KOLBUSZOWA
Grandfather’s village in southeast Poland
On my first visit to Kolbuszowa, I traveled with my husband and daughter to find the place my ancestors were from. We had been investigating several towns with Polish friends translating for us, but now we had only a Polish taxi driver who spoke very little English. Although he was keen to practice his English and enjoy an adventure.
We first encountered the little square before turning a corner and finding two churches side by side… one older than the other. We attempted to get help from the priest, but no one answered the door of the rectory. Undeterred, Susan, the taxi driver, (Michael) and I explored the cemetery next to the church to see if we found our family name on any of the stones. None of the towns we had searched in had the name Rzasa (accent under first a) in any of their church records or phone books. Michael was the first to find a Rzasa monument… then Susan found another and we all kept finding more and more Rzasa stones. Squealing with glee, we knew we had finally come to the place where my family had lived. Unfortunately without a translator or time, we had to be satisfied with our discovery and hope to find more information on another trip or online.
We returned to the main square to a local restaurant named Krokodyl (Crocodile) and enjoyed a delicious lunch with Michael and the waitress who was overjoyed to have Americans visiting her restaurant. You must remember that this was not many years since the breakup of the Soviet Union. It was still unusual for westerners to be traveling in those countries. Added to that, we were deep in the hinterlands where American tourists wouldn’t be likely to travel even today. Many times we felt like curiosities to be studied and talked about. Teenage girls whispered and giggled at the sight of us. In subsequent years I returned to Kolbuszowa and visited the Krokodyl Restauraunt where the waitress told Cousin Wladek she remembered me from my early visits. What a sweet connection between us.
Susan, Michael and I found many cemetery stones with our family name, Rzasa.
One of the most interesting things I learned about this town of Kolbuszowa was that prior to WWII there was about a 50/50 mix of Jewish and Catholic population which co-existed peacefull. Films show this bustling square on market day with everyone going about their social and marketing business. King Kazimierz was responsible for welcoming and inviting the Jews to Poland and encouraging the peaceful interactions. In those years everyone stayed within their own ethnic and religious groups to live, marry and worship, but there could still be friendly and respectful relationships on a social level.
This report is born out in the Kolbuszowa insignia showing shaking hands with a Jewish star of David on one side and a Christian cross on the other - testifying to the town’s philosophy.
One of the newest additions to the town of Kolbuszowa has been the Museum of Folk Culture which is located in the former Jewish Synagogue c.1860’s which survived the wars, but needed considerable restoration. Over the years since WWII, it has been owned and worked on by various groups including the Foundation For the Preservation of Jewish Heritage in Poland. Eventually it became nationalized and part of the Library system of Poland which ultimately was able to fund the entire restoration. It is now known as the Museum of Folk Culture and serves as a library, gallery, meeting and exhibit space with occasional concerts, performances and lectures. To learn more…. click
http://biblioteka.kolbuszowa.pl/8-dla-czytelnikow/2132-oddzial-edukacji-kulturalnej-i-regionalnej.html?fbclid=IwAR3jRvcVOvsYD4qcHz6o_codyu-8NwXMBr1Pr8rYUL2ZKbaTbV47IFDEha8