Many of the birth, marriage, and death records that are necessary to my family tree research are written in Polish and Cyrillic. Sadly, I am illiterate in both languages, though I can occasionally decipher a name written in Polish. Without the help of friends I have found on the Internet, these records would be useless to me. With translation, they are more precious than diamonds. Thanks to these volunteer translators, I have been able to find and understand the precious vital records of my grandparents, great-grandparents, and even great-grandparents.
One of my translators is a young dentist in Czestochowa named Kasia Klimala. She wandered onto Jewishgen.org (a genealogy website) a little while ago in search of her own family history which she suspected had some Jewish roots. Then she stumbled onto Viewmate, a section of Jewishgen where people post documents in need of translation. Helping others by translating these challenging documents is a hobby for Kasia, but a time-consuming one. She is facing her specialty dental exam in periodontistry next week, but she still takes the time to cruise Viewmate in search of people who need her.
I came to rely on Kasia for translation work, and over time, we developed a friendship by email. She is interested in my mother's life in Lodz, and I am enthralled by her search for family as well. I helped her find some documents about her grandparents which suggest that she has Jewish heritage. She is interested in discovering more, but this is challenging in a country where one's Jewishness is still kept secret.
When I knew I was coming to Lodz (which is about two hours' north of Czestochowa), I invited her to stay with me for this weekend. Today, we met for the first time. She is taller than I expected, but otherwise, she looks just like she appears on Facebook. We hugged in the hotel lobby, quickly went upstairs to exchange gifts, and then, since it is a beautiful day--70 degrees and sunny--we headed to Lodz' commercial district, the beautiful Piotrokowska Boulevard, the longest commercial street in Europe. Thought Kasia lives a few hours away from Lodz, she had never really seen the city, so I gave her the tour of this Polish Manchester, as it called, through the eyes of my mother.
We walked about two miles down this beautiful street to Plac Wolnosci, or Liberty Square, the center of the town, and from there we walked a few blocks to my mother's house. Still fairly well-kept, I showed Kasia where my mother probably lived on the top floor, perhaps standing on the balcony overlooking the streetcars (see picture above). We walked a few blocks more to the Jewish Community Center which used to be a synagogue, and then a few feet more to where my great-grandfather lived.
We turned back toward Liberty Square and had a short rest, drinking grapefruit juice at one of the many outdoor cafes on Piotrokowska. What a beautiful day! We then headed toward the large park which separates the poorer section of town from the more affluent and walked toward Manufaktura, a textile mill that was turned into a shopping mall.
Before we went to the shopping mall, we stopped at the former residence of the textile mill's owner, Israel Poznanski. Poznanski was a textile magnate, philanthropist, and a successful Polish-Jewish industrialist in Łódź. His home rivaled that of Biltmore, the palatial home of the Vanderbilts, and Hearst Castle. I don't know how family members found each other in this mansion without intercoms and texting.
In the basement of this home was a small museum dedicated to the history of Lodz, including documents from when the Nazis turned this city into Litmannstadt.
We dined at an outdoor cafe'--Polish-Italian cuisine heavily laced with garlic. (The bruschetta was great, but the aroma is still with me.) Then, powered by food, we walked around and around this fantastic shopping center, complete with outdoor entertainment (a TV show that I would call "Polish Idol" was being filmed there), cinemas, food court, and every store you could possibly imagine. The escalators were a hoot: no steps, just a platform at a 45 degree angle that moved you up or down. Truly this mall would put an American shopping center to shame. It's like Southpoint Mall on steroids.
We walked back to the hotel with one stop: Kasia treated me to some Polish gelato. She assured me that the long walk would negate the calories. I am sure she is right. On the way, I pointed out the statue of Artur Rubenstein, the great pianist, and a former Lodz resident. It is considered good luck to rub Artur's nose and to have your picture taken with him (see the one of Kasia above.)
We rested briefly and went downstairs to enjoy a glass of wine while Kasia translated a number of Cyrillic documents before I had to call it quits. It was too much work on top of a day of fun. We had a Skype call back home to Courtney and Jennifer that was really funny: Courtney and Jenn demonstrated some yoga moves for Kasia as well as gave her a tour of our home by carrying the laptop/webcame around. Since Kasia is about to open her dental practice, Courtney also just about swallowed the webcam to give her a chance to do a video oral/dental exam. She declared his gums and teeth in great condition!
Tomorrow, Kasia will allow me to be her guide to the Cemetery. Yes, I have found a kindred soul: someone who enjoys cemeteries! Friendship has no boundaries.
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