19 February 2008
I am on this photo and I have this photo! I am sitting on
the first boat, I am the first one on the left (with long hair) next to
my late brother and late mother. On the boat behind us is my late
father, standing (3rd from the left, with no hair, which he lost after
a typhus fever in Siberia in 1920). So we are Ryszard,
Jerzy, Maria and Stanislaw Karczmitowicz
.
My father was an assistant
in the Main Post and Telegraph Office in Dawidgródek.
The postmaster was Mr. Marcinkiewicz
(he is standing and supporting himself on the shoulders of two men). Our
postal staff played a volleyball game with (visitors from) Pinsk,
we've lost. There were also some athletic contests. My father told me
that he won at the high jump. We went to Pinsk few times, using a permanent
connection by the river navigation on "Warszawa" and
"Piast" boats. On the Access to the (Baltic) Sea
Day by Poland, the Pinsk river flotilla, which was stationed on the
river Pina patrolling our eastern borders with Russia,
used to arrive to take part in the celebrations.
In 1939, the
September water level (of the rivers in Polesie) was very low, which handicapped
an effective flotilla participation in resisting the bolsheviks. The
Reds have seized the area. And in June 1941,
after the Germans occupied Dawidgródek, the Soviets
moved by river (on boats) close to town and shelled it in broad daylight.
The German soldiers were taking cover behind the houses, spilling their
rations of milk and potatoes from their mess tins - I was the eye witness
of that. But this was only one incident of what we have been through in
Dawidgródek during 1939-1945. Thanks to the fact that father
remained often the only postal employee who was able to service the telephone
exchange and especially the Morse telegraph equipment, we were being left
by successively changing occupiers, where we were.
My father already had to do
with the Soviet rule in Omsk (Siberia) where he was working
with the Cable Telegraph at the railway station, and where he lived through
the Bolshevik Revolution. After the signing of Polish - Soviet Treaty
in 1921, he escaped by a freight train to Smolensk,
and later to Wilno area in Eastern Poland where his family
came from.
We returned to Poland in 1945
as repatriates from "behind the river Bug" (i.e. from
former Polish Kresy), settling down in Kalisz, the home
town of my mum.
Best regards to Rymaszewski family Senior and the whole family -
Ryszard Karczmitowicz
=========================================================
21 February 2008 - MY REPLY
Dear Ryszard!
Your email was a great surprise for me. Whenever I looked at that photo
from Dawidgródek I always thought about your family and especially
about little George, your little brother. What a pity he is already deceased.
I remember yourself and your mother well from that visit in Dawidgródek.
And I met your mum a year earlier in Luniniec in 1937. It happened like
this, the Management of the Postal Region in Wilno, that included Wilno,
Nowogródek and Polesie provinces, has been arranging during school
holidays summer camps for children of their Postal officers. The camp
was in the forest near a river somewhere in the Nowogródek area,
eastwards from the railway stop in Dworzec. In 1937 it was my third and
last vacation in the camp. Traveling there by train with some children
from Pinsk, we had to change trains in Luniniec (to go northwards). On
the platform your mum appeared with little George who was going to join
our group. Mrs Maria, when she saw me, a 13 year old student in a College
uniform, said to me " Could you, sir, look after George at the camp,
he is small and by himself". I promised that I would, and I suddenly
I felt quite grown up. I had no idea how old George was, probably not
more than 7 years old. We spent the whole month at the camp. This is a
very long period of time for the children. Whenever my peers talked to
me about little George, they described him as " that pet of yours".
When George was missing home, I was cheering him up. When he received
a letter and a parcel from his parents, I helped him to write a letter
home. But, as a matter of fact, even I myself was missing my home, especially
our huge garden full of vegetables, edible cucumbers and tomatoes, radishes,
etc, raspberries, cherries and fruit.
A year later, during that memorable
visit in 1938, my meeting with you was a surprise, because I didn't actually
remember that George lived in Dawidgródek. We met accidentally
probably somewhere near the church. Little George was walking with you
and your mother. I was walking alone. I recognised George at once, and
he recognised me. He shouted "Franek!, run towards me and got stuck
to me. You were only smiling sympathetically. Your mum realized at once
what this was all about. And this time your mother in gratitude took care
of me, as I was there by myself. After seeing the township and all those
sport events, there was a reception in a restaurant. Probably it was a
Polish restaurant as I don't recall seeing any Jews who were so visible
in Pinsk. In the restaurant your mother gave me special attention, making
sure about my meal, at the same time explaining to those around about
my care of little George at the summer camp.
I don't have much strength
now and time (which is getting shorter and shorter) for an extended correspondence,
so I will remain with thoughts of you and your family from our Polish
Dawidgródek in Kalisz. My best regards. Franek Rymaszewski from
Pinsk
=========================================================
26 February 2008
Dear Franek!
I have read your letter with great emotion, it brought tears to my eyes.
How is it possible after 70 years to find somebody who was so close and
still is to my beloved Polesie and my family? And yet it is. Your web
site was discovered by our daughter Ala, who lives in
Poznan, in connection with her preparation of an album
for the 50th wedding anniversary of parents, i.e. myself and my wife Wanda.
This our meeting was for sure
in front of the church. It was a brand new church built from the contributions
of our compatriots, and my father was the president of the building committee.
On the 18 September 1939 (one day after invasion of easter Poland by the
Red Army), the Communists tore off the cross from the church steeple by
means of ropes. I witnessed it personally with my brother George. After
uprooting the Poles, as you rightly described, the church spires were
destroyed in 1945, and the building was turned into a "House of Culture"
(i.e. Soviet brainwashing and propaganda Centre).
The restaurant you mention
was probably owned by Mr. Gryczyk, where we always went
for the ice cream. George had a photo from the summer camp, I'll try to
find it. I found on the road map of Europe that this railway station Dworzec,
is now called now Dvorec and is situated between Nowogródek and
Slonim.
I don't know if you are aware
that our Polesie was ruined by the Soviet rulers, the
marshes of the northern part from Pinsk and river Prypec (now Pripyat')
were dried, causing complete blunting of the soil. The southern part remained,
but it was contaminated after the explosion of the nuclear power station
in Charnobyl in 1986. In 2002 I went to Pinsk and Dawidgródek,
but I will write about it in my next letter. My Kind Regards, wishing
you health, Ryszard.
|
