Day 2 (Mon, Aug. 27): Walking With My Ancestors
Another day full of dreams fulfilled ! We spent today retracing my heritage in the tiny villages where my father's parents were born. With our private tour guide and driver, we traveled to the far northeastern area of Poland, not far from the Litharanian border to the villages Chomontowo and Pruska Wielka.
The Polish countryside is absolutely beautiful! As soon as we left Warsaw we were surrounded by green fields of corn and cows--lots and lots of cows.
......LOTS of cows!
Although long, the drive was incredibly beautiful. After 4 hours, we finally reached it---
Chomontowo, the village where my grandfather was born! It is absolutely charming. We walked the entire length of the village--all 1 km of it. This is a place where I could be happy. It is so peaceful and so beautiful. There were maybe 6 homes in the entire village. I'm sure the cows outnumber the people. Our driver picked some wild apples for us by the roadside, which were delicious! What a wonderful place to have my roots originate.
We next moved on to Janowka, the nearby "large village" where the Catholic Church is located . This would be the church where my ancestors were married, baptized, and buried. The original church, however, was replaced with the current one in the early 1900s.
In front of the church was a monument attesting to Poland's turmultuous past. It was dedicated to the 56 people killed by the Nazis on June 22, 1941, in retribution for something I'm not quite sure about. Among those killed were 10 children under the age of 14. Included in the names listed was "Twardowski", my grandmother's maiden name.
I wanted to visit the cemetery to see if I could locate any family graves. We were very disappointed to discover that the cemetery, too, could testify to Poland's crushing history. In 1945 it was the border between the German army and the Russian army. As a result, all of the graves were destroyed. Except for a handful of graves, all date from 1945 onward.
This statue is a remnant of the battle. The bullet holes are clearly visible. Note that one is directly through Jesus' eye.
I somehow doubt that that was an accident.
Our final stop was Pruska Wielka, the village of my grandmother's family. Compared to Chomontowo, Pruska Wielka is huge. It's population is listed as 68. It even has a grocery store!
We really made the shop owners day! We made quite a few purchases of Polish sweets. I'm sure we increased her daily intake by more than she makes in the average month.
On the drive home we stopped at the most wonderful lakeside restaurant. All of the fish served is caught in the nearby lake. Absolutely delicious!!
A cute couple of newlyweds were having their pictures taken by the lake.
What a memorable day! Today touched my heart like no other. My grandfather died when my father was very little, so I never knew him. I have now walked the same street that he walked. My Grammy was the very best there was and is the reason I wanted to also be called "Grammy." Words are not adequate to describe my feelings about today's adventures.
All I can say is that I left my heart in Chomontowo!
