Back to Białystok

Ted. In October of 2001, Judy and I traveled to Poland. Our purpose was to explore a bit of a country emerging from life under communism but also to visit the birthplace of my father’s mother (both of his parents emigrated from Poland to Chicago around 1910). 

Through Servas, we made the acquaintance of a host in Białystok, the closest major city to Grandma’s village. He was shocked when he heard that my ancestors were from Wysokie Mazowieckie since that was where his parents were from. He assured me that “My father says I MUST help you because you are one of us!” I’ll never forget the tearful moment when a city clerk located the records from 1895 and we turned to the entry for Grandma’s birth in March of that year. 

Special bonds have developed between our families since that time. His sister, Karolina spent the summer of 2002 with us to improve her English. Robert met up with us in Italy one time and then again in Berlin. We returned to Białystok in 2018 and were impressed with the improvements that had taken place once Poland joined the EU. 

One reason for our extended stay in Kaunas was that it was close to our Polish family. First Robert and Ania had visited us in Kaunas and Vilnius so now it was our turn to take the train to Białystok for a long weekend reacquainting ourselves with everyone and learning how the local economy was progressing.

Happily, the economic miracle has continued and Robert’s family is thriving. Their older son, Piotr is about to graduate from the University of Warsaw and just got married to the lovely Tosha. Younger son Michael has started his first year at the same school.

We took one day to return to Grandma's village which has absolutely exploded. A huge milk processing plant is now based there and families are moving in for the jobs. We also reconnected with Robert's parents.

Roman, Judy, Barbara & Ted

One sunny Saturday, Judy, Robert, Ania and I rendezvoused with Karolina and her family at the Podlasie Museum of Folk Culture. It was their annual Potato Festival so, in addition to visiting old buildings and listening to traditional music we watched folk dancing and drank and ate local specialties.

Free baked potatoes!!

Ania, Karolina & Judy

We love visiting new countries and meeting new people but there is something special about returning to a place that you know and love. As we told everyone there, “We’ll be back!”