In the spring of this year we had had again an opportunity to visit the family neighbourhoods

in the Podlasie region of Poland. We have learned earlier about some Wajszczuks living in Torun, Lodz and about some others (not previously known to us) living in Warsaw, whose  ancestors also came from Podlasie. We decided to look for their "roots". As previously, Barbara Miszta (156) - our cousin from Trzebieszow and Pawel Stefaniuk - our webmaster and friend from the nearby Drelow, were unsurpassed local guides.

 

02 May, 2001

 

We started our visit in Trzebieszow, which appeared now even more charming with the abundance of spring flowers (see picture below):

click on the picture to enlarge

Old house of the Wajszczuk Family surrounded by trees in bloom   - the Misztas now live here

Barbara Miszta (156) with husband Marian - expecting guests?

Down the picturesque country road, passing the town of Lukow, we arrived in  Aleksandrow. After a short search we found the settlement of this branch of the Family, whose immediate  ancestor was Antoni (554) born in 1935 in the nearby Dminin. Since we arrived unannounced and the family members were at work, we were able to have only a short conversation with Karol (564) Wajszczuk and his mother Maria (554), who provided us with a substantial amount of  information about this Family branch. (Unfortunately their pictures did not come out!) We learned that this branch derives from Franciszek (550) Wajszczuk, who was born (probably in the second half of the XIX century) in the neighbouring settlement of Rzymy-Rzymki. Sofar, we were not able to establish when and how did this branch separate from the main(?) stem in Trzebieszow? At present, some of the descendants remained in the Podlasie region and others scattered around Poland and now live in the Mazury (Mazuria) region and in the city of Lodz.

Entering Aleksandrow

The family house of Karol and his mother. (Unfortunately we learned shortly after our visit that the house completely burned down)!

From Aleksandrow we continued to Kakolewnica, where Pawel Stefaniuk joined us.

Spring afternoon in Podlasie - entering Kakolewnica

Prior to the planned visit with my namesake Waldemar (007) Wajszczuk, we decided to visit the local Church.

Parish Church in Kakolewnica	Inside the church
Patriotic plaque in the churchyard - refers to the heroes who contributed to the restoration of Poland after long period of occupation after partitions.	Announcement about the celebrations of the anniversary of the Constitution of the 3rd of May 1791

From the church we proceeded to the local Cemetery. At the entrance, there was a monument commemorating the Victims of the Crimes of Communism (pictures below). As we were to find out, this region was a stronghold of resistance against the German and Soviet invaders and occupants. During the short tour of the cemetery, we found several tombstones of Wajszczuks, who were born and lived in this area. Most probably there are more - perhaps we will find them at the time of the next visit?

Monument "To the Victims of the Crimes of Communism" at the Kakolewnica Cemetery	Plaque at the base of the monument "To the victims of the Crimes of Communism"
Tomb of Walerian (002) Wajszczuk (1870? - 1942)	Tomb of Jozef (004) Wajszczuk (1898 - 1980) and his first wife Franciszka nee Golegowska (? - 1929)
Tomb of Franciszek (003) Wajszczuk (1904?-1981) and his wife Jozefa nee Milosz (1899?-1985).	Tomb of Jozefa Wajszczuk nee? (1907? - 1999) second wife of Jozef (004) - above and their daughter Maria (born in 1930 - lived two days)

From the cemetery we went to look for Waldemar. Unfortunately, he was not home but his mother-in-law arranged for a meeting next day. Finally we arrived in Drelow, where we spent a lovely evening (and later a restful night) at the residence of the Stefaniuks, enjoyed their unsurpassed hospitality and a chat by a delicious grill.

03 May, 2001

 

Most of the day was spent with Pawel at the computer - there were many details to be discussed and corrections to be introduced to the Family Tree. In the late afternoon we drove with Pawel to Kakolewnica, where we were joined by Barbara Miszta and her husband at Waldemar's (007) house. The whole family was waiting (except the youngest daughter who was enjoying a late afternoon nap).

Waldemar (007), his wife Ewa, Michal, Sebastian and Weronika

Waldemar (007) and his family, Barbara Miszta (156), Carmen (087)  and Waldemar (087)

Waldemar's mother-in-law turned out to be a priceless source of information about the Family. Waldemar and Ewa's three (awake) children were competing at running to the adjacent room to ask the grandmother our never ending questions about the Family. We found out that Waldemar's grandfather - Jozef (004) was born in 1898 in Zakowola Radzynska; great-grandfather - Walerian (002) was also born in Zakowola around 1870. The great-great-grandfather - Fabian (001) lived in Zakowola; he was born around 1840 but the place of his birth is not known. When and where from did he come to Zakowola? How was he related to the main stem of the Family from Trzebieszow? At present, members of Waldemar's immediate family live in Kakolewnica, nearby Turow and Radzyn Podlaski and the youngest brother is a vicar in a Parish near Lublin.

From there we proceeded by car to Warsaw, where we arrived late in the evening (after a delicius meal at the roadside restaurant).

Although we were not able this time to meet in person any of the Wajszczuks who live in Torun or any of the "recently discovered"  Wajszczuks who currently live in Warsaw, we found out from the telephone contacts and from the conversations during this trip that their ancestors come from Trzebieszow III and they belong to the branch of Jan (022) and his sons Jozef (572), Jan (578) and Franciszek (584).

Our most sincere thanks and gratitude to everybody for the wonderful reception and their hospitality. See you next time!

We ask for and encourage submission of pictures - they will be greatly enjoyed!