Tag: genealogy

The Family Dragnet

Here’s how we became genealogical detectives in Poland as we hunted for clues to our family history.

If the word “Dragnet” means something to you, my guess is you remember Sargent Friday saying “Just the facts, ma’am.” on the old popular TV show. Or the 1960’s comedy movie version of that show with Dan Ackroyd and Tom Hanks. Either way it was about how detectives solved crime (mysteries). It seemed they had odd and funny ways of discovering facts when they interviewed suspects or witnesses.

Dragnet Theme

Now, we were on the ultimate dragnet for any clue to our family history. Facts mattered. Leads needed to be followed. We were on a missing persons investigation in Poland.

Near the top of my personal mysteries is how we got here. Ultimately, we all come from the same relatives. But the road that was taken by each of our ancestors made us who we are today. Sometimes, it was a voyage to leave their country and family. Other times it was to stay and make the most of the life they had, even if it was harsh at times. Whatever path was taken, family connections remained strong in most situations.

Where This Investigation Begins

About 10 years ago, Krystyna Onacki, a distant cousin from Poland discovered our Kiczek family. A Polish citizen at the time, she met and later married John Onacki a U.S. citizen when he was studying abroad in Poland. They moved to Roselle, N.J., coincidentally, the same town in which I grew up. Our family connection was through her mom who was a descendant of Josef Kiczek, my great grandfather.

Little did I know then that Josef had a second wife after his first passed away which created a second branch of the Kiczek family. Just 10 years ago, I had little knowledge of who my grandfather was, let alone my great grandfather. And, my parents and their siblings had passed away years before so it seemed we had no one left to ask, until Krystyna found us.

Large families were desirable back then to help work the land, provide financial support and to replace those children that would die young. For our side of the Kiczek family, my grandfather would immigrate to the U.S., and have nine children. My father’s siblings included one brother who became a priest and three sisters who would live their lives as cloistered nuns. To most Polish families this might have been the ultimate career choice and source of family pride. It was also seen as a way to increase their blessings by bringing the family closer to the Catholic Church. 

Covid Creates a Time Warp

My oldest son, Ethan Kiczek, met the Onacki’s and understood the family connections better than I. Ethan has an engineering degree and has worked in technology his entire career, appreciating the complexity of large scale projects. In 2020, tied down by the pandemic and working remotely, he became absorbed in discovering more details about the family.

Often a search leads to a clue about another relative or the nature of a relationship. This usually needs to be verified. There’s digital sources, like ancestry.com and there are analog sources, like a town’s records of births, deaths and marriages or even finding tombstones. 

While it’s possible that a birth record can appear as a digital image, more often than not it simply needs to be found in a physical registry of births, deaths and marriages. This is especially true for older records. In Poland. registry books are often located in the town where the family lived – or in the registry of the local church where they prayed. All this would take time and concentration, which with Covid, we all had plenty of.

Ethan searched a few databases like the Mormon’s FamilySearch and Facebook’s genealogy groups to discover what sources could help and how to get more information, if the data was not available online. This led to outsourcing a remote genealogical researcher in Poland, Lucjan Cichocki, who could actually go to local Polish towns to search registries to validate and discover family connections. Lucjan became our Sargent Friday. But, that led us to considering getting involved in this Polish dragnet too.

Going Back in Time

Ethan discovered, with the help of Lucjan, the towns where our family lived and even traced some ancestors to the 1700’s. But to dig deeper, we would need to view the registry records. Those records also state some other related information like the birth date, name of parents, religion and towns they came from. Ethan began to construct a large family tree that opened up our imagination as to who were our ancestors and how we were related.

PK’s Family Ancestors to Investigate

In 2022, we began to plan for a trip to Poland to discover our relatives – assuming we could find them and they would talk to us. But it was then that the Ukrainian-Russian war started. The area where our family was from was only about 50 miles from the Polish-Ukraine border. At that point we had no idea if the war would spill over to Poland. Poland’s borders have been moved often and the area we were planning on visiting was once even considered part of Ukraine. So, we postponed the trip for safety reasons. But the dragnet research continued.

Our Case History

Plans were set in late 2023 to visit the following year all the towns where my family seemed to have originated or once lived. Ethan’s mom, Judy’s (Dolac) mom had a clear connection to a town in the same region too. So, Ethan worked with a special touring company called PolishOrigins and created a custom tour that would take us to most places we had confirmed had a family connection. We hoped to visit those places, hopefully discover more connections and perhaps meet some relatives!

We spent four days investigating our ancestors in Poland, mixed with some interesting sightseeing along the way. Here’s a brief case history of what actually occurred during our investigation part of the trip:

Our Ancestry Tour Route from Rzeszòw to Kraków
Tuesday, June 11, 2024

Świerczów – About 20 miles north of Rzeszów, our starting base, we sought family connections to the Stobierki’s (Ethan’s grandmother on his mother’s side). We had an address to go to from previous research. Found a distant cousin Halina Knipa and son Bartek. They share a great great grandfather Michal Stobierski with Ethan. We visited the town hall for records, the old family farm where his grandparents lived and a local cemetery. We exchanged emails for future follow-up. See the earlier post for more details on this visit.

Bartek, Ethan, Ethan Luke, Helina

Wednesday, June 12, 2024 – morning

Żarnowa – In search of Sliwinska family (or possibly Sliwinski). Marriage records showed that great grandmother Marianna Sliwinska (born 1847) had married Josef Kiczek (born 1827) and was originally from this town, about 20 miles south of Rzeszów. We had a possible address or location but it seemed wrong. We went to the nearby convenience store to ask around if anybody knew a Sliwinska family and followed a lead to an address that might be a descendant. No one was home but a neighbor corroborated that there might be a connection. They called the possible relative and we promised to send a letter explain our relationship. Low odds on connecting here, but maybe they will respond.

Wednesday, June 12, 2024 – afternoon

Brzeżanka – a neighboring town to Żarnowa, we had our best clues and even arranged a meeting with Bogumila and Zdzislaw Furtek. Bogumila is a sister of Krystyna Onacki, our cousin who helped start this whole investigation back in the states. This was pay-dirt for us.

We now had a direct connection from the other branch of the Kiczek family. Antoni Kiczek was a half-brother of my great grandfather, Josef Kiczek. His descendants included Bogumila and Krystyna. It seemed Josef married once had eight children and married again having four more. Not so uncommon back then. One of Antoni’s sons was our familiar “Uncle Joe”(Joseph Kiczek) as he became the messenger between the U.S. and Poland Kiczek families. We just never realized what the exact family relationship was.

This was the highlight of our trip from a social and genealogical point of view and the main objective. We met a distant but direct relative, had a warm inviting visit, saw where my great grandfather and some of his descendants lived and tilled the land, even until today. We ate together, exchanged gifts and promised to keep in touch. We had an open ended welcome to come back. More than that, we discovered the land where our ancestors lived and worked was a beautiful peaceful place. See the earlier post for more details on this visit.

Thursday, June 13, 2024 – morning

Brzezowa – Our investigation moves on as we travel 30 miles southwest toward the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains and closer to the Slovakian border. There we searched for traces of my paternal grandmother’s (maiden name Katarzyna Kuchnika) family. After visiting the town hall records we found a possible relative’s address. We went to a cemetery and the home of to a a Kuchnika descendant and her son but they did not seem terribly interested in relating anything to us. We made the connection but in this case there wasn’t much interest in continuing communication.

Friday, June 14, 2024 – morning

Grybow/w – We travel west another 10 miles in search of my maternal grandfather’s ( Kmak) family. We started in Grybow, the area where we had a record of his family. We went to the local town hall to explore records. We found a clue that Kmak’s were still in town and a relative might be living nearby. We visited Richard and discovered another lead to a younger generation relative. For our last investigation we went to a local farm and met Kamil Radzik, 28 years old, our youngest relative we met. He offered his email and promised to connect.

Friday, June 14, 2024 – afternoon

Bobowa – Our last investigation started in the local town hall. Through Lucjan’s charm and two very conscientious staffers we spent over an hour pouring through records to find my maternal grandfather’s family.

Case Closed?

Four days of investigation had ended. With the help of Lucjan as our translator and charmer, we had managed to discover new facts, meet family members and potentially open up further communications. Eventually, Lucjan mentioned that he was interested in police detective work, his skills fit perfectly for that job.

More than that, we had a real feeling of what it was like living in Poland. It is truly a beautiful country, not unlike America. There are small quaint towns, small shops, even American fast food (e.g., McDonald’s) and town halls with vital records. Beyond that there is a huge landscape of open fields and undulating mountains. It changed my perspective about who are ancestors were and where they were from and why many chose not to leave.

I couldn’t stop myself from thinking of one of my favorite Elvis Costello songs that seem to relate to us being amateur detectives, if only for a while and in a friendlier way. The following video has nothing to do with genealogy, but it too is a great mysterious song and video about being a detective….

Elvis Costello: Watching the Detectives

Discovering Relative Gold

Day two on the road looking for relatives and we uncover some of the mysteries of the family.

It’s day two of actual relative hunting. Our first objective was to find a Slawinska family relative which was the maiden name of my paternal grandmother, Marianna Kiczek. We knew she was born in 1847 in Poland through a marriage record which showed she was from a small village area called Źaranowa, about 40 miles south of Rzeszów, where we had stayed the last two days. The terrain became more hilly and rural the further we traveled.

Convenience Store Clues

We did not have a specific address so our guide Lucjan suggested we stop and ask at a convenience store if anyone knew of a Slawinska family. To him this was a logical professional move. To us it was more like following a detective trying to track a criminal.

While the store clerk was not able to help, we stumbled upon a nice looking, fit older woman outside the rough-looking store who said she knew of a family that might have had a family connection with the Slawinska’s and could be related. We volunteered to drive her to her home a couple miles away. Like amateur detectives ourselves, we deduced this was how she kept in shape, walking up and down these hills these steep hills would be tough for any of us.

Super walking lady
Neighbors of Slawinska’s

No one seemed to be home at the possible family house but a next-door neighbor took our email address and promised to pass on our interest. We had made a loose connection but could not be sure if our detective work would pay off. Now, we began to realize this could be a slow process and may turn up as a dead end. On the other hand, luck might be on our side and practically everyone we met seemed eager to help.

There’s Gold in These Hills

Our second goal for the day was actually a planned visit to Bogumila and Zdzislaw Furtek. Bogumila is the sister of Krystyna Onacki, my distant cousin who had discovered our family connection many years ago. We share the same great grandfather but have different great grandmothers.

Josef Kiczek married Zofia Kielar and had three children before she passed away, one of which was Zusanna. Zuzanna married Victor Kaminska and had three children of her own, among them was Bogumila and Krystyna. Josef remarried Marianna Slawinska after Zofia’s death and had three more children, one of which was Joseph Kiczek, my paternal grandfather. Whew!

Krystyna and her husband John Onacki currently live in Roselle, NJ and are extremely warm people that embrace our shared Kiczek family connection. We have kept in touch over the years but this trip was an ideal way to share in our family heritage since much of her family still either lived in Poland or maintained connections there. This was a perfect time to actually meet and understand more about our family. And, Bogumila was the perfect personal connection to make it happen. While Krystyna could not join us physically she set up our meeting with Bogumila at her home in Breźanka just a few miles away from Źaranowa.

You could see both a physical and personal connection between the sisters. While Krystyna is younger they both have a warm beauty and personality. Bogumila and her husband, Zdzislaw, invited us into her home in the dining room and immediately talked about the family with Lucjan acting as our translator.

It seemed awkward at first but we quickly grew accustomed to the dialog. Next, she brought out several photo albums with old and new family pictures. I, in turn, had brought some of our old and new family pictures to share. We laughed when we realized that we both actually had a few of the same photos.

Bogumila and Zdzislaw’s Home

Bogumila planned lunch with us and a visit to the land and house where our common great grandfather Josef had lived. There was a new owner now and the place had been renovated many times over the years. An older woman and her nephew lived there now. Her husband had passed away and her nephew had come to take care of her. They graciously invited us in for coffee and cake as we spoke about old times there. You can’t seem to escape hospitality here!

We eventually returned to Bogumila’s home where a full lunch of Polish food including soup, salad, roast pork and dessert awaited us. After lunch we took a walk around her property, a large tract of land which they continue to farm part-time.The house and farm are situation on beautiful rolling countryside hills broken occasionally by patches of forest. It reminded me of those alive hills in the Sound of Music.

Late in the afternoon we exchanged gifts and goodbyes. But that was not before calling Krystyna in Roselle and telling her all about our adventure. Finally, we agreed to go with Bogumila and Zdzislaw to visit the local church and cemetery to see the graves of many in the family.

The Legend of Uncle Joe

My father had a close cousin Joe who was always a mystery to me growing up. He was the physical connection to the old country, living in Bayonne and working for a school for the deaf in New York City. He was a sharp dresser and a very buttoned-up character who had a worldly view traveling frequently between the U.S. and Poland and having us help our distant family in Poland in many ways. Joe also was responsible for helping to build the neighborhood church, earning him such respect that he still seeems to have earned sainthood here in the town of Breźanka.

The church that Joe Helped Build
Uncle Joe

Cemetary Life

The Poles have a special reverence for the dead and for past generations which we seem to have lost here in the U.S. It’s the final evidence of lives lived and gone. And, maybe reminding us that we’ll all be gone too someday. Nothing lasts forever but memories can linger for generations.

Let the Hunting Begin!

Our first day of relatives hunting began today. A combination of detective work and history.

It was Tuesday and our first day of relative hunting. Our guide Lucjan Cichochi arrived at our hotel in Rzeszów, Poland to take us to our first destination for the week. One big advantage we had was a personable tour guide who spoke both English and Polish was a professional genealogist who Ethan had consulted with on our family history. So, he already had some familiarity with our case(s).

What’s in a Name?

Ethan’s mom Judy’s mom was Helen Dolac (maiden name Stobierski). Her family was known to come from an area about 40 miles north of Rzeszów in the town of Świerczów. We had an address for a Stobierski and approached a woman living there who said no one with that name lived there and there were many families with that name. She suggested trying another address down the road where Halina lived who might be from that family.

It was in a multi-family apartment building which seemed might be daunting for a stranger to ring a doorbell. Lucjan, however, never let that stop him from asking around. Through a neighboring park attendant, he called Halina Knipa (formerly Stobierski ) and asked if we could meet to discuss her family for the benefit of three strangers from the U.S. seeking family history.

Naturally, it seemed, she let us in her modest apartment and treated us to coffee and cake while he began asking questions to see if she was indeed connected to the Stobierski family who immigrated to the states. She spoke only Polish but her 28-year old son Bartek, spoke some English and joined us as we looked through old photos. Ethan and Lucjan agreed that there probably was a connection to the the U.S. Stabierski’s through a great grandfather. She even agreed to take us to the town hall records building to verify his birth record to see if he was a brother of Tomas Stobierski, Ethan’s great grandfather.

Halina and Bartok then took us to the house where she and the Stobierski family once lived which is now vacant along with many others in the area. Once mainly a farming community, commerce had settled in and the family moved on. With no one interested in a house in need of repair, a barn and acres of farming land, Helena’s sisters now owned the land and its future was uncertain. It seemed likely the family home would be sold off someday. We agreed to exchange emails and make a connection

The land in this area is mostly flat and fertile. It’s fairly busy with traffic although the population is not dense and there seems to be an oversupply of land with little influence from big agricultural companies. It seems like a place where time has stood still, at least for now.

Visiting the Ethnographic Park

After a quick lunch we headed to the Ethnographic Park in Kolbuszowa a few miles away. The term “Ethnographic Park” is probably a more globally acceptable term for a recreation of a past time and culture. Williamsburg in the U.S. is considered as such. There are many such places in Europe reflecting past history and how people lived in those times.

The southeastern part of Poland was mostly an agricultural area and the common village people who worked the land and raised farm animals, mostly for the benefit of wealthy landowner aristocracy. The park is an assembly of about 60 buildings in an area resembling what a Polish village might look like several hundred years ago.

All buildings in this living exhibit were historically accurate and selected from the nearby areas then reassembled to create this reconstructed new village, including peasant houses, barns, shrines, schoolhouse, silos and manor house.

Ironically, our guide Sabina was married into the Stobierski family but we quickly realized that there was no direct connection to our’s. She became our private guide walking us through the village and explaining the history of the early settlers in this part of Poland. It was a great way to appreciate the past and think about how are history was both the same and different.

The Ethnographic park continues to expand and is a very popular destination for visitors from Poland and beyond. For a relatively new and small area of Poland, they are now attracting up to 50,000 visitors a year. Probably most important to many visiting these days is that a popular Netflix streaming comedy series (in Poland only?) called “1670” was shot here for its first season and a second season is in the works. We’ll be looking for it on Netflix when we get back to the states. I guess you could say it’s a virtual recreation of past, not unlike what we are trying to do.