Polany

06/28/2012 09:03

I figured that I’d try to put something down so that you have a general idea of what to expect when we go to Polany. Although it’s been a good several years since I’ve been there, and much has certainly changed in Poland, my sense is that things have happened slower in and around Polany, and that the area is still very similar to what I remember.

This little community where our grandpa was born and raised has around three hundred people and lies in the heart of the Lemko region, an area that the Poles call “Łemkowszczyzna” (we’ll have to work on the pronunciation!). :-) This region has seen an amazing amount of history, good and bad. For example, there was a lot of very heavy fighting here during WWII. The Dukla Pass, close to Polany, saw as many as 150,000 people die in a month-long battle. Russian troop casualties alone totaled around 95,000. Today, by contrast, Polany and the surrounding countryside are very peaceful. In fact, if there was ever a place in my mind that fulfills the romantic notion of a rural Polish and Lemko family heritage, this is it.

Although things are certainly different since the big national changes began in 1989, there is still a lot of old Poland in these parts. There are traditional houses, wooden churches and plenty of side roads to discover. Around Polany there are also areas where you can find traces of abandoned Lemko villages in the woods. These once vibrant communities fell into ruin after the forced resettlement of Lemkos during Akcja Wisla following WWII. We probably won’t have time to do any hiking around Łemkowszczyzna to see these places, but it is not difficult at all to close your eyes and imagine the once ubiquitous Lemko culture and history here.

Many Polish and Lemko farming communities in this region are laid out according to a pattern dictated by nature. A stream usually runs through the middle of town, with hills extending upwards on both sides. Homes are usually built near the stream, while small, cultivated fields follow the hills up to the edge of a forest. These fields are used primarily for growing vegetables. Many families will have an additional plot somewhere nearby where they graze their cows. I haven’t seen it, but I believe that pani Buriak has a small pasture of her own as well. Polany, like other towns, has a road and stream close-by. It’s also not a far distance to the forest, through which you can walk the several miles into Slovakia.

Near Polany is another town called Krempna. A lot of people immigrated to the States from Krempna, Polany and the surrounding villages. In fact, I believe that a large portion of people in Marion Heights came from right in this area, as well as from the other side of the border in what is now Slovakia. I know of at least one family, the Rogowskis, who came from Krempna to the Heights. A very fun thing to do is to walk the road from Polany to Krempna, seeing the traditional houses and little farms along the way. In my mind, I have a romantic notion of Stefan Ardan walking this same road for the last time before he took some sort of transport to Krakow, and eventually to Bremen, Germany to board his ship for Ellis Island. Also near Polany is a place called Huta Polanska. I’ve never been there, but I believe it is a bit of a ghost town these days. There is a nice, remodeled church there that I would love to see. Maybe pani Buriak’s grandson, Michal, can show us the way.

Anyway, I could write much more about Polany and how much it means to our family history, but I’m sure that we will have plenty more time to talk about it in our travels. It is absolutely a touching and essential place to visit. Here are a few quick facts on Polany in Wikipedia:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polany,_Podkarpackie_Voivodeship 

This is the church in Polany where our grandfather would have gone as a child.