Let’s continue our Mennonite adventure in Poland, shall we? I last posted about the abandoned (yet cared for) Thiensdorf Mennonite Church and its adjacent cemetery. Did I write about it well? Not at all. But I was there and I did try to tell you about it. It was not long before we were on our way once more, along the beautifully paved, tree-lined roads of Poland’s countryside:
Note, those who report the roads in Poland to be in poor condition may be reporting outdated news. That is to say, their experiences, while valid, may have occurred in the 1980s or something. Much can change over the course of four decades.
Now, you can’t really see it in the picture above, but there’s a building in the distance. Let’s move in for a closer look:
There is a little sign in front of it:
The sign above says, roughly translated, “The building of the former school, erected on old 17th century foundations in 1861. Currently it serves as a residential building.”
I am losing track of what we all had seen and experienced here. Our guide noted that “Tropy Elbaskie is a place that arouses the greatest emotion during the migration in the footsteps of Mennonites, because it is so very Dutch in its character, moreover, it raises a reflection on those who once lived here. Unfortunately, he also takes deep sadness due to the current state of neglect.”
I think that “neglect” is the cemetery part, which we will get to (as promised in the title of this post).
First, though — the village! I think this was the main village street:
We passed many housebarns. Here is one that I frantically snapped a photo of as we flew by:
Here is another, with an absolutely gorgeous garden!
Continuing along the street lined with many old trees, we were approaching the old Mennonite cemetery. The sign for it is in this picture. Can you see it?
But it was there. We realized as we passed it, so we backed up and then parked. Andrew remained in the vehicle with his parents and I hopped out to explore. This is what I saw:
Here is a picture of the little sign:
The sign says something like this: “Mennonite Cemetery. Dates back to the second half of the 19th century, when Mennonites lived in Tropy as an old fishing settlement. The area for the cemetery was artificially raised and surrounded by drainage ditches. It has the shape of a quadrangle, in which several graves and tombstones have been preserved. Project co-financed by the European Union and the state budget.”
On this day, I was wearing very tiny sandals and very loose linen pants. Not really the outfit I’d choose to wear when launching into an overgrown cemetery, but I wasn’t going to let that stop me! I hurried in, and “rushed” about the area as fast as I dared. I took very big, calculated steps, not being sure if there would be badgers living in this particular abandoned cemetery (as many do in Manitoba) or what dangers would be lurking below the lush, waist-high ground cover. And this is how I did finally find one gravestone!
I could not read it, though. I think all markings have worn off, or perhaps I am just still too much of a newbie to document these properly.
This has got to be one of the most overgrown cemeteries I’ve ever seen!
Our guide said this about the cemetery: “remnant of the cemetery from the 18th century, which was used until 1945, now very overgrown and it is difficult to find graves on it.”
Accurate.
Next, we continued with our adventure. We crossed this watercourse. Andrew told me to take a picture of it but I don’t know what it even was. I think maybe the Elblag river? I hope he reads this and corrects me if I’m wrong.
And yeah. If you’ve noticed that Elblaskie and Elblag have the exact same first five letters and are thinking that’s maybe not a coincidence and maybe it’s a regional situation and they’re actually really close… you’re right. Look!
