Trip to Poland: June 29, 1937 - Warsaw

Roman Gzell Playing the Violin, Celina (Szerejko) Gzell in Photograph on Wall

Krystyna Szerejko, Mieczyslaw Szerejko

[Travel Diary Entry]

June 29 - 1937 Tuesday /
Same / 
Swieto Sw Piotra i Pawla [Holy Saints Peter and Paul] / 

Up at 8.30 sat and talked until / 4 P.M. F. Szerejo went at 11A.M. / to a meeting and came home feeling / very happy with a pkg. chocolate / At 4 P.M. had dinner and went / to Celina Gzell found her and / husband very congenial. Mr. Gzell played the violin very good, had / fruit candy pastry and tea. / at 9 P.M. went to Henryk Szerejkos / found them very interesting. but / very worn. H. looks very sickly / the children also, oldest girl / Krysia 12 very small and thin / Mieczyslaw 10 chubby but small / and Wieslawa 3 did not see her / talked and made merry until 12 P.M / F.S. had plenty in but very happy. / home at 1 P.M. [a.m.?]

June 29 is the name day for Saints Peter and Paul.

(Images and Text Copyright (c) 2017 Cynthia Shenette)

Trip to Poland: June 28, 1937 - Warsaw

Left to Right: Helen Bulak, Jan Szerejko, Leokadia (Szymanska) Szerejko

Left to Right: Jan Szerejko, Helen Bulak, Aleksander Szerejko

Left to Right: Jan Szerejko, Leokadia (Szymanska) Szerejko,
Aleksander Szerejko

Warszawa. Wysadzony w sewietrze MOST KIERBEDZIA
[Kierbedzia Bridge]

WARSZAWA. Sadzawka w ogrodzie Saskim
L'etang du Jardin de Sax
[Saxon Gardens]

[Travel Diary Entry]

June 28 Monday /
Warsaw /
Feliks Szerejko /

Up at 8.30 Breakfast. talked at table / with family until 12.45 / Mr. Szerejko went to work. / Mrs. children and myself / had dinner. after dinner went to / center of Warsaw. / Visited Opera House. / Stare Miasto Stary Rynek. / Kosciol Sw. Maryji gdzie Celinka slwobowala / Zwiedzalismy sklepy hurtowne / na Nalewkach Zydowskie / Krakowskie Przedmiescie. Wila /  Most Kerbedzia. Boulivard / Met Feliks S. went to Saski / Ogrod sat until 9.30 P.M. came / home had supper went to bed / 12. P.M

June 28 Monday /
Warsaw /
Feliks Szerejko /

Up at 8.30 Breakfast. talked at table / with family until 12.45 / Mr. Szerejko went to work. / Mrs. children and myself / had dinner. after dinner went to / center of Warsaw. / Visited Opera House. / Old Town Old Market. / St. Mary's Church where Celinka [Celina Gzell] married / We visited shops wholesalers / on Nalewki [Street?] Jewish [district?] / Krakowskie Przedmiescie. River Vistula / Kerbedzia Bridge. Boulevard / Met Feliks S. went to Saxon / Garden sat until 9.30 P.M. came / home had supper went to bed / 12. P.M

(Postcards in the Collection of Cynthia Shenette; Images and Text Copyright (c) 2017 Cynthia Shenette)

Photo Story: Peace and Changes

My Mother's Cousin Celina (Szerejko) Gzell and Son, Warsaw, Poland, Late 1940s 

(Original Image and Text, Copyright (c) Cynthia Shenette) For the family in Poland post World War II was a time of change and upheaval.  My grandfather Adolf's brother Feliks and his wife were civilian casualties of the war.   Their children survived however.  One son served in the Polish Army and was captured by the Germans.  He eventually ended up in a DP camp in Germany after the war and stayed there until he was allowed to immigrate to the United States.

My grandfather's brothers Henryk and Jan survived the war.  Jan lost one son to Soviet violence shortly after the war.  The Soviets were not friends of the Polish people.  A letter from one of  my grandfather's relatives said that to remain in Soviet occupied Poland would be "a slow starvation." Given the family letters that I've read I've always felt that post traumatic stress disorder was probably epidemic within the civilian population after World War II and not just a problem for those in the military.

My Dad and his three brothers who served overseas returned to the United States.  Their father Frank Shenette died in June of 1945 just before the end of the war.  My mom told me that my dad participated in one of the ticker tape parades in New York City.  Apparently he was qualified to operate a tank from his training in the Army and was chosen to drive a tank during the parade.  After the war Dad reenlisted into the Navy where he served until he retired from the military in 1957.

Mom's job at the Ration Board ended with the conclusion of the war.  She found work at the local office of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in the Federal Building in downtown Worcester where she worked until she married my dad in 1953.


Other Posts You Might Like:

Chopin Rising
Post World War II "Care" Packages - Amanuensis Monday
Where They Lived: Every Address Tells a Story
Leokadia (Szymanska) and Feliks Szerejko - Wordless Wednesday

Photo Story: Three Brothers Stay in Poland (Part 1 of 3)

Leokadia, Celina, Aleksander, and Feliks in 1924 (Warsaw, Poland)

(Original Image and Text, Copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette)

Feliks Szerejko

My grandfather's older brother Feliks lived his life in Warsaw.  He is pictured above with his second wife, Leokadia (Szymanska), his daughter Celina (Gzell), and his son Aleksander.  My grandmother's sister Helen Bulak stayed with Feliks and his family during the summer of 1937 on her trip to Poland.  Celina and Aleksander survived World War II.  Feliks and Leokadia did not.


Other Posts You Might Like:

Wordless Wednesday: Warsaw Wedding
Szerejko - Szymanska Wedding Invitation - Amanuensis Monday
Leokadia (Szymanska) and Feliks Szerejko - Wordless Wednesday
Where They Lived: Every Address Tells a Story

It's Wedding Month (Again) at Heritage Zen! - Wordless Wednesday

(Original Image and Text, Copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette) Last year I posted a number of wedding photos during the month of June which proved to be quite popular with my readers.  This photo is a re post from June 2010 and one of my favorite photos in my collection. 

The young woman in the photo is my mother's first cousin, Celina Szerejko, and her husband Roman Gzell on their wedding day.  They were married in Warsaw, Poland on April 21, 1935.  I love the beautiful dress and the classic, sophisticated 1930s appearance of both the bride and the groom.  They almost look as if they've just stepped out of a Hollywood movie from the 1930s.


Other Posts You Might Like:

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday: Here Come The (Mystery) Brides...
Send Up A Flare, Mystery Bride Identified! - Mystery Monday 
Wordless Wednesday: June is Wedding Month at Heritage Zen
Meditation: The Strength of Ordinary Women

Follow Friday: Walking Pictures, Ancestry, and Free Stuff

(Copyright (c) 2010 Cynthia Shenette) I love it when I learn something new. I also love it when I learn something new and it directly applies to solving a mystery within my own family history research. This week I learned about "walking pictures." I'd never heard of "walking pictures" before. I started following Brett Payne's blog Photo-Sleuth fairly recently, and his most recent post Spotlight Photos Ltd. - "Walking Pictures" in Derby is fascinating.

"Walking pictures" were a style of photography practiced by street photographers in which the photographer captured ordinary folks as they walked down a city street. Apparently the trend was especially popular from the 1920s through the 1950s. I have a couple of photos in my collection which I suspect are "walking photos." The photo of my mom's cousin, Celina Gzell, I used to illustrate my June article for the Carnival of Genealogy, Meditation: The Strength of Ordinary Women, may be a walking photo. Given that the photo was taken during World War II in occupied Warsaw I am a little skeptical, but it is a possibility. With the photo above I am less skeptical. The photo is a picture of Celina Gzell walking along a Warsaw street with her mother, Leokadia (Szymanska) Szerejko (Abt. 1895-Abt. 1944) in 1935. I love the photo--both ladies are walking along, arm in arm dressed in fashions typical of the time.

I also read Brett Payne's other posts regarding street photographers and walking photos, Sidewalk Photographers - the Other Side of the Coin and Sidewalk Photographers, Bournemouth & Great Yarmouth. Brett also referenced Sheri Fenley's (The Educated Genealogist) article Friday From the Collectors - Sidewalk Photographers in footnoteMaven's Shades of the Departed. Sheri's article was also very interesting.

This week I started following Ancestor's of Mine from Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky & Beyond by Kim. I found her thinking in her post When Ancestry Owns the World very much in line with my own regarding Ancestry and Ancestry's acquisition of ProGenealogists.

I was also happy to get a heads-up on good things to come from Family Tree Magazine in DearMyrtle's post, FTM's 101 Best Free Websites 2010. I read Family Tree Magazine and many of the websites that are listed I already use, but I saw quite a few that were new to me.

TGIF. Enjoy the weekend everyone!

Wordless Wednesday: Warsaw Wedding

The photo is of Celina Szerejko and Roman Gzell on their wedding day (21 Apr 1935).

Meditation: The Strength of Ordinary Women

(Digital Image. Photograph Privately Held By Cynthia Shenette. Text Copyright (c) 2010 Cynthia Shenette) 

I can't count any female innovators among my ancestors. I don't have any female doctors, lawyers, pilots, suffragettes, inventors, abolitionists, or famous sports figures in my family. There are no female famous firsts. With the exception of a royal connection several generations back, most of the women in my family were wives and mothers, peasants, immigrants, and well, ordinary. They were women typical of their time, kind of like me. 

I am constantly impressed with these "ordinary" women, the decisions they made, and the lives they led, given their sometimes limited circumstances. I am lucky to live today and not in the past. My female ancestors, struggled against illness and death, war, political strife, poor nutrition, and economic difficulties, often with little or no education. They persevered. Their hard work, persistence, good health, and in some cases good luck, paved the way for me to have a better life.

How is my life better than the lives of my ancestors? I have access to education, good health care, and better food. I have the ability to vote. I have the freedom to marry the man of my choice, not someone chosen for me or forced upon me by circumstances beyond my control. I have the opportunity to work in a professional career and the ability to achieve financial independence, if I want to. I have modern conveniences. I live without fear, political oppression, and war in my homeland. Many of my female ancestors did not.

Take for instance my great-grandmother Ewa (Kowalewska) Bulak. In 1897 Ewa boarded a ship in Bremen and traveled to meet her husband Antoni in America. She arrived at Ellis Island with her two daughters in hand and five dollars in her pocket. Up until that time Ewa had probably never ventured outside of her small village in Lomza province. How difficult was life in the old country that immigrating to the U.S. was the best option for the family? What kind of courage did it take for Ewa to travel beyond her village, across the Atlantic, and leave everything and everyone, including her mother, behind? I'm thankful that Ewa brought my grandmother to America. While life in the U.S wasn't always easy, the family left in Poland didn't fare nearly as well given the political situation with Russia, two major wars, and a constant struggle against poverty. Ewa set her fears aside and made the decision to follow her husband to America to embark on a new life, hopefully a better life, for her and her children.

Throughout history mothers have sacrificed for their children. My grandfather, Adolf Szerejko, came to this county in 1913 from Warsaw, Poland. He was 18 years old. According to the family story, he sat down at breakfast one morning and his mother, Jozefa, and their father told him that they had made arrangements for Adolf and his older brother Aleksander to escape from what was then Russian Poland and to travel to the United States. The brothers left Warsaw that night, jumped the border, and made their way to Holland where they caught a ship to America. If they didn't leave when they did Adolf and Aleksander would have been conscripted into the Russian army just in time to fight in the First World War and possibly the Russian Revolution. When the Russians took their older brother, Wincenty, he disappeared into Russia and the family never saw him again. Jozefa probably knew that she would never see Adolf and Aleksander again, but it was more important to protect them than to keep them with her in Poland. What a difficult decision that must have been.

For hundreds of years mothers sacrificed their lives just giving birth. In the late nineteenth century and the early twentieth century America maternal mortality was still high, despite better nutrition and living conditions. Around 1900 out of every 1,000 live births, 200 children died before the age of five. 

A couple of years ago I stumbled upon the burial record for two ancestors I had never heard of--sisters Alena and Sophia Bulak--my grandmother's first cousins. Alena died on September 4, 1908. She was five months and three days old. Her death record states that she died of meningitis. What probably started out as strep infection or virus developed into meningitis or some kind of swelling of the brain. Today, that illness would probably be treatable. Alena's sister, Sophia, died on July 4, 1909, less than a year after Alena. Sophia was one month, 17 days old. The primary cause of death listed on the death certificate was bronchitis, with a contributing cause as cholera infantum. How sad, two babies born to the same mother dying less than a year of one another, and both dying of illnesses that could probably be prevented today. Where did their mother Maryanna find the strength to handle the loss of two infants in less than one years time? Despite her losses, Maryanna put aside her grief went on to have more children and live to the ripe old age of 94. Even though she had other children, I'm sure that she never forgot those two little girls whose lives ended before they had a chance to really begin.

For my grandmother's family and my grandfather's family back in Poland, life was difficult. Two world wars and the stress of the Soviet occupation took their toll. Even though we live in a time of political unrest, thankfully, war has not been fought on American soil since the 1865. Much of my grandparents' family lived in Poland during World War II. Some of the family survived the war. Some didn't. I have a photo of my grandfather's cousin, Celina Gzell, taken in Warsaw in 1943. I've often looked at the photo and wondered what her life was like. What was she thinking about at that moment in time when the photo was taken? I see Celina standing on a Warsaw street holding her three-year-old son's hand. In the background there is a man who appears to be a German soldier in uniform. What was her life like during the war? What were her fears, for herself and for her son? Celina and her son survived the war, but her parents did not. I am grateful that I live where and when I do.

I admire all the women, all the mothers and grandmothers in my family. They were women who made tough decisions and lived their lives to the best of their ability despite trying times and circumstances. I admire their courage and ability to persevere and to be the best mothers they could be for their children. Women like Ewa, Jozefa, Maryanna, and Celina were by most standards, "ordinary" women. They weren't doctors, lawyers, or suffragettes. Their names won't be found in a list of who's who. When I get aggravated because I'm stuck in traffic or because I have to stand in a long line at the pharmacy, I try to put things in perspective. My life is easy compared to theirs. When I think about their lives, I like to think I too would have the grace, dignity, and courage to do what they did. I don't know if I would, but I'd like to think so. By remembering our "ordinary" women we honor them. It's our way of saying thank you. 

Thanks ladies.

Named Persons: 

Alena Bulak (1 Apr 1908-4 Sep 1908)
Antoni Bulak (1868-19 Feb 1940)
Ewa (Kowalewska) Bulak (1873-20 Mar 1924)
Maryanna (Bialobrzywska) Bulak (1867-26 Dec 1961)
Sophia Bulak (20 May 1909-4 Jul 1909)
Celina (Szerejko) Gzell (Abt. 1911-Aft. 1978)
Adolf S. Szerejko (11 Apr 1895-19 Dec 1959)
Aleksander D. Szerejko (11 Nov 1892-21 Jul 1962)
Jozefa (Bielska) Szerejko (1867-1920)
Wincenty Szerejko (Abt. 1890-Aft. 1931)

Photograph: 

Celina (Szerejko) Gzell and son. Warsaw, 1943. Author's private collection. 

References:

Maine, Deborah, and Katrina Stamas. "Maternal Mortality." Encyclopedia of Population. Ed. Paul Demeny and Geoffrey McNicoll. Vol. 2. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2003. 628-631. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 19 May 2010.

Pebley, Anne R. "Infant and Child Mortality." Encyclopedia of Population. Ed. Paul Demeny and Geoffrey McNicoll. Vol 2. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2003. 533-536. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 19 May 2010.


Submitted for the 94th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy.