I started to gather information. I am not into geneology, but I knew I needed some more information. My sister, Robin, is the "keeper of family history" and she connected me with our cousin, Alan Benner, Uncle Sam Benner's son. Sam Benner has grandma's younger brother and told Alan about life in Motele before he left for the United States. Alan wrote it down and sent a copy to me. From that information I was able to find the general area where the Benner house in Motele was. Alan also sent me a somewhat involved family tree that had been created by another cousin. My uncle Lenny also had written a family history. Leonard had actually visited Yanoveh and Motele in 1937 when he and his mother (my grandmother) went to Europe to visit relatives and try to persuade them to come to the United States. The trip was clearly a heroic act on the part of my grandmother given the rise of Nazism and the groundswell of support for Hitler at the time.
Ken and I also talked to Larry Tarkinow, my mother's first cousin. Larry had been living in Yanoveh and Motele at the time of the war. It seems people went back and forth between the two places, both shtetls with a large Jewish population. Around 1942 the Nazis came to Yanoveh and Motele and rounded up the men, had them dig a pit, and then shot them. The Nazis came back to Motele, rounded up the women and children and marched them to their death. During the march, a woman created a commotion by raising her skirt and told Larry to run to the corn fields. He did - he was small and could get lost in the fields. Later, Larry and some others (including our cousin in Israel, Sam Garber) met up in the forest, built a room underground where they and about 10 others lived for about 18 months. During that period of time, partisan groups and others were hiding out in the heavily forested area. The area was quite swampy and the Nazis were reluctant to search the area, not to mention the fear of the partisans. Larry's story, as well as Uncle Sam's story, are not only interesting but are a testament to survival against all odds.
Travel arrangements for Belarus were not easy. We have a friend from Belarus who left in the 80s and the woman who cleans our house is from Belarus. They offered some advise including the necessity of getting a driver to go to the shtetls. Ancestry tourism appears to have taken off in Belarus and there are a number of people who are willing to take you on an ancestry trip for a not insignificant sum of money. On recommendation of my brother in law, Bernie, who had been to Belarus to find his ancestors, we opted for the Jewish Heritage Research Group (JHRG), which according to its website is devoted to preserving Jewish heritage of Belarus. One other reason for going with this organization was that it had a United States telephone number.
Of course, finding a tour guide was really the least of the problems. Belarus is a former soviet republic and probably the republic which has retained the greatest vestiges of the soviet regime. So, a visa is required to go there. And you must have specific travel insurance, and a letter of introduction, and a place to stay. And all lines must be filled in on the visa form. I made several calls to the Belarus embassy in Washington, D.C., just to make sure I was crossing the t's and dotting the i's.
Yuri from JHRG sent out the appropriate introductory letter, we got the specific medical insurance, and with fear and trepidation we sent the form, money order, and our passports to the Belarussian embassy to get the visa. We had heard horror stories about delays in getting a visa, and we only had a month to get them. But, thankfully, our passports along with the visas came back with plenty of time to spare.
We started our trip with a flight to Katowice, Poland, to get settled for the teaching gig. We had some time to walk around Katowice, and found a dive Vietnamese restaurant at which to eat. Check out the bike facilities in Katowice, including a bike cafe.
The next day (November 7) we took the train to Warsaw to spend a few days. Our hotel, the Polonia Palace, was a few blocks from the train station and was simply palacial. After we got settled in, we walked to the Old Town, which was maybe 1 Km from the hotel.
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Lots to see in the Old Town, including the Statue of Copernicus, University of Warsaw (UW), Presidential Palace (with guards), Old Town Square, St. Anne's Church, and the Barbican (wall around the old city).
The Barbican with Castle in background
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| Ken and Frederick Chopin |
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| University of Warsaw |
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| Presidential palace |
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| View of St. Anne's from Castle |
Warsaw is a beautiful city, and bicycle and pedestrian friendly, with bike lanes. pedestrian malls, and bicycle stations every few blocks.
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| Bicycle lane |
Not really knowing where we were going we ended up at the monument to the Warsaw Uprising. A very impressive and moving monument. The pictures below do not do it justice.
We continue our walk, getting lost along the way, but find ourselves n front of the monument to Monte Cassino. Crossing the road is a major undertaking. Usually you have to go underground and then figure out which exit to take. If you go out the wrong side, you have to retrace and find the right exit. Finally we work our way to the hotel, and stop to have dinner at a nice restaurant, We reward ourselves with wine at the hotel.
