"GORALE GORALE"

Goral, a proud people. My heritage. I am descended from a strong lot. Until now not known by anyone. My Mother,Aunts,Uncles,Cousins,Friends. Unknown to all. I'm glad to have made this journey. I've always been curious as to why my Grandparents never explained to their children where they came from. Why is it that they didn't see the importance of their heritage? Perhaps it is something as simple as their own need to move forward. Times prior to world war one were indeed turbulent. All four of my Grandparents left for America prior to the age of twenty. None returned to their homeland, ever. A full generation plus one later, I would return. I return home to America the same man who left ten days ago, only now with a penchant to return once again to Podhale. I want to sing the Gorale song. To walk again among the people who so lovingly embraced me. To hear the sound of the horses shoes in perfect cadence on the road as the Highlander begins his day. The sheep resting peacefully in the field as the Tatra herding dogs keep their watch. If this weren't enough, my friends, my Gorale friends in Austria assured that I would realize my gorale roots. Young Klara, delighted us with a smile that radiates the room like the suns rising over the mountains mist and a song or two on her violin in perfect concentration. She is a bright young girl and joy to know. Bartosz was eager to take us on a tour throughout Vienna via the lite rail and subway. He knows the city quite well for his fourteen years. I think he enjoyed learning about youth in America just as much as we enjoyed listening to him tell us about Vienna! Eva, who touched my heart so when she presented to me a small medallion of Pope John Paul the second from his visit to Zakopane her hometown and said "Give this to your Mother,this is for her." My good friend Bogdan, without whose help, none of this trip would have been possible. I am overwhelmed with gratitude. We share a common bond other than our interest in genealogy. We are Gorale and know well the Gorale toast. My cousin Zosia, coy and shy, fearful of her lack of command for the English language, went out of her way to do her best in making our time in Koniowka a memorable one. We shared many pictures and laughs. Joseph, her Father and my Mothers first cousin, made sure we were comfortable. None of us could speak to each other. You would never know had you been peeking through the window. I can't close today's blog without mentioning Stanislaw and Anna Zubek. Stanislaw is the son of Rosalia my Grandfathers sister. Anna is his wife. Father Jan Zubek, his brother. The language barrier existed here as well. There is one difference though. We sang the Gorale song. Anna began, and then like many other times, we wept. With tears of joy we bid farewell to Koniowka. Gorale Gorale.

A LONG DAY INDEED

The sun sets over the the lower Tatras as we make our way back to Dolina Chocholowoska after our long day in Krakow,Auschwitz and Wadowiesce. I'm a day or two behind on the blog due mostly to internet interruption and human fatigue!! There is nothing really nice to say about Auschwitz so all I will say is that it is probably the ugliest example of mans inhumanity to man that I have ever seen. I'll move on. First I'd like to explain that one of the requirements of attaining 50 years+ in the priesthood is the development of the ability to not eat,drink or use the toalety for nearly 8 hours. Father Zubek has attained this. We had to laugh. Every time I mentioned the water closet, father said no! It took me almost 8 hours to figure out that he thought that I was asking if HE had to use the bathroom. Only after I started to do the PP dance did we finally find the WC and relief. Krakow is a beautiful city. An architectural wonder. Our highlight was The Cathedral Wawelowska. Sitting within the castle on Wawel hill it is a magnificent place. We even got inside for free as Father said something to the guard who originally was insisting that we purchase tickets but what ever Jan Zubek said to him was enough for him to sheepishly lower his head and step aside. Inside this cathedral were many sarcophagi of Polish nobility as well as former Bishops of Krakow dating to pre 14th century.Very gold and Hungarian marble, and even Russian paintings mostly depicting the apostles and Christ. These survived communism, Thank God! We were unable to take photos here. In Wadowiece we saw the birthplace of Pope John Paul 2 and every place he hung his hat from Wadowiece to Krakow!The Popes birthplace is also pictured in todays blog. I will write more soon

EARLY TO RISE

I am up early 500am, showererd and ready to greet the day. The sheep are still sleeping accross the street. The Tatras herding dogs are keeping their watch on the sheep as well as me! They are a beautiful breed. Snowy white, fluffy and fury with kind and keen eyes. We will be picking Fr. Zubek up in Witow and then on to pick up Zosia in Koniowka. From there we leave for Aushwitz and Krakow. It will be a long day. I'm hoping to post later if time allows. If not you will hear from me tomorrow. The church records are yet to come but I am like a child with Christmas morning anticipation. Thats it for now. Talk to you later.

A VERY REWARDING DAY~BRAVO JAN ZUBEK

Today was a day of ancestral breakthroughs. We arrived back to Koniowka this morning and sat with with my Grandfather Josef Planiczka's nephew Stanislaw Zubek and his wife Anna. We would wait for the arrival of Zosia who would be bringing Fr. Jan from the overnight train. While we waited, we viewed old photos that they had. Verifying what we now already know, were some photos of Walter Planiczka in his service uniform as well as a photo of Leo Planiczka in his. It is wonderful to know that my Grandfather had communicated with his brother back in Koniowka during his life at some point. The photos may have been brought back by Fr. Zubek when he visited back in 1973. I was unable to verify this though. Upon Fr. Zubek's arrival, following the now customary tears from Bill, we proceded to enjoy chocolates,cheese,cookies,coffee and a customary shot of brandy. During this time Fr Zubek brought out his photos, and I displayed mine as well. He was very excited to be doing this. He remembers very well my Mom, Aunts Elizabeth,Caroline,Frances and Aunt Sophie. He knew Aunt Sophie had past many years ago. I explained to him that Aunts Caroline and Frances had gone to Jesus as had their husbands. He understood. A very nice surprize though was a photo that he had of Aunt Fran, Claudia, and a very young Gina. I explained to him, Gina, that you have grown into a wonderful woman. We were unable to access the church today as quite honestly, the priest wasn't home. Fr. Zubek also served in this parish some years ago. We will go here again late tomorrow after our return from Aushwitz and Krakow or on Thursday if need be. We did visit the cemetary today with Fr. Jan. Here we found much Planiczka/Zubek information. It is too much to post here right now but I will compile it soon. Fr. Zubek thinks I should write a book about us! Imagine that. He is serious though and is prety insistant to have a copy sent to him with our history. I will in time accomodate him. It's the least I could do as a Goral from America! The photo today is Fr.Jan Zubek and I at the entrance to the cemetary at Chocholowa. The monumet is for Pope John 11 and shows His Papal Cross.

Bill Zosia

KONIOWKA

The land of my heritage. Our drive was beautiful. Leaving Vienna and travelling through Slovakia we arrived in Koniowka At about 0300pm. All of Koniowka are aware of our coming according to the little old women with the babushka whom we encountered upon our arrival. As soon as we met Zosia, our language barrier quickly broke down as I began to cry. I just couldn't help it. We did a lot of that and then many many laughs as our first meeting progressed. We stayed about 2 hours and then went on to get our room at Dolina Chocholowa at the foot of the Tatras. We will return with our rental car after a good nights sleep to Koniowka for yet another surprize. Father Jan Zubek is taking the night train from Szechein. He will arrive early and will stay for the next few days to accompany us to the church in Chocholow and go with us to Aushwitz and Krakow. Zosia will come too. I will post more later. This is only the beginning

GREETINGS FROM VIENNA

Hello to all. Just a few quick lines to bring you up to speed. All is going well with our journey thus far. We arrived in Frankfurt on time and with about 7 hours to kill before we departed for the beautiful city of Vienna and the home of our very good friends Bogdan and Ewa. We took a quick bus tour around Frankfurt, then ate and then finally boarded our flight to Vienna. After being awake for nearly 18 hours, we arrived in Vienna to find Bogdan patiently waiting for us in the baggage area. Being quite tired we relaxed with Bogdan,Ewa and thier children Bartosz and Klara. They are a lovely family and we are very grateful for thier hospitality. This morning we embarked on a tour of Vienna. Along with Bogdan as our friend and guide we saw many of the relics of Austria. Ill be posting some pictures soon. Probably one of the most interesting sites we saw today was both the summer and winter residences of the Habsburgs. We also toured St Stephans church. This church, over 500 years old, lost its roof during a bombing during ww2. The roof has been rebuilt. Beneath the church are catacombs which we entered. In the catacombs are not only caskets, but preserved organs of Habsburgs long past. Additionally, during the black plague, over 13,000 people were entombed here enmasse in about 4 years time. Enough of the morbid talk. When we returned from our Vienna tour we enjoyed a delicious meal prepared by Ewa. The best part for me was her chicken soup. It goes without saying that the best chicken soup is prepared by Polish hands. We ate hardily. And now for some more good news. Bogdan has spoken with Zosia. She says that Father Zoubek will be making the long journey from Szechien to Koniowka on Tuesday or Wednesday. I will have much to share when we return. Stay tuned to the blog in the next few days for exciting updates and photos. An early rise for us for our continuation to Koniowka in the morning.

The Preamble

Like any good traveler it pays to be prepared. I like to think that I'm a good traveler. Always ready early, never the procrastinator tapping my foot, arms folded, while I wait for the rest of the world to catch up. Apparently this is not so. It all began a few months ago when I decided to get a jump on things and purchase some gifts to bring along to Poland. What does one bring to Poland that my new found relatives might appreciate? I thought hard about this and decided pretty quickly the things I would not be bringing. You know, Mrs. T's Pierogi, Hillshire farms Kielbasa or anything labeled "geniune Polish sausage". Armed with these thoughts, I set about trying to find items uniquely American. One of my first thoughts: lump of dirt from Yankees stadium, about $250.00 for about 10oz of dirt in a nice decorative baseball case. Bad idea, too expensive and what would the folks think when I presented them with a lump of good ol' American dirt. Besides while the dirt was made here, the case, "Made In China." Go figure. Next I found some nice patriotic wear. Priced right at 2 for $20.00 surely this was a good deal until I examined the label, "Hecho en Mexico". While we share the continent with our fine neighbor down south, not quite the same. All kidding aside, I did manage to get a few things to bring along that I'm sure all will be happy with. Perhaps my good friend Bogdan, who will be meeting us when we arrive in Vienna, put it best. He said "Bill, stop worrying. YOU are the gift to us and WE are the gift to YOU. " "Bring a bottle of American wine. I'll give you Austrian and then on Monday we drive to Poland." I think he is right. I'm now relaxed, with a nice calm aura about me. With just about 24 hours till departure, I've got to pack,cut the grass, see Mom,inform the folks at my Mom's residence of my plans,shop for last minute items,pack,water the lawn, finish cleaning the pool,pack and well that's about it I think. I did say pack, didn't I ? Whew, it sure does feel good to not procrastinate!! I do need to think about dinner. All this non-procrastination makes me hungry. Maybe I'll just pick up a package of Mrs T's on my way home from work!!

KONIOWKA

Very soon Kathy and I will be on our way to Koniowka,pronounced Kon-YOUV-ka, not Coney-OUWA-ka as you might naturally assume. I will be writing in this blog as we move along and hope that you will find many things of interest to read or see during this ancestral research journey. In the photo are "Goral" shepherds. The Gorale and Podhale people are a very proud and respected group. They have occupied the Tatras mountain region of the Carpathians for centuries. The roots of the these people can be traced to early settlements in and around the Tatras as early as 4000bc. More commonly known today as Highlanders, the Gorale and Podhale culture matured in the 1700's as did the rest of the world. They survived many hostile enemies during this maturation process. Most notably the Habsburg empire, both World Wars, Nazism and Communism. Today this area bordering Slovakia in the southernmost portion of Poland retains much of the Highlander culture. Koniowka remains a village of less than 500 proud Podhale people. These people are my people. I can say with absolute conviction that I am Podhale. Stay tuned for updates