The village of Bryńsk (formerly Bryńsk Kolonia) is located 173 km (107 miles) northwest of Warsaw, Poland. It's not a typical tourist destination—you could say it is “on the road less traveled.” However, when you are on a mission to find your roots, you may need to go to places that are out of the way and where little English is spoken.
This small village in northern Poland is where my grandmother, her siblings, and parents lived until they immigrated to the US in 1881. It was part of West Prussia and settled by Evangelic Germans after the third partition of Poland in 1795. Baptismal records indicate that my grandmother, Emma Nowak, and her siblings were baptized here. Most Germans fled Poland in the early 1900s. This village was almost completely destroyed by the Russians after World War II. The school, church and their home no longer exist.
We recently spent some time in Warsaw and I was determined to make a side trip to Bryńsk (pop.700) to see with my own eyes where these ancestors came from. We had hoped to do it on our own, however, it quickly became clear that we were not going to get much accomplished without help. Fortunately, I was referred to a wonderful English speaking tour guide, Ula Modzelewska (Ula Warsaw Tours) who could drive us to the Lidzbark/Bryńsk area and spend the day with us.
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| LAKE LIDZBARK |
Ula picked us up at 8 am. Our first stop was Lidzbark-Welski (pop. 8,500) where we visited the Evangelical and Catholic churches as well as two cemeteries. The town is on Lake Lidzbark and is a popular summer resort. However, it was quiet on this September day. We enjoyed a great homemade meal with meat, potatoes, and vegetables at Cabin Place—the only restaurant we could find open.
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| BRYNSK - MAIN ROAD |
It was about 3 pm when we left Lidzbark-Welski and headed south for the five-mile drive on the isolated, tree-lined road to Brynsk. The village is basically a straight line with about 150 homes on either side of the main street. It has one small grocery store, one Catholic church, one school, and a cemetery. This is the peaceful quiet area, surrounded by forests, where my ancestors decided to settle 150 years ago.
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Ron, Michael, Susan
BRYNSK CATHOLIC CHURCH
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Our first stop was the Catholic church. Ula quickly scouted out a nearby neighbor who could open the church for us. She returned with Micheal Kwiatkowsky, the village councilman, who had a vintage skeleton key to the church and a smile on his face. He gave us a tour and told us about the church and the history of Bryńsk—all in Polish. Thankfully, Ula could interpret for us. She also made a video of the interview which she later sent to me. Michael generously shared part of his day with us, and after we left the church, he walked with us across the street to see the old Protestant cemetery. Unfortunately, there were no markings left on the gravestones or crosses. I had hoped that they would still be readable and I might find a tombstone with Nowak or Pikar written on it, but no such luck.
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PROTESTANT CEMETERY
BRYNSK
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Michael said that his grandmother told him about the beautiful brick homes that the Germans lived in and how impressive Brńysk was in the 1800s. He then went on to tell us that they were all destroyed by the Russians after World War II.
In 1864, records indicate that there was a wooden evangelic church and school located in Bryńsk Kolonia—they no longer exist. The current Catholic church was built in 1909 as a Protestant church and converted to a Catholic church after the war.
