Augustow

Today was Klimaszewski day in Augustow. We started in Bialystok in the morning and drove through the wooded land between Bialystok and Augustow. It is very busy road with trucks coming and going from Lithuania. We met our guide Aneta, in the town square of Augusta, she showed us around Augustow and the surrounding area, including remnants of a Jewish cemetery, the main church in Augustow, a chapel, and the lake.

Pat, Dan, Natalia and Witold

We then met my father's second cousin, Natalia Paskowska, and her son Witold. they were accompanied by Brian, who is an 18 yr old friend of the family who speaks perfect English and acted as our interpreter for the day. He did an excellent job of interpreting. We met at a very nice local restaurant. Natalia was very happy that we wanted to see her, and she also gave us a small present, and gave us a gift  for my sister Barbara. She is a very sweet, loving, vibrant woman of 76.  She and her husband (also Witold) live in a small apartment with Witold Jr., his wife, and their two teenage children, Claudia 13 and Monika 16. They also have a dog, named Chico. After lunch she took us to the old family farm. My great-grandfather Albert Klimaszewski left this farm in 1872 for the U.S.A. He eventually homesteaded in Posen, Michigan on a farm that was very similar to the one he left in Poland, most likely trying to avoid the Prussian conscription of young  men.

New house on the original farm

The farm was very interesting to visit. When my father and mother and Barbara first visited it in 1990, it was on a dirt road, and Natalia and Witold were still working it. They sold it in 1995 to help pay for some medical care for their granddaughter, and it has subsequently been torn down and rebuilt. They new buildings are in the same pattern as the old buildings, and the place is still farmed, but the road is paved, there is a cell phone tower across the street, and all the buildings are new.

What a great day and a great experience. Augustow is a bustling town,(pop 30,000) that is now a center for vacations and recreation, due to the many lakes and forests in the area.

To meet people who are living here and now, in Poland who are family is strange and cool. They are good people, very poor and struggling at this point. One of their sons, Mark who is 50 yrs old, has been in the hospital for one year due to a medical procedure on his stomach that has left him paralyzed from the waist down. As the interpreter said "the doctor screwed up". They are awaiting rehabilitation for him, and he will be responsible for the payment for these services. It's a sad but beautiful world. We left there, with hugs and kisses. This is a very moving experience, that I will probably think about a lot after we return home. First Krinki then Augustow, what a packed two days. Now off to Prague.