Visiting Graves in Wroclaw

Some of you might be researching your genealogy and having a difficult time.  If it's because you are having difficulty locating which city or town your ancestor was buried, or their date of birth and death, that can really cause issues tracing them in the records department.

The digital age is beginning to make things easier in many aspects of life.

Including, finding family graves.  Wroclaw now has the graves of each cemetery online.  On the website for Zarząd Cmentarzy Komunalnych we Wrocławiu (or ZCK), you can go to the tab "Wyszukiwarka Grobów" (Search for Graves).

In the field marked "Nazwisko", put in your ancestor's last name. 

Remember, if you are looking for a female family member, it's highly probably that their last name ends with the feminine "a", instead of the masculine or group "i".

In the field marked "Imię", put in their last name.  Or, you can leave that blank.

"Data urodzenia" means "Date of Birth".  "Data zgonu" literally means "Date of Loss" but actually means "Date of Death".  "Data pochowania" means "Date of Burial".  You don't really actually need any of these dates, if you don't have them.  Simply enter what you have.

Results will show the person's name, all three dates explained above, which cemetery in Wroclaw they are buried in, which plot, group and row.

The database is not yet complete, so don't be discouraged.  The office of the ZCK is also staffed with (Polish speaking) people who are very professional and very helpful, as well.  But, I cannot stress this enough, they are not there to help you with your genealogy research.  They are there to care for the graves of our dearly departed.  Which includes helping us find their graves so that we can visit.

If you find a family grave in their database, you can call the ZCK to check that their account is up to date, which would mean you have family around there as well.  If not, would you do an act of kindness to your departed ancestors, and kindly pay for their continued care in their final resting place.

This is not intended to be for genealogical purposes, but rather, for people to find their family's grave in order to visit.  It's helpful for me, since my Babcia is the one who knows where our family is buried there and her memory is slipping.  I visit the graves whenever I am in Wroclaw, but eventually, I will be visiting on my own.  And then, one day, my children's children will be visiting.

The information on this site cannot be used as part of "proof of citizenship" documentation. 

Other places around Poland will soon be having sites like this for people to find their families graves, as well.

When that happens, I'll be able to find and visit the graves on my mother's side, since as of right now, nobody I have contact with knows that information.

Na razie...




Note:  Traditional Polish lanterns for use on All Saints' Day can be purchased at dom itp.

Disclaimer: An affiliate sale link is used in this post for those looking to purchase lanterns as is traditionally used on this holiday.




Related Posts:

Understanding Flower Traditions in Poland

Calling Babcia

It Isn't Just Another Day, It's All Saints' Day

A Cemetery in a Small Village in the Polish Countryside and WWII

Letter To Heaven: Dear Dziadek, a Letter to My Father's Deceased Father

When Memory Revisits My Babcia

Indian Burial Mound in Racine Wisconsin

We enjoy finding Indian (Native American) history all around us.  I was having a hard time trying to find it for a while but discovered something. 

Out here on the Midwest Prairie, there were Mounds built by the Native Americans for certain reasons, as graves, for observing the stars, for ceremonies, etc.  I found it difficult to find Mounds but figured out that if you searched for Mound Cemeteries, there are many all around us. 

The only one thus far that we have found that acknowledged the Native American Mound builders was the Racine Mound Cemetery.  That doesn't mean that others don't also acknowledge this but this is the first we found.

Hills are not actually very natural out here.  Certainly, the further you go inland from Lake Michigan, the ground has a natural roll to it.  But they are not large hills with angles and designs that do not fit the natural topography.  It is safe to assume that any unusual looking hill around could be a Burial or Ceremonial Mound.

I wonder why the burial grounds of the Native Americans were sold.  Why they were used as cemeteries for the white pioneers who took the land from the Native Americans who had been living here for thousands of years before.  Why many Native American remains were removed and put in private collections or removed and their new locations impossible to find.

But I suppose it might be better than putting a Walmart on a Burial Ground.

I know nobody buried in this area is a relative of mine.  And that, probably, I will not be buried here.  But cemeteries are sacred places to me and I don't believe some one's final resting place should be tampered with. 

Perhaps because I honor All Saint's Day.

Perhaps because I want to teach my children the history of our new home and I think the Native American history is a very important part of that and all I've found so far to show my children are these Mound Cemeteries.

What do you think about this?

Na razie...

Other Related Links:

Wordless Wednesday: At a Cemetery for All Saints' Day

Racine History - Cemeteries in Racine

History of Mound Cemetery

Wordless Wednesday: At a Cemetery for All Saints' Day

We found 3 graves which had their names and dates worn off over time and lit candles and said a prayer to whoever was buried there.

There was something very sweet about kneeling around a grave with my children and having them cross, or in my toddler's case trying to cross, themselves and saying Amen at the end of my prayer.  Not "Ay-men" but "Ah-men".

There was something extremely comforting about driving away and seeing our candles flickering in the graveyard.  The only ones lit right before sunset.

I wonder what language this grave stone is written in and what it says...

We found another grave that was part of a Polish family's group.  The young man had died during WWII and was a member of the US Armed Forces.  We lit a candle for him and said thank you for serving this country and that perhaps this old Polish tradition might bring him and his family comfort.

Out of respect for the family, I didn't take pictures to share.

Na razie...




Traditional Polish lanterns for use on All Saints' Day can be purchased at dom itp. 




Disclaimer:  An affiliate sale link is used in this post for those looking to purchase lanterns as is traditionally used on this holiday.

Related Post:  It Isn't Just Another Day, It's All Saints' Day

It Isn't Just Another Day, It's All Saints Day

Being Polish, the day after Halloween always held something special.  Not something festive.  Something once again, as all Polish holidays are, ancient, deep rooted, symbolic, important.

In Poland, today is filled with people either taking off work or making a personal priority for this day.  Today is filled with cemeteries being visited, gravestones swept, washed and scrubbed, flowers and plants around each resting place tended.

Today is a day of Mass.  My older daughter goes to Catholic school and the toddler and myself attended Mass today along with the entire school and other community members.

At the entrance, an elderly lady told the school children who were entering the church, "If you pray for me, I'll pray for you" and beamed when the children in chorus replied "Yes, Ma'am."  I silently beamed as well, knowing that my older daughter was somewhere in that group acknowledging an elderly person and replying with respect to them.

I held the door open with my toddlers help for some elderly people to enter the church and they gushed at how precious my little one was as she pushed the door and called "I do it!  I big!"

While my toddler wiggled around and looked at a pretty colored piece of folded paper with the Mass Responses, I kept one eye on her and the other on the service.

The school children's voices rose with the various songs and responses.  There was a quiet hush as several hundred children listened quietly without talking or moving around as Father delivered his sermon about the various Saints and as several school children presented short prayers to various Saints.

The prayers that stood out to me were to Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, the patron saint of immigrants.  The child's voice presenting her struck me "Pray for the immigrants that they may live a happy and fulfilling life". 

The other prayer which was a prayer uttered every Mass in every Catholic church, no matter the day, "that our country's leaders may protect us and lead us to a world of greater justice and peace". 

When it was time to offer up our prayers, I prayed for the strength and wisdom to be a good mother to my children and find and keep my patience.  That my two Dziadki and my Babcia who had passed away will rest in peace.  That my husband's Busia may rest in peace and that his Grandpop may as well.  And that I, selfishly, may have more time to see my Babcia before she passes away.  And I send an apology to my departed grandparents that I am sorry we didn't get to spend time together in life.

After school, I plan on taking my two daughters to a local cemetery.  We will tend to a few abandoned graves and light candles on them.  We will say prayers that they may rest in peace.  And that some one out there is tending the graves of our own beloved who had passed away.  My husband's family buried in Maryland and my own buried throughout Poland.

In Maryland, we would go to Mass at our local Polish Catholic Church, Holy Cross.  A part of that Mass involved visiting the church's cemetery, special services and tending the graves and lighting the candles. 

I am out here in Illinois now.  There will not be anyone out there at the cemetery, I'm sure.  Definitely nobody I know.  So, I will have to do it on my own, holding my children's hands and hoping that they grow up carrying on this tradition.

I know one of my cousins is tending today to the graves of my grandparents on my father's side.  And I will send up a prayer to God thanking him for that.  And hoping that they all know how much I love them and miss them every single day.

Today is a day of mourning.

It isn't the anticlimactic end to Halloween.  It isn't a day of candy and goodies.  And it isn't for us, the Day of the Dead, full of festivities and food and celebration.  It's a day of prayer and of letting out all the feelings I hold inside of missing my family.  And not being able to be with them.

One day, I pray that I can tend their graves and light candles over them.  And that they know I love them. 

I leave you with some videos that capture the spirit of today.






A Brit's explanation...





And if you speak Polish...




I will share pictures of our lit candles either later today or tomorrow...

What do you do today?

Na razie...




Note:  Traditional Polish lanterns for use on All Saints' Day can be purchased at dom itp.

Disclaimer: An affiliate sale link is used in this post for those looking to purchase lanterns as is traditionally used on this holiday.


You might find interesting:

General Prayer and Reflection for Catholics

An Explanation of All Saints Day and All Souls Day in Poland

From Transparent Language's Polish Blog Święto Pamięci Zmarłych – All Saints’ Day, All Souls’ Day