The BEST Guide to POLAND
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Posts by singingfalls  

Joined: 9 Jan 2015 / Male ♂ 		Last Post: 2 Jan 2019
Threads: 3
Posts: 50 		From: USA, Oregon, Tiller
Speaks Polish?: no
Interests: Genealogy

Displayed posts: 53 / page 1 of 2
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singingfalls   
2 Jan 2019
Genealogy / Wlaz and Petraszczuk, Piotrowski [10]

Thank you Terry. That seemed to be the same persuasion of the records reviewer. They postulated that the Petrushko in the village was the same family as the Petraszczuk in the village. I appreciate you thoughts on the matter.
singingfalls   
2 Jan 2019
Genealogy / Wlaz and Petraszczuk, Piotrowski [10]

Merged:

Surnames Petrushko, Petraszczuk, Piotrowski



My surname question is this:
My grandfather claimed Polish ethnicity. He was born in a village in what is now Khrabuzna, Ukraine. He immigrated from his home to the USA when he was 18 in 1912. His birth record surname was Petraszczuk. Both he and his brother changed their surnames in the USA. My grandfather chose Petrowski. My great uncle chose Piotrowski. Through the kind intervention of someone fluent in Russian the records from my grandfather's village in the archives of Zhytomyr were reviewed. The records seem to indicate that my grandfather's surname was a mutation over time from the surname Petrushko (Петрашко) to the surname Petraszczuk (Петращук). Was this a historically common practice in the Russian partition?
singingfalls   
8 Dec 2018
Genealogy / DNA Testing in Poland. Is it popular? [81]

Further Update:
Well I inadvertently offended some Polish acquaintances by creating the attached art work. They took great offense at the Ukrainian trident in the image. I meant no harm even though I am fully aware of the history. Though my paternal lineage declared Polish ethnicity and my DNA tests proved an extreme level of Eastern European origin the actual records of the paternal grandfather's family are located in Zhytomyr Archives. All other relatives are from Southern Poland. I am please to say that my family connections were discovered on my trip to Poland in 2017. I found long lost relatives in the Lubielski region. I've also made connection with individuals in Poland going back 1500 years via my DNA testing results. Very exciting. Another matter of note: Keep in mind that your autosomal DNA gets pretty thinned out as far a genetics go after the great great great grandparents. You only share approximately 3% of their DNA. On the other hand the Y Chromosome is shared many generations all the way back. The mitochondrial DNA even more so. Thousands of years.
Family Tree
singingfalls   
5 Aug 2017
Travel / Why do you visit Poland? [222]

Someone hijacked this thread. I'd like it back on topic please.
I visited Poland because I discovered the families of my ancestors there. They mostly come from southern Poland. Much to my amazement I found hundreds of relatives that just two years ago I didn't know existed.

I plan to return often.
I also visited places of historical significance along with those places associated with the Nazi occupation and oppression.
singingfalls   
2 Apr 2017
Travel / Trip to Poland - the land of my ancestors [16]

Awesome delphiandomine! I am indebted to you. This sounds like a workable strategy. I copy/paste your suggestion, do google translate and send to my cousin. He may be able to arrange all this for me before I arrive which would be helpful. THNX U!
singingfalls   
2 Apr 2017
Travel / Trip to Poland - the land of my ancestors [16]

Chemikiem, I have received similar warnings from others. We'll see what unfolds as the days for the trip. If you are interested in my tests that I've done they can be found here singingfalls.com/dna_polska.html Please pardon the poor translation. I did it with google_translate.
singingfalls   
2 Apr 2017
Travel / Trip to Poland - the land of my ancestors [16]

I tested with two companies just to make sure. That is pretty much my gene pool (contemporary). I know for certain that I have a great uncle who was a university professor at Poznań. Apart from that the records I have are centered in Adamówka and Luchów Górny.
singingfalls   
2 Apr 2017
Travel / Trip to Poland - the land of my ancestors [16]

Thank you all for your kind attention. I have a second cousin who lives and works in Adamówka. Perhaps he would be able to arrange something for me. I do not want to trouble him since he is a young man and probably very busy. June 1st is my birthday. So one way or the other I would like that to be spent where most of my grandparents came from. It amazes me that they lived only 3 miles apart as the crow flies and did not know each other. One was in Galicia and two where in the Russian partition.

Thank you gregy741. It wouldn't be bad to see the countryside from a train. That is a strong possibility.
Thank you delphiandomine. Khrabuzna (Chmelnizkij) is a very small village according to googleearth. Nevertheless I have been searching and someone said that there is still a surname Petraszczuk in the village. He changed his name to Petrowski and that is now my surname. My great uncle from the same village took the name Pietrowski when he immigrated. (1907). I will carefully review your studied suggestions.

My gratitude to you Chemikiem. I fairly often drive 250 miles at a time where I live here in Oregon, USA on my restoration ecology work. I have a flight from Warsaw to Krakow the first day in country. I was hoping to rent a car and drive to Podkarpackie. Settle in somewhere in that part of the country closest to my ancestral lands and explore out from there.

gregy741, this is a reasonable strategy. Perhaps my second cousin could help with this. He works in Adamówka. I will consult with him. Perhaps he could help me arrange something but your advice is more than welcome.

Thank you once again for these great ideas. Even though I have not traveled long distances very much for a long time ( I married 41 years ago and she took the wind out of my sail :) ) I am excited to now take her on an adventure like the ones I did in my youth. She has not been very far although I took her all over the USA when we first married. Now she is coming and I am anxious to see what a wonderful land Eastern Europe is. She is 95% Eastern European ethnicity according to DNA but she doesn't know the origins of her ancestors. They were forced to Armenia by the Tzar hundreds of years ago.

All I have read of this time is from books titled, "God's Playground: A History of Poland" volumes I and II by Norm Davies. It seemed extensive and well documented. So Poland was vast and great but humbled like all nations in the end. Suffice it to say this is a lifetime experience for her and I. She for her reasons and me for mine.
singingfalls   
1 Apr 2017
Travel / Trip to Poland - the land of my ancestors [16]

According to my DNA test databases and according to my genealogical records my family from hundreds of years comes from Southern Poland. My paternal grandmother came from Adamówka, Przeworsk, Podkarpackie, Poland. Both of my maternal grandparents came from Luchów Gorny, Bilgoraj, Lublin, Poland. The records go back hundreds of years. Through a second cousin who contacted me I know the exact place my paternal grandmother was born. This is all very special to me. My paternal grandfather, though he claimed to be Polish of Russian nationality was born in the village of Khrabuzna, Khmel'nyts'ka oblast, Ukraine.

I plan to come to Poland with my wife May 29th and will leave June 14th. Is it going to be difficult for me to get to Khrabuzna from Poland? Are there suggestions for us on this journey? Here are some of our wishes:

Although we are not Jewish my wife has studied what the Nazi regime has done to Poland for almost 40 years. She wants to see things related to that history.

When I was a boy ( a long time ago) I would visit my grandparents often. Babush made most of their food homemade. Kilbasa, pierogi, kasha, kisha, beet borscht, creamed mushroom soup (best on planet earth), duck blood soup (that was hard for me to take) and many other items. She even grew medicinal herbs in her small Philadelphia back yard garden. When I would go to her kitchen Dzjadek would be sitting at the table with a bottle of vodka and a huge picture of Our Lady of Częstochowa over his head on the wall. He was a very hard worker and provided for the family well. I am not Catholic but I would very much like to see this image. The salt mine.

I have found second and third cousins. They are in Podkarpackie/Lublin area. One family lives in the Krakow area and several live not far from Zamosc. They and their families are important to me. They range in age from teenagers to mid 50's. What do you suppose I could bring from the USA to them as token gifts? When I was young in the 1950's my grandmother took trips back to Poland with my aunt many times. They took with them to Poland boxes and boxes of things for the family that stayed behind after she immigrated. I will be limited regarding what I can carry on my luggage but I want something meaningful to bring them. Not candy etc. Cloths are OK. What else.

I am a crusty old Vietnam war veteran and usually do not get emotionally moved by much. It is very rare that I do. This trip on the other hand has me stirred deep in my heart. It is difficult for me to explain. In my youth as a young man traveled all over the world as a soldier and after that as a wanderer for several years. Never has my heart been touched like this. Maybe because I am old is the reason.

Any advice is appreciated.
Stashieu
singingfalls   
6 Jan 2017
Genealogy / DNA Testing in Poland. Is it popular? [81]

Latest update. My cousins in Poland are now tested and we have interesting results. This journey into DNA testing is now making way for my wife of 41 years and I to come to Poland next spring. We are excited about this. I have put my DNA web page into the Polish language also now. Here is the URL: singingfalls.com/dna_polska.html
singingfalls   
11 Dec 2016
Life / Opłatek, not presents, epitomises the true Polish Christmas spirit [85]

So, long ago my grandmother kept this tradition alive when she came to the USA. We had the Opłatek after we came back to her house from midnight Mass. We'd share the Opłatek with each family member present, confess and forgiveness, make everything right, kiss and each a late huge meal. This would have been circa 1950's
singingfalls   
15 May 2016
Genealogy / Poland Genealogy Resources [130]

Merged: Genealogy web page

I put this together for my Polish relatives. Let me know if it is understandable and in good form. Thanks.
singingfalls.com/dna_polska.html
singingfalls   
23 Mar 2016
Language / Short Polish<->English translations [1033]

Merged: what is the meaning of "ciacho"

OK, forgive my ignorance. What is the contemporary meaning of "ciacho" in Poland.
singingfalls   
18 Mar 2016
Genealogy / Surname Krzyszczuk [35]

Awesome David. Keep at it. I also have the szczuk issue to deal with from the same areas.
singingfalls   
10 Mar 2016
News / How would Poland change for the better (or worse) under a PiS government? [257]

Some years back my wife and I sponsored two women from Eastern Europe who immigrated to the United States as politically oppressed people. Others in our area also sponsored people from this group. The adjustment they had to make between the culture of Communism in which they were born and raised and the culture of the United States was very very difficult. The women that stayed with us finally caught on and were very successful. Others of the group had a march harder time for some reason. I pity nations like Poland, who, though they had the courage and insight to come out from under an oppressive regime are still struggling to find their way. They brutalize one another in the effort to derive security in an insecure world. The unfortunate thing is that Western culture has its own very serious pitfalls. Be careful that you don't jump from the frying pan into the fire. I wish you all luck.

When it comes down to it, the entire matter focuses on the conscience of each individual. There are sour greedy apples in each society. Mistakes are made in each society. Only your spiritual life can guide you passed the dangers. Love God with all of your heart and love your neighbor as yourself. Simple to say. Hard to do. If the wicked remain in their wicked way they should be punished but if the wicked have turned from their wickedness and are doing good, why are you hindering them?
singingfalls   
4 Mar 2016
Genealogy / Are Sorbs Polish? Does anyone know about Sorbish enthnicity? [62]

If you look at these two images you can see that the Sorbs have a very high concentration of I2a haplogroup in the areas associated with the Sorbs. I2a is ancient European and goes back way before Germany or Poland existed. It is associated with western and eastern Slavic peoples with unique subclades closely related from Eastern Europe.

Serbs migration

Serb Migrations

They are not generally considered Germanic. Cultural assimilation is another matter.
I am not sure that it is appropriate to post on this here. I vaguely recall something to that effect. If so, my apologies.
singingfalls   
29 Feb 2016
News / The dossier of TW "Bolek" - Poland's IPN assisted by police enters the home of the late general Kiszczak [306]

Stockholm Syndrome

If there was a like button I would select "like" for this comment polishinvestor. But in my neighborhood we Poles stuck together most of the time. Not racists or ethnicists, just family. But even so, I am an old warrior, and when you are in a fox hole and the one next to you is not shooting at you, he is closer than a brother. I can tell you that these racial and political matters are the luxury of those who are not at war. When you are at war, any race or religion doesn't matter if he is on your side and he feels the same way. Divide and conquer, this is the tool that is used by the wicked to gain power. But I have this idealistic view of Poles even though I grew up in a tough neighborhood in a city of 5.5 million. There is something deep and humbling about our history. Maybe we will need to be humbled more?
singingfalls   
29 Feb 2016
News / The dossier of TW "Bolek" - Poland's IPN assisted by police enters the home of the late general Kiszczak [306]

Among the Polish Americans Wałęsa is a folk hero and none of this is coming out in the news media here as of yet. What I know is that Poland is no longer under the Soviet regime and regardless of political chicanery, the victors always write the history. It has always been that way. Big deal. Why are you killing and throwing mud at the only Polish hero of modern times. Like it says in the good book, "the foolish woman destroys her own home." Oh and yes, this, "A house divided can not stand." Under oppression people do a lot of hard things. It doesn't mean much. Show me a political system that does not have its fair share of corruption and blood on its hands. Good luck with that. Most of the time when the politicos are rattling a sword in one place it is because they do not want you to look at another place. Live in peace if you can because has not always been that way and it will not always be that way.
singingfalls   
20 Feb 2016
Genealogy / How Polish am I? What is the correct formula? [58]

Wow! Generations of surfers, have they been surfing on a long waves of a different dimension?

See, I can;t let a sleeping dog lay. My apology for the misspelling. Stuff like that eats away at me.
singingfalls   
18 Feb 2016
Life / Polish people are the most ignorant people in the world! [331]

People that are provocative like the OP do not live. They merely exist. But you are correct, "the sooner the better" regarding my visit to Poland. I have been doing googleearth and have the exact spot my paternal grandmother was born and a rough idea regarding my maternal grandfather's place. The draw to go there is very strong for me.
singingfalls   
18 Feb 2016
Life / Polish people are the most ignorant people in the world! [331]

What a waste of time...but I will chime in anyway. Between 1964 and 1974 I traveled all over the world and have seen many people. I grew up in inner city USA in a "Polish" neighborhood. My grandparents on both sides were both Polish and came from Southern Poland and Western Ukraine. They were good hard working people that came to a foreign land without speaking the language in a time when the world was at war and was slaughtering each other by the millions. They suffered hardship. They raised large families and fed and clothed them well. They never forgot their roots and during the years after WWII sent and brought many things to their families in Poland from the abundance they found in America. I truly and heartily respect them for that. It was love and very powerful.

Poland is one land I have not visited but Lord willing someday soon I will.
I have seen the bias expressed by Wizard among many individuals and groups in the world. It is darkness and causes pain. He expresses the language of a fool and should be avoided and pitied. I am grateful to those of you who have expressed reason and wisdom regarding this matter in this thread. You give me hope. Thank you.
singingfalls   
13 Feb 2016
Genealogy / DNA Testing in Poland. Is it popular? [81]

I am very interested in this subject so I am adding comments to it in order to subscribe to this thread.
Here are some personal factoids:
99+% Eastern European Ethnicity
Y Chromosome Haplogroup I2a with a terminal SNP of I-Y4882*
Mitochondrial DNA Haplogroup T1a1b
An up to date web page with the latest information related to genetic genealogy and my personal test can be found here:
singingfalls/dna.html
Much to my surprise I have made contact with members of my ancestral family through this means. I have also found connections to Y DNA blood lines from Poland going back approx. 1500 years.

I have put together this web page to discuss my dna testing and its relationship to my Polish heritage.
singingfalls.com/dna.html
singingfalls   
13 Feb 2016
Genealogy / KUKULA ancestry [32]

Once again indebted to your expertise Polonius3. Thanks.
singingfalls   
13 Feb 2016
Genealogy / KUKULA ancestry [32]

I have many Kulka in my family tree and one Kukielka. Southern Poland-Western Ukraine.
singingfalls   
2 Dec 2015
Genealogy / Poland Genealogy Resources [130]

I thought this would be valuable resource for some. Victims of Totalitarianisms pbgot.pl/en