26 May - Iwona Purzycka, Director, Museum of Bielsko-Biała

The last scheduled meeting was with the Iwona Purzycka, Director of the Museum of Bielsko-Biała and related scholars. The three hour meeting began with Marcin Chumiecki reviewing the Polish Mission presentation and showcasing the holdings of the Galeria and Museums. Ceil shared the need for Americans in general, and Polish descendants in particular, to learn the past and current history of Poland and understand the Polish influence in the U.S.
We met the director who is skilled at reading the Gothic church records. He enjoys genealogical research when he is not working on his professional assignments.

26 May - Bielsko-Biała

We visited the Bielsko-Biała town square and browsed several antique galleries discussing the current interest in artifacts and archival documents including manuscripts and rare books. We talked about the frequency such items appear in the Polish market. Pictured here Marcin Chumiecki, Director of the Polish Mission, and the shop owner.

26 May - Evangelical Parish of the Church of the Savior

Our next appointment was with the archbishop of the diocese of the Evangelical-Augsburg Church. His office is located at Martin Luther Square, comprising the Evangelical Parish of the Church of the Savior, presbytery, “Augustana” publishing house and two schools. A bronze statue of Martin Luther stands in the center of the square and is the only statue of this theologian and reformer in Poland. During our interview the Archbishop mentioned the records are hard to read and they too rely on the local scholar to transcribe the records. He had a map that showed the past and present boundaries for the Evangelical parishes thought out Poland.

26 May - Parafia Św. Mikołaja, Bielsko-Biała

We visited Parafia Św. Mikołaja, St. Nicolaus Cathedral in Św. Mikołaja Plac [St. Nicolaus Square] – a 15th century Gothic church, last rebuilt at the beginning of the 20th century. Once an Evangelical church it holds six centuries of birth, marriage, and death records in bound volumes. The records from the 1500s are narrow books protected by archival covers. There are bound indices to help find entries in the records. There is a notation that the death records from 1890-1945 are held at the USC. The records room was supervised by a Sister of the teaching order of Notre Dame. She told us members of her convent teach in New Baltimore, Michigan! Sister gave us the name of the local expert who can read the Gothic script in both the Catholic and Evangelical records prior to 1900. He is sought out by professors in the region due to his skill and finesse in reading and transcribing the old hand writing and language.

May 26 Mother’s Day in Poland

Fr. Josef is a history buff and has found old tombstones and ironwork that once marked graves in the old cemetery that surrounded the church. He has positioned the pillars, sculptures and stones on the church grounds. Marcin is pictured here taking photos of the grave art.

May 26 Mother’s Day in Poland

May 26th was also Mother’s Day in Poland.

It is celebrated by school children who have special events for their mothers at school with planned programs, theater presentations with kids as actors,and handmade cards. The day would not be complete without special foods including cakes and singing Sto Lat for the Moms.
We visited with Fr. Josef at the parish of Holy Trinity Church on Sobieskiego St. – erected at the beginning of the 17th century in late Gothic style as the first new Protestant place of worship. The street's name derives from the fact that Jan Sobieski passed this way before the battle of Vienna. It was taken over by the Catholics during the Counter Reformation.
The parish school specialized in Polish-English instruction. We were surrounded by children during their recess and they tried out their Hello, My name is,and What is your name? phrases. One wonders if the “devil signs” held over the other student's head (in the photo) is an English import or a home grown prank.

25 May - Jewish Cemetery

The team also visited the historic Jewish cemetery founded in 1849 which is still extant. The latest burials were in 2003 and 2008. The Jewish cemetery in Biała was closed in the 1960s. The Bielsko cemetery is on Cieszyńska ul. The graves are marked with stone and iron, while one is adorned with a Communist hammer and sickle.