Edward Wajszczuk (0410) Family History

Written by Edward Wajszczuk and translated by Teresa Wajszczuk Rutkowski

I, Edward Wajszczuk, was born on January 19, 1928, in the village of Sitaniec (near Zamosc), in eastern Poland. There I attended grade school and belonged to the scouts organization.

The explosion of World War II (1939) interrupted our dreams and future plans. In the first days of war, the scout teams watched the telephone lines on the roads in Zamosc. After two weeks we were relieved of our duty because the front was getting closer. So with my parents, Stanislaw and Aniela (Altmajer), and sister Stanislawa (Todzia/Stella) we went to our grandfather and uncle and aunts, who lived in Zrab Kolonia, a village about 7 ½ miles from Zamosc. In the area was a large forest which was safer for everyone. We remained there even though the area was occupied by the German army.

Upon returning home, we found our garden wiped out by German artillery and a lot of farms damaged. Luckily none of the civilians were killed. But two Polish soldiers and one officer were killed by the German army.

Beginning in October, 1939, the Germans were withdrawing to Lublin but returning to us was the Soviet army. In Zamosc the Jews organized a militia together with a small group of Polish communist and took over civilian rule. Several people including our parish priest were arrested. Our priest was tortured and, after being released, his memory was always confused. I can’t remember how long the Soviet army stayed in our area, but when they began to withdraw the Jews took everything they had. Some Polish communists joined them and together they left over the river where the Germans with the Soviets established the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact which divided Poland. (The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact was a non-aggression pact between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union that enabled those two powers to divide-up Poland between them). After the Soviets retreated, the Germans returned and took over the area. They killed our parish priest, the one the Jews arrested when the Soviets were in the area.

In the spring of 1940 they started arresting priests, professionals, leaders of organizations, government and military. The majority of the arrested never returned, some were executed and some died in concentration camps. Next they marked a quota for horses. They took our horse, which my father didn’t want to give up, and he was beaten by the German soldiers. At the end of spring, the Germans recruited volunteers to work in Germany. This didn’t work too well so they ordered if a family had 4 grown children then 1 or 2 must go to Germany to work or they would have to hide.

A nightmarish life began. There were shortages in the stores and burning of school books that were obstacles to German propaganda. Everything was marked that was on the farms and everything had to be registered. The Germans ruled the forests and you couldn’t take any wood from your own forest without permission.

At the end of summer 1940, Polish displaced persons from Poznań, Pomorza (Pomerania) and Slask (Silesia) were brought to us and they were deployed in the villages.

In the beginning of spring, 1941, the Germans assembled a large army and air force in the area of Zamosc and prepared for war with Russia. The Germans built barracks in two areas where camps were organized, one in Lublin opposite the barracks of the 9th regiment of legions and the second in Terz across from the barracks.

Following the outbreak of war with Russia, after a month these camps were filled with soldiers from the Red army who were taken into German captivity. There were soldiers who were not able to eat and travel, some had typhoid, and some had dysentery. Their ranks were decimated and in September of 1942 only one of the two camps remained.

In November of 1941, Germany started deportation in the Polish village of Zamosc. In the first phase the Germans separated the people. People able to work were employed by the Germans settled in the area and in factories in Zamosc. The Germans needed people to work in Germany but volunteers didn’t want to go so the Germans started roundups on streets near churches where they could capture people.

Military and those who tried to escape arrest or round up went to an organized guerilla group to fight against the occupiers. A worse fate met the Jews and gypsies. In the towns the Germans organized ghettos for the Jews and then transported them to concentration camps. The gypsies were rounded up and transferred to concentration camps. For hiding the Jews the Germans punished the whole family, including the Jews, with the death penalty.

In 1941 the Germans arrested my cousins John and Lucjan Wajszczuk. After one month they released John due to health issues. They sent Lucjan to Auschwitz. In 1944 he was sent to the Bruhenwald camp in Germany and there he was liberated by the American army. After the war, Lucjan Wajszczuk moved to Canada where he lived with his family. He died in 1990 in Brantford, Ontario in Canada where he was buried with military honors.

In 1942 my father went to the forest to get wood for heating. The day after he brought the wood home, the Gestapo came and took my father and ordered the wood be put in storage. After two days, they released my father. From all these problems my father got sick with pneumonia and could not get better because the medicine he needed was unavailable. He died on July 4, 1942 and is buried in a cemetery in Sitaniec. I was left with my mother (Aniela) and 8 year old sister (Todzia/Stella).

Daily life became harder. There was no food in the stores. The Germans introduced food cards but the most necessary items had to be foundn in the black market. Schools were overtaken by the Germans and we had to study at home. Poles with German surnames were forced to sign fake lists and were threatened with jail if they refused. Farmers were given a quota and had to give everything away or face going to the concentration camp.

In autumn of 1942 the second phase of displacement in Zamosc took place. On December 6 it was our turn. At 4 in the morning the SS came and told us to leave our home and go to the church. (The SS or Schutzstaffel was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, and later throughout German-occupied Europe during World War II.) We could only take small hand luggage. They loaded people into vehicles and drove them to Zamosc, where before they kept Russian prisoners. In the village they sorted the people, small children were taken from their parents and were lodged with the elders, and those able to work were sent to Germany. Artisans and some families were not displaced but were left to work for resettled Germans from Russia, Romania and Croatia. The blond children were taken from the displaced persons camp to Germany for germination and the remaining children were taken to Warsaw and sold to Polish families.

My mother and sister were sent to a camp in Germany. I stayed behind to work for the resettled Germans. I joined a Polish resistance movement AK (Armija Krajowa) and served until May 1944.

On May 15, 1944, I and two of my friends were caught by the Germans and sent to a camp in Łódź. After a week, the older men were sent to dig ditches and us younger ones were transferred to Germany to a work camp on the Rhine. There I was reunited with my mother and sister. Mother worked in a factory, I worked in a winery, and my sister remained in the camp where she had to work. We stayed in this camp until September, 1944. In September they moved us to Luneberg, a town near Wetzlar on the river Lahn. There we worked on a large farm. When winter came I was assigned to work in the woods with French men who were in captivity. I was the only Pole among them. Until there was snow, it was hard work but at least it was dry. Once the snow fell it was worse because I didn’t have any shoes only clogs so I had to cover them so I wouldn’t break my legs. Mother and my sister continued to work on the large farm. Every day we had to get up at 5 in the morning and we worked until 7 in the evening. At night there were raids and bombings in nearby towns, bridges and railways. In the meantime I found my mother’s sister and her husband (Sakowicz) who were working for the Germans in the town of Viilken near the town of Runtel near the river Weser. My uncle wrote that the Germans they worked for were well disposed to the Poles, even the village mayor was quite favorable because the front was approaching. We received news that Germany was evacuating foreign nationals east. Upon hearing this news I wrote to my uncle asking if there was anyway possible for us to connect. In a short time I received paperwork from the Burgermeister (chairman of executive council in the towns and master of the citizens) to report to the work bureau and immediately reported to the office. After a review I received an answer. If the current employer does not object, I will get permission to leave, under the condition that we pay for our trip. I returned to my employer, who didn’t object to signing the paperwork which I took to the work bureau and got the release to depart and buy the tickets for the train.

The next day, March 15, 1945, the three of us left by train on our trip. We got to the outskirts of the town of Giesen when the train stopped because of bombings. American fighters started shooting at our train and we had to hide in the ditches. Luckily no one was killed and after an hour the train continued on its journey. By sunset we arrived in the town of Marburg. There we were told to get off because the tracks were bombed and we were joined to the evacuees and started walking. Around 10 pm we arrived at some freight station and were able to rest for a couple hours. We loaded the train early in the morning, ate what was given us for the trip but had nothing to drink.

We arrived in Detmold (a city in North Rhine-Westphalia) and again there was a raid and we had to get off the train. We were told to go to a nearby public shelter where we stayed during the bombing. While there I heard two German ladies saying they were going to the same town as we so I asked if they would help us get there. They asked to whom were we going and the one lady said she knew who that was and they would take us there. So I gave them the money to buy the train tickets. They told us not to say anything at the checkpoint, they would give the answers. I didn’t know if I should believe them but there was no other choice. My mother’s legs were so swollen she could hardly walk and my sister had no energy too.

Through the providence of God and goodwill of people the ladies led us to Volksen, near the town of Rinteln. It was after midnight when we arrived and we had to wake up the manager. We thanked the ladies for their help and after speaking with the manager they left to go to their home nearby. The manager then took us to the home of my uncle, my aunt, their 7 year old son John, and the grandmother. The reunion was met with tears of joy. After resting and eating breakfast which we enjoyed after our three day journey, the manager called me and informed me that we had to go to the Burgermeister and get registered. Upon arrival and introductions, the first question asked was when were the Americans coming. I didn’t know what to say so without thinking I answered in two weeks because when we left Luneberg we could hear the artillery. We were registered and I was told for now to work for the manager who welcomed us. To avoid contact with people, mother worked with my aunt (her sister) and my sister helped the lady of the house.

In two weeks the western front was approaching, the German army took up positions in the mountains on the other side of the Weser River. They blew up the bridge on the river and the American army could not get through. Over the next week the German army was shooting nightly at the Americans. Even we got hit because two shells fell on the farm where we lived. Luckily no one suffered any injuries except for a few chickens and geese getting killed and windows getting shattered.

After another week the Germans retreated. The Americans built a bridge on pontoons and moved forward. Although the fighting continued on German land until May,1945, after 5 years we were free. We continued to work as before because we had to repay peoples kindness. It was not until the end of May that the American authorities gave the directive that foreigners should be sent to camps organized by American troops. We learned where the closest Polish camp was and I asked the manager if I could borrow a bike. He agreed and me and my uncle went to the Polish camp in the town of Buckeburg. We registered immediately because many of our countrymen came in for fear that they might be sent elsewhere. Upon returning to our temporary home we informed the manager that we were ready to depart for our camp. He wasn’t happy but understood and the next day took us to the camp where we registered and began our camp life.

In June, 1945, Germany was divided into four occupation zones: America, England (British), France and Russia. Our camp was in the British zone. The American army retreated and the British army arrived. After two weeks the British displaced seven German villages in the vicinity of Lahde (near Minden in the Westphalen region) and a Polish camp was set up. They transported us by cars to one of the villages named Cammer where we were given one home where ten people were lodged.

The camp was under the administration of the British army. Because a lot of Polish officers and non-commissioned officers from former prisoner-of-war camps came to the camp, they organized a Polish army. The first order of business was to organize volunteer police stations, primary schools and a grouping of driver's school with English equipment and training for drivers, mechanics, radio and general electrics. They started accepting recruits and I signed up. I received training and in October I advanced to instructor. In this position I remained until the demobilization of the Polish army in the west in June, 1947. After demobilization, the English authorities formed a volunteer service. With the British army, this service included sentry, transport, railway and labor companies that were employed in army facilities. All those who refused to return to Poland could join the emerging “navy”companies, thus named because we wore a navy uniform.

In January 1946 I met my future wife, Czeslawa (Celeste) Przybylak. She was born in Strzyzew (a village in the administrative district of Gmina Sieroszewice, within Ostrów Wielkopolski County, in west-central Poland. It lies approximately 72 miles south-east of the regional capital Poznań). In her family were 6 children, 3 boys and 3 girls. They enjoyed their young years because after the outbreak of war on the first of September, 1939, in the western Polish territories, the Germans joined the Third Reich, and the Polish population was displaced.

Youth and childless married couples were designated for work in Germany. Families with children were sent to a general area in the region of central Poland between the Third Reich and the Soviet occupation. Celeste, with her parents and siblings, were taken to Wolka Grądzka (a village in the administrative district of Gmina Mędrzechów, within Dąbrowa County in southern Poland, 48 miles east of the regional capital Kraków) where they lived until the spring, 1941. Since the Germans needed people to work in the Third Reich, they took people by force and organized roundups. Her oldest sister, Martha, was sent to Germany to work. Celeste was taken to Germany to the town of Stadthage (the capital of the district of Schaumburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately 13 miles east of Minden and 25 miles west of Hanover.) where she worked until March, 1942. She was then sent to Bad Endorf, where she stayed until the end of the war.

After Celeste connected with her sister Martha she came to the same camp where we were staying. Once she located her parents in Poland who returned to their home with their children and the birth of sister Maryla in Krakow, Celeste and her sister Martha started talking about returning to Poland because the first transport left in October 1945. I decided not to return to Poland which was now under communist rule. I tried to explain to Celeste and her sister they should postpone their return to Poland and they listened to me.

Celeste and I decided to get married and set our wedding date for April 22, 1946. Following our wedding, Celeste’s sister Martha returned in the fall to her parents in Poland.

After the demobilization, I and several of my friends joined the service in the British army at Rhine. I was assigned to the transportation division since I indicated I was trained while serving in the Polish army under the direction of the British. In January,1948, we were sent to Flensburg near the Danish border as an independent company #316. After two months of training we were transferred to Wuppertal. This was March 1948. On March 26 of that year our daughter Teresa was born in the D.P. camp Frille near Minden, Germany. I was at the facility in Wuppertal until June 1948 when our unit was sent to Munster. In September 1948 our family was transferred to D.P. Camp No. 46 in Munster since the camp in Lahde was closed. It worked out for us since we could visit my wife’s family. My unit, company #316, was designated for liquidation, and this was due to the fact that emigration was opened to overseas countries. The units began to slim down and in November, 1948, my unit ceased to exist. I and about 20 of my colleagues were transferred to Unit 321 in Bielefeld (Bielefeld is a city in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe Region in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.). I remained there until April, 1949. I registered for immigration to Canada. My wife and daughter, along with my mother and sister, left on April 25 to the immigration camp in Fallingbostel. I and my unit colleagues left to be disassembled in Osnabrück where the main command was located. After a week I went to the camp in Fallingbostel where I went through medical certification with my family for departure to Canada.

While waiting for departure to Canada I ended up getting pneumonia. We had to travel all day by train which wasn’t heated, it was winter and I didn’t have a coat, just my uniform. Upon arrival, we registered in the main office and after two days, we went through a medical checkup. After they took an X-ray of my lungs I was sent to the sick ward since I had pneumonia. After more tests I was sent to the hospital for treatment. After two weeks I was released from the hospital and returned to the camp where I started to pass health inspection again with my family. In the meantime, out daughter Teresa got sick with whooping cough. We were sent to the chief Canadian doctor and told we are deferred for 6 months due to illness. I was sent to headquarters in Osnabrück, where it was proposed that I sign up to remain in the army's service for a longer period of time. I resigned and returned to the camp in Munster making my decision to immigrate. My wife and daughter, along with my mother and sister, returned to the camp together with the wives and children of husbands who already departed to Canada. After one week we were reunited in the camp.

In August, 1949, my mother who was a widow received papers to go to United States. In the meantime my sister got married. So the time for separation came in September,1949. Mother left by herself to the United States. My sister, with her husband (Hipolit Szymaniak) and mother-in-law(Mizerski) stayed in the camp with me and my wife and daughter. My sister, her husband and mother-in-law were waiting to leave for Canada because her father-in-law was already there. We immediately made an effort to find a sponsor to go to America. In October, 1949, we were notified we had a sponsor and in November we left for Wendorf, near Hamburg. While going through screening, trouble began. Twice a week I had to go for chest X-rays and bloodwork. I gave the doctor the paperwork from the German hospital that I was healed from pneumonia. I didn’t think someone sick would go to America on my paperwork. After two months we were notified that our sponsor declined us and someone that had money went on our paperwork.

So we were sent back in January, 1950, to Münster. I immediately got a job in the warehouse where food was issued to those who lived in the camp. In the meantime I wrote a letter to my mother about our troubles. My mother wrote back for us to remain calm, that she was sending us papers to come to America. After three months we received the papers. In October we were called back to Wendorf and this time we passed without any obstacles. On Thanksgiving day we were sent to Grön near Bremen where ships departed to America and to my surprise on December 2, 1950, we boarded the warship General Muir. After eleven days we arrived in the port in New York where my mother was waiting for us. After completing the necessary paperwork and going through customs, we drove by car to Bronx, New York, where my mother worked and where we began our new life in the free land. There was a Catholic school named Villa Marie Academy where my mother and wife worked in the kitchen and served meals to the children that attended the school. I worked as groundskeeper, cutting grass and cleaning the grounds, which consisted of 15 acres, and also cleaning the classrooms? There were three of us working, me and two Italians. The manager was an Italian too, elderly in age, and feared that I would take his place, since that was the plan of the superior sister. He started telling me this job wasn’t for me and I should look for different work because there was no place for us here. In the evening, Sister Mary was teaching us English.

In June, 1951, when the school year ended and vacation started, I requested to talk to the superior sister to let her know I found some relatives in New Jersey (Klein, Lukawski and Zajac) and we wanted to move there. I told her we were young and there was no future for us staying there. She agreed and on June 20, 1951, we moved to Perth Amboy, New Jersey. In the new year, our friends (Lucki) to whom we sent papers to come to America arrived in Massachusetts. They encouraged us to move to where they were in Holyoke, Massachusetts. Since we had a hard time finding housing in Perth Amboy, in March of 1952 we moved to Holyoke where we already had work and housing. Our second daughter, Elizabeth, was born there on May 24,1954.

In 1955, we visited my sister in Canada, in our own car which we bought a year earlier. On our return trip we stopped to see my cousin, John Wajszczuk, who lived with his family in Youngstown, Ohio, as did many of our friends (Kaplan, Pilewicz). They all urged us to move to Youngstown where work was available so on our way home we started talking about moving from Holyoke since work was becoming more scarce as factories were closing. We made the decision to move to Youngstown which made my mother happy as we would be closer to my sister in Canada.

After making all the arrangements, we moved in August,1955, to Youngstown, Ohio My wife and I worked and my mother took care of our daughters. In the late fall of 1955, we bought a house near the St. Stanislaus church and school where our daughter attended. My wife worked in a factory where they made aluminum doors and windows and I worked for Ajax Magnathermic, a company that produced induction heating and melting machines. In the evenings I took electronic courses that helped me in my job. After 8 years the company grew, bought similar factories in New Jersey and moved to Warren, Ohio, which was about 10 miles, where they bought a tank factory from the government and consolidated all the business to this new location where I now worked.

In 1965 the company opened a branch in Detroit, Michigan, and offered me a position. Since my sister and her family lived in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada, about 40 miles from Detroit, my family agreed to the move. I was to begin work on May 1 in Detroit, but my mother fell into the basement and broke both arms, so I had to delay my move until August once she was back to health. On August 1, I began my job in Detroit as Plant Superintendent. The family stayed behind in Youngstown and I would go back every two weeks. We put the house in Youngstown for sale and I started looking for a house in Detroit. After two months I found a house in the 8 Mile/Ryan area near the parish of St. Bartholomew. In December 1965, with the company covering expenses, we moved to our new house on Klinger Street in Detroit. We spent that Christmas with my sister and her family in Canada. After the new year (1966), our daughter Teresa returned to Youngstown, Ohio, to stay with our good friends (Grzywna). Since it was her senior year of high school, she lived with them and was able to graduate with her class at Cardinal Mooney High School. We had a graduation party for her in the basement hall of St. Stanislaus Church. After the party we bid our final farewell to all of our friends and returned to Detroit.

My wife and I joined some Polish organizations. Our daughter Elizabeth started school at St. Bartholomew and Teresa started Wayne State University. After 2 years in college, Teresa got a job at Chrysler Corporation. On June 26, 1971, Teresa married Daniel Rutkowski from Wyandotte, who served 4 years in the U.S. Marine Corps. Upon release he went to school for computer programming, after which he got a job at Burroughs Corporation and then Macomb County where he worked until retirement in January 2003.

In 1972, Elizabeth finished high school and, along with me and my wife, went to Poland. For me it was the first time returning to Poland since 1944. For my wife it was her third trip and for Elizabeth it was her first time and she got to meet all the Polish relatives. My mother stayed in our home with Teresa and Daniel. Upon our return, Teresa and Daniel bought their first home in St. Clair Shores and Elizabeth started working at the Polish newspaper (Dzienik Polski) which was the only daily Polish newspaper in Detroit. In the evenings she attended courses on printing.

On August 6, 1974, we became grandparents when Teresa gave birth to a son named Steven. In 1975 Elizabeth moved to Sarnia, Ontario, where she lived with my sister. There she started a new career working for the Sarnia Observer. In June of 1976 Elizabeth married Douglas Cuthbertson and moved to a house in Sarnia.

In 1976, Teresa and Daniel built a house in Sterling Heights where they lived until 1998. On March 27, 1977, Elizabeth gave birth to a daughter, Angela. That same year the Society of Christ priests came to Sterling Heights, MI, and started a Polish parish.

In 1977, my wife and mother and I moved to a new house in Sterling Heights. The Detroit neighborhood was changing and many neighbors were moving to the suburbs. The neighborhood was changing and houses were sold for almost nothing.

In 1979, my mother’s niece came from Poland for a visit. My mother was very happy since her health was starting to go down. My mother continued living with us and my wife took care of her until she passed away.

On May 15, 1979, Elizabeth gave birth to a second daughter, Tanya, and a year later on June 15, 1980, to a third daughter, Marilu . On May 13, 1980, Teresa gave birth to their second son named David. Our family was growing.

On January 21, 1982, my mother passed away in Holy Cross Hospital in Detroit. And a week later, Elizabeth’s daughter, Tanya, passed away barely three years old.

In 1982, the Society of Christ priests, together with the parishioners, built a church named Our Lady of Częstochowa in Sterling Heights where we belonged from the very beginning.

In 1983, Teresa and Daniel built a cottage up north on Forest Lake in Alger, Michigan (about 2 ½ hour drive north) where our family spent summer weekends.

In 1986, Elizabeth and Douglas built a house near Lake Huron in Camlachie, Ontario, 10 miles from Sarnia. They lived like this until Douglas had a work accident and went on disability. Trouble began and a year later they separated. Elizabeth continued working and their daughters continued school. After a year, Elizabeth sold the house and she and the girls moved into an apartment in Sarnia. Angela finished high school and got a job in the afternoons while going to Lambton College during the day. Upon completion she got a job in a hospital in Port Huron, Michigan. After finishing high school, Marilu went to nursing school and, upon completion, went to work in a nursing home.

Steven graduated from high school in 1992 and went to Michigan State University in Lansing. David graduated in 1998 and went to Central Michigan University in Mt. Pleasant. Teresa went back to school and graduated with a Bachelor’s degree from Central Michigan in 1988 and a masters degree in 1991.

In 1988, my wife’s youngest sister, Maryla, came from Poland and stayed with us for a year. That same year, the owner of the company I worked for bought a new building in Fraser, Michigan, which was much closer to where we lived.

In 1989, my wife and I, along with our grandson Steven and my sister visited Poland. We flew direct from Toronto, Ontario, to Warsaw. Steven enjoyed the trip, touring the different cities and meeting all his relatives.

In July of 1991, I retired. That same year we decided to sell our home because it was too much work and we moved into a condominium which was smaller, easier to manage, and more affordable.

In 1994, we, along with grandson David and granddaughter Marilu, traveled to Poland where the grandchildren met all their Polish relatives.

In 1996, we celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary on April 22. This was a big celebration for us, with a mass and reception at Our Lady Of Częstochowa church and hall, with our family and friends. Our children surprised us with a papal blessing from Pope JohnPaul II for which we were very grateful. Shortly after, our grandson Steven moved to Portland, Oregon, where he began his new life.

In July of 1997, my wife and I and my sister took a trip to Australia to visit family. We were able to see many sites in Australia and had a great visit. On our way back home, we stopped for a week in Hawaii.

In June of 1999 we went on a pilgrimage, with Father Jackiem and members of our Church, to Fatima, Portugal. From there we traveled by bus through Spain to Lourdes, France, then to Assisi, Pisa, Florence and Rome, where we had an audience with Pope John Paul II. This was our second trip to Italy since we went in May of 1984 on the 40th anniversary of the battle of Monte Casino where the Polish Corps fought under the direction of General Wladyslaw Anders**

**(The 1944 Battle of Monte Cassino, Italy, pitted the Allies against Nazi German forces who captured a medieval monastery and turned it into a fortress which defended a road leading towards Rome. The old Benedictine abbey, perched atop a precipitous hill, proved to be a perfect stronghold for the German forces, which fended off Allied attacks for 123 days. The tables turned when Polish troops under General Władysław Anders launched their offensive on May 12 and seized the abbey by May 18, 1944.

Polish troops played a pivotal role in the successful siege but paid a heavy price for their effort. Among the 54,000 Allied troops who lost their lives on the battlefield, about 1,000 were Polish. They were later buried in the Polish war cemetery on the slopes of Monte Cassino, which also became the final resting place of their commander, General Władysław Anders, who died decades later.

To this day, the efforts of Polish troops, in what proved to be one of the bloodiest battles of the entire conflict, remain one of the most well-known examples of wartime heroism and sacrifice.)

In July 1997 we, along with Teresa and Daniel and David flew to Portland, Oregon, to visit grandson Steven. We spent a week touring the city and even took a trip to Seaside on the Pacific Ocean. At the end of the year, Teresa and Daniel starting building a new home in Macomb to which they moved the following year (1998). In 1999 David went to spend the summer in Portland with his brother Steve, where he ended up getting a job and living.

Our Family: my sister, Stanislawa Szymaniak (also know as Stella and Todzia) and her husband Hipolit followed his parents and lived in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada. They had three children, Joseph, Krystyna and Mary.

Joseph married Diane and they have three children: Michael, Steven and Jessica. They live in Sarnia, Ontario. Krystyna married John Szymanski and they had three children: Richard, AnnMarie and Mark. They live in Mississauga, Ontario. Krystyna passed away in 2007. Mary remained single and moved to Brampton with her mother (my sister) after her father died in 1981. His parents passed away sometime in 1990 and all are buried in Sarnia.

My wife’s family all live in Poland. Her parents passed away in the 1970’s and are buried in the parish cemetery in Poland. Sister Martha and husband Michael Grzeda, had a daughter and two sons and lived in Ostrowie Wlkp. Sister Bisia Smardz, a widow, had three daughters all married and a married son who lives on a farm in Prosna (west central Poland). Sister Maryla Grodzki is widowed, lives in Jelenia Gora and has two sons, Christopher (married with two sons) who lives in Szczecinie, and Adam, who was married (and now divorced) and has a daughter and son, and lives near his mother. Oldest brother Henry Przybylak and wife are both deceased and had three daughters and five sons. One son, Mark, died in an accident. The family lives in Marcinki, Poland. Brother Marian Przybylak who is married had two daughters and two sons. Marian and his son Joseph, who is married and has two children, live on the family homestead in Strzyzewie.

Daughter Teresa and husband Daniel both retired in 2003 and moved to Ormond Beach, Florida. They spend summers in Michigan in their condo in Clinton Township. Son Steven married Brandy Lewis on May 28, 2016, and she has a son, Carl Jacobs. They live in Sterling Heights, Michigan.
Son David married Katy Mahan (from New York) on July 27, 2013. They have two children, Odas (1-19-2011) and Macy (9-10-2014). They live in Hood River, Oregon

Elizabeth still lives in Sarnia, Ontario. She retired in May, 2018. Husband Douglas passed away in May, 2000. She married Ted Huot on December 8, 2001. Daughter Angela had three children: Edward (11-15-2003), Kaleb (10-4-2011) and Myia (8-16-2013) and they live in Sarnia, Ontario. Daughter Marilu married Randy DeCiantis in 2000 and has two children: Maxine (6-12-2001) and Caelan (10-7-2003). They live in Petrolia, Ontario (outside of Sarnia).


This is the family history of Edward Wajszczuk and Celeste Przybylak, Rutkowski , Cuthbertson, DeCiantis, Szymaniak, Szymanski, Grzeda, Grodzki and Smardz as of 2005.

The following has been added by Teresa Wajszczuk Rutkowski.


Edward Wajszczuk passed away on April 4, 2018, at Henry Ford Macomb Hospital (Clinton Township, Michigan) at the age of 90 following several years of illness including dementia, COPD, and congestive heart failure. His funeral mass was held at Our Lady of Częstochowa Church, Sterling Heights, Michigan. He is buried next to his mother at Resurrection Cemetery in Clinton Township, Michigan.

Following his death, daughter Teresa made plans to move her mother, who also suffered from dementia, to Florida in October. The parents condo was sold to the neighbor’s brother. In August, Teresa was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer which required surgery, chemo and radiation. As a result, Celeste was moved to Arden Courts in Sterling Heights, a memory care facility.

Celeste passed away at Arden Courts, under the care of hospice, on Holy Thursday, April 9, 2020. The country was in lockdown due to the corona virus epidemic. Churches weren’t allowed to hold services so a private prayer service with the priest, daughter Teresa, husband Daniel and son Steven was held at Mandziuk Funeral Home. Celeste was buried next to her husband at Resurrection Cemetery. Since all border crossings were closed, daughter Elizabeth was unable to attend. A video of the services was made and sent to Elizabeth and family. The family will have a memorial mass once the state and borders open.


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There is a website for the history of Wajszczuk family (shown below) including a family tree on the internet.

Our family tree starts with 0410 for Edward Wajszczuk as shown below.
 

Przygotowali: Waldemar J Wajszczuk & Paweł Stefaniuk 2023
e-mail: drzewo.rodziny.wajszczuk@gmail.com