PolishOrigins(TM) Forum

Re: "Two questions and no answers..." story by Ute

Agnieszka Pawlus — Fri Feb 14, 2014 10:53 am

Author: Agnieszka Pawlus

Posted: Fri Feb 14, 2014 10:53 am

"I see my father’s face smiling at me from a photograph on my desk and wish I could tell him about it. And I close my eyes and see my German grandmother’s dear face. Her patience and unshakable love helped me to find my way in life, and I am deeply grateful to her..."

Today we have published the last, fifth part of Ute's story. She already has begun the important discussion. I hope that there will be more interesting comments and voices added. As always, we invite you to read the whole story on our blog: http://blog.polishorigins.com/2014/02/14/two-questions-and-no-answers-my-long-search-for-my-ancestry-and-identity-part-5/

And last, but not least: do not miss the opportunity to interview your relatives! (maybe during this, coming weekend?)

Re: "Two questions and no answers..." story by Ute

Elzbieta Porteneuve — Fri Feb 14, 2014 4:06 am

Author: Elzbieta Porteneuve

Posted: Fri Feb 14, 2014 4:06 am

How true words.

I recall an old saying "Nie ma sie czym chwalic" - "There's nothing to brag about".

Re: "Two questions and no answers..." story by Ute

Ute — Fri Feb 14, 2014 3:37 am

Author: Ute

Posted: Fri Feb 14, 2014 3:37 am

Zenon wrote:

Ute's story sparked a very interesting comments: http://blog.polishorigins.com/2014/02/11/two-questions-and-no-answers-my-long-search-for-my-ancestry-and-identity-part-2/comment-page-1/#comment-5764 . When we visit together your ancestors' places I hear so often from you the same what Ute, Sharon and Karen wrote: "they never spoke about the old country". There had to be reason for that...

Apart from the explanation that our immigrant ancestors were too busy dealing with the present and getting ahead economically and socially, another reason may be that they were embarrassed about the conditions of poverty many of them had grown up in before they came to America. When studying ship manifests, we can see that quite a few of our ancestors were unable to read and write, and that, when asked about their occupation, most of them indicated that they had worked as (day-)laborers, farm helpers, maids, and servants. The majority of our immigrant ancestors were peasants or descendants of peasants whose farms, if they owned any at all, were often too small to support a family with many mouths to feed. Even in good years many of them couldn't live from farming alone and were forced, young and old alike, to work for better-off neighbors, nearby manor estates, or in towns near their village besides farming to be able to survive. When there was a bad year, a draught, bad harvest, crop failure, the lack of food led to diseases caused by malnutrition, high rates of child mortality, and a large number of people in the peasantry dying of starvation. These harsh life conditions and the lack of hope for a better future was one of the major reasons for the large waves of emigration from Galicia. Maybe our ancestors were ashamed to talk about all these things with their children, maybe their memories were too painful and they just wanted to forget .... little do we know.

Re: "Two questions and no answers..." story by Ute

Zenon — Fri Feb 14, 2014 12:50 am

Author: Zenon

Posted: Fri Feb 14, 2014 12:50 am

Ute's story sparked a very interesting comments: http://blog.polishorigins.com/2014/02/11/two-questions-and-no-answers-my-long-search-for-my-ancestry-and-identity-part-2/comment-page-1/#comment-5764 . When we visit together your ancestors' places I hear so often from you the same what Ute, Sharon and Karen wrote: "they never spoke about the old country". There had to be reason for that...

"Two questions and no answers..." story by Ute

Agnieszka Pawlus — Thu Feb 13, 2014 11:35 am

Author: Agnieszka Pawlus

Posted: Thu Feb 13, 2014 11:35 am

"I remember sitting with the adults at family gatherings when I was a kid and teenager and listening to them talking about family, work, things that were going on in their lives, and my grandmother talking about her parents and siblings. I’m sure it would have made her happy if I had shown a little more interest in the conversation and the family, but I listened to all this with only half interest and snuck out as soon as I got a chance..."

Read the fourth part of Ute's story on our blog: http://blog.polishorigins.com/2014/02/13/two-questions-and-no-answers-my-long-search-for-my-ancestry-and-identity-part-4/

Re: "Two questions and no answers..." story by Ute

Agnieszka Pawlus — Wed Feb 12, 2014 12:13 pm

Author: Agnieszka Pawlus

Posted: Wed Feb 12, 2014 12:13 pm

"Like a tree that is blossoming and producing fruit because it is well connected to its roots, most of us have a good life and are doing fine, not because we are separated from the past, but because we are connected to our roots and to the roots of past generations..."

Read the whole text by Ute on our blog: http://blog.polishorigins.com/2014/02/12/two-questions-and-no-answers-my-long-search-for-my-ancestry-and-identity-part-3/

"Two questions and no answers..." story by Ute

Agnieszka Pawlus — Tue Feb 11, 2014 11:21 am

Author: Agnieszka Pawlus

Posted: Tue Feb 11, 2014 11:21 am

"Both generations, the immigrant generation as well as the first generation born in the United States, were too busy coping with the present and striving for a better life, getting ahead economically and socially, to worry about the past. It is us, the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of the first immigrants, who are asking the questions now and are rediscovering our ancestors’ culture and roots in a country that is ‘foreign’ to us, whose language we don’t speak, but to which we nevertheless feel deeply connected..."

Read the second part of Ute's story: http://blog.polishorigins.com/2014/02/11/two-questions-and-no-answers-my-long-search-for-my-ancestry-and-identity-part-2/

Re: "Two questions and no answers..." story by Ute

Elzbieta Porteneuve — Mon Feb 10, 2014 3:20 pm

Author: Elzbieta Porteneuve

Posted: Mon Feb 10, 2014 3:20 pm

Thank you Ute!

Re: "Two questions and no answers..." story by Ute

Zenon — Mon Feb 10, 2014 2:25 pm

Author: Zenon

Posted: Mon Feb 10, 2014 2:25 pm

I just wanted to add that we published the first version of Ute's story a few years ago in the Gen Stories section here: http://polishorigins.com/document/two_questions_and_no_answers . When I asked Ute, if we could republish it in the PO Blog she not only agreed but updated it. It is very personal and emotional writing which, in my opinion, shows us real life values and wisdom.

Thank you Ute!

"Two questions and no answers..." story by Ute

Agnieszka Pawlus — Mon Feb 10, 2014 1:58 pm

Author: Agnieszka Pawlus

Posted: Mon Feb 10, 2014 1:58 pm

"Instead of locking my story away because it is too private, I finally decided to share it with others and hope, by sharing my story, others will feel encouraged to share theirs as well..."

Today we have published the first part of Ute's story: "Two questions and no answers. A long search for my ancestry and identity"
You will find it here: http://blog.polishorigins.com/2014/02/10/two-questions-and-no-answers-a-long-search-for-my-ancestry-and-identity-part-1/