A SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY TO PODOLE
(29 August – 5 September 2003)

29 August 2003
Following our last year’s solemn resolution, we take part in the second family journey to the Podole area. The invaluable Krysia from Chorzów has obviously organised the whole thing again. Juliusz from Warsaw proved quite efficient in helping her complete the group to the extent that due to limited space in our Ford Transit, two volunteers who came last on the list failed to get on board. The latter giving us the good reason for going there once again in the future.
Our final list of participants includes Krystyna with her son Hannibal, Zofia with her husband Tadeusz, Marian, Juliusz (all of them from the Wilczewski family) and brothers Wacowski – Wojciech and Marcin (closely related through marital relations between the two families Wacowski – Wilczewski). The meeting place is Chorzów. Having loaded our luggage on a small trailer, we start, at 11 p.m. towards Kraków where Zosia and Tadeusz are awaiting us till 1 a.m. of 30 August already. In spite of our tight agenda, we are invited to a cup of coffee and extraordinary cake. There, at the table we meet Zosia’s family and, after a chat, we continue the trip. Wojtek joins us near Przemyśl. Everybody is there so our goal is the Polish-Ukrainian border. In the morning we cross the checkpoint in Krakowiec and follow the road to Lwów. Not far from the border, in Jaworów, we visit the local cemetery where Tadeusz’s relatives had been buried. We manage to find the chemist’s shop that used to belong to the family. We take the photos and go ahead to Kochanówka where the Lachowicz family, the shop’s owners used to have their manor house, today non-existent. We have a word with the local people and we head for Szkło-Zdrój, a place connected also with Tadeusz’s family. Finding the pre-war time’s spa proves slightly complicated but finally people direct us to the spot. There, we see the family’s country chemist’s that has still been working. Having done the cross-border area, we head for Lwów, yet, we pass it by and spend the day passing through Tarnopol, Trembowla and Czortków only to reach Kamieniec Podolski at 2 a.m. on 31 August. We accommodate in the pre-booked “Smotrycz” hotel, have a meal and exhausted with the long trip, go to bed.

31 August 2003
After a rather short night, excited with the fact that we are once again on our ancestors’ land, we dash to visit Kamieniec Podolski. The first thing to see is the Kamieniec Stronghold. We manage to enter the museum despite the renovation work. In the vault, we watch scenes of the fight for Kamieniec. Then, we continue downtown to see all the interesting sights: the Cathedral, the Post-Dominican Church and the Jesuit College. We appreciate the unexpectedly fast going renovation of the Post-Dominican Church. Last year, there was no access inside, while today holy mass is celebrated in the renovated part. We close the day at the hotel taking a break.
1 September 2003
Early in the morning, we start off to Kurzelowa Wielka to prepare for a “banquette” in the old mansion of the Wilczeckis. Mr Michał Łaba, our last year’s guide, although completely surprised with our arrival (our correspondence had not reached him), agrees to help us make our dreams come true. We arrange to meet the next day for a party and invite all those who wish to meet us. We obviously, brought the food and beverages along from Poland. Having discussed the “technical issues” we move on towards Nowa Uszyca, where Zbigniew Wilczewski, Juliusz’s father was born and where, during the unrest of the 1918, Paweł Wilczewski’s family moved to leaving behind their Kurzelowa for good. In Uszyca we find no trace of their stay there. The Polish cemetery, as the locals call any catholic cemetery, is in fact a piece of land covered with shrub with a few, single gravestones. We stroll around the place, take some photos (of the cemetery, a new church and an old monument of Lenin). On our way back to Kamieniec Podolski we stop for a while in Antonówka (the birth place of Maria Wilczewska, Paweł’s daughter) and Przytulina, slightly off the road, where earl Ignacy Ścibor Marchocki, Wilczewskis’ close neighbour lived until his death in the first half of the 19th century. The renowned oddball, connoisseur and collector of art, the creator and sovereign of the Minkowiecki State, which was “recognised” even by the concurrent Russian Tsar. Not much had remained of his former residence and the other structures, like the walls and the magnificent entrance gates leading to his “state”. The precious paintings, books, antique books, manuscripts and numismats must have disappeared or rather been burnt much earlier. Nevertheless, we managed to find an address of Mr Włodzimierz Sutkowiecki, local historian and retired journalist. We are back on the route and stop at the Minkowce cemetery to allow the new participants of our journey to see the old graves of the Wilczewskis. We arrange with Mrs Limańska who takes care of the cemetery and the catholic church in Minkowce, for cutting the shrub covering the graves. That would make a first step in our plan to renovate the gravestones. As the rain thickens, we start back having arranged the cleaning and renovation work to be done on the 3rd September. It is quite late when we reach our hotel in Kamieniec Podolski. We eat and go to bed, tired.
2 September 2003
Next morning, right after breakfast we pack our van with amenities this time and go again to Kurzelowa Wielka. There, at 4 p.m. have we arranged the feast in the old manor house. Being ahead of time, we decide to call to Kurzelówka, the place also formerly inhabited by the Wilczewskis (Ludwik, Henryk and Marceli – who graduated from Zurich University and married Zofia Demezer, a young drama school graduate whom he met in Zurich). The previous day, we received an e-mail from Justyna Wszędybył, Henryk Wilczewski’s granddaughter who tells us that there is an elderly gentleman in Kurzelówka, Mr Antoni Gierycz who knows the remote history of the village, its inhabitants and the surroundings. We turn from the main road and follow a concrete-plated small road that feels full of potholes but we get there in one piece, which proves our van to be a rather strong machine. Once we visited Ludwik Wilczewski’s small manor house and took a few pictures (the house is now the forester’s lodge), we go to find the said Antoni. Our arrival was a pleasant surprise. He got on the van to show us places where Henryk’s and Marceli’s houses had been, no longer there. We also visit the local cemetery; unfortunately, we are unable to find anything due to thick layer of shrubs. Mr Gierycz promised us to collect some memories stored in local people’s heads and send it to Juliusz. It must be mentioned that he takes care of a local museum, which gives us hope for interesting information about the life of the Wilczewskis before their emigration forced by the revolution. Having had a long chat, we say farewells and head for Kurzelowa Wielka. On the way, we go to see Warwara Melnik, an over 90-years old woman, so clear-minded who tells us about the times when she was a young girl in a very warm relationship with her age Wanda, Marceli’s daughter. Hannibal and Marcin decide to take a walk and short cut from Kurzelówka to Kurzelowa Wielka taking on that occasion magnificent pictures of the ravine. A year later, we shall have a beautiful oil painting of it, the most lasting souvenir. In the meantime we reach the place by road. Krysia and Marian start getting the tables and the food ready. Zosia with her husband, Tadeusz and Juliusz go to Paweł Wilczewski’s (Zosia’s grandfather) estate. Today, it is used as a kolkhoz heading for collapse. An elderly man working there appears and shows us round. Paweł’s old manor house is now used as a pigsty with a vast run for the swine in his garden. The only nice avenue goes through the orchard up the clump of tall limes in a circle where one can recognise remnants of a table planted in the ground, which used to host people for various occasions and celebrations with fireworks and similar attractions. The events have been described by Juliusz’s deceased uncle, Brunon Wilczewski who used to watch it from his father Rudolf’s manor house on the other side of the Uszyca-river ravine. To see the fireworks explode brightly in the sky, to hear the music, to admire the colourful glass balls and lanterns in the garden or even discern people and horse-carts.
Zofia is moved with the fact that, after all those years, she managed to get to the birthplace of her father Wacław, aircraft pilot, renowned for the Polish September campaign and the fight for Britain. Our local guide shows us a well which is said to have been built by Paweł personally (it is still the only source of good water). The only cherry tree that survived out of a long cherry avenue makes a sad picture. We take photos to keep it in memory and we go back to Kurzelowa, as the guests will certainly be coming along. 
Now Marcin and Wojciech take their turn and go with their guide Michaił to the spot where the Wacowskis estate used to be. They find, among other things, the “earl’s pond”, well known in the community and beautiful wild orchards. On their way the van sunk in the bog, yet, the men come deeply moved with ... a bag of soil in hand, their soil. The heavy rainfall plus the greasy black-earth did their job - Marcin and Wojciech were in mud up the waist with soaking wet shoes in hand. Never mind. We greet the first comers. Those who found time to come and tell us about their forefathers who had served at the manor. Those who came to have a good time together and also talk seriously about the past and about our times. That is how we spent the beautiful evening, talking and dancing (yes, we also danced to accordion music). The event, videotaped, ended late at night. The locals said that the manor has livened up for that one extraordinary night after a 100-year lethargy. We returned to Kamieniec Podolski inspired by another impressive day on our ancestors’ land. Hannibal however, decided to follow his dreams and spent the night at Iwan Owczaruk’s in Kurzelowa Wielka to try the true and simple country life. He then told us that he was impressed with the silence and the raven-black night in the remote borderlands. When he went to bed at his host’s place and looked through the window ... he could not see anything. Absolute dark. That was something he had experienced for the first time in his life.
3 September 2003
We find it somewhat hard to get up but breakfast has been served therefore we have no choice. Anyway, our agenda for the day is quite ambitious indeed – renovation of old gravestones at the Minkowce cemetery. Before we part for Minkowce, Juliusz buys a train ticket to Kiev where he wants to stay for two days and see Aleksander, a Wilczewskis’ descendant from the Psków-Kowno line. Aleksander greatly contributes to the elaboration of old documents obtained from the Russian Central Historical Archives in Sanct Petersburg (where the files of the Heraldry are kept), especially those in Russian. After breakfast, we pack the necessary tools and head for Minkowce. On the way, Juliusz leaves us in Iwankowce as he plans, prior to his trip to Kiev, to meet Mr Sutkowiecki, the journalist. The others continue to Minkowce where, at the cemetery, they meet with Hannibal and Iwan Owczaruk who walked from Wielka Kurzelowa. We worked till late in the evening, managed to clean all the gravestones that survived, with a water-pressure hover brought along from Poland. Our water supply was the fire tank and we “bought” electricity from the church. Zosia and Tadeusz were busy renovating the most obscure inscriptions on the gravestones. Back to hotel in Kamieniec at dusk. 
4 September 2003
That was another day at the Minkowce cemetery. That day our team slightly slimmed but the “renovation brigade” was there to level up the gravestones (dismantle and re-build), refresh the remaining inscriptions, mostly illegible, and finally paint the stone with a special waterproof paint to protect the sandstone. All the time we suffer from wet and cold. However we work till dark again. Tired we return to Kamieniec Podolski.
The next day, Zosia and Tadeusz still tired stay in Kamieniec just like Wojtek Wacowski who has a mission to collect from the Ethnographic Museum an old photo of Wielka Kurzelowa that he had ordered when he saw it the previous year at an exhibition in the Stronghold, and to copy a document of the year 1911 listing the nobles of the Podole Province authorised to vote. The picture shows the Wilczewskis estate and the no longer existing small orthodox church on the ravine’s rock overlooking the village. In the evening, the Wacowski brothers go to the neighbouring Kitajgrod, which made a significant mark up in the history of their family.
5 September 2003
We spend our last day in Podole to visit places inhabited temporarily in the old times by the Wilczewskis and Wacowskis. After breakfast the whole group goes to Orynin and Rzepińce (the first and the most ancient estate of Krzysztof Wilczewski between 1790 and 1814) as well as to Bałakiry (Krysia’s father’s birthplace) and Oleksiniec Polny (an estate leased by Karol). Subsequently, we continue via Kryniczki by Husiatyn (that belonged to Paweł Wilczewski when he left Podole between the two world wars) to Chmielnicki where Jerzy Stanisław Rengacz lives, son of Stanisław Wacowski. Regrettably, we do not meet because Jerzy’s car broke down. It is a pity, as the Wacowski brothers hoped to learn interesting details of the uneasy past. As always, we are back to the Kamieniec hotel late at night.
6 September 2003
From the very morning we prepare to our way back to Poland. So it is packing and loading the car with personal luggage, final shopping for souvenirs and not only. Among other things we get a huge load of Georgian cognacs, several watermelons, buckets and dog bowls. At the same time Juliusz joins us back from Kiev. So off we go. We stop by the ruins of a castle in Skała Podolska, the Polish – Soviet borderline until 1939, then in Trembowla. We take some pictures in front of the Trembowla church under renovation and continue via Tarnopol and Lwów to reach the checkpoint in Krakowiec in the evening. Bad luck, we have to queue for a long time and we are thoroughly checked – no wonder, tourists with a trailer of watermelons. That surprises the customs officers and makes them suspicious. At last we pass the borderline, have a snack and a cup of coffee and, at dawn, exhausted as one can be, we reach Chorzów via Kraków. Wojtek Wacowski gets off on the way and goes to Biała Podlaska, while Zosia and Tadeusz Stasicki stay in Kraków. Marcin takes in Katowice a morning train to Warsaw, and Juliusz goes there by car the next day, Monday. 

The second family journey to Podole is finished. We regret that it was so short nevertheless, it was impressive and stirred up various emotions. We are left with nice memories and photos of the places we visited and the people we met there. Yet, the most of it shall stay in our hearts.