Genealogy / Is my family surname (Reslofsky) Polish? [18]

Post Script...I looked and many of my boxes with genealogy data are in storage. I could not find the list of German names associated with Poland. If I do, I will post. On further thought, maybe a variant of your family surname in with German spelling would be Reslau. But I am no authority to be sure! Good luck!

Language / Polish Hangman and other games to learn Polish [13]

Hey, that is a neat site. I like the flash cards, too.

Life / JOKES ABOUT POLISH. Have we deserve it? [68]

I also believe I heard somewhere that at the turn of the century, many of the immigrants of all countries were uneducated. There is a book in my college library that contains letters written by Polish peasants back home. It was said that the peasant did well in his village with known norms. and when he became part of a larger society without set values, he was disoriented. The jokes probably stemmed from the fact that rather than the educated and well-off Polish person emmigrating, the poor and uneducated mainly came looking for something better. My great grandfather came and was listed as a farmer and his father-in-law a blacksmith, who did not read or write. Not sure if only not in English or in Polish.

I have heard many Polish jokes, but less now and I believe you guys are right that as times goes by, places like the USA see that Polish people are educated and very intelligent. Just give any American (like me) the grammar rules of Polish see how intelligenet we are!

Right now, it seems that in America redneck and blonde jokes are more popular.

News / to buy or not to buy a polish keyboard ? [11]

I was able to muddle my way to change my keyboard to write Polish characters.
The biggest problem for me is to remember that y and z are reversed.

For WinXP...Go to your control panel and select "Regional Language Options"
Then click on the middle tab "Language"
Leave default as is....and then got to "installed services" and scroll down till you get to
Polish language "add", then for the keyboard choose Polish Programmers. That did it for me.

(See? £ ż ń ę)

I forget if I ticked add first or what. First time I attempted it, nothing happened. Experiment and bit and you will get it. Just avoid choosing another language as default or your computer will display everything in that language.

You can get stickers for your keyboard to remind you of where everything is located.

Life / Old Polish Song~ Possibly children's [36]

Hi Janf, I was wondering if your Dad could help me as well? I have found most of my Polish and Ethnic German ancestors, but for my Mother's family. They were Lewandowski and Bubacz. They emmigrated in 1884 and there is no information about where except German Poland. I also know that while Lewandowski is a common name, Bubacz families are mainly around Torun, Pila, Bydgoszcz.

Anyway, my babcia used to sing a song to me that translates roughly to:

Oh Stella, or (Stefka), eat sauerkraut and you will have a fat behind.

Sounds like: Oh Stepfka, yits kapusta, binja meowa, dupcha twista. Sorry. that is not at all how it is spelled and not very good phonetics. Any chance your Dad has heard such a little ditty and knows where it was popular? If at all? LOL

Love / how do i get rid of a girl? [90]

Yes.............the truth in a clear-cut, polite way. Everyone knows "It's not you, but me" is a cop out.

Just say, I think you are a great person, but (I have no interest in a relationship), (I think there is someone who is a better fit for us), or whatever the truth is. Therefore, I prefer that we stop emailing each other. I wish you the best.

No one likes rejection but we get over it. Better than leading on someone or doing a disappearing act or making up an excuse.

Life / Poland: The Things That Make Foreigners Lift a Brow [123]

I heard that both birthdays and name days are celebrated, but as one gets older, the name day is celebrated more often.

Genealogy / Polish Schneiders from Lwow [6]

Sounds like you are looking for information about German colonists in Poland from before the war. They were ethncially German, but living in Poland. There are a few websites for this purpose. Prussian websites, Eastern European websites.

History / Should Germany claim to be the victims in Poland? [510]

Isthatu seems to have moved the thread back to topic, and in a good place. I like his way of thinking.

But I also agree with Celinski that Poland was not responsible for the suffering of "normal" Germans described by Isthatu in that area, or the ethnic Germans who had lived side-by-side fairly peaceably for many generations.

Therefore, I am against Poland having to compensate anyone. And being half ethnic German, with family who lost farms, I can see why some would want compensation. But there really is no one who can do that. If you go to other places in the world and back in time, there are similar things. Norman invasion of Britain. Anybody going to compensate the families of the Saxons that lost land to the Normans? I doubt it.

Some things cannot be made equal. Life is not fair. You make the best of it.

I am not as knowledgeable as some, but it seems the Potsdam Treaty was responsible for dislocating huge masses of peoples. Because of it, Poland gained a homogenized society for all intent and purpose. Maybe in the long run it was good, but in the short term, many people lost what was most familiar to them.

What is weird to me is how unaware most American people are to how Poland fared during and after the war, and how much pain, dislocation and suffering occurred for Poles and other nationalities. Poles need to get their story out, and so do others who suffered, so we can all learn to treat each other better. An exhibit about Germans, if done in the proper spirit of education could be beneficial. I have no idea if this particular exhibit meets those qualifications. But a knee-jerk reaction based on thinking it is about sympathy for Nazis can just serve to stir the pot up. Has anyone examined the content of the exhibit?

So while I have a hard time being sympathetic to Nazi Germans, and believe that any portrayal of victimization there would be an abomination, I do think an exhibit showing all the facts about innocent people living in that area would have merit in teaching people about the events of those days. I am still learning, myself.

I have nothing but admiration for Poland and how hard the country had to work to recover and rebuild.

Life / "Poles love to bowl" - another Polish stereotype? (& other sports) [44]

Funny, I just heard that too, for the first time in my life, that Polish people love to bowl.
I grew up in NYC, but moved to the south where bowling has only recently caught on. When in NYC, I never heard such a thing. Nor all the time I have lived down south. Until....

I have begun to date a man from near the Buffalo, NY area (he moved down here recently) and he matter-of-fact stated that most of the bowlers there were Polish. He managed the ally, so in that area maybe it is true?

Language / Can anyone help with spelling of Grandmother [53]

I grew up in NYC area and Polish-Americans called their grandmother the same as the poster from Phily. (Bopchi) Of course it is wrong, but we are/were not aware of it. Probably any Polish American 2nd generation will say this. I was shocked that this was incorrect when my from Poland boyfriend was puzzled.

So, I began wondering how this came to be so. I figured it is because while Babcia is correct, people speaking Polish and English, evenutally put endings on things according to English phonetics and rules. Kind of like Yiddish is a mixture of medieval German, Hebrew and in some Polish or other language where they lived.

We can say dog...or to make it more affectionate and "cute"....say doggie.
So to be less formal than Babcia, they at some point add that "ie" sound and it come out Bopchi. (American phoentics). Just my guess. It is widespread in usage in America, although incorrect.

Language / Can anyone help with spelling of Grandmother [53]

Interesting....I guess that is why we have "living" languages and also dictionaries to standardize.

Language / (part 2) Polish Language Pronunciation - Sample Words and Phrases [311]

Maybe this will help....remember the alphabet tapes on this thread?

polishforums.com/polish_lessons_units-18_10526_0.html

Genealogy / Anybody Know what Knewegvizet could be? [7]

Thanks.....it was a long shot to see if anyone knew of this strange name. I took the ending part and googled it and I get a Hungarian folk song. But, I really believe the brothers would have lived fairly close together and Rypin is no where near the Hungarian border.

One of those mysteries of genealogy. He is an offshoot, though so I am on to my direct line. :-)

Genealogy / Anybody Know what Knewegvizet could be? [7]

Thanks GrandeSande!

That does look plausible! :-)

It's been awhile, but I am sure that you are correct GrandeSande. Another fellow genealogists told me recently......

In looking at my map of Powiat
Sochaczow, I saw that Ilow was shown as a principal town indicated
by a solid dot enclosed by a circle. I looked for other principal
towns with the same designation and found Glusk in the far
northeastern corner of the Powiat near the south bank of the Wisla
River. This is a short distance SW of Nowy Dwor.

2 km NW of Glusk is the village of Gniewniewice. It is easy to see how someone
transcribing this name in a ship's manifest would spell it in this unrecognizable way....
Knewegoizet without too much stretching of changed letters and sound.

When I have more time, I will check the records available for Nowy Dwor.

Genealogy / Where do I get Poland Birth Certificate [27]

My grandparents were German colonists who moved to Poland and then were in the Russian controlled part of what was once Poland and is Poland again. I am pretty sure for that time period Poland has the records. They took very good care of all the records they found from other countries. Napolean made sure all records were written in a uniform way, so once you learn the "form" they are easy to read whether in Russian or Polish. Most of these records have been microfilmed by the Mormons. There are websites where you can research it. In fact their website has an idex where you can order the correct microfilms.

Or you can contact the Polish Archives in Warsaw and they will pass it along to the correct archive in the region where your relatives were born and research it themselves and send you a letter with the results in Polish. There are email addresses to the Archives as well, but I did my research with snail mail so I don't know how it works with email. There is a charge for the records from Poland and it costs just a few dollars to order the microfilm, but you have to go where there is a viewer and look at lots of records to find yours.

At the top of this section is a sticky about geneology resources for finding information and records. I copied a link that if I remember correctly, it will have the addresses of the archives, churches, etc, as well as aids to reading the formed way the birth and death certificates were written.

maxpages.com/poland/Home

Life / Help wanted with the Polish law; she got pregnant and returned to Poland [41]

Well, Rocky, we are not debating if abortion works. Lorenzo seems to want to be a part of his child's life. He may not have planned on the pregnancy, but he seems to want the baby. And even if he did not want the child....what good is it to chide him that he should have done this or that. In this case, happily he wants to be a Dad. That is why everybody dislikes the advice Rocky gave. He may have a lot of "knowledge" but he behaving in an igorant, manner by not being sensitive to the spirit of the original poster. Good luck, Lorenzo.

Life / Germans and Poles - Fiction or Myth? [127]

I liked the original poster's idea. It was designed at promoting peace and mutual respect. We can all act like little kindergarden people and sling arrows, but what good does it do?

In several places I've posted my experiences. I am an American who did not know much about her roots. German and Polish grandparents who emmigrated to the USA early 1900's.

I've learned a lot about history and all the conflict that has marked the area. And it breaks my heart for both sides. I am so happy Poland is a nation again. Not too many people could survive belonging to three different countries and come out as a united people.

I feel badly that some ethnic Germans who were Polish citizens (like my German side of he family), lost their home. I feel terrible that some colaborated with the Nazis. I feel terrible that some Poles treated all loyal ethnic Germans like the enemy. It happens. Same thing with Japanese Americans during WWII.

It is kind of sad to me that people who lived in Poland and wanted to stay had to leave, but I can even despite the suffering, see why. It was better to get rid of all the claims to Polish soil. However,

Now we are in a new day with EU and people move around. Hopefully, they will forgive the past. And learn to respect each other. Holding on to bitterness is bad for people. It is good to educate what happened. Many in the USA are totally unaware of Polish lives lost due to Russia and Germany, and many are totally unaware of how ethic Germans (the loyal ones) suffered, too.

I am very proud of both my Polish and German heritage. Let's all see the good in each other, while learning about the past to avoid it happening again.

Genealogy / Has anyone taken Genealogy DNA tests? [87]

Well, I just got my MtDNA results back. I had the test done by Sorenson where the kit is free. and they eventually post the information without revealing who you are. Most people can figure out who they are from surnames and location and round about get their results...or they have GeneTree who partners with them, for a fee send you personalized results. I chose the later.

Anyway, I was pretty surprised. From the geneological records and names in my lineage, I have German/Dutch ancestors that lived in Central Poland, on my father's side. My test had nothing to do with them.

My Mom's, Mom was Elizabeth Bubacz, married to Josef Lewandowski. I have no idea where in Poland they came from other than German Poland. So I hoped this would help find other relatives who would know more, and it may yet do so.

But rather than the "H" MtDNA I expected, I am a "U5". The most ancient of the Clan mothers, and mostly found in Finland today. It was also the first MtDNA in Europe that is considered human, and may have existed side by side with Neanderthals! Yikes! LOL

I noticed that this "Ursula" lineage is also found in some Polish MtDNA results. My male lines are no longer living, so I cannot do the Y DNA.

Genealogy / Has anyone taken Genealogy DNA tests? [87]

Yes, you are right about not really knowing till you test. And yes, I have the extended test done and so have less matches. One comes up in Schlesweig (when ruled by Denmark).

Of course, the U5 is an ancient haplogroup. My mother's line came from Poland with Polish surnames and spoke Polish and considered themselves Polish. I am most interested in genealogical time (500 years) as opposed to population studies before genealogical time, but it is interesting.

Those indigenious native Europeans of the U5 group seem to have the high cheek bones and somewhat almond shaped eyes like many Polish people have.

Anyway, good luck on your paper, I am sure it will be very interesting!

Genealogy / Has anyone taken Genealogy DNA tests? [87]

Thanks for the tip Czerwony Lis, I registered at ww.mitosearch.org and did find a few close matches. So far, I am unique. LOL

But, I imagine that as more and more people do this, the odds will be in my favor. Good luck with the paper! Let us know how it turns out.

Joan

Genealogy / Old Gorzow Cemetery - help to find it? [10]

I cannot see an overturned cemetary at Gorzów listed at the website link below, but you can get an idea of how other cemetaries that suffered a similar fate look nowadays. These listings are old ethnic German village cemetaries from before WWII.

I am interested in them as I am half ethnic German, and half Polish.

upstreamvistula.org/Cemeteries/Cemeteries_List.php

History / Are Germans going to pay for WW2? [180]

Seems like the point was well-made that almost all people have done terrible things to other people. What happened was despicable. But I believe most of the people responsible are dead, or close to it. How would suing a new generation of people help?

Europeans nearly wiped out Native Americans when they came to the New World. African Americans were shipped as slaves to the New World.

Rome was sacked. How can we make what happened better? It is done. We can learn from it, but all this talk of everyone getting even for past wrongs is what keeps nations continually hating each other.

Genealogy / I need to validate my sisters existence!!! [6]

Ancestry.com for the USA has a living people finder. You do a search for a surname or both names and can choose to view living people by state.

You do have to be a paid member to view the results, I believe.

Genealogy / I DISCOVER THE HISTORY OF MY POLISH HOME [7]

I can understand why people feel a bit inclined to point out that Poles were in that area before Germans. But the point of this post was merely as wildrover pointed out. Interesting background about his home.

It is a fact of life that people move around, people take other people's land, borders change, and who lives anywhere changes. Sometimes violently, sometimes peacefully. I believe the ancient Prus (not Germans or Prussians) but a tribe neither Slavic or Germanic were there before Poles or Germans. Also I believe the Wends, Kashubians or Pommern tribes were there.

But I'll bet wildrover's farm was not there then.

I often visit NYC where I was born and it is very different. Mostly gone are the large numbers of immigrants from my grandparents day and in there place are many other immigrants. I enjoy seeing my old home. It's nostaligic.

And as wildrover says, it is about his farm, not a contest of who has/had the right to be there or was there first.

Happy to hear you found out what you were always wondering about.

News / Sending money to Poland [32]

I used to send money for genealogy to the church with regular dollars wrapped in aluminum foil, in say a greeting card. That was years ago. I had thought it would be the same when I contacted a church for new research, and was told the research would cost, x # of Euros.

So, silly me thought I needed to get Euros. I live in America and had to order them from the bank. It took five days and I got what I thought I would need and some for a donation. Then when the research was done, it was much less than I thought, and he gave me the church's bank routing number for a money transfer.

And he said he could also receive Western Union! Which was less expensive.

So now I have 75 Euros burning a hole in my pocket and I am booking a trip to Poland to spend them. LOL

News / Sending money to Poland [32]

Thanks Krzysztof......I appreciate the update. But, I booked anyway! lol
Going to fly to Ireland first to meet with my friends from Poland and then do
the Ryanair round trip.

Hopefully, I'll spend them somewhere. :-)

If not, I am sure they will be a good investment. You are so right about the dollar.

Love / My Polish boyfriend fancies are Pakistani neighbor. What do I do ? [291]

There is nothing more that makes a man love a woman less, than seeing that she has no life of her own. That she is willing to sacrifice her dignity. The only way anyone can love you is when you show that you love yourself enough to do what's good for you.

It seems to me you are stuck in either nag-anger mode, or faking the attitude that he can do anything he wants including disrespect you, flirt with her and ask her out in front of you. A man can only hold you in value, if you hold yourself in value.

You need to do what is good for you. Focusing on him, winnning him, will all drive him further away. Do things you enjoy, think of yourself and he might be drawn back to you. But, like the others, I believe it is too late. But clutching him, begging him, convincing him, all will drive him away. He may stay with you a bit longer due to pity and nothing else. Show him the strong, interesting woman who values yourself and you might have a slim chance. Focus on you, not him.

Love / Polish men vs German men: Who is hotter? [513]

This thread makes me think of the famous quote, "So many men, so little time!" LOL

Somehow I seem to always find an Irish/English, English/Scot combo here in the states. I did have one Polish bf for three years and he was wonderful. Have had a few crushes on German guys, but no bf.

I love both German and Polish accents. Very sexy.