In the Spring of 2019, my wife Penny and I hired "Polish Origins" to spearhead a trip to Poland and the Ukraine, to manage the obstacles of translation, conduct further genealogy research, deal with the bureaucracies of the 2 countries and transportation as Lipica Dolna was now part of the Ukraine. It was an arduous journey to a remote, desolate village.
In that peaceful tranquility of the middle of nowhere, I fulfilled my quest!
In that peaceful tranquility of the middle of nowhere, I fulfilled my quest!
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| 80 Years later |
Our next destination was Toruń, Poland. Torun was where Polish prisoner of Soviet Lager camps were "exchanged", Dad was in that prisoner exchange to Stalag XXA in Torun, Poland. The Museum Director of Stalag XXA took us to the rail yards where prisoners were unloaded, to where dad was incarcerated and to the remnants of the Stalag XXA camp.
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| Holding a copy of Dad's" booking papers" at Stalag XXA He was unrecognizable in the photo from the conditions. An emotional moment |
Another goal was researching the Frackiewicz name in records, archives, churches, state, government agencies, graveyards. The discoveries were nothing short of awesome, putting flesh on forgotten names back to the 1700's. My lament of not knowing anything about my Polish roots in the blog's introduction has been fully addressed. Thanks to great genealogy research by "Polish Origins".
The pursuit of more detailed information, specifically 1937 enlistment military records, was frustrating. Centralne Archiwun Wojskoew (Central Military Archives) records were reportedly destroyed or lost during the war. They had no proof dad was a soldier but I had ample data from POW records that he was. From my research, I was well prepared for back and forth with the Polish government.
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| The Consulate General of the Republic of Poland Piotr Janicki and me |
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Zygmunt's Golden Cross of Merit
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The research has inadvertently but steadily brought me full circle. I can picture dad, smoking his pipe, looking up from the paper, slowly nodding his head in approval.
I am literally brought to tears, Roman, at your zeal and tenacity to not give up until you sought and found resolution to all your questions about your Dad's experience. My God, how proud be would be of you for your conviction, curiosity, and resolute determination! I cannot imagine the sorrow you must have experienced at the discoveries you made in the very locations where your father was inflicted upon with those atrocities - feeling his pain, humiliation, fear, anger and disbelief at the cruelty he endured at the hands of pure evil. And then the elation and gratification that came upon you when you received that call from the Polish Embassy, ending with the satisfaction of receiving that medal of valor on your father's behalf, presented to you by none other than the President of Poland himself! What a way to celebrate your journalistic pursuit of the truth to uncover the reality of your humble father's incarceration and ultimate freedom from oppression. The end of a devastating chapter in the life of the man who went on to raise a family in America where the freedom to pursuit happiness is a protected right by our government and military with much blood, sweat and tears throughout the years. Maybe your chronicled efforts will compel others to uncover their own family's history ending with their own unique rewards.
ReplyDeleteThank you for those kind comments.
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