Wysoka Information with Translation from Slownik Geograficzny

In a previous issue of the Polish Genealogical Society of Minnesota Newsletter I wrote a “Book Review” of the new CD version of Słownik Geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego. Simply stated, Słownik Geograficzny is an inventory of Poland and its people compiled during the years 1880-1902. The entries in this dictionary, written in Polish, give detailed descriptions of villages and people.

I had four ancestral village Słownik Geograficzny translations in progress, working on one for over two years. Finding those last few words in Polish dictionaries or abbreviation lists was always a problem. Some of the sentences never seemed to make sense. This meant the translations remained unfinished. The CD review provided motivation to try again to complete these translations. I started with Wysoka, the village of my maternal grandfather, Wawrzyniec Maciaszek. In America his Polish name was altered to Lawrence Macosek. This time I translated the village entry using a “training wheels” technique which I will describe later.

While working on the Wysoka translation, some interesting information about the area was collected from Polish websites. Surprisingly, a Polish county (powiat) website, with an English language version, provided background information which helped in the Słownik Geograficzny translation and brought it to life. This ancestral Wysoka is in the Carpathian Mountains in southern Poland.

The Carpathian Mountain range is a mountain system running through central and eastern Europe. The Carpathians are an interrupted chain of mountains, consisting of distinct groups. The Carpathian system extends in a 900 mile semi-circle from Bratislava, Slovakia to Orsova, Romania. In terms of area: 28% in Hungary (mostly high plains and foothills); 21% in Slovakia; 18% in Romania; 14% in Ukraine; 12% in Poland; 2 % in Czech Republic and 4% in others. As an aside, the infamous Prince Vlad Tepes Dracula lived in the Romanian Carpathians (Transylvania region) and was the source of Bram Stoker’s famous book character, Count Dracula.

Within southern Poland, the Carpathian (Karpaty) Mountains are divided into two ranges. Beyond the two ranges, the Carpathian foothills (podgorze) extend to the city of Krakow. The first mountain range, the southern, higher range, is called the Tatra (Tatry) Mountains. The Tatra Mountains in Poland and Slovakia help to form the border between the two countries. These high mountains are home to Poland’s winter ski resort area and the picturesque mountain village of Zakopane. The highest peak in the Polish Tatra Mountains and all of Poland is Mount Ryśy (Mountain of the Lynx) at 2,499 meters (8,200 feet). Promoters in Poland would like to attract the Winter Olympics to Zakopane.

The second range, the lower Carpathians Mountains in Poland are called the Beskid Mountains (Beskidy, Beskydy). The Beskids extend from the Czech/Slovakian border through Poland into the Ukraine. In Poland, they are divided into three major areas. On the west is Beskid Wysoki (High Beskids), the middle is called Beskid Niski (Low Beskids) and the eastern is called Bieszczady (southeastern tip of Poland). Within these three large areas there are smaller Beskid sub-ranges. Grandfather’s Wysoka, Poland is in the “Żywiec Beskid,” a smaller sub-range, part of the larger Wysoki (high) Beskids.

Babia Gora, one of the highest mountains in the Beskids, just inside Poland-Slovakian border, is near my ancestral Wysoka. This mountain, “Queen of the Beskids” is the source of many local tales and legends. The name, Babia Góra, is found in historical sources going back to ancient times. It is mentioned in the 15^th century Chronicle written by Jan Długosz. It first appeared on a map in 1558. The first know ascent of the mountain was in 1782 by Jowin Fryderyk Boncza Bystrzycki, court astronomer of King Stanislaw Poniatowski. The mountain is 1,725 meters (5,660 feet) high. According to the county’s website, there is no apparent explanation of how the mountain got its name.

In 1954 the Babia Góra National Park was established. In 1977 Babia Góra National Park was added to the UNESCO’s international network of biosphere reserves. It is estimated that about 160 different vertebrates and over 2,000 different invertebrates live in the park area. The region of Babia Góra is considered a healthy microclimate with clear water and clean air, beneficial in curing allergies.

In 1998, Poland established a three level division of administrative government units. At the top level the country is divided into 16 provinces (wojewodztwa). The 16 provinces are divided further into 315 counties plus some cities (powiaty). These are further divided into districts (gminy) within the county. Wysoka is located in the province called Małopolskie and in Suski County (powiat), known as Sucha Beskidzka County, with the county seat at Sucha Beskidzka. Wysoka is located in the Jordanow district (gmina), made up of five villages: Letownia, Naprawa, Osielec, Torporzysko, and Wysoka.

Wysoka is a common name for villages in Poland. My Polish Atlas lists 22 different Wysoka villages in Poland. Słownik Geograficzny lists over 50 villages named Wysoka. Wysoka basically means “high place” in Polish, so it appears that any village in Poland may be named Wysoka if it is deemed to be on higher ground. The Wysoka which was home for my grandfather, Wawrzyniec (Lawrence) Maciaszek, is situated just south of the village Jordanow. His baptismal certificate and Austrian military discharge papers clearly indicate that this is the Wysoka, Poland of his birth. (See map below)

The local streams are the source of the Skawa River. The Skawa River flows from Wysoka in a northwest direction. It is one of the many tributaries to the Vistula (Wisla) river which then flows to Krakow and finally north, winding through Poland on its route to the Baltic Sea.

This small village of Wysoka is most noted for the 16^th century manor house of the Zebrzydowski family, originally built as a defense manor house. A good present day description of the history of Wysoka and its manor house is available (in English) on the website for the Polish County of Sucha Beskidzka (Suski Powiat) at www.powiatsuski.pl. Here are quotes taken directly from the county website.

“The beginnings of the village of Wysoka are associated with the colonization carried out by the Jordan family of Zakliczyn. The first mention of the village in written sources, however, comes from the year 1581, when Wysoka already belonged to the Zebrzydowski family, with whom we may associate the founding of the manor.”

“The next proprietors were the Sierakowskis, the Stadnickis, the Larisches, the Borowskis (Wężyks). In 1890 Robert Żeleński became the owner of Wysoka and the Counts Żeleński remained in possession of the lands until 1944.”

“During heavy fighting here in September 1939, the manor was bombed. After the Second World War, an elementary school was established in the manor-house and functioned for a few years. Then the next several years the deserted building fell into disrepair. It was only in 1988 that the present owners - Anna and Antoni Pilch, having taking possession of the manor, began general renovation work.”

“The manor owes its present appearance to the Pilchs, who have not only renovated the building but revived its Renaissance traditions. The Ancient Polish Lute Foundation has its headquarters here and many concerts and international meetings are held here.”

“In the village you can find a monument to the heroes lead by Colonel Stanislaw Maczek who defended the local people against the Nazi invaders on the first two days of September 1939. The Nazis took reprisals on Wysoka against local resistance. After 1945 this village was the first place in Poland to be granted the Grunwald Cross Order in recognition for its efforts against the Nazis.”

The Wysoka area is populated by a highlander clan called “Babiogórcy” because of their close proximity to the mountain called Babia Góra. At the turn of the 20^th century, neighboring Jordanow was considered the capital of Babiogórcy. My maternal grandfather, Lawrence Maciaszek, was a member of this highland clan. Clan areas were determined by the local geography of valleys, mountains and mountain passes.

Highlander information was published in the Fall, 2004 issue of Rodziny, The Journal of the Polish Genealogical Society of America, pages 11-12, 17-22. William F. (Fred) Hoffman published a translation of an entry from Słownik Geograficzny, entitled “The Górale (Highlanders)”. This translation describes the many Polish highlander clans living in and near the Carpathian Mountains and their geographic areas around 1900.

PGS-MN member, Ronald Parrish, also with ancestral roots from the highland areas around Rabka provided me with a translation of the Babiogórcy information from Słownik Geograficzny written in 1880. The most interesting thing to note from this translation is that “the Babiogórcy clan was considered the oldest highland clan (gorale) in the mountainous areas of Poland. Babiogórcy lived spread out in the highland meadows and were characterized as being very friendly.”

The mechanics for making a “training wheels” translation is that the Polish words are entered into a WORD document with enough space underneath (double space) to write the corresponding English words. This requires extra typing before the translation starts.

The next step is to look at the abbreviations and go through the lists of abbreviations and words specifically compiled for Słownik Geograficzny entries. These lists may be found on the PGSA website or in the introductory materials on the CD ROM version of Słownik Geograficzny. I write the English words under the corresponding Polish abbreviations on my double-spaced WORD printout.

Then I go through three Polish-English dictionaries starting with the oldest dictionary. The publication dates of the dictionaries are 1929, 1944 and 1994. I write down the English equivalent words I can clearly identify, again, under the Polish words on my WORD printout. The sentences start to take shape. This arrangement gives me a better idea of what is complete and where more work is needed. My last resort is to look at similar words and phrases in Słownik Geograficzny entries where I have both the English and Polish versions. It is helpful to see how other translators have handled translations.

Another helpful “training wheel” is the insertion of a slash to clearly indicate the end of a sentence. With the training wheels still attached, my beginner’s attempt of the Wysoka translation is given below.

Słownik Geograficzny Entry for

Wysoka, Poland in the Jordanow District (gmina)

(Polish words are on top and English in bold italics below)

4) Wysoka, koło Jordanowa, wś, pow. myślenicki,

4) Wysoka, a colony (settlement) of Jordanow, a village in the Myslenice district,

par. rz.-kat w Jordanowie, tamże urząd. poczt,

the Roman Catholic parish is in Jordanow, in the same place as the post office,

(odl. 5.3 klm.). / Wś ma 753 mk., obszar większej

( a distance of 5.3 kilometers). / A village of 753 residents, the area of the major

własności 32 mk. / W r. 1581 wś W.,

landed estate has 32 residents. / In the year 1581 the village Wysoka was

w. par Łętownia, w pow szczyrzyckim,

in the parish of Łetownia (just north of Jordanow) in the district of Szczyrzyc,

własność wojew: kaliskiego, miała 1¼ łanu km.,

a landed estate in the province: Kalisz, the property had 1¼ peasant lans,

4 zagr. bez roli,

4 zagrodas (peasant farm house with yard, garden) without land

3 kom. z bydłem. /

and 3 tenant farmers with cattle. /

Source: Slownik Geograficzny Krolestwa Polskiego, Vol XIV, page 124, Warsaw 1895.

The website for Suski Powiat (county) resulted in an interesting combination or “blend” of information with the Słownik Geograficzny entry. The website provided detailed county maps and county history. Fortunately, an English language website version was provided, probably to promote the area’s tourist attractions of camping, biking, hiking and ski trails.

The website increased my understanding of Wysoka and broadened the perspective to a larger county view. It helped confirm information found in Słownik Geograficzny. It made the translation easier and gave me confidence. This combination/blend of a Polish website with the Słownik Geograficzny entry was truly an unexpected translation aid.