Three countries, one day...and WHAT a find!
I ate breakfast (two chocklate-chip buns bought at the train station, and some sugar-free pineapple Fanta left over from the night before) in the train station in Copenhagen, lunch (take-away thai food - super cheap and mostly rice) on the pedestrian street in Sweden, and supper (sushi. I have been CRAVING sushi since R and I had it last week) in downtown Warsaw. That is my kind of day!
Not that it makes any sense at all, but I feel a HUGE sense of relief being out of Copenhagen. It is silly, since Poland is not usually relief-inspiring. I think it is because the Scandanavian countries are cold and rainy and so expensive right now, and Poland is CHEAP, and I understand how things work in Eastern Europe better than in Scandenavia.
As I mentioned in the previous post, I went to Malmo on a mission - no, not a *religious* kind of mission (although I saw two Jehovah Witnesses roaming the Malmo streets - I wonder if they actually had to learn Swedish before they came?). The mission I was on was a relative search. I knew that a bunch of may relatives came from Lithuania to Sweden, and I read on the Internet last night that when they came Jews were only allowed to settle in four places in the country. I had thought the my relatives lived in Landskrona or Lund, but as the closest Jewish centre to those two places (and the only location with a Jewish cemetary) was Malmo, I thought I would try my luck there.
I took an early train to Malmo, stashed my stuff in a locker, and get directions to the Synagogue. I wanted to know if there was a Jewish cemetary (I knew there WAS one, but no idea where) or a community centre. The lady at the information booth had no information about cemetary or centre, but she showed me how to walk to the synagogue. (It was either see the synagogue or go to Ikea, just to say that I had BEEN to Ikea in Sweden, and although a geaneology mission is more important, the Ikea trip would have been funny). I walked to the synagogue, stopping on the way to finish the last few pages of my book (The power and the Glory, by Graeme Greene. SUCH a good book. There were tears. And then I let the book go, on a sunny beanch in a side street...)
Anyway, I arrived at the synagogue and it was of course locked. I snapped a few photos, and then consulted my city map. Jewish community centre? Cemetary?? A few streets down there was a Christian cemetary, with an old caretaker sweeping leaves away. I managed to let it be known what I was looking for (and believe me, it was NOT easy. I don't know how to pronounce Swedish at ALL, so I just repeated 'syanagogen' and 'kirkgard' (cemetary. I think.) and gestured meaningfully. He finally understood, and pointed to the next yard over. I walked out the gate and over to the yard. It WAS the Jewish cemetary, but of course it was LOCKED! Oh, NO! There was no WAY I was going to turn back at this point. I went back to the man and performed a brilliant mime involving a locked gate and my utter desolation. He understood! He led me to the bruch separating the two yards, where there was a hidden path into the small Jewish yard.
Success! And even better, mu hunch had been correct. I spent over 2 hours there, and read all of the graves that had not yet crumbled. And I found...
-A great-great-great aunt and uncle.
-Three 1st cousins 3 times removed and their spouses.
Other names which are relations somehow, I am not sure how exactly though, and....
My great-great grandmother!!
I could not BELIEVE it when I found her little headstone, sitting crookedly in the corner. I had hoped to find relatives, but when I actually did I almost plotzed! Her name is Maria Sorgman, and she is the grandmother of my father's mother. So THERE! I am a brillian geneologist!
Tomorrow I cover all of the Jewish sights in Warsaw, and poke around in the massive cemetary, looking for relatives on my mother's father's side. Good fun.
Tonight I do laundry. Now, THAT will be amazing. It has been two weeks and it is TIME.
I adore traveling! Most of the time...
Not that it makes any sense at all, but I feel a HUGE sense of relief being out of Copenhagen. It is silly, since Poland is not usually relief-inspiring. I think it is because the Scandanavian countries are cold and rainy and so expensive right now, and Poland is CHEAP, and I understand how things work in Eastern Europe better than in Scandenavia.
As I mentioned in the previous post, I went to Malmo on a mission - no, not a *religious* kind of mission (although I saw two Jehovah Witnesses roaming the Malmo streets - I wonder if they actually had to learn Swedish before they came?). The mission I was on was a relative search. I knew that a bunch of may relatives came from Lithuania to Sweden, and I read on the Internet last night that when they came Jews were only allowed to settle in four places in the country. I had thought the my relatives lived in Landskrona or Lund, but as the closest Jewish centre to those two places (and the only location with a Jewish cemetary) was Malmo, I thought I would try my luck there.
I took an early train to Malmo, stashed my stuff in a locker, and get directions to the Synagogue. I wanted to know if there was a Jewish cemetary (I knew there WAS one, but no idea where) or a community centre. The lady at the information booth had no information about cemetary or centre, but she showed me how to walk to the synagogue. (It was either see the synagogue or go to Ikea, just to say that I had BEEN to Ikea in Sweden, and although a geaneology mission is more important, the Ikea trip would have been funny). I walked to the synagogue, stopping on the way to finish the last few pages of my book (The power and the Glory, by Graeme Greene. SUCH a good book. There were tears. And then I let the book go, on a sunny beanch in a side street...)
Anyway, I arrived at the synagogue and it was of course locked. I snapped a few photos, and then consulted my city map. Jewish community centre? Cemetary?? A few streets down there was a Christian cemetary, with an old caretaker sweeping leaves away. I managed to let it be known what I was looking for (and believe me, it was NOT easy. I don't know how to pronounce Swedish at ALL, so I just repeated 'syanagogen' and 'kirkgard' (cemetary. I think.) and gestured meaningfully. He finally understood, and pointed to the next yard over. I walked out the gate and over to the yard. It WAS the Jewish cemetary, but of course it was LOCKED! Oh, NO! There was no WAY I was going to turn back at this point. I went back to the man and performed a brilliant mime involving a locked gate and my utter desolation. He understood! He led me to the bruch separating the two yards, where there was a hidden path into the small Jewish yard.
Success! And even better, mu hunch had been correct. I spent over 2 hours there, and read all of the graves that had not yet crumbled. And I found...
-A great-great-great aunt and uncle.
-Three 1st cousins 3 times removed and their spouses.
Other names which are relations somehow, I am not sure how exactly though, and....
My great-great grandmother!!
I could not BELIEVE it when I found her little headstone, sitting crookedly in the corner. I had hoped to find relatives, but when I actually did I almost plotzed! Her name is Maria Sorgman, and she is the grandmother of my father's mother. So THERE! I am a brillian geneologist!
Tomorrow I cover all of the Jewish sights in Warsaw, and poke around in the massive cemetary, looking for relatives on my mother's father's side. Good fun.
Tonight I do laundry. Now, THAT will be amazing. It has been two weeks and it is TIME.
I adore traveling! Most of the time...
posted by Melamondiale @ 12:02 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home