Letters from Poland 1940's - 1960's

Background on the letters from Poland

A note on my use of first names in this section of the web site:

* Frank = brother of Stella, Sylvia, Val, Julian, and Rose, father of Delores, Bob, etc.

* Frank and Veronica = same Frank as above, plus his wife Veronica Mocha.

* Wicek = Wicenty Petulski, author of some of the letters.

* Wiktoria or Wiktoria Oczkos = author of some of the letters.

* Sylvia = Sylvia Bunchek, Frank's sister.

* Jeanette = daughter of Frank

* Val = Val Sikora, brother of Frank

* Valentine = Frank's father

* Bronislawa or Bernice = Frank's mother

Other people appearing should be clear from the context, but feel free to ask for clarification.

All of the letters were either sent from Czernichow, Frank's home town, or sent by former residents of that town. Czernichow is located to the southwest of Krakow in southern Poland. The letters were addressed to Frank at 10740 Avenue N, where Frank's family lived from the early 1940's on. Based on some statements in the letters, there are probably more letters that Frank and Veronica received besides these. The letters also reference ones that Frank and Veronica wrote back.

In summary, a fellow townsman Wicek (Vince) Petulski apparently had custody of Frank's older brother Gustaw, called Gustek, who was probably not allowed to immigrate to the Americas due to blindness. Later letters from another townsperson Wiktoria (Victoria) Oczkos and Wicek's brother Stanislaw, claim that Wicek neglected Gustek and that Victoria's family actually took care of him. Someone on the U.S. end wrote "neighbors of dad's cousin. The one who took care of uncle Gustav" on one of these letters' envelopes. Gustaw had apparently passed away by the time that the letters were exchanged.

Leaving aside all of the complaining about family and the package drama, the letters are valuable for learning some likely names of relatives and life details in the old country from several generations back. The letters also help fill an important gap in what we knew from oral history about Frank's blind brother.

The letters are being translated by a professional translator. Stay tuned for more translated letters as time goes on.