Kaminski

Earlier this month, in Zdrojewski Identification Contest, I put up this photo of a Kaminski gathering:

Cecelia Kaminski married Casimir Joseph Zdrojewski; you can check out the relationships at the page Familiae Personae Zdrojewski.

Two of their three children are in this photo: Celine between her Mama and her Grandmama, and Paul seated in front giving the photographer a great baleful look.  Notice the young man behind Cecelia.

Here is that young man again in the photo below, which was stuck in a book in the Upstairs Research Loft of the Coot Hill Family Historical Preservation Society.

Who is he?  Who are they all?  They look like a group of siblings and cousins.  In fact, I wonder if those are Celine and Paul Zadner perched on top of the piano.  Anyone have a clue to the identity of the others or location of the house?

Update 02/27/12:  Paul Zadner helps us out here:  "I am on the top of the piano but my sister is the little girl standing at the opposite end. The girl on top of the piano is already dead. I have the religious picture that sits over the piano and it is not in the best condition. This photo was at my cousin's house who is playing the piano."

Poznan Zdrojewskis: From the Old Country, Part 9, Conclusion

The last photos to flutter down from the manila envelope illustrate two Intencja - intentions made at two different churches for the spiritual benefit of family.

The first is at a basilica in Poznan'.  Possibly this photo is of the interior of that basilica.  It is not labeled, just put in the envelope with the rest.  However, it is 4 x 6 inches and printed on heavy photo stock such as JPZ typically used.  For all I know this could be the interior of St. Luke's in Buffalo!  Comments?

(Note: John, JFZ, says yep, that's the pulpit at St. Luke's.  There you go.)

Literally:

Mass (of) Holy Thanksgiving Petition.

For the health of (your) son Gene, wife and children.

Success in practice in (the) new town.

The intention (of the) parents,

Jan and Alina Zdrojewski

Date of the Holy Mass 14th March

at the Corpus Christi Basilica. In Posnan' Poland.

(Basilica of lit. God, (His) body - We say "Corpus Christi.") 

So - it seems this was to congratulate Gene and Clara on the occasion of the move of Gene's optometry practice from Buffalo to Alden.  That was in the early-mid 1970s.

Who are Jan and Alina?  Are they related to the "Alinka" featured in Poznan Zdrojewskis: From the Old Country, Part 3  ?

Our final exhibit in this series has to do with Jasna Góra Monastery, a very important place in Polish memory and a topic for another day.

                            

Someone sent a postcard picture of the Black Madonna of Częstochowa.

It is unsigned, undated, and for the most part illegible by me.  I can see that it outlines a couple of fairly detailed intentions that were made there - by someone.  Click to enlarge!

Here is a little bookmark, sized just right to fit in a Missal.

Dla Janka Zdrojewskiego
For John Zdrojewski

Thank you for looking through these photos with me.  As to be expected, investigations raise more questions than they answer, and this is no exception.  I look forward to any further memories, anecdotes, historical hints, historical references, translations, and hypotheses that anyone can come up with.  And naturally, as I keep on rummaging through the boxes upstairs, I will keep in mind the mysteries raised by the artifacts brought to life thus far.

Julie

Poznan Zdrojewskis: From the Old Country, Part 8

This is the last photo I have of Pani Zdrojewska of Poznan'.  In this one, she is alone.  We have figured out that her late husband was Pan Franciszek Zdrojewski, her son was Edmund, her daughter was Sabina.  But we still do not know her name.

The cut glass objects must be beautiful to see.  It is a high art form.  The red color comes from minute amounts of gold added to the molten glass.  I wonder how old these  are, and where they came from.

Balboa Park in San Diego has several cultural museums - little jewels -  run by different ethnic groups in the city. The Polish one has several lovely red cut-glass objects you can see.

Poznan Zdrojewskis: From the Old Country, Part 7

We last saw the parents relaxing in the summer countryside by the forest, in 1973, in Poznan Zdrojewskis: From the Old Country, Part 6.  In the fall of that year the father died.

"Mammusia jedsie w samochdnie."
"Mama goes to the car."

Looks like Edmund with Mama.

Dissident movements were building in the 1970s.  How many of these people eventually became active?  That little girl is in her forties now in 2012; what could she tell us?  How could we find her?

We see another glimpse of the vast plain of north central Poland; the priests' robes flutter in the wind.

". . . mego ojca Franciszka Zdrojewskiego"
". . . my father Francis Zdrojewski"

Is he the Franciszek from the household identity paper from the early twentieth century?  Is he the Franciszek born in Chrosno in 1900?  

Is he brother to Ludwig?  That would make his daughter Sabina and JPZ first cousins, whereas Sabina addressed him as "Uncle."

Is he nephew to Ludwig?  That would make Ludwig his uncle, and his daughter Sabina and JPZ would be second cousins once removed.  She could address him as "Uncle."

That would make the three sons of JPZ second cousins to Sabina and Edmund.

That would make the children of the three sons - my generation -  third cousins to any children of Sabina and Edmund.

Julie

Poznan Zdrojewskis: From the Old Country, Part 6

Here is our couple in 1973.  What is that place name?  Sieraliov?  Sievaliov?  

These three photos of this wooden church are not labeled, but the prints are  the same size and style as the photos of the couple.  That makes me wonder if this church is also in or near "Sieralov."

A Wikipedia search for wooden churches yields Wooden Churches of Southern Lesser Poland.  There you see a style quite different, with watchtowers often on the front of the building, and the construction typically with horizontal timbers and with shingles.  This one is very simple board-and-batten, with just one little onion-dome on the belfry roof.  It looks new.

Anyone have any idea where this is?  I studied Google Images of wooden churches of Poland until my eyes crossed, but found nothing exactly like it.

The Slav is at home in the forest!

The Slav is at home in the forest!  In Krakow, the statue of Mickiewicz has at the base four additional figures, representing four elements of the basis of Polish culture. There is the farmer, in his field teaching his son; there is the Jewish mother teaching her child the Psalms of David; there are the Romans with their law; and there is the ancient Slav.

With just his furs, his sandals, sword, shield, and winged helmet, he rules the forest.

  In good times.

Poznan Zdrojewskis: From the Old Country, Part 5

1970:  Sabina, son or son-in-law, mother, father.  Matka has a corsage and Ojciec has a boutonnier.

I'm so bad at recognizing the letters in this European script that I can only transliterate part of it.  Somebody help me.  You can go to Google translate and do organized iterations of spelling, as if you were deciphering a code in order to save the world.

"50-cio lecia . . . Jubilaci . . .Posnan', du. 12 csence 1970r."


"50th anniversary . . . celebration . . .Poznan', on (June?) 12, 1970."

"Czerwiec" is "June," so I can't say what this "csence" is.  But I'm guessing June, for two reasons.  First, most people get married in June.  Second, Wikipedia has a wonderful chart in the article entitled "Polish Months," and that's the closest one in spelling.

So they were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary.

"od Wujostwa Zdrojewskich"


"to Uncle Zdrojewski"

Bing Bing!!  Does she mean Uncle, or Great-Uncle?  Is this Ludwig's younger brother, or Ludwig's nephew?  And could this be the Franciszek Zdrojewski, born 4.9.1900 in Chrosno, of whom there is no record in the family of his coming to America?

They celebrated by renewing their matrimonial vows at a special jubilee Mass at their church in Poznan´.

 "Kosciola" is " at the church."


                                           

 When I was little Mom and Dad took us to a 50th Jubilee Mass.  Could it have been Uncle Ray and Auntie Mary?  Could it have been at St. Adalbert's?

"Jubilaci z corka Sabina i synem Edmundeu."


"Jubilee with daughter Sabina and son Edmund."


Bing Bing!!  Son Edmund.

So this is the mother's handwriting.  Maybe both mother and daughter are named Sabina.

 "Rodziny" is "family."

". . .do domu"  is "to home."  They are on their way home from the Mass.

Poznan Zdrojewskis: From the Old Country, Part 4

In the 1947 photo, below, we have either the son or the son-in-law, the mother, the daughter Sabina, and the father.  The father we guess to be a relative of Ludwig Zdrojewski.

Now we have the same family in 1970.  Son or son-in-law?  "Follow the noses;"  he looks like Matka, the mother, doesn't he?

Here is the daughter in 1965:

"Kochanemu Jankowi od Sabiny.  du. 12.8.65r."


"To beloved Janek from Sabina."

John Peter Zdrojewski is "Janek."

We're guessing that JPZ might be her great-uncle.

Often enough, as a child visiting on May Street, I would hear my Dziadzi, JPZ, talking very quietly to my parents, showing them letters and photos "sent by Sabina," or explaining that he "sent to Sabina" certain things, like tablets of notebook paper, that were plentiful for us but for them impossible to acquire.  This was in the 1960s.  The Iron Curtain was real.  I also remember them whispering gravely about "Gomulka."

Why did my parents and grandparents never speak to us directly about these things?  It wasn't because I was a girl;  they didn't speak to Marty about it either.  Did they, Marty?  Was it just too painful to talk much about?  

"Mamusia, ojciec i ja - Sabina    w 1969r."

"Mama, Daddy, and I - Sabina"

"Rodzice na wakacjach"

"Parents on holiday"

"Ojciec na rybkach"


"Dad fishing"    ("Ryba" is "fish.")

These photos are easily downloaded to your computer.  Just right-click on an image and choose from the little popup menu an item such as "Add to IPhoto Library" or "Download Image."

Julie