.  The walls in most of the rooms are covered with animal horns.  I kept thinking how much my uncles down south would be jealous! 

The palace wasn't just filled with animal trophies.  Obviously, there had to be some beautiful architecture.  It was a palace for nobles and thus had to reflect the monetary standing of the family.

On the right, you'll see pictures that reflect the hunting prowess of the owners.   On the left, there are a few examples of the extravagant lifestyle of the former owners.  

Pszczyna was part of the Piast dynasty...more information can be read here.

Kuba, Jan, and me outside the palace

After the sightseeing, we went back to their flat for some family history lessons.  Jan has a photo album with pictures of my great grandma's sister and her family.  It was incredible to listen to some of Jan's memories of growing up in Poland.   His godmother remembers my great grandmother leaving for the U.S. 

At some point in the history lesson, my translator disappeared.  Thankfully, I paid a lot of attention to the family vocabulary in my Polish classes.  I ended up with about an hour straight of Polish family in Polish.  I was impressed by how much I understood.  Jan said that because of communism and work, a lot of the family lost touch as they moved around Poland and Europe.  I also picked up some new vocabulary words, bliźniak (twin) and matka chrzestna (godmother).



Afterwards, Grzegorz and I watched Ogniem i mieczem (With Fire and Sword).  It's a movie based on Nobel Prize winner Henry Sienkiewiecz's first book in a famous trilogy.  The movie focuses on the 17th century uprising of the Cossacks.  Promise to write a whole different post about all the Polish history I've learned this weekend.

This song, Rota, was written in the 20th century.  Grzegorz thought it was important for me to listen to since I'm so interested in Polish history.  Although from a different time and war, this video has scenes from With Fire and Sword.

Gzregorz, me, and his mom outisde the church

 Sunday morning, we woke up and had breakfast (hotdogs and ketchup!)  The family's church is about a ten minute walk and a Franciscan monastery.  The 11 am Mass is in Latin.  The joy I felt at understanding the Mass and being able to fully participate was probably apparent to everyone who saw my smile as I sang along to the Gloria and Sanctus!






Since it was Independence Day in Poland, after Mass we went back to their flat to watch the ceremonies in Warsaw on tv.  Grzegorz explained to me about the different military branches and periods that the people on screen were representing.  It was cool to see a patriotic side of Poland because compared to the U.S. it is not common to see the national flag flying anywhere.

UFO!

After the festivities, Grzegorz, Kuba and Jan showed me some of the highlights of Katowice.  First, we saw one of the coal mines along with a special complex that was built specifically for the coal miners.  It's filled with apartments, shops, and even its own Catholic church.  Then we drove by the UFO...a sports complex and concert hall that literally looks like a unidentified flying object.

Jan, Grzegorz and me!

We also took a walk through a park near a monument to Polish scouts.  In WWII, the young scouts (similar to Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts) protected Katowice from the advancing Germans.  Their bravery and intense attack ended up pushing back the Germans.  In the end, the Germans returned with major fire power and killed all the young people.  So, the Poles erected a replica of the tower that the young people fought from. 

Before heading to the airport, Jan's wife prepared a wonderful traditional Silesian meal for me. And then Grzegorz, Jan, Maria, and me watched Ca Ira, an opera about the French Revolution in English that premiered in Poznan.  Grzegorz has seen it twice live and was a great help interpreting some of the stranger scenes for me

Grzegorz and me got a long well...we have many similar interests in history and the arts.  I learned a lot about our family but also Polish culture and history in general.  Jan and Maria are a lot like my parents...with Jan always telling corny jokes :)  I laughed constantly and had lots of hugs.  It was a perfect cure for the homesickness I've had.

If you made it to the end of this long post, I'll leave you with a laugh.  At the airport, before I went through security we stopped for a cup of coffee and Jan told me that he was worried I would be quiet and shy!  I almost spit my tea out in laughter...Kuba and Grzegorz laughed too.  Just one weekend and they know I'm not quiet by ANY standard.

All in all, it was a wonderful weekend.    Family is special...and apparently the bonds are thicker than different cultures and 100 years.  I can't wait to see them again!