PolishOrigins(TM) Forum

Our Polish Ancestors book

dgawell — Fri Jun 05, 2026 3:50 pm

Author: dgawell

Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2026 3:50 pm

A new book, available on Amazon : https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0G2GN43RH

Review of “Our Polish Ancestors” in the June July, 2026 edition of the Polish American Journal. Review by David Trawinski.
Donna Gawell’s “Our Polish Ancestors” celebrates our heritage, its customs and traditions, and its origins. Subtitled “The history and culture of Poland from Prehistory to World War I” I was enthralled to see that it was not merely another recitation of important dates in Polish history or explanation of the Szlachta and their “Golden Veto.” Those are vitally important and very prevalent.
This work fills a void by offering a historical perspective on the lives of the peasants who struggled to eke out a living from the land. It’s twenty-four chapters include “A Little History of Poland,” The Prussian and Russian Partitions,” Serfdom,” “Life on a Typical Polish Farm,” “Market Days,” “Sickness, Epidemics and Plagues and “Death, Funerals and Cemeteries.”
If you wonder why the Prussian and Russian Partitions are explored but not the Austrian Partitions, this entire work is highly focused on the Galician (Austrian-partitioned) provinces. The Galician provinces were much more lenient in their attempts to control or eradicate Polish culture and customs than the Prussian Germanification or the Tsarist Russification attempts.
Two of my favorite chapters are entitled “Holiday and Holydays” and “Superstitions and Ancient Rites.” The first deals not only with the Christmas Wigilia meal, but also the traditions of New Year’s Eve; Lent (including Maundy Thursday’s focus on the Last Supper, the fasting of Good Friday; the blessing of the food on Holy Saturday; and finally Easter (with zurek soup and pisanki, the multitude of colorful hand-painted Easter eggs); Dyngus Day followed with its sprinkling of water rituals. By contrast, the next chapter, “Superstitions and Ancient Rites,” deals with darker elements of the culture, especially regarding witchcraft and vampire superstitions of pagan times. Photos of evidence of vampire burials from Polish museums are included.
Overall, Gawell has added to the cultural knowledge base available to readers. Much is drawn from her travels to the “Old Country, and she performs a remarkable service in including photos of museum artifacts, prints of classical Polish art, and other colorful cultural images throughout this work. The writing is superb, ever so enjoyable as one feels warmly bathed in the forgotten details of a time long past. I highly recommend her book.

Looking For Two Song Titles

Sophia — Wed Mar 05, 2025 6:25 am

Author: Sophia

Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2025 6:25 am

Richard Kuzniak wrote:

I remember my mother singing two songs in particular:
(A Mother's Hands) Ręce Matki?
And one that has the line "ot te cirmnem mogiłe just niece wrocem nie"
Any help in finding the correct title and performer (likely from 30s or 40s) greatly appreciated.

Hi Richard and Barb,

If it is helpful, here are my attempts at spelling the line from that second song:
o ta ciemna mogiła już nie wróci mnie

Or possibly:
o ta ciemna mogiła już niech nie wróci mnie

Or maybe:
o ta ciemna mogiła już nie chce wrócić mnie

I do not know what song this could be, but maybe someone will recognize these words.

Best,
Sophia

Help in finding an unpublished autobiography

listerman — Thu Feb 27, 2025 6:45 am

Author: listerman

Posted: Thu Feb 27, 2025 6:45 am

I wonder if anyone can hilp in finding this unpublished autobiography. I can't remember the title or author's name. I read it in 2015 on a website which no longer seems to exist.

It begins with the authors father who was a minor impoverished Szlachta noble fighting soviets in the miracle on the Vistula. The father marries has 3 or 4 children including the author. The father moves from job to job in central south east poland. He teams up with a cousin to manage a business but they fall out. The father approaches another rich relative for help but is brutally insulted for being a beggar.

The father eventually ends up finding a good job as a train station manager but misunderstands that he got the job only if he is willing to engage in local corruption, theft, bribery etc. He loses his job in the station and moved to farming in a settlement on an island in one of Poland's lakes. WW2 starts, things are not going well and the family decides voluntarily to move to Germany for farm work. Things go reasonably well there but the author, now a teenager, makes several mistakes which are noted by nazi inspectors. One being that he was caught slurping milk from the pail with which he was milking cows. The author eventually ends up in Majdanek concentration camp where he nearly dies.

He eventually reunites with his family and emigrates to Chicago departing Europe from Hamburg. The author initially has a series of dead end jobs, occasionally insulted for being a dumb polak but eventually makes good and lives the american dream. His 3 sons however only have average success one of them with a bankrupt farm. The book came to my attention when i was on a website about Polish Kresy. I've searched long and hard for the site but i think its gone. The author thought the book was never good enough to be published. One of his sons in some forum mentioned his father's book but i can neither remember the authors name (a complicated polish name) or the name of the book. It was in pdf or similar.

Perhaps one of the author's sons might be reading this. Or has anyone else read the book and might be able to let me know?

Wola Rzedzinska

SandraJakubek — Sat May 13, 2023 8:26 am

Author: SandraJakubek

Posted: Sat May 13, 2023 8:26 am

xstitchlori wrote:

Would like to purchase a book written about the village of Wola Rzedzinska by Jan Kuta. If anyone knows of someone who would like to sell their copy or know where I could purchase a copy please respond. Thank you Lori Browarskipiosenki-religijne.pl

I found a book titled "Wola Rzędzińska" by Jan Kuta on lubimyczytac.pl. You can check if it is the book you are looking for. If you want to purchase it, you can try contacting the seller through the website or check if it is available on other online https://lubimyczytac.pl/ksiazka/4901079/wola-rzedzinska

A History of Eastern Europe - Lecture Series on Amazon Prime

krysradz — Mon Sep 28, 2020 4:35 pm

Author: krysradz

Posted: Mon Sep 28, 2020 4:35 pm

Anything confusing you about the "kick-the-can" politicks of our ancestors' homelands? As a child in the USA in the 1980s, my parents were unable to explain to me the nuances of where my Great-great Grandparents, all of whom emigrated before the 1905 revolutions, came from...I received a tangled explanation of "They're Russian, but, they're really from Poland" for one side of the family, and, for the other, "...but, they're really from Lithuania". Regrettably, was not raised with any of our culture (with the exception of Kruschicki), just 'murican. World history was really never a part of K-12 education, and, I didn't need many history credits in college.

So, a VERY welcome find on Amazon Prime video (as an additional subscription @ $7.99/mo.) is the "Great Courses Signature Collection" which includes the series "A History of Eastern Europe" (at https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B01J2AP7WY/ref=atv_dp_share_cu_r ). There's several good lectures included in that subscription, but this series on Eastern Europe, given by Prof. Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius (who hails from Chicago) is one of the best I've seen so far.

More detail about the series than can be found on Amazon's website is available on the producer's website: https://www.thegreatcourses.com/courses/a-history-of-eastern-europe.html (note, you can't subscribe on the producer's site for $7.99/mo.--the affordable option is only thru Amazon Prime, which is here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B01J2AP7WY/ref=atv_dp_share_cu_r ).

Pennsylvania - Polish/Eastern European Immigration Experienc

krysradz — Mon Sep 28, 2020 3:54 pm

Author: krysradz

Posted: Mon Sep 28, 2020 3:54 pm

Thank you! My relatives did the same in the Hazleton, PA area. Looking forward to watching this!

Updated links:

https://video.wxxi.org/video/the-extraordinary-journey-part-1-1bmjnz/
https://video.wxxi.org/video/the-extraordinary-journey-part-2-skvutt/
https://video.wxxi.org/video/the-extraordinary-journey-part-3-2ktyt0/

and also (this site seems more temporary, due to remote learning resources during COVID19 quarantine):
https://www.wvia.org/education/learn-at-home/learn-at-home-march30-apr3/extraordinary-journey/

Great Polish Books Deserve to Read

vladislavzorov — Wed Nov 13, 2019 9:03 pm

Author: vladislavzorov

Posted: Wed Nov 13, 2019 9:03 pm

Polish literature, although not as well known as its German and Russian cousins, is one of the gems of European culture. This list covers a very wide range of genres and eras, but any of these books will help you love Poland a little more.

1. The Manuscript Found in Saragossa by Jan Potocki (1804, 1810)
This is undoubtedly the most famous book written by a Polish author – but it may well be also the most mysterious. Set mostly in 18th century Spain, The Manuscriptfollows the adventures of the Waloon guard Alphonse van Worden as he tries to unravel the mystery of the ancient Gomelez family. However, very soon the narrative slips into a series of intertwining stories featuring a colourful cast of Gypsies, thieves, inquisitors, as well as a Cabbalist, Geometrist, and two Moorish princesses.
Written at the turn of the 19th century by a Polish aristocrat in French and never published in full during his lifetime, the Manuscript has been defined variously: a frame-tale novel, a fantastic novel avant la lettre or the last Enlightenment novel –even though its ambivalent world-view suggests rather that is an early beacon of dark Romanticism. This diversity and lack of consensus among literary historians partly reflect the strange after-life of the book's manuscript, whose story is as intricate as the work itself (we have today two, or even three equal, rival versions of the work).
One thing is certain, Potocki's novel is hardly matched by anything in world literature, and continues to fascinate contemporary readers who see his work as predecessor to such Post-Modern authors as Thomas Pynchon and Umberto Eco (those conspiracy theories!). Those who don't feel like jumping into a quirky 600-page frame-tale novel should check out the film adaptation by Wojciech Jerzy Has from 1965 – but be warned, it's hypnotizing!

2. The Doll by Bolesław Prus (1890)
The Doll is indisputably the greatest Polish realist novel – according to some, like Czesław Miłosz, it's also the greatest Polish-language novel ever. The Doll is the Polish Anna Karenina and Madame Bovary at the same time, even if the Polish Anna/Emma is male and has brusque manners and huge, red hands. The Dollcentres on the obsessive love affair between aspiring arriviste Stanisław Wokulski and high-society girl Izabella Łęcka – tracing the impossibility of this relationship and the incompatibility of their social statuses become Prus' major point of focus.
But The Doll deflects from the classic European psychological realist novel with its ideals of objectivity and clarity. Through its use of polyphony and an abundance of ideas, the novel questions the very possibility of objective representation of truth. The book was also called a prototype of the 20th-century 'post-colonial' novel, “in which the characters mimic men and the puppet-masters are always elsewhere” (read more). The Doll may be also unique in world literature as it attempted to portray the entire Polish society of the 19th century: with portraits of members of aristocracy, the bourgeoisie, and the proletariat, as well as Poland's ethnic Jewish and German minorities.

3. Choucas by Zofia Nałkowska (1927)

Set in a Swiss alpine sanatorium in the 1920s, Zofia Nałkowska's Choucas has drawn comparisons with Thomas Mann's Magic Mountain. Somewhat allegorical in its character, Nałkowska's tale also profiles a motley collection of visitors to the village and patients of the sanatorium, with each character hailing from a different country and espousing a distinct political viewpoint. Written at around the same time as Mann's magnum opus and addressing similar issues of nascent European nationalisms, Polish novel is considerably slimmer and thus perhaps more accessible. Nałkowska, the leading Polish author and feminist voice of Polish interwar literature, can be considered a perfect introduction to the more artistically daunting Polish literature of the period.

4. Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hour-Glass by Bruno Schulz (1937)

Published in 1937, Sanatorium is only the second and last volume of [url]Bruno Shulz's short stories https://docsbay.net/the-afterlife-of-schulz-or-schulzology-what-is-it-good-for [/url]. In it Schulz returns to the characteristic motifs of his work: the everyday life of a provincial Galician town and its impoverished Jewish residents, living a life that is illuminated by the Myth. In the title story the narrator visits his ageing (or is he dead already?) father in a sanatorium – located in a dead-end branch of time. Schulz's scarce output was admired by such diverse writers as John Updike, Philip Roth, and I.B. Singer, who said of Schulz:
“He wrote sometimes like Kafka, sometimes like Proust – and at times succeeded in reaching depths that neither of them reached”.

5. A Memoir of the Warsaw Uprising by Miron Białoszewski (1970)

Białoszewski's detailed account of the 63 days of the Warsaw Uprising remains the most faithful, anti-heroic, and nonpathetic description of the disintegration of the great city in the wake of terrible havoc of war. Białoszewski described the everyday of those involved in the Uprising in colloquial language devoid of any pathos or easy hope. His is the mundane, anti-heroic and universal perspective of civilians, so many of whom perished in the Uprising. Read more about Białoszewsk's Memoir here.

"10 great books about Poland" - blog post

vladislavzorov — Wed Nov 13, 2019 2:08 am

Author: vladislavzorov

Posted: Wed Nov 13, 2019 2:08 am

I am planning to visit next month, thanks for sharing such great books.

History of Parisville, the Oldest Polish Settlement in Mich.

Zenon — Tue Jul 16, 2019 12:40 am

Author: Zenon

Posted: Tue Jul 16, 2019 12:40 am

For all interested in the subject of history of early emigration from Poland to the US, Charles contributed a few articles in this subject to our website a few years ago.

You can find them now illustrated with old photographs as well as statistics on our blog here: https://blog.polishorigins.com/category/genealogy-tours-gen-stories/charles-chase/

"We are one family" by Karen Ballek and Leon Washu

Ute — Tue Nov 15, 2016 5:01 am

Author: Ute

Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2016 5:01 am

Aga Pawlus wrote:

Here is the book's website where you can find out more: http://www.weareonefamily.us/.

I cannot wait to read it![/img]

Thank you, Aga, for telling us about the book and a big thank you to the authors for the extensive research they conducted for this book. I'd love to get a copy of it -- can't wait to read it! - Ute

Classic Polish Films on YouTube

James — Sat Jul 02, 2016 8:22 pm

Author: James

Posted: Sat Jul 02, 2016 8:22 pm

Ute,
I just saw your post about Polish Films on YouTube. Better late than never
Thanks for this post. I have seen several Polish films, and not all had English subtitles, but I enjoyed them just the same.
Thanks again for your contributions to PO.

James

Listy emigrantów

Elzbieta Porteneuve — Thu May 28, 2015 5:19 pm

Author: Elzbieta Porteneuve

Posted: Thu May 28, 2015 5:19 pm

Magroski49 wrote:

Hi,

http://bibliotekaiberyjska.pl/historia_i_socjologia/listy_emigrantow_z_brazylii_i_stanow_zjednoczonych_1890-1891_d4665_pol.html

Gilberto

Thank you.

Elzbieta

"Mysterious beginnings of the Poland"

sheep17 — Wed Mar 25, 2015 5:14 pm

Author: sheep17

Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2015 5:14 pm

Dziekuje bardzo, Sirdan,

It's a fascinating film to watch. Really enjoyed it.

Leonore

Ida wins an Oscar!

Zenon — Fri Feb 27, 2015 3:54 am

Author: Zenon

Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2015 3:54 am

Louie,

So it seems that you have made some progress in Polish since your last visit in Poland . I am looking forward to touring again with you and listening (dozens of times) to your pronunciation of Wrocław (You can practice it on google translate: https://translate.google.com/#pl/en/wroc%C5%82aw - but remember, click on the speaker icon in the Polish version )

Contemporary Polish movies

Bill Rushin — Fri Jan 16, 2015 9:59 pm

Author: Bill Rushin

Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2015 9:59 pm

I just watched Ida on Netflix. I enjoyed it very much. Dzieki

History Videos by Rogvist

Agnieszka Pawlus — Fri Nov 07, 2014 9:55 am

Author: Agnieszka Pawlus

Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2014 9:55 am

Since this week you can watch all those above videos (and some more) also on our YouTube channel. We have created special playlist including the most interesting history videos.

I hope that this will be systematically growing.

The Polish National Independence Day that we will celebrate on 11th November is great occasion to watch them and think about our complicated past.

[html-link]

Zbrodnie hitlerowskie w wsi polskiej 1939-1945

Anonymous — Thu Oct 30, 2014 1:47 pm

Author: Anonymous

Posted: Thu Oct 30, 2014 1:47 pm

Cheri Vanden Berg wrote:

Thank you Gilberto, this is very kind of you. I am looking for Marya/Maria Gal. Her gravestone is engraved with the year 1944, when she died, and she was 42 years old. She was born in Załuczne, and I think was living in nearby Odrowąż when she was shot. My grandmother said her sister Maria was shot by Nazis while her husband and children watched. Her name does not show up at http://straty.pl/index.php/en/ My understanding is that this site is a work in progress. I think I would be able to add her name if I found proof. I don't expect her name to show up in your book either, as there were so many victims, but I appreciate your effort.
Thanks again,
Cheri

Cheri,

There is Maria Galle, 50 years old, on Sep 3, 1939 in Lobodno, woj. czestochowskie
And a Antoni Gal, 42, on Sep 5-6, 1939, in Kajetanowice, woj. czestochowskie

I don't read Polish but it seems this book was written based on many sources.
On the other hand, and for the same reason, I don't know if the Straty site lists ALL the names on this book (for instance, some Magrowski are in that site, but not in this book).
A polish reader may clarify us if the site concerns miltary personel and the book is about civilians, partisans, etc.

Gilberto

The oldest preserved polish film [1908]

Elzbieta Porteneuve — Mon Sep 22, 2014 6:03 am

Author: Elzbieta Porteneuve

Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2014 6:03 am

Many thanks!

Wojtek The Bear

Elzbieta Porteneuve — Mon Jul 14, 2014 7:46 am

Author: Elzbieta Porteneuve

Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2014 7:46 am

Aga Pawlus wrote:

I have found nice documentary movie about Wojtek The Bear, available on YouTube (with English subtitles):

"Beer for a Bear", documentary from 2008

[html-link]

Dear Friends, it is important to underline that the long movie Wojtek The Bear includes pictures of Polish POW WWII leaving Russia with Anders Army, pedestrian through Persia, Iran, Irak, Palestine, then to the UK or elswhere.

Elzbieta

"The Idea of Galicia" by Larry Wolff

MichelleLeach53 — Thu Jun 19, 2014 11:25 am

Author: MichelleLeach53

Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2014 11:25 am

Aga,
Thank you for supplying the link to the book! I am now reading it as well, and find it hard to tear my attention away from it.