As if that hasn't been my life in some respects? Let me explain: I was told that I was the descendant of a Pole who came here, married Mary Trudnak (a Lithuanian), served in Korea, and died of Black Lung. We were also related to Stefan Czarniecki, went the story. On Grandma's side, meanwhile, we were Czechoslovakian, we were told.
Nothing could've been further from the remote truth about the "Pole who came here...." or the "Czechoslovakian"s. Let me begin with Anthony Czarnecki, Sr.; then let me move to the Trudnaks and the "Czechoslovakian"s for just a minute.
Born in Tsuman, Ukraine (then Cuman, Poland) to
Aleksjondria Alicja Andrulewiczowna Czerniecka,
Antoni Jan Czerniecki joined his dad (
Julian) in Sugar Notch, Pennsylvania after he and his family became Crypto Jews during the pogroms in Lipsk nad Biebrza (where Julian's dad and mom, "
Antoni" and "
Katarzyna", had a farm after they fled Krasne and returned to the Judaism that they'd been forced to leave behind in order to gain freedom from serfdom).
This was nothing to the Andrulevicus (Andrulewicz, etc.) and Morgovich (Margiewicz, etc.) families, except that they were of course unhappy about it. However, the Czernieckis and the Danilowiczes ("Katarzyna"'s family, and somehow family to the Andrulevicuses) blew a lid (so to speak). After
having to marry as Catholics in Mackowa Ruda in order to gain their freedom, "Antoni" and "Katarzyna" wanted their son and in-law daughter out, out, and out!
As my granduncle Tony first explained (when I tricked him into giving me information for a "school project"):
"Periodically a church pastor would run a heritage trip back to Poland for a group. Very few of those who immigrated would return. Occasionally someone "in the family" in America would join a relative for the return trip, Usually meeting the Polish or Slovak relatives for the first time and occasionally maintaining a letter writing relationship afterwards. This DID NOT happen in our family.
"There was not very much correspondence with the Polish family. Only an infrequent letter. There were no exchanges other than through the Polish Church which would have clothing drives and send clothes to Poland in general, but not to specific family members. Bertha's photos which came after the trips were the only contact until they asked for the deed to be changed in the mid 1960's."
So, we remained Crypto Jews and lived in America, and without helping them during the Holocaust (because they didn't want our help). Julian did donate to a "Free Poland" fund, though. However,
Ignacy Andrulewicz did return and remain a Crypto Jew. Some other Andrulewiczes also returned. In fact,
cousin Bronislawa Andrulewiczowna Pozniakowa, of blessed memory, was murdered in the Shoah and had a son who fought against the Soviets.
Ignacy, like most Haredi and some Orthodox Jews (even Crypto-Haredi and -Orthodox Jews) of his day, did not believe in returning to Israel until Moshiach came (He was buried as a Catholic in Soviet Poland because he did not believe in returning to the "treif medina" that the U.S. was viewed as. Some of his children returned to the U.S., though.).
Not all of the branches of the Andrulewiczes became Crypto Jews, though. For example,
Gitla Andrelewitz's branch didn't (Rochla's dad was Gitla.). Even so, Aleksjondria (now Alexandria Andrulewicz Czarnecki) would not have her son marrying for love, let alone marrying the Believing Jewess who he got pregnant. That Jewess, the daughter of the Crypto-Jewish Mihaly "Michael" and Anna Amalia Munkova "Anna Monka" Trudnak, was Mary Trudnak (Her grandparents were Mihaly and Maria Nagyova Trudnyak, and Samuel and Rosalia Korschova Munka.). Their son was Anthony, Jr. the First, who died two days after he was born.
Their second son, John "Jack" Gregory Czarnecki, was born on May 25, 1936 (and died on December 14, 2013). If you do the timelining here, by the way, you will quickly find out why
nobody signed his parents' marriage license, since he was conceived on or about August 25, 1935. He married Joan Gaydos, the daughter of Michael and Mary Rusnak Gaydos, and Mary Rusnak Gaydos' parents were far from Czechoslovakian.
They were Austrian-Hungarian Jews named Andrew and Julia Fosko Rusnak. Andrew came here as Andrej Rusnak, having been born Andras Stef Rusznak. He was the son of
Crypto-Jewish Levite Jakab Rusznak (whose dad, Gyorgy, was of the Levitical Kosice Rusznaks) and the Crypto-Jewish
Maria Novakova Rusznakova (whose tribe is not known). Jakab's and Maria's parents (Gyorgy "Gyorgy Kvetkovits" and Erzsebet Molnarova Rusznak, and Andrej Novak and an unknown mother) converted within the years of 1848-1876 (Actually, Andrej Novak never converted. He was certainly a witness to
the dispensation along with Janos Molnar, and he never converted.).
Julia was a Levite as well, having been born of Crypto-Jewish Levites descended from the Levitical Foczkos of Warszawa, Radom, and Lodz. Her mother,
Johanna Hanzokova Foczkova, may have been the granddaughter of a kohen (Her mother was Ilona Lazarova Hanzkova, and "Lazarova" may indicate descent from Ele'azar ben Aharon HaKohen.). Andrew Rusnak knew this and asked Julia to marry him (Don't ever think that Crypto Jews were unintelligent or ignorant, since they knew of their heritage at least to the fifth generation. Andrew was Generation Three, and Julia knew of her heritage even as a Crypto Jew beyond Generation Five. Besides, Julia was the only girl and not named "Maria", "Marysia", or "Mary"!).
Again, though, what we were told? That we were descendants of a Pole who came here, etc.; and we were also Czechoslovakian. There, therefore, is virtual reality and a multi-player game for you!
