Predictably, the “conspirators’” secret trial in front of a military court ended with Franciscus’s conviction and a five-year prison term. On appeal, the sentence was shortened to two years; but by then, my grandfather’s health had deteriorated to the point that he was admitted to the prison hospital. After spending one year behind bars, this almost 70-year-old man, bent by this experience, was released during a political thaw in 1955.3 When a few months later he had the “audacity” to ask the regime to return his watch, another humiliation followed. Franciscus was sternly reminded that he had been sentenced to not just a prison term but also to the loss of his personal property; his old Swiss watch, apparently from 1910, now belonged to the state. He was more successful in retrieving 15 personal pictures that had been seized in his apartment. They were “magnanimously” returned in 1957.
In the early 1960s, amnesty was offered to many victims of the political prosecutions of earlier decades, but Franciscus refused to accept this and instead demanded a retrial. This time, in an open court, he was exonerated of all charges. The evidence showed clearly that internal security forces had used physical force and emotional intimidation to elicit testimonies from the accused. Even the star witness for the prosecution turned out to be an unreliable individual who had been committed for years to mental institutions and now refused to repeat any accusations, claiming he had lost his memories of all past events.
Was that the end of the saga that had begun with a few older men chatting among themselves, hardly conspiring to overthrow the regime? Not really. The security forces kept trawling through hundreds and hundreds of pages of old documents; they produced summaries of the alleged counterrevolutionary activities of Franciscus Sobolewski and his co-conspirators as late as 1973. Not surprisingly, these pages were again labeled “SECRET,” even though all charges had been overturned 10 years before.4
MY GRANDMOTHER AND GRANDFATHER had a brief reunion when I was about 12. After making the necessary arrangements with his second wife, Wanda, my mother sent me to Lodz to bring Franciscus back to Warsaw for a week. He was already an elderly man, still straight and tall but showing a bit of forgetfulness; hence, he could not travel alone. When we arrived home, I knocked on the door with Franciscus standing at my side. My grandmother came to greet us and looked at her former husband for the first time in about 30 years. With a twinkle in her eye, she asked him as if surprised, “What are you doing here?”
Helena and Franciscus Sobolewski briefly reunited. The photograph was taken by a clumsy picture taker in Warsaw, circa 1960.
Franciscus answered something, but after a bit of small talk, my grandma said, “You know, I am quite busy now; I have to prepare dinner for tonight.” In just a few minutes, the former colonel was sitting in the kitchen with an apron around his waist, following an order to clean vegetables for the evening meal. My grandmother seemed happy moving around the kitchen, scolding Franciscus in good spirit when she felt he was mistaken about something from the past. A few days later, I took them for a little sightseeing and a walk in the park. I photographed them at various spots to document the occasion, but unfortunately, my old camera malfunctioned; still, a single picture survived. In the photo, they are smiling, unusual for those from a generation that never grinned when looking into the camera’s lens. Although I quickly became bored with this excursion, it was obvious that they enjoyed each other’s company, talking intensely for the entire time.
After Franciscus left, Wanda, on her visits, would say something to the effect that she was fine with sending him back for more than a week, to which my grandmother would answer with joy, “Well, you wanted him, so now you have to keep him.” They both laughed heartily, along with everyone else. There were no more visits or direct contact between Helena and Franciscus.5
In those later years, another Wanda, whom we met earlier, continued to link Helena with long-gone Galicia. Wanda Regiec, my grandmother’s younger sister, never married and managed to avoid mandatory resettlement to postwar Poland after World War II.6 She led a modest life, making ends meet by playing an instrument in a touring ensemble. She visited us only once, sometime in the early 1960s. I do not remember much from that visit, only a few blurred images of a small, elderly woman who showed up unexpectedly one morning. To the chagrin of everyone, there had been some mixup with a telegram that had not arrived on time. Whether shy or a bit intimidated by living in what was then the Soviet Union, she did not want to accept any gifts, saying that she had everything she needed at home. But she managed to tell us about one of the cathedrals in the former Stanislawow (by then renamed Ivano-Frankivsk) that had been converted to an anti-religion museum. Although I did not fully comprehend that story at the time, I understand in retrospect how accurately it reflected what had happened there.
Wanda Regiec, Helena’s sister, in a picture taken in the 1960s in Ivano-Frankivsk, Soviet Union.
Wanda left for home after a few weeks, but the sisters continued to exchange letters. Now and then, she wrote us about visits or holidays with friends Helena knew from the past. A few years later, there would be a request from her for medication for heart failure, which my mother promptly sent; then the letters stopped, leaving my grandmother very worried about her sister. When one day a gray envelope stuffed with old photographs arrived from Ivano-Frankivsk, we knew immediately what had happened. Wanda Regiec was buried alongside her parents, Joseph and Stephania Regiec, in an old cemetery by Sapiezynska Street, not far from where they all had lived. Just a few years after she died, small signs were nailed to the old tress, informing passersby that the cemetery was to be liquidated. Soon the local Soviet government, with its senseless ruthlessness, ordered bulldozers to obliterate the old monuments, erasing forever the names of those who were part of the history of this region. Any remaining trace of the Regiec family had vanished, and in a broader sense, another link to Galicia was taken away.
The grainy photograph documenting demolition of the old cemetery in Stanislawow (by then renamed Ivano-Frankivsk), ordered by the Soviets in 1980.
Toward the end of her life, Helena lived in a retirement community. My mother went to see her there every Wednesday; I wish I would have remembered to go more often. Whenever I visited her with my mother, she had cookies for us and wanted to hear our news, to be reassured that everything was fine. When the time came to say good-bye, my grandmother would insist on walking us to the bus stop, no matter what the weather. I remember seeing her from the window as we rode away, her small frame standing still until our bus turned the corner; only then would she start walking back home.
Helena Sobolewska at the age of 89, embracing my wife, Margaret, during our wedding on February 14, 1976.
Reading was my grandmother’s interest throughout her life, and when her eyesight faltered, that troubled her greatly. This was the only complaint I ever heard from her. Although she was a bit frail, she kept an interest in many things until the end. Ahead of her time, she helped educate the public about recycling before it became fashionable; at some point, this initiative of my grandma’s was even discussed on a local radio station. My grandmother also arranged theater tickets and trips to museums for her fellow retirees. In the early 1970s, I remember stumbling to find a clear answer when she asked me, “What are those computers that I am hearing about?”
Helena Sobolewska and Wanda Sobolewska chatting and having a good time. The photograph was taken on February 14, 1976.
I was very fortunate that my grandmother lived long enough to meet my wife, Margaret, whom she was very fond of. Perhaps speaking a bit from her own experience, she once gave Margaret a gentle bit of advice: not to let me travel alone for too long. She lived until the ripe old age of 91. There is no right way to summarize it, other than saying that I was very fortunate to have Helena Regiec Sobolewska as my grandmother.7
“God Bless. Grandma.” My grandmother wrote these words to Margaret and me, with difficulty, on the day of our wedding.
THIS BOOK WOULD NOT HAVE been possible without
the support of my entire family. My wife, Margaret, endured months that turned into years of a husband who talked mostly about Galicia or the next piece of the puzzle he was eager to solve. There were weekends when she put up with my absence; I was in front of the computer or in a local family history center. Margaret became my sounding board, someone well-versed in the details of the families I follow in this story. My children, Ewa and Andy, thought for a while that their father had gone almost insane with this historical research, never before having been interested in his own family background. As one of them jokingly teased the other, “The issue is not a book but the fact that we will be quizzed on its contents.” I hope that they will learn a bit about themselves reading these pages. Besides my own curiosity, this was a key incentive, driving me to probe further and deeper into the past.
My cousin, Mrs. Irena Szymczak, put her trust in me, sharing with me very personal material about her father, Boleslaw (“Bolek”) Durkalec, along with precious family pictures of her father and the Sobolewski family, for which I am very grateful. Other cousins, Mr. Andrew Witkowski and Mrs. Magda Binder, contributed stories and pictures of Franciscus and Wanda Sobolewski. In my research I found my very distant cousin, Mr. Andrzej Fryś, who shared with me priceless memoirs of his own great-grandfather, and documents related to the Wilczek family that brought to light their long-forgotten story. His willingness to selflessly provide me with historical sources from his own collection was of great help and triggered preliminary thoughts about a possible next project. My only regret is that my late brother, George, could not see the final book, although in his laconic way, he commented once during my research, “So, it looks as though we had a large family.”
I am very grateful to Mrs. Małgorzata Międzobrodzka from the History Department of the Salt Mines Museum in Wieliczka, Poland, who had the sharp eye of a historian in finding priceless information on the early years of the Lösch family. Mr. Jan Zielinski from Andrychow, Poland, shared with me early photographs of the town, and quickly identified ways to uncover traces of the Wilczek family. The State Archives in Cracow contributed old maps of Roztoka and Nowy Sacz. Mrs. Agnieszka Filipek from the branch of the archives in Nowy Sacz was instrumental in finding the forgotten story of Bronislawa Lösch, entirely unknown to me before then. Present-day school principals in the places where Bronislawa Lösch and Joseph Regiec taught graciously shared with me old documents preserved in school libraries, some in Bronislawa’s and Joseph’s handwriting, which shed light on their lives. The Regional Museum in Nowy Sacz contributed old postcards with views of the city from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Mr. Rajmund Piżanowski was always willing to share with me his encyclopedic knowledge of the history of Stanislawow. He has been a true gentleman who devoted a lot of time and personal resources to creating an excellent website dedicated to the history of this town. Our family friend, Mrs. Elwira Owczarska, facilitated many contacts with the archives in Poland; her help and patience were invaluable. Director Diana Peltz of the State Archives in Lviv provided me with the maps of Bohorodczany and copies of the old land census data where I could find many details about the Sobolewski family.
There were many other people who contributed to my research. I was very fortunate to come across excellent resources on the Internet that taught me basic methods of genealogical research and pointed to available sources of information on Galicia, including the monumental database on microfilm stored by the Mormon Church in Utah. I studied copies of those films in a family history center in Philadelphia. Many thanks go to Mrs. Geneva Roberts, who often braved sleet or rain to open the center’s doors for those of us poring through those films. This was invaluable material that allowed me to reconstruct births, marriages, and deaths through the generations in amazing detail. The missing links were reconstructed from church archives in cities of the former Galicia, such as Cracow, Tarnow, and Jaslo, situated in today’s Poland. There were emails and calls to the parishes to obtain not just dates of important events but other information recorded on the occasions of these ceremonies.
Many excellent digital libraries, with enough material for more than one book on Galicia, provided historical background. I was a frequent user of the Austrian National Library (ŐNB) website, which has a massive online collection of newspapers from Austro-Hungary, including Galicia. These tidbits of information provided context for the facts about people I was discovering. Other invaluable resources were the website of the Genealogical Society of Lesser Poland and the digital libraries of Jagiellonian University and the city of Tarnow, Poland. I am indebted to Mr. Tomasz Kozłowski from the History Meeting House in Warsaw, Poland, who provided outstanding illustrative material of Galician railroads and street scenes from Stanislawow.
There are probably numerous others who helped me in more indirect ways. But let us not forget the principals of this story, the members of the Lösch, Regiec, and Sobolewski families, who had exciting lives that allowed this narrative to flow. They truly deserve special acknowledgment.
THE LÖSCH, REGIEC, AND
SOBOLEWSKI FAMILY
REGISTERS
THE LÖSCH FAMILY REGISTER
1st Generation.
1-1. Mathias Lösch born circa 1760, place unknown, and died March 15, 1818, in Wieliczka, Galicia. Mathias married Anna Sedlaczek before 1795, place unknown. Mathias settled in Wieliczka in 1809. Child of Mathias and Anna:
i. Christian Lösch born 1795 or 1798, place unknown.
2nd Generation.
2-1-i. Christian Lösch (son of Mathias and Anna) born 1795 or 1798, place unknown, and died May 25, 1871, in Wieliczka. Christian married three times:
a. Antonina Pinkas on November 14, 1819, in Wieliczka. Antonina was a daughter of Mathias Pinkas and Victoria de Baranski. She was born circa 1799 and died August 7, 1823, in Wieliczka. Children of Christian and Antonina (all born in Wieliczka):
i. Andreas Lösch born circa 1820 and died July 22, 1893, in Nowy Sacz, Galicia.
ii. Antonius Lösch born July 8, 1822, and died July 12, 1822.
iii. Antonius Christian Lösch born May 18, 1823, and died October 7, 1824.
b. Marianna Kwiatkowska circa 1824, place unknown. Marianna was born in 1807, place unknown, and died August 29, 1841, in Wieliczka. Children of Christian and Marianna (all born in Wieliczka):
iv. Christian Wilhelm Lösch born October 26, 1824.
v. Julius Gregory Lösch born April 17, 1828.
vi. Henricus Ignatius Lösch born June 28, 1829.
vii. Edward Franciscus Lösch born September 17, 1831.
c. Josepha Ferenz on February 25, 1843, in Wieliczka. Josepha was a daughter of Josephus Ferenz and Agatha Lacka. She was born circa 1822, place unknown, and died date and place unknown. Children of Christian and Josepha (both born in Wieliczka):
viii. Amalia Josepha Lösch born September 17, 1844.
ix. Stephania Lösch born July 10, 1845.
3rd Generation.
3-1-i. Andreas Lösch (son of Andreas and Antonina) born circa 1820 in Wieliczka and died July 22, 1893, in Nowy Sacz, Galicia. Andreas married Eleonora Wilczek on October 4, 1846, in Andrychow, Galicia. Eleonora was a daughter of Ignatius Wilczek and Thecla de Czerwinski. Eleonora was born January 5, 1819, in Andrychow, and died February 26, 1900, in Nowy Sacz, Galicia. Children of Andreas and Eleonora (all born in different towns of Galicia):
i. Bronislawa Valeria Lösch born August 9, 1848, in Jaslo.
ii. Wilhelmina (a.k.a. Guilhelmina) Lösch born circa 1852 in Andrychow.
iii. Stephania Maria Lösch born December 1, 1855, in Biecz, and died in the 1930s in Stanislawow, Poland.
4th Generation.
4-1-i. Bronislawa Valeria Lösch (daughter of Andreas and Eleonora) born August 9, 1848, in Jaslo, Galicia, and died September 10, 1912, in Nowy Sacz, Galicia. Bronislawa never married.
4-1-ii. Wilhelmina Lösch (daughter of Andreas and Eleonora) born circa 1852 in Andrychow, Galicia, and died date and place unknown. Wilhelmina married two times:
b. Vincentius Telesnicki Jr. on February 2, 1879, in Nowy Sacz, Galicia. Vincentius was a son of Vincentius Telesnicki Sr. and Euphrosinia Jahl. He was born in 1854 in Nowy Sacz and died on February 1, 1893, in Jaslo, Galicia. Children of Vincentius and Wilhelmina (all born in different towns of Galicia):
i. Sophia Telesnicka born October 7, 1883, in Tarnow. Sophia’s married name was Kühnberg.
ii. Adamus Telesnicki born June 24, 1885, in Piwniczna.
iii. Janina Telesnicka born July 13, 1888, in Nowy Sacz.
iv. Mariannus Telesnicki born September 10, 1892, in Jaslo.
4-1-iii. Stephania Maria Lösch (daughter of Andreas and Eleonora) born December 1, 1855, in Biecz, Galicia, and died in the 1930s in Stanislawow, Poland. Stephania married Joseph Regiec (Regiec register 3-1-vii) on February 3, 1886, in Nowy Sacz, Galicia. The line continues under the Regiec family register.
THE REGIEC FAMILY REGISTER
1st Generation.
1-1. Josephus Regiec (a.k.a. Regetz or Regietz) born circa 1787, place unknown, and died March 28, 1847, in Gierowa, Galicia. Josephus married Lucia Jarmula in 1817 in Gierowa. Lucia was born circa 1793, place unknown, and died August 17, 1875, in Gierowa. Children of Josephus and Lucia (all born in Gierowa):
Galician Trails: The Forgotten Story of One Family Page 25
