Krosno — Part Two

It's Saturday today, October 5, the day we were to board a bus here in Kamyanets-Podilsky for the seven-hour trip into Chisinau, Moldova.

Alas, Zach is suffering from an excruciating earache, so we've decided to stay put here in the hotel for an extra day, hoping for a magic miracle recovery.  He's never had an earache before, so this is a mystery.

While it's true that I had longed for a day to just STOP and rest, I certainly did not want it to be for this reason!

So now, while Zach sleeps, I'll continue with our time with the Bienia family in Krosno.

Last Monday, Zach and I went to the Krosno cemetery, accompanied by Wiesiek who knew exactly how to find everybody's grave. This cemetery is much larger than the one we visited in Luszowice.

Here lies our great-grandmother, Zofia Janik Bienia, 1850-1923.
Buried with Zofia is her great-granddaughter, baby Anna Zajdel.

Zofia's husband, our great-grandfather Wojciek Bienia, must be buried in the old cemetery, which we did not visit because Wiesiek says it's so unkempt that it's impossible to read the gravestones. If I ever come back here, I'll want to check out that old cemetery and see for myself.

The saddest grave was the newest. Our cousin, Jan Zajdel, passed away just this August. He was four years younger than I am, way too young to go. 

Leaving the cemetery, we went into town with Wiesiek to tour the glass factory museum. The main, state-owned glass factory has closed, putting thousands of people out of work. At least three of our cousins worked in that factory at some point; Jan Zajdel was a glass blower years ago. Delicate Krosno hand-blown glassware had become famous in the West. I used to buy wedding gifts of Krosno glass at Crate & Barrel and at Williams Sonoma. They no longer carry it. Now I know why! 

All that's left is a museum which sings the praises of the glass factory without mentioning how its demise has hurt the residents of this city. The tour includes a demonstration of glass blowing. It was interesting to see the process. I am SO glad that Zach and I had a chance to get inside the real glass factory as it was back in 1995, where we watched guys blowing glass pitchers. We were snuck in then, we were not tourists. The real thing was hot, sweaty, gritty work done by very skilled craftsmen just a few feet in front of us. By contrast, the young men we watched now in the museum demo were not grubby and sweaty. It all seemed quite pleasant.

The museum gift shop had some lovely items for outrageously low prices.

We left the glass museum and stepped back into a bright and sunny Krosno town square.

Zach with Wiesiek Habrat

Note Solidarność sign, even here in southern Poland.

After a short bus ride, we walked back to the house along ul. Kopalniana.

The wildflowers along the roadside are stunning!

That evening, Zach and I walked down ul. Stapinskiego to ul. Wisze, and over to the Zajdel family home. It's a very sad time for that family now, as Jan just died a few weeks ago. His widow, Janina, greeted us at the door, wearing black. And yet..  there was a sweetness here, a sense of hope and life, as the newest addition to the family, little Szymon (Szymek) was crawling around from person to person, delighting everyone.

Here is Szymek with his mom, Joanna (Asia) Zajdel Urbanek.

Very blurry photo! I forgot to turn on the flash.

L to R:  Małgorzata Zajdel, Romek Zajdel, Marysia Zajdel Pelczar, Marysia's daughter-in-law Paulina, her granddaughter Alexandra, Jacek Urbanek, Joanna Zajdel Urbanek, Janina Zajdel, Zach, Anna Zajdel

Here's Szymek with Anna.

We stepped outside to check out Asia and Jacek's new house across the street, and to admire this greenhouse which Jan built a few years ago:

Asia with her mom, Janina.

It was hard saying goodbye to this family. Jan and Janina and Ciocia Leosia were our hosts on our last visit in 1995; I feel close to them, and don't know if I'll ever see them again.

The next morning, we went into town with Jadwiga to visit Dionysia Lisowska, the mother of Elżbieta in Katowice and Elżbieta's brother, Wiktor.

Jadwiga with Dionysia, making tea.

Dionysia is now age 93! She's sharp as a tack, still lives in the house where she raised her children.

Here's Wiktor Lisowski with his mom.

As we sat down to tea, Wiktor brought over his improved version of the Bienia Family Tree. He has added photos to many of the names, greatly improving the tree, making it come to life with a face for every name. I am so grateful to Wiktor!  It's a thrill for me to see this tree which I began, now growing and being used and enlarged. Thank you, Wiktor.

Zach with Wiktor

After leaving Dionysia's house, we stopped at an outdoor market where Jadwiga needed to buy some veggies. This market is open every day except Sunday, all year round.

That afternoon, Zach and I had planned to go to the rectory of one of the churches to look for records of our great-grandfather, Wojciech. We need to know his parents' names, and the names of his siblings. Who was Anton Bienia's father? His granddaughter would like to know! Was he a sibling of Wojciech? Anton is not in our family tree, and yet we know he was a cousin, somehow, and very very close to my grandparents in Chicago. Wiesiek gave me a photo, taken in Chicago well over a hundred years ago, of two women and two men. The two women are my grandmother, her sister, Aniela, their brother Franciszek, and...  another man with dark hair and mustache. Who, Wiesiek wondered, was that other man? I knew the answer — it's Anton Bienia!  But how, exactly, is Anton related? This is pressing. 

Grandma and Grandpa said Uncle Wóje (that means Uncle Uncle) was related to BOTH of them! He was somehow a Bienia and also a Kosinski! 

Alas, our hosts don't get that it's pressing, and that church documents — wedding and baptism certificates — will be the key to solving the mystery. They did not tell us until the last minute that they did not want to take us back into town to see the priest as we had planned. I could not explain, in my limited Polish, why it was so important. Ach.

In our last hour of daylight in Krosno, we went outside for a final family photo:

Władysław, Zach, Jadwiga, Wiesiek, and...  Punia

An hour or two later, Zach and I kissed everybody goodbye, walked down the road to the bus stop, and began our adventure into the Ukraine.