Grandparent's Birthplace

John Sliz · Post by **John Sliz** » Mon September 10th, 2012, 8:31 pm

A month ago, my wife and were in Poland. Our main purpose for the visit to the Krakow area was to see the small hamlet where my grandparents were born. Other than my grandmother, who went back only once, I was the first member of my family to visit. Needless to say, it was quite something to see the graves of family members that I had never met. I could only imagine the life that they born into and left behind.

parthianbow · Post by **parthianbow** » Tue September 11th, 2012, 5:49 am

That must have been a moving experience, John. A few years ago, I found out where a grand-uncle who'd been killed in WW2 was buried, and went to visit the site with some relations. It was immensely moving - far more than I'd expected.

John Sliz · Post by **John Sliz** » Tue September 11th, 2012, 7:17 pm

Yes it was. I looked around the rolling hills and tried to picture what my life would have been like if I had grown up there.

What unit was your great uncle in?

parthianbow · Post by **parthianbow** » Tue September 11th, 2012, 8:01 pm

He was in the RAF, and a gunner in a Lancaster bomber that crashed on a training flight (of all the luck) in heavy fog. All but one of the six crew were killed. So were a number of unfortunate civilians in the village that they landed on in the midlands of England.

Did your family members die of natural causes, or did WW2 have anything to do with it?

John Sliz · Post by **John Sliz** » Tue September 11th, 2012, 8:25 pm

My wife's uncle was killed in a training flight in 1943. He was in a RCAF Hurricane and is buried in northern England.
Regarding my family in Poland - as far as I can tell - they mostly died of natural causes. However, several were young so I think that there was an accident or two.
In Krakow I found out that a Jan Sliz was murdered by the Nazis. I am not sure if he is related or not.