[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Łąkie visit

[K. Gallagher]

Hello to all,

Some of you know that I was planning a trip to the EZAB in Berlin and Poland to visit Łąkie outside of Lipno where my maternal grandmother was born.  Thank you to everyone who helped with such good suggestions.  All went well.  Rather than write to all individually, I'd prefer to write to the group in case there is anyone out there who might like to visit these areas too.  

In Poland, my base was Toruñ, a good choice for a visit of a day or two on its own.  The best move I made was hiring a driver/guide/translator who proved to be superb and worth her weight in gold in many ways.  On the way to Łąkie, we stopped in Lipno to see the Lutheran church.  Unfortunately, it is only open on Sundays for services, 10:30 every Sunday except the third Sunday of the month when service is held at 12:30.  If you want to go inside the gates and see the church interior, plan accordingly.  

When we arrived at the village sign for Łąkie, I knew we had to go northwest so we took the left turn toward Franciszkowo.  We drove through open farm land, heading to the place where the improved road ends.  On the way, my guide saw an elderly man and stopped to talk with him.  He was eighty-eight years old and knew about the German settlement of Rumunki Łąkie.  He told her that the old cemetery, overgrown, was further up the road in a grove of oak trees, set way back from the road.  I would never have found it on my own.  If you want to locate it on Google maps, type 52.915892, 19.316386 into the search box.  It will place the pin smack dab in the center of the square cemetery.  

The front of the cemetery, which is at the left side, is enclosed with an iron railing with a small gate in the center.  The sides are marked with stone posts, any connection between them long gone.  My guide and I stepped in where we could, but we could only view the graves located at the perimeter.  Nevertheless, we could see several iron scrollwork crosses and three gravestones from the 1940s, inscriptions intact.  The names on them were Erich Dase (1925-1942), Johann Rez and Olga Wojke (1910-1942).  Neglected or not, the Łąkie cemetery stands as testimony that for a period of time, a German settlement once existed in that place.  

Our ancestors buried there most certainly had difficulties in their lives, but they now rest in a very peaceful place.  

Kathy Gallagher