Hey from the frozen tundra (Canada). I mistakenly posted elsewhere and hijacked another thread, so I return to what I hope is a proper route. I am at a loss to get anywhere on tracing my father, who died fifteen years ago, and offer pivo and free maple syrup (I make my own) to anyone who can help. He always said he was born as Aleksander Marian Jadach in Warszawa on February 2, 1926, was conscripted to Organization Todt in 1942, and the last name mistakenly became Jadah when he became stranded in Norway after the war ended. There, he met and married my mother.
He said his father, Stefan, was with the Polish military, and that his mother's name was Anna. There was also a half-brother (born 1918) named Roman Brochwicz, who died piloting an airplane in early 1939.
But I cannot find traces of any these people, though I've worked the Internet for over a year. Now, Dad could spin a yarn or two, so I do not know how much of this is possibly true.
Still, I have nothing else to work with, except some old photos. I would greatly appreciate any sliver of suggestion, information, education, or other assistance in my quest.
Thanks, TheOther. Much appreciated. But LDS has been part of my year-long odyssey, and no matching Jadachs/years turn up. (Nor via ancestry or my heritage).
No maple syrup for you. Yet. :)
You're good, TheOther. I never saw that before, and there's some names in your link that are scrawled on old photos. That's Dad, all right. I'm grateful.
But I knew he'd been part of some small youthful resistance gangs before being dispatched to Northern Finland, so while this confirms he was Aleksander Marian Jadach during the war, it doesn't help me trace anything further back.
It'll have to be from somebody well versed in Polish. With a command of Norwegian, I was happily able to trace my Norwegian roots way back by reading scanned church books and census jottings dating back to 1785. My Polish, though, is non-existent.
(For example, I find a Stefan Jadach listed in some military exercise - and with the year 1887 in brackets - but the Google translation of his status shows him as 'RUSHING', which makes no sense, unless that was a cavalry exercise. Nor do I know near enough Polish to know what year or activity or anything else this reference was.)
I thank you, Sir. A tablespoon of maple syrup for certain so far.
During the war? How would that be possible considering the fact that Finland was a German ally?
It'll have to be from somebody well versed in Polish.
Not necessarily. Are there any naturalization records available for your father? They should show his place and date of birth as well as the names of his parents. If they have survived the war, the records for your grandparents and earlier ancestors should be in the state archive in Warsaw. You can write in Polish, German or English. Provide as many details as possible.
I agree completely about Dad's Finland saga, TheOther. I can find no historical suggestion that Todt had any dealings up there, neither before nor after Speer assumed their command. And Finland and Germany were on helpful terms until - what - late 1944?
So how does an 18 or 19-year old lad from Warszawa (ex-member of a teenage resistance gang in Poland) end up in Norway at the end of the war?
(The Norwegians are strict about information laws; without affidavits, I must wait a few more years before accessing private naturalization records for that time.) I shall try your latest suggestion. You are most kind. - Robert
lol :) You know, the Zośka battalion is pretty famous in Poland. And Szare Szeregi (the Gray Ranks) in general. There's even a non-fiction novel about them that every kid was supposed to read during my school days (I've read it too, of course):
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamienie_na_szaniec
Stefan Jadach listed in some military exercise - and with the year 1887 in brackets
He's on some list on the site of the Polish Army Museum in Warsaw:
muzeumwp.pl/oficerowie/?letter=J&page=3
Jadach Stefan (1st of Semptember 1887) - infantry lieutenant.
On this site it says that Stefan Jadach died in 1910 in Chełmce. It's in the book of deaths for the świętokrzyskie voivodeship: "Chełmce - (Z) 1770-1926".
Oh, don't get so pompous, Ironside :) Of course, those weren't any loose "gangs" but a well-oiled organisation cooperating with the Polish government in exile and the Home Army, but I'm sure Viking33 didn't mean anything bad :)
I don't know him neither I can read his mind. I'm not pompous, I just keep him right. Home Army and those young people were no gangs they were an Army and they should be given a respect.
"a well-oiled organisation cooperating with the Polish government in exile " just a shame that our government in exile was betrayed by its so called western allies.
Apologies, Ironside. I am right now reading for the twelfth time a book my dad self-published about his war experiences. (I have 1,200 copies here. They didn't sell well. If you PM me your address, I will happily send you a copy. And to anybody else.) All of the escapades he describes are such fairly tame exercises as slashing tires, pouring sugar into gas tanks, and stealing a revolver from a German. But he would only have been 16 or 17 at the time, and likely sent on lesser errands of harassment. I certainly didn't mean to denigrate the Home Front efforts in any way. I toast their courage regularly.
But I can only work with what I have in trying to find out who and what my confounding daddy was. So how does a young ex-Gray Ranks operative end up in bleeding Norway in 1945?
just a shame that our government in exile was betrayed by its so called western allies.
Dolnoslask, don't turn a genealogy research thread into another sh1t fight between Polish nationalists and Harry and his gang. Make a thread about it, if you wish.
...and thank you, Paulina, but it cannot be the Stefan my father refers to as his dad. I have two old photos of a uniformed man noted as my Grand-dad; and they would have to be dated from circa 1930 because my father Aleksander is about four years old with a blonde, page-boy haircut.
I'm so confused. I shall look into the sites you so kindly mentioned.
Viking33 I applaud you for wanting to find out more about your history and your roots, I am sure that if you wish to continue your quest, many here will try to help if they can.
Thanks, donoslask. You want a free book? I'd be proud to send it along. And I'd be even more proud of my roots if I really, really knew them you see? I brought my dad to Warszawa in 1977, and spent a fascinating week. I love the Polish people, and feel great pangs for the hardships with which history has smacked them.
I only wish my late dad had been more forthcoming (and honest, honestly) about where I come from. Thanks again.
Viking33 "I only wish my late dad had been more forthcoming"
It was the same with my father, it was very hard for me to talk to him about his time in Siberia and his service with Polish army in Italy, sometimes he would talk but it wasn't long before he was overcome with emotions If I asked to much detail he would say it was a military secret.
I managed to piece together a few things myself through family service records medals and others that knew him.
I really only fully understood what he wen't through at his funeral. one of the Polish veterans turned up with his medals on his chest and the flag of the Polish II corps, he was the last remaining soldier (In our locality) who was in my fathers unit who fought with him and had known him well.
I was grieving and I did not have that much time to talk to him, I learned more in that morning about my father than I had in the last 35 years.he told me many thing but i was shocked to find that my dad was just a boy of 15 who had lied about his date of birth when he left Siberia and joined the free polish army
Super, dolnoslask. Please tell me more, if you can. (The trials of our parents fascinate and inspire the spoiled generation of me.) When was your dad born ,then? In Siberia, I guess? And he ends up as a young man in the Polish army? In Italy?
I want more, dolno...Please.... And thanks to Ironside's "Thing is you can't do that on the internet." There's the hiccup, you see. I'm a single parent to an 11 and a 15 year-old. I simply cannot hop over to Poland for research, and my seventeen words of Polish are anyway only good enough to mildly flirt and to order a beer. So what good would that eventually do? I was able to track my Norwegian roots way, way back with scanned (and free) scribblings from church records, but cannot do that for my Polish dad.
Viking33 It is late here now I will post more tomorrow, please do not consider yourself as " spoiled generation " our parents worked hard and made many sacrifices to provide us with the life we have, it is for us to ensure that we do the same for the next generation.
Dobra notz, dolno. (I know, I know....my first wife was Czech. It'll have to do.) Thank you.
Thanks a mite to some of your links and greatly to your exhortations, I have made some small progress. But I've hit a wall, and need some Polish expertise to interpret whatever you can spot from this old photo of a photo. In my dad's hand-writing on the back: "From left: Roman Brochwicz, my half brother, cousin Zajac who became a med. doctor and died in Afrika from an incurable disease, his dad Dobrochna Zajze, my dad and Madame Zajze FROM LEFT FRONT My mom and I" So, any ideas about date, clothing, class, names, my grand-dad's uniform......anything?
(Because I can find none of those names anywhere.)
....edit post-script....Sorry; the photo was disallowed because of size. Please disregard.....
OK...folks; how about this? After eight more hours of cyber-sleuthing I found this marker, which Google is unable to translate for me. (The photograph makes it difficult to properly read every single letter)
Can anyone make any sense of this, or something like it: 'ANNIE JADACH KICRA KRYSWALA PODOZAS OKUPACJI ZYDOWSKIE DZIECI NA WIEOZNA RAMIEC URATOWNE'
I thank you for any possible thoughts on what this might signify/mean. (She would have died in Warszawa in about 1958).
Sorry, I have no idea what these words mean which may well affect the translation of the whole sentence.
PODOZAS OKUPACJI ZYDOWSKIE DZIECI NA WIEOZNA RAMIEC URATOWNE'
I think this sentence should be:-
PODCZAS OKUPACJI ZYDOWSKIE DZIECI NA WIECZNAPAMIĘĆURATOWANE.
During the occupation Jewish children saved/rescued in eternal remembrance/memory? Or something like ' For the eternal memory of rescued Jewish children during the occupation?' It is difficult to translate without knowing what the first two words are.
Sorry for what is probably a bad translation, but I'm not Polish and I'm guessing at what the words should be. At least your thread will now be at the top of the page and hopefully somebody Polish will take a look and help out!
KICRA KRYSWALA PODOZAS OKUPACJI ZYDOWSKIE DZIECI NA WIEOZNA RAMIEC URATOWNE'
KTÓRA UKRYWA£A PODCZAS OKUPACJI ZYDOWSKIE DZIECI, NA WIECZNĄ PAMIEĆ, URATOWANE! who has been hiding Jewish children during the occupation, for the eternal memory, those she saved!
Thank you, Chemikiem and Ironside. I'm beginning to be very proud of my unknown grandparents. Anna Jadach's husband, Stefan, was arrested Aug 19, 1943 by the Gestapo. He was sent to Auschwitz on October 5. Fascinating trail, and I'm very grateful for the assistance here. Now I shall find their parents somehow.
Try resizing it. It has to be less than 100 mb to upload it on here. I know that posters here before have recognised uniforms, so there's a good chance that someone will be able to tell you more about your grandad's uniform. Worth a try anyway.
I'll try. Thanks. Stefan Jadach, circa 1930. There are no ideas out there about what my Grand-dad's uniform tells us about his rank, posting, division he might have been with in 1930?
Due to the quality of that picture it is very hard to see any details at all. What can be say for certain is that is a Polish uniform, years 1919 - 1935. Probably infantry and probably your grand-dad was an officer although his rank is not visible on the picture.
Thanks, Ironside. I'm stumped. I will wait for my DNA test results to see if I can get any further leads to where Stefan Jadach came from.
Still here. You won't get rid of me that easily. While awaiting DNA results to maybe, maybe, maybe give me a thread to follow, I'm still thrashing about with the little I do have.
Thanks to the geneteka site that Paulina so kindly furnished, I have found a 1921 marriage in Bzowo between my grandfather Stefan Jadach and grandmother Anna Stanislawska. I'll assume my dad's birth in 1926 was an issue of this, but I cannot find any such reference.
Meanwhile, my late dad had written to me that he had a half-brother (by mother Anna) born in 1918 and that in early 1939 "My parents were summoned to the Academy. Roman's plane had crashed.....Roman and one of his colleagues were dead. The funeral was conducted with full military honours.........In 1993 in Warszawa, I visited the cemetery....the marble stone still reads : Hr. ROMAN BROCHWICZ, Polish pilot. Died in 1939."
I've tried Billiongraves and the geneteka site, and can find no mention of this doomed young man either. I'm hoping that I may pinpoint mysterious Anna a bit better through her son Roman. Any thoughts out there? Thank you again.
I think the Todt organisation was active in Norway - www2.hu-berlin.de/forcedlabour/engineering-the-nazi-grossraum-organisation-todt-and-the-use-of-forced-labor-in-norway-1940-45-2/
