Searching for My Roots
By Gabi. Filed in Poland |
|
|
Today we’ve been on the streetcars and buses of Wroslow ( Breslau), Poland searching for the house of my grandparents and mother. It was an interesting experience, since we did not speak a word of Polish, and I mean not a word:!: Thank God the tourist info had a map that was labeled with the street names in Polish and German. Prior to WW2 this area of Poland was part of Germany. After the war, it was given to Poland, when Polish territories in the east were given to the Soviet Union. Wow what a speckled history:!: So does that make my background Polish or German? Definitely German because my grandpa refused to become Polish and was thrown out of the area and repatriated to western Germany. Thanks Opa,:grin: because otherwise I wouldn’t be around, since my Papa was from the western section of Germany.
We searched out 3 places where my grandparents had taken up residence. Two of the three were actually still there, even though Breslau was over 70% destructed in the war. One is now either a big 4 lane street or part of a gas station:shock: One of the two was really hidden because you had to walk through a house in order to get to an entire complex at the back of that house, that none in the world would have known was there, except of course my Mom, who told me about it. She was 12 when they had to leave Breslau. I felt like I was following the footsteps of my ancestors…pretty cool:cool:
Breslau itself is a very big city..about 650,000 inhabitants. The main square is beautiful with a lot of old European flair. Outside of that perimeter it still seems like either pre-war 40’s, if buildings are still standing or post war Soviet style blocks. Definitely a blast to the past:lol:
One super cool thing today.. the cathedral, the Pope’s home cathedral has an elevator to the top..:shock:
Our satellite phone won’t work here-it claims restricted area 
Gabi in Breslau
Wednesday, September 8th 2004 at 8:32 pm |
Sounds like a great trip so far–I left a post inadvertently under your 8/22 date–if you can find it let me know–do you have another email such that all comments are not out for everyone to see?
Bob
Sunday, September 12th 2004 at 3:35 pm |
you’re trip sounds pretty cool and interesting so far. I try hard to keep on looking on your side, gabi!
have fun.
Sunday, September 12th 2004 at 3:45 pm |
My English is getting worse and worse. I just noticed – when reading my lines again – that I made a mistake and I felt I couldn’t leave it that way. Too embarrassing that would be!:shock:
So here is the correct version of my prior comment: “YOUR trip sounds pretty cool and interesting so far. I’ll try hard to keep on looking on your side, Gabi! Have fun!
Kristina”