My FatherLand

By Robert Tomas

When Richard Tarnowicz decides to investigate his roots, he makes some very serious discoveries. Both his Father and his Mother immigrated to the USA prior to World War II. They lived a very frugal life, except for opportunities they presented to their only child. After Rich's Mother and Father died, he became interested in at least seeing his Father's land. Though Richard never had any idea that he even had relatives in Poland, he wanted to at least meet someone who might have known his Father. From the moment he entered Poland, he realized that his family was both deified and condemned.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Robert Tomas
• Release date: Sep 11, 2014
• ISBN: 9781311568083

Robert Tomas

Born during the post WWII baby boom in New Haven, CT to parents of Polish descent, Robert followed the traditional lifestyle associated with the baby boomer. After finishing high school in Hamden, CT, he went on to earn a BA from UCONN. Since he married and starting having children while at UCONN, he dashed his dream of going to law school and instead embraced technology that was at that time limited to large companies. The PC had not yet been invented.... While working, he earned an MBA, and completed all of his work on a DBA (Doctor of Business Administration). He has to date worked for a number of technology companies and last worked to protect cyber security for major financial institutions worldwide. Robert is retired, since 2017.On his father's side, he is a second generation American and a third generation American on his mother's side. For his father's eightieth birthday he took him to visit relatives in a small town south of Krakow. What he encountered there was the inspiration for his first novel, My FatherLand. He has completed his second book, Ante-Babel and his third, A Tear in my Soul. He is working on his fourth novel expected to be released in 2021.

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My FatherLand

By Robert Tomas

Smashwords Edition

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

My FatherLand is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination and are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, institutions or locales is entirely coincidental. 

Copyright 2014 Robert Tomas

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce, or transmit this book, in any part thereof, in any form or by any means whatsoever, whether now existing or devised at a future time, without permission in writing from the author, except in the case of brief quotations in critical articles and reviews.

For more information about the author, please email:

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTIONS

CHAPTER TWO: BACKGROUND

CHAPTER THREE: STRENGTHENING THE BOND

CHAPTER FOUR: THE VOYAGE BEGINS

CHAPTER FIVE: CONFUSION

CHAPTER SIX: THE FLIGHT

CHAPTER SEVEN: DRESDEN

CHAPTER EIGHT: ROAD TO KRAKOW

CHAPTER NINE: FINDING MŁYNCZYSKA

CHAPTER TEN: RETURN TO MŁYNCZYSKA

CHAPTER ELEVEN: MEETING WITH STANLEY

CHAPTER TWELVE: THE HOLDINGS

CHAPTER THIRTEEN: PREPARING FOR THE US

CHAPTER FOURTEEN: LEAVING FOR HOME

CHAPTER FIFTEEN: MEETING WITH THEIR ATTORNEY

CHAPTER SIXTEEN: THE WORLD TOUR

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: MISSING?

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: HOME

A REQUEST FOR FEEDBACK

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTIONS

It was supposed to be a vacation. This was the type vacation for which you save, plan, and look forward to, most of your life. It was supposed to be a vacation that most would take to get away from all of the trappings of working forty hours a week, carting the kids from home, to school, to soccer practice, to friends houses and back home again. They simply wanted to get away from it all and enjoy themselves.

Rich and Linda had saved for this glorious time away from civilization for more than two years. They had planned for the ‘search for his roots’ expedition for more than six months. Yet, what they encountered was something they never expected.

Rich and Linda wanted more than anything to travel to Poland to visit where Rich’s father was born. His father always spoke of the beautiful rolling hills, the lush and abundant forests, and the color green. He always said that it was the emerald color of the rolling hills more than anything that he missed. Now that Rich’s father had passed, Rich felt the need to visit the land of his roots.

Neither Rich nor Linda spoke fluent Polish. He spoke enough to be able to ask for directions, or find a room, or order food from a menu. The language is difficult to learn, as it tends to call for your mouth to form words totally strange to the English speaker. The combination of consonants was not something easily performed. He definitely could not carry on a conversation. He did, however, speak fluent German. German had logic to it. More so than English or French, and most definitely Polish. Rich hoped that someone in the Poland he was about to visit spoke German or English.

The plan they developed was to fly directly into Frankfurt, Germany, drive to Dresden, then drive into Krakow. The flight into Frankfurt was necessary to get a reasonable airfare. Since neither Rich nor Linda had ever been to Germany, they felt this would give them an opportunity to build some memories together. The end destination would be Młynczyska (pronounced mwin-chess-ka). Rich had decided that they could easily drive from Frankfurt to Dresden in a leisurely fashion, and spend the night in Dresden at a Bed and Breakfast. Both of them preferred a Bed and Breakfast to a hotel because they wanted to sample the flavor of the culture. From all the literature they read about Germany, they decided that Dresden would provide the cultural differences they wanted to experience. After all, Dresden is in the Eastern sector of Germany, formerly controlled by the USSR.

Driving from Dresden to Krakow, on the other hand, was expected to be somewhat grueling. Literature they obtained from the Internet said that the drive through Poland would be both dangerous and difficult. Difficult because the quality of the roads was considered something less than acceptable by American standards. Dangerous because it was rumored that the Russian Mafia would take notice of cars driven from Western Europe. The Russian Mafia was known for stealing any car that was considered better than the standard presented in Poland. This was not a difficult because most cars in Poland tended to be Russian made and of low quality. For that reason, they decided to stay at a Hotel in Krakow that had an armed guard in the parking lot.

Once in Krakow, Rich felt that they could travel the seventy kilometers to Młynczyska in about two hours. This road was expected to be somewhat better than any traveled to this point in Poland. The road infrastructure in Poland was rumored to be rather peculiar by American standards. Road quality was totally dependent upon the section of the country in which you were driving. Southern Poland, specifically Krakow, was supposed to have an excellent road system. Safety was not to be a concern, as they would be traveling the countryside. The countryside would offer the safety of poverty. Since few tourists came into the area, the Russian Mafia would not be on the prowl.

To help prepare for their visit, they began by finding names and addresses for relatives who remained in Poland. This involved searching paperwork that Rich’s father had left behind. When his father died, there was not much left for Rich to pore over as a memory of him. His father was a very private man.

Most of the letters were written in Polish, but did have names and addresses of people left behind. Presumably, these people were all relatives. After finding a source on the Internet who was willing to translate letters from English to Polish for free, Rich and Linda wrote letters to three presumed relatives who might be able to speak English. Rich wanted to write in Polish as a courtesy and to allow communication, in the event no one spoke English. They hoped to receive a return letter in English but alerted the translation service that they might need more help.

After three weeks, they received their first letter from Poland. When he found the letter in their mailbox, he skipped from the mailbox to the front door. He could barely contain himself as he ran in to Linda in the foyer.

I have a letter! he shouted. He hadn’t opened it yet as he wanted to share the moment with Linda.

Linda was smiling like a Cheshire cat.

As Rich tore the letter open, the joy drained from his face. Linda reached out for him as she asked, What’s the matter honey?

It’s written in Polish.

Rich, it’s ok. We can have it translated.

He looked like a little boy at Christmas who had his toy train taken away by his older brother. No doubt he was disappointed. He wanted the news now! Rich never was very big on patience.

He ran to his office, in his home, and faxed the letter to the translation service. They promised through a quickly written email that they would return a translation within a week.

It was from their relative Walec (pronounced Valic). Walec wrote, in Polish, that he would love to see them. Walec was a cousin to Rich’s father. Walec gave some directions to his house and ended the letter by saying that no one in their village spoke English or German.

Two days later, another letter arrived. Again, written completely in Polish. It too, was presumably from another relative in Poland. A similar message as that from Walec; look forward to seeing you, no one speaks English or German, some rudimentary directions. Well, everyone was looking forward to seeing them, but there was no way they would be able to converse. Rich inquired with their Hotel in Krakow as to whether he could hire an interpreter. They said that it would be no problem, at an exorbitant price. Since the price was far more than what Rich and Linda wanted to spend, they decided that Rich should brush up on his Polish skills. To accomplish this, he once again went to the Internet and found a foreign language instruction package for a small price. He ordered the package and received it less than a week later. He spent a good deal of his spare time studying the tapes and trying to learn as much of the vocabulary as possible. He was absolutely convinced that by the time they arrived in Krakow, he would be able to speak enough Polish to be able to hold a conversation.

The third letter did not receive a response. Yet, instinct told Rich that he would hear from this third relative.

CHAPTER TWO: BACKGROUND

Rich grew up in a typical small New England town. He was a Baby Boomer, born in 1955. Both parents were immigrants from Poland. Rich’s father, Stanley, was from the south of Poland, near Krakow. Rich’s mother, Maria, came from the north of Poland, near Warsaw. Both were born in 1920, shortly after World War I, to poor farmer families. Life was not easy on a Polish farm, as everyone was expected to help with the household chores, even the young children Neither Stanley nor Maria had indoor plumbing. Given the harsh winters in southern Poland, getting water from the well outdoors was a dreadful task. Stanley and Maria stayed in Poland until 1937, when it began to appear that Germany would throw this country into turmoil again. Poland’s history was full of invasions, strife, and extreme poverty. So at age seventeen, both Stanley and Maria left Poland to find their riches in the United States. Arriving in New York, Stanley was at a disadvantage over the other immigrants, as he spoke no English. Initially, he lived in New York City, finding a neighborhood that had a number of Polish immigrants. Living in that neighborhood, Stanley found that English was not necessary. He could easily survive speaking only Polish. His apartment was a single room having not only his bed, but also a small table with two chairs, a miniature stove, a miniature refrigerator and a sink. The paint was chipping off the walls and floor was scratched and worn wood. It wouldn’t be acceptable to most US born people, but Stanley considered it a palace. He lived in New York for two years, working at menial jobs that would give him enough money to survive, but little else. The entire time in New York, he asked everyone he met where he might find greener pastures. It seemed that everyone living in the city wanted to move to either New Jersey or Connecticut. Stanley made friends easily, with those who could speak his native tongue. After almost two years in the City, a friend approached Stanley about jobs in Connecticut.

Stanley’s friend, Thaddeus, was a frail looking man of five feet six inches. Due to small stature, Thaddeus had learned to adapt to situations and make friends easily, as there was little hope in winning any physical encounter. Thaddeus had emigrated from Poland in 1936, one year prior to Stanley’s arrival. Both men came from the south of Poland, their towns being a mere five miles apart. Yet neither had ever visited the others village. Five miles was a dreadful amount of distance to travel on foot.

Stanley, I’ve heard of a gun company that is hiring in New Haven Connecticut. I plan to take a train to New Haven this weekend. Would you like to come with me? I can help a little with getting around since I can speak English.

Stanley’s friend was very proud of speaking English. In fact, his English was poor, but good enough to be able to ask directions and apply for jobs.

That would be good. I will pack some things. I have heard of a hotel in New Haven called the YMCA. Maybe we can stay there. Have you asked for time off yet? Getting time off from work without being fired was quite a task. It usually involved paying your boss some money to turn his head and give you time off without pay.

I did. I think we can make best use of our time if we apply for the jobs on Monday, early. Go ask for the time off now. They were both clearly excited about moving to someplace better than New York. Stanley was worried about asking for the time off and was prepared to pay dearly for it. He was pleasantly surprised to have to pay only one dollar.

They arrived in New Haven at the train station the second week of May. The trees were starting to bloom, the flowers were in full bloom and the weather was quite pleasant. Stanley immediately noticed that there was a fresh, pleasant smell to the air. He knew that New Haven was where he wanted to live and would do just about anything to move from New York. Arriving in New Haven they found the YMCA and took a room for three nights. The YMCA was close to the center of New Haven, and a short walk from the Winchester gun factory. The building was new and the rooms were little more than a closet. But fifty cents a night was a great room rate. Stanley and Thaddeus settled into their closet rooms and immediately walked to Winchester to fill out applications for employment. The Winchester factory was composed of six brick, three story buildings clustered together in a tight circle. They arrived just as the noon whistle blew signifying the lunch break for the factory workers. The men spilling out of the buildings were smiling and joking with each other as they walked quickly toward the local pub. They weren’t allowed to drink at the lunch break, but the pub had some of the best food in New Haven.

Neither knew anything about guns or working in a machine shop, but the factory was trying to expand their production and needed workers, so they were hired on the spot with a promise to return to work the following Monday. This gave Stanley a week to leave New York and find a room to rent in New Haven. He felt confident that he could find living arrangements cheaper than what he paid in the City. As a fallback position, he knew that he could stay at the YMCA until he found something suitable.

It took a total of two weeks for Stanley to find a two-room apartment on Dixwell Avenue. The apartment had kitchen/living room and a bedroom. By YMCA and New York standards, it was a castle. His neighbors were not from Poland. They spoke what Stanley later learned, Italian. They were not unfriendly, but could not communicate with Stanley. He had a short walk to work and plenty of small markets nearby. The walk to work was pleasant in the summer months. He would pass fresh fruit stands, meat markets and dry goods stores. All of the stores offered goods at a reasonable price to accommodate the factory wages of the nearby residents. Stanley would treat himself to an apple each day as he made his way home from work. Life was good for Stanley. But, he no longer had anyone living nearby that spoke Polish. Stanley felt a great desire to gain citizenship to the United States. To that end, he enrolled himself into a local High School to learn the English language and study for his citizenship test. Most of the students in his class were Italian, with a few of them being his neighbors. His teacher was a man in his mid forties with the patience of a saint. Stanley was a good student and picked up English quickly.

Stanley did not meet Maria until after they had arrived in the United States. Both had moved to Connecticut. Work was not abundant and they did not have much formal education. Stanley worked in the same factory as Maria and saw one another at the lunchroom frequently. The first time he saw Maria, she was wearing a blue dress. She looked like the most beautiful woman Stanley had ever seen. He knew in his heart that they would be together some day. But, he would have to work up the nerve to speak with her first. When he asked some of his friends at the factory to help him find out what her name was, he was pleasantly surprised to hear a Polish surname. After a respectable amount of time, Stanley gathered the gumption to ask Maria out on a date. Their first date was dinner at the pub. Maria and Stanley laughed a lot and talked non-stop. They dated as any other American couple. They ate dinner together, saw a Movie on occasion, and lived through a respectable dating period.

Before Stanley could even think of asking for Maria’s hand, he was drafted. Since the war presented imminent danger to his new homeland, as well as his former homeland, Stanley wasn’t at all upset about being drafted. In fact, he was proud. Before boarding the train for boot camp, he vowed to Maria that he would return to her. Maria, on the other hand, was very upset about Stanley leaving for war. She had finally met someone she could consider marrying. She was lonely before Stanley entered her life. Now he was gone, and maybe gone forever. She cried deeply when she saw him off at the train station. She wouldn’t cry in front of Stanley, but broke down as soon as the train pulled out of the station. Maria received letters from Stanley every week at first. The letters were all screened by censors in Europe so that no GI could reveal any secrets, even by mistake. Stanley wouldn’t write much about the horrors he saw, but rather would tell Maria how much he missed her and assured her that he would come home to her. Then the letters stopped.

Maria didn’t know if Stanley was dead or if he found someone else where he was or if he just lost interest in her. She vowed to wait until she knew for certain before she would even consider dating another man. It was six months before she received another letter. Though Stanley apologized for not writing, he didn’t explain. Maria wasn’t mad, just eternally grateful that Stanley was alive. She was worried that he would never return to her. The weeks and months dragged on and were very painful for Maria.

He did return and they were married within a year of his return. Stanley never spoke very much with Maria about his time in the Army. Each time Maria tried to pry information out of