Calling all Sturmans, this is for you!

Today we spent time with our guide, Tomek Wisniewski, who has written books, articles and talks about the Jews of Bialystok and the towns in the entire region.

He took us to see some of Bialystok, most notably the Jewish cemetery and other general sites of this city.   He then drove us to the town my maternal grandparents, and their ancesters came from, called Krynki.

Some of the references here, are to Orthodox. In regard to the  Christian reference it  means Polish Orthodox, not Russian, there is a difference, which I was never aware of before. (Dan)

Dan recorded Tomek talking and we will include some of his talks.  He is a wonderful man, so knowledgeable, warm, with a wonderful sense of humor.  I cannot write this blog without talking about him, as he made this day so special for me, and for Dan too.   He is not Jewish, he is Polish, and was imprisoned by the Communists in the 70's for dissident activities.   While in prison, he became interested in the lost community of the Jewish population.   

He feels strongly about this because the Jewish culture was so important in Poland, particularly Bialystok, along with other cultures--the Catholics, the Christian Orthodox and all the cultures.  He believes Poland was and should be again, a mixture of the world cultures who have lived here.

His quest is to find and repair Jewish cemeteries in the region and to list the names on the gravestones.   He has written several books about it.  One is called Jewish Bialystok. He has also made a movie called the Pencil, which you can find on Youtube.

The drive to Krynki is beautiful, through heavily wooded forests that are national parks.   It is right on the border to Belarus, in fact, it was part of Belarus when my grandparents made their way to the U.S. in 1906.

We drove around the town, which was once a large, prosperous city of 10,000, and 80% Jewish.  It now has about 600 inhabitants, and of course, no Jews.   We looked at where the old synagogues were--two of them are still intact--one of these was a Hassidic synogogue which I am sure my grandparents did not go to.  The "Great Synogogue" was destroyed by the Nazis, and all that remains are parts of a stone wall.   We did go to the city's Jewish graveyard.  Ironically, the  Christian Orthodox cemetery is in the near distance from this, and you can see how well kept it is, with a fence around it, and all the gravestones in order.

Not so the Jewish one!   We had to walk through a field to even find it, and there are gravestones everywhere!  They were on the ground, or half hidden behind trees, lopsided, in no order at all.  Tomek has spent years bringing order and knowledge back to this spot.
We then drove around on the cobblestone streets as he, and another historian friend of his who joined us briefly, talked about the Jews here, and the town.   It was very prosperous at the turn of the 20th Century, with as many as 20 tanneries, and a large, active market place.   Jews and Catholics and Orthodox lived side by side in some kind of harmony.

Now, this life is gone, and Krynki is sad,  with high unemployment and little industry.  We drove through an old Co-op farm housing development, which is really a Soviet era apartment building. High unemployment, but satellite dishes for TV. What the Nazis didn't destroy, the Communists did.

So I know this is long, but I am trying to express my feelings.  I find I cannot say very much, it is so mind boggling.   I stood in the graveyard and felt my whole family's presence, past and present.   I told my grandparents they succeeded in their goal of making a better life for their future generations by emigrating to the U.S,, and that their dreams were a reality.  I also told all my Sturman relatives that I was there representing each and every one of us.

I can't say that I got emotional, I did as I began my walk, but I tend to be stoic anyway.  I think I feel thoughtful and proud, sad and angry, and also, complete.  To walk in the same steps as your ancestors walked is quite an experience.   For me, it is not without the pain and horror of the whole Jewish issue.  Although my family left way before the Holacust it does affect me.   To think this town has NOTHING left of a whole culture is just beyond imagination.   They lived better than I thought, the town was larger and more prosperous than I realized. I thought the pograms had reach Krynki, but that is apparently untrue. This was perplexing to both Tomek and me, because of some stories I had heard from my mother, which were somewhat inaccurate, so it was intriguing to try and figure out what really happened or what could have been.

I am so glad I came here, so grateful for Tomek, so appreciative of Dan who was the one who really wanted to come to Poland.   I feel like I have gained a new knowledge.
Pat