After six days exploring my family history in Antwerp, Jackie and I returned to Lublin. Inge Schoups, director of research at Felix Archives in Antwerp, traveled with us for her first visit to Poland.
We were welcomed by Tadeusz and Małgorzata, Lublin-Antwerp Project researchers from Grodzka Gate Theater, their colleagues Monika, Teresa, Agnieszka and Agata, the team who helped organize the 2017 reunion. Robert Krochmalik, a fellow descendant, came all the way from Australia to join us and kindly (an bravely) drove us around Lublin and then to Rybotycze and Przemyśl in Southeastern Poland.
Three years ago, when I embarked on this journey, I hadn’t anticipated the friendships I would make with generous, interesting, dedicated researchers, historians and fellow descendants from around the world! Here we are at our ‘mini reunion’ dinner. So many ‘thank yous’ to go around.
From left around the table: Teresa Klimowicz, Małgorzata (Gosia) Miłkowska, Agata Radkowska-Parka, Monika Tarajko, Tadeusz Przystojecki, Inge Schoups, Agnieszka Wiśniewska, me, Robert Krochmalik, Jackie Schwarz
Monika Malec, from Lublin Radio, was unable to join us for dinner, so she came to the airport before we returned to Antwerp! Monika produced a story about my family in 2017 and graciously translated the broadcast transcript to English. See Our Story in the News
Since 1992, Grodzka Gate Theater has become a center of cultural activities focusing on piecing together Lublin's Jewish history. Lubliner descendants and visitors from around the world stream through the exhibits and hallways of this renovated medieval building in Old Town.
 |
| Tadeusz, Inge and I view the scale model of Lublin’s Old Town and the Jewish Quarter before WWII. |
Robert, Inge and Tadeusz view one of the thousands of records collected for Project Lublin 43 Thousand, that aims to reconstruct the lives of 43,000 Jewish residents who perished in WWII.
Robert's mother was from Lublin and his father from Otwock, near Warsaw. After surviving the war, they met in Otwock, were married in Lodz, where they lived for about a year and then moved to a Displaced Persons Camp in Backnang, Germany where Robert was born in 1948. When Robert was 18 months old, the family immigrated to Australia. Robert returned to Poland in June 2019 to participate in a recognition ceremony for the family who hid his father during the war. View Robert’s testimony.
You never know who you will meet on Grodzka Street in Old Town! In front of Grodzka Gate Theater we saw Rose Lipszyic who was visiting from Toronto, Canada. Rose and her aunt, Judy Josephs were born in Lublin and survived the war working in a German labor camp posing as Polish-Catholic girls. Read Rose's story of survival.
Just a few years apart in age, Rose and Judy, with more than 30 family members, returned to Lublin for the first time to attend the Lubliner Reunion in 2017. This year, Rose and three of her granddaughters traveled from Toronto, Canada to record their story for Canadian television. The broadcast is scheduled for November on the History Channel.
 |
| Rose Lipszyic returned to Lublin, where she was born, with three of her granddaughters |
I enjoyed meeting fellow Lubliner descendants Reli and Tzvika Shulman, who were visiting from Israel. Reli and Tzvika lead the Lublin Jewish Organization in Israel that publishes, "Kol Lublin," its annual magazine. The Shulmans attended the reunion in 2017 with 14 family members from Israel, America, Sweden and Canada. Afterward, they initiated the idea of the Lubliners for Lublin program where Lubliner descendants share their knowledge and expertise through workshops at Grodzka Gate Theater. See Lubliners for Lublin.
 |
| From left, Inge Schoups, Tzvika and Reli Shulman enjoying a beautiful day in Lublin's Old Town |
This second visit to Lublin deepened my understanding of where my grandparents came from and the difficulty of their journey to the United States. I'm appreciative of the magic of the Lubliner reunion that connected us to our history and to each other. Thank you for welcoming me back!
