Why Did We Do This? (Go To Poland)

When I was a girl, I asked my parents what country our family had come from. Their response was something like this: they were probably Dutch, but it was a long time ago. This vague reply was unsettling to me. I had expected something more obvious, resolute.

Of course, their answer made sense, since our ancestors left Holland in the 1500s and there just weren’t great records kept at that point to ever prove where exactly they had been in the 1500s. And. a lot of time had passed. But in Poland, some records have survived. (Though much had been lost in World War 2.) And the team of volunteers that fuels Grandma Online gets these records into genealogical system they’ve built, so our ancestor’s paths are actually traceable.

So, Andrew and I just got home from Poland. I meant to tell you where I was going, but time escaped me and suddenly I was on the other side of the ocean, zipping along Polish backroads with Andrew in our rented Opel, with his parents nestled nicely in the backseat.

Why did we do that?

Well, I get the sense that in Poland, they’re just… closer to our origin story, you know?

The Mennonites that I’m descended from (and if you’re “Russian Mennonite”, this is probably true for you too) had come to Poland from just one place, and everyone knew it. Mennonites lived in Poland for 400 years — from the 1500s up until 1945. They brought their Dutch windmill skills with them, to drain the Vistula and Nogat delta. They held onto their Dutch for about 200 years. Polish people were always aware that the Mennonites who settled in their country were Dutch. That’s why they called them Olender (Hollander). (In time, this definition expanded. More on that in upcoming posts.)

But also… we had planned to go to Ukraine in 2020. I had never followed up with that post because, well, we all know what happened. (Should I make a note for posterity now? Like in case one day 50 years into the future someone comes across this post and is like, “WHAT??? What happened in 2020? WHY could you not go to Ukraine???” Well okay, random future reader, I’ll tell you what happened: 2020 was a worldwide pandemic that shut down travel for about two years, and then Russia invaded Ukraine. There. I said it.)

I said before that Mennonites had lived in Poland for 400 years, but the ones I’m descended from — the “Russian Mennonites” — began leaving Poland for Ukraine (then called “South Russia”) already in the late 1700s, so I generally think of “my people” living Poland for about 250-ish years. Still, that’s longer that any other place.

So, after some time passed, in 2023 my mother-in-law suggested we try once more, to plan some kind of a trip to Europe. Still with our Mennonite heritage in mind, Andrew suggested Poland. She said yes, do it, plan it, let’s go.

And then suddenly, it was July 2024 and BOOM, the four of us were in Poland. (Time flies so fast, I swear it is out of hand.)

So anyway. Andrew and I have just returned home from Poland, where we visited villages where our ancestors had lived. I can’t believe that I get to say that, and that it’s true. It was… incredible. I already want to go back. But first, I must tell you about our adventures!

Here’s a very small taste of what I’ll be posting about in the coming weeks:

Housebarns and a Mennonite cemetery at Olender Ethnographic Park…