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Return
to Tarnawa Gorna by
David Paleczny
In February
2005, Mary and I returned to Poland retracing some of the
steps of our May 2000 visit. Our timing was related to a
very special Piotr Paleczny performance in Krakow on February
11. The occasion was the 60th anniversary of the restart
of the Krakow Philharmonic Orchestra at the close of World War
II, just days after the liberation of nearby Auschwitz.
Performing the difficult Szymanowski Symphony #4, which is
actually a piano concerto, Piotr was brilliant and the
audience called on him for numerous bows and an encore. |
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Krakow
is beautiful in winter with a covering of snow.
Walking through the old city to the picturesque
Philharmonic concert hall named after Szymanowski, at
night with snow in the air, to a full house of
Krakovians, was exciting. As was the
post-concert reception to celebrate the event --- a
memorable experience, a bravura performance by Piotr,
well worth the long journey.
In Krakow, in addition
to spending time with Piotr and Barbara, with Barbara
as vivacious as ever, we were fortunate to meet with
Tadeusz Paleczny and his daughter Sara.
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Tadeusz, David and Sara
Tadeusz
Paleczny, Professor of Sociology, Department of
International and Political Studies, of the Jagiellonian
University, was born in Zembrzyce, and is a descendent
of Jozef from Tarnawa Gorna. Tadeusz is an expert
on Polish migration. I hope to use his knowledge
and contacts to further develop my 2003 essay, "Jan
Paleczny's Decision". He is a real Paleczny,
evidenced by his current building project, a traditional
stone and wood dwelling in the mountains above Zembryzce.
Despite his prominent academic achievement, his heart
is on the land close to his roots.
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After
Krakow, we again explored my Grandfather Jan Jozef's
home area, very ably assisted by Ewa Paleczny.
A Paleczny by marriage, she is the daughter-in-law
of Julian Paleczny who was born in Tarnawa Gorna.
Ewa, husband Jan and son Kamil and her parents live
in a very nice home in a rural setting at
Miedzybrodzie. The surroundings are beautiful
small mountains and ridges, largely forested,
reminding Mary of the land around the Ellicotville,
NY ski area. Ewa arranged a traditional Polish
Sunday lunch at a log cabin with a big fireplace in
the mountains. We were spoiled. 
Julian, Ewa, Kamil and
Jan
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Julian
and Ewa conducted us to Tarnawa Gorna to meet
his sister Waleria and her family at the home of
her daughter Wioletta. Tarnawa's winter
weather is much the same as Southern Ontario,
the surrounding foothills blanketed in snow,
with smoke curling from the chimneys in the
valley.
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We received a warm
welcome with hearty foods and lots of Polish
hospitality! Wioletta's sister Wieslawa
and brother Stanislaw, and their children, and gregarious neighbour Krystian
Pilarczyk, also with Paleczny blood, joined in
the happy discussions. For me, it was
heart-warming to find these kind relatives,
thriving again after many difficult decades, in
the land of my Grandfather.
Family of Waleria (Paleczna)
Gibas in Tarnawa Gorna. 2nd left
daughter Wieslawa, 3rd Waleria, back son
Stanislaw, 3rd right daughter Wioletta, 2nd
right neighbour Krzysztof Pilarczyk
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Nearly
one hundred years ago, four of five siblings
including Jan Jozef left Tarnawa Gorna for
Canada. Only Aniela remained behind,
with parents Jozef and Anna (Michalek) my
Great Grandparents. Aniela married
Tomasz Plonka and moved to Wadowice, the
hometown of Pope John Paul II.
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Family of Zygmunt Plonka.
Middle rear: Balbina Plonka
I hope to
collaborate with Zygmunt to write more for the
Paleczny website about his historic project
and their distant memories of the Tarnawa
Gorna Palecznys.
Zygmunt
and his family are genuinely nice people and
we hope to see them again.
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And so, arranged
by Julian and Ewa, we were off to Wadowice
to meet the Plonka family. Here the
genealogical connect is easy --- we met
Balbina, daughter-in-law of Aniela, and her
son Zygmunt and his family. They live
in Chocznia, on the edge of Wadowice, in a
most attractive large home. Once again we received an enthusiastic welcome
accompanied by a vast spread of fine food
and champagne! Zygmunt's personal
project in recent years has been the
extensive and expensive restoration of the
family home in Wadowice, built between 1902
and 1908. Both Aniela and her mother
Anna, my Great Grandmother, lived in this
home.
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In my
discussions on this trip, there were three
themes to my questioning. The first,
related to current politics and
economics. The second facetiously
asked: who was the first
Paleczny? Tadeusz actually had a
theory on that, and I plan to return to
the subject in my rewrite of "Jan
Paleczny's Decision". The third
dealt with: why did four of five
children leave? Most felt that the
primary reason would have been land --
they were hemmed in to small plots
remaining from feudalism, what they had
could not be divided any further. Zygmunt
had surprising speculations, one, that the
Paleczny's were reasonably well off, and
two, that they left from Wadowice, not
Tarnawa. These thoughts will keep my
research going for a while longer.
Thank you
Ewa -- organizer, translator, and
hostess. Without you, our return to
Tarnawa Gorna would not have been as
rewarding as it was.
David Paleczny
Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
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[ Arriving in America via Ellis Island ] [ Research Adds Another Generation Back ] [ Tarnawa Gorna in May 2000 ] [ Return to Tarnawa Gorna ] [ Kundas of Jicin ] [ Outstanding Poles ] [ Paleczny List of Poles ]
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