Vacation in Poland- Part 4.

 

Back in Krakow, on the other side of the tracks, is a section of town named Kazimierz.  It's the Jewish part of town.  We took a stroll around and noticed quite a few restaurants and places for nightlife.  And we stopped in one of the old synagogue's for a visit.  One reason there were so many Jews living in Poland is that  in 1264, King Boleslav of Poland granted a charter inviting the Jews there. The charter was an amazing document, granting Jews unprecedented rights and privileges.  Our next stop will be Oswiecim, better known by the German name Auschwitz.  Or the reason why there are far fewer Jews in Poland today.  It's about one hour west of Krakow.  The Germans took over the Polish army barracks there and turned it into a concentration/extermination center.  You can see on the map that Jews were sent by rail cars from all corners of Europe to Auschwitz.  Over a million and a half people exterminated by gas chambers.  Some of the first Poles and Jews sent to Auschwitz arrived June 14th, 1940 from Tarnow, Poland.  That's where my relatives hale from.  The pictures speak for themselves.  Now we turn and go about an hour west of Krakow to Tarnow.  A few pictures of the city hall which is renovated in Renaissance style and in a quaint town square.  We stopped hoping to get some genealogical help tracking down our relatives that came to America from this area back in 1910.  Not much available immediately but some contact info for the archives.  So we drove a bit to Lisagoria a small village up the road.  Checked some church records there for our grandmother who was born in 18xx.  And finally to Selectwo Luszowice (Village of Luszowice) where our grandfather comes from.  We met a daughter of Stanislaw Kmiec (our great Uncle), Juliana.  She hosted us for tea and babka cake in the last standing Kmiec house to her knowledge in that village.  We visited the parish church where there is a baptismal record for Jan Kmiec, our grandfather.  In the rear of the church is a plaque thanking the Polish friends of Chicago for helping to repair the church.

Well just enough time for one more glass of Polish beer and we're off by jet to Prague.