DAK

Hi. I will be in Budapest in August and am thinking of trying to find my ancestral home town of Wloclawek, NW of Warsaw, on the Vistula River. Only have a few days - is this even possible? And I wonder, since my family was Jewish, if there would be any traces left? Does anyone have any opinion on whether this quest makes sense? PS - I speak no Polish. Thanks - DAK

Ben Haines

This m,akes plemnty of sense. There are US societies centered on family history. If you put "wlocklawek" into a search engine such as http://www.yahpoo.com, and them do the same with your ancestors' surname, you may pan out gold. <BR> <BR>All Polish railway stations are in the Hafas timetable site, which I think has the address http://www.hafas.de/. Once in that, you should find the English pages, and search from Warszawa Central to Wlocawek. <BR> <BR>Goods luck. <BR> <BR>Ben Haines, of London, in Teplice.

Holly

Hello DAK - I'm reading a book right now by Martin Gilbert entitled "The Boys". It's a rather horrific account of 732 concentration camp survivors, all from Poland. Wloclawek is mentioned in the book, and is shown on one of the maps at the back. Appears to be about 70 miles NW of Warsaw. It might be interesting reading in preparation for your trip, but it is definitely not light stuff.

Peter

DAK: Wloclawek is about 100 miles from Warsaw, and it is a fairly large industrial city (It's between Torun and Plock). There are many train/bus connections to Wloclawek from Warsaw there is also a great connection right from Warsaw's Airport by "Polski Express" Bus. City it self is gray/industrial (You will be probably the only tourist visiting, not knowing Polish may also be a problem (since this city is really not a tourist destination). This could be a day trip for you from Warsaw (bus ride is about 2.5hrs), or I would recommand staying in Torun (which is very nice - and 35miles away), or spa City of Ciechocinek (half way on the way to Torun). <BR> <BR>email me if you need more info. <BR>just take NS out of my address for NoSpam) <BR> <BR>Peter <BR>pad2 <BR>

Kristin

We did a similar trip two years ago. We used a small company from Poznan called "Discovering Roots". They drove us and translated for us for a whole day and it was invaluable aid and pretty reasonable. The main person in the company, Lukasz Bielecki, has an e-mail address <BR>([email protected]) and a website (www.man.poznan.pl/~bielecki/). <BR>Check that out if you are interested. <BR> <BR>One other point -- I don't know how you plan to get from Budapest to Poland, but it is at least a 12 hour train trip from Budapest to Warsaw, so keep that in mind. <BR> <BR>Nevertheless, I hope you get to do this. It was a wonderful experience to "walk in ancestors' footsteps". <BR>

Pat

DAK, I wish you luck! Last year I was in Poland for a month with a group of 17 Canadians (we were teaching English). Many of our members went looking for long-lost relatives, or searches for traces of ancestors. It was amazing how sucessful they were, and how helpful the people were in the villages they visited! (It helped to take along a Polish speaking friend though.) Each one of them returned from their search with a wonderful warm respect and joy at finding family members (no matter how remote!) It made the rest of us wish we had Polish ancestors too!! So, go for it - no matter how long the train ride - you may never get another chance!

Ben Haines

The night train from Budapest Keleti at 2055 reaches Warsaw Central at 0833. It has a restaurant car, and second class sleepers, three beds to a compartment, at a supplement of about 45 US dollars one way. You can book it at many places in Budapest: I suggest Wagons-Lits Carson on Doroteer ut (spelling ?), just round the corner from the Cafe Gerbaud. <BR> <BR>Ben Haines, in Teplice <BR> <BR>