I am frequently asked “what is a favourite trip or destination you have ever been on”? My answer has been … “I appreciate them all because every destination has its unique experiences, cultures, history, food, wine." But, after a trip to Ukraine and Poland in the summer of 2019, I have a different answer! The entire journey was full of wonders … music, dance, many ABC’s (another beautiful church), vodka shots and fun. The people were friendly, welcoming and forgiving as we struggled to spout out a few Ukrainian words from memory. However, the reason I call this trip a favourite was finding and visiting the villages of my ancestors. Walking through a village in Western Ukraine and feeling the spirit of my Baba or seeing my mother’s baptism recorded in an old book in a Polish registry office … goose bumps and teary eyes!
My paternal grandmother was born in the Austrian-Hungarian empire in a small village that is now in Western Ukraine. My mother was born in Poland and immigrated to Canada in 1930 when she was five. Neither made it back to their birthplace, but both would have loved to make the journey. Like many things for children of immigrants, our opportunities are better because of the sacrifices they made.
How do you plan such a journey? Before you go compile as much information as you can about the location and family history. Unless you have relatives or local contacts, I would highly advise a genealogy guide. Before this trip I did not know there was such a thing – they are amazing. They are part detective, part historian, tour guides and interpreters.
My sister and I set out from the city of Lviv on a comfortable 1.5 hour drive to the village. Seeing the village sign for the first time was an emotional moment. Seeing a farmer with his horse and hay wagon making it across the field as we took in the country side, the rolling wheat hills, a small creek running through the village, the gigantic gardens, it felt like we were in a movie set!
Our trusty guide Natalyia takes us to the village office first. The sign is still from the Soviet occupied times. Sadly we discover that the in the 1950's the town office burned and the old records that might have shed light on family history were gone.
I thought we will just look around and leave. No – what the genealogy guides do is they find out where the oldest people in the village reside and they just begin door knocking. The first home is a retired school principal– she looked to be in her early 80s. Nataliya explains "I have these ladies from Canada and they are looking for descendants of their Baba. "
The lady does not know the family name. Most older people in Ukraine have some connection to relatives or people they know in Canada so they are welcoming and helpful. She tells us there is a lady that lives down the road that is older than her, let's go and ask if she knows. Off we go in tow of this 80 something year old baba on a mission. Seriously she was marching down that road with a purpose. We enter the yard – that looks like a small farm yard with chickens, pigs, dogs running around and she begins calling. After some time an older lady comes in from the back field which we later discover is her absolutely huge garden.
She invites us in and we discover that she is not the one we are looking for… it is her old mother who is in the house. We get introduced and the old lady is so sweet and gracious. She takes my face in her hands and plants kisses on my cheeks. We spend about an hour with these ladies and through our guide and interpreter they tell us the story of the village. After WW 2 with new boundaries drawn between Poland and Ukraine many of the original residents of Polish descent were evicted, as were those of Ukrainian descent who lived in Poland. Both these families arrived in the village from Poland after WW2 long after my Baba and her family left. We talk and learn. They don’t know anybody that currently lives in the village with the family name we are looking for.
We move on and as common on these ancestry tours we go to the cemetery and look for gravestones that might have family names. We find gravestones with the names of ancestors – or at least with my grandmother’s maiden name and even that is emotional.
On our way out we stop and I scoop up some soil. Something that I will put on my grandmother’s grave when I return to Canada. I will tell her her village is still there and thank you for all you have given us.
***Prior to this day we had an amazing Western Ukraine tour with Cobblestone Freeway. I love to travel off the beaten path and see “real life”. This company does that well and lived up to their promise of not only seeing the country, but meetings its people, singing, dancing and eating with them. Take a look at my photo gallery to see some pics of beautiful Western Ukraine and its people.
Watch for a future blog about our genealogy tour in Poland to find my mother's birthplace.
If you would like to take a journey to Ukraine or Poland I can help you plan and book it!
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