Man from Poland shares facts about Goessel's past
By CHRISTINA COLLISON
Newton Kansan
(Editor's note: This story originally appeared in The Newton Kansan on July 18.)
What do you get when you cross a Pol with a small Kansas town?
A missing piece of history.
Henry Zamojski is visiting Goessel this month from Poland and has some big plans while he is here.
"The history we know (of Goessel) doesn't have all the pieces," said Laura Flaming, who is hosting Zamojski while he is here. Zamojski has brought with him those little pieces, including Mennonite history, Goessel history and agriculture information.
Flaming remembers the first time Zamojski was here in 1978. She also remembers the jokes about Polish natives, which were popular at the time, she said.
Since then, she said she thinks people's attitudes about visitors from other countries have changed, especially those from Poland.
When Zamojski first came to the United States, it was through a program with Mennonite Central Committee. He stayed with Flaming and her husband, Randolf. It was then the history of the area began to interest him.
He has since been studying documents from Poland that tie to the Goessel area. During his stay here, Zamojski will present the mayor of Goessel with the seal of Kurt von Goessel, for whom the southwest Marion County town of 565 residents is named.
He also brought a letter from the city of Urbanouitz, Poland, where von Goessel was born, which Zamojski said he hopes will become a sister city with Goessel.
Von Goessel was captain of the Elbe, which sank in the English Channel, killing all but 25 of the 350 passengers on board. Von Goessel's ship sank around the time Goessel was looking to rename its post office after it was told it could no longer use the name "West Branch."
The town decided to name itself after the heroic captain. Zamojski said.
Urbanouitz is only 25 miles from where he lives in Poland. He has traveled to the town, similar in size to Goessel, and to nearby Raciborz, where von Goessel grew up. He has been able to find documentation of von Goessel's life in the area, which he has brought to the United States.
The other connection Zamojski found and studied extensively was the connection between Poland and Mennonites.
"The people I met, the Mennonites, were good people," Zamojski said. "These people wanted to help each other."
What Zamojski had heard of
Mennonite history, though, interested him. Most of the history books say the second place the Mennonite population traveled to was Prussia. What Zamojski found, however, indicates that information is incorrect.
Zamojski said the Mennonites were invited to Poland in 1568 by Jan Dulski, who leased land to them. It wasn't until the 18th century when war broke out in Poland that the Mennonites left the area, Zamojski said.
After the war, Poland was split among three countries, and Prussia took over the area where the Mennonites had previously resided. After the first World War, Poland was re-established.
Zamojski has brought with him documentation of Mennonites living in that area of Poland when it was known as Poland, not Prussia. Zamojski said he hopes to give these documents to the Mennonite church.
"I want to leave this for the young fellows," Zamojski said, "so they can check and find where their grand-grand-grand-grandparents were from."
But learning the history of these two places is only his hobby. It is his job as head of the agricultural department in Opole, Poland, a position he compared to the Secretary of Agriculture for Kansas, to learn about Kansas agriculture.
During his stay in Goessel, he has spent much of his time on the farm of the Flaming's son, Dwight.
"On the farm, there are big changes," Zamojski said. "Some are good for the farmer, some are not. He just told me the price for 100 pounds of milk. It's just like it was 25 years ago."
He also talked of how fewer farmers are doing the same amount of work, though often receiving less pay.
"Where is the border for a normal life?" Zamojski asked. "They have comparable size farms. They get a low price for their products and pay high costs."
Zamojski will take some of what he has learned while in the United States back to Poland with him, where he manages a large experimental crop.
While Zamojski acknowledges this likely will be his last visit to the United States, Laura insists it won't. Even if it is, Zamojski has worked to establish a connection between these two areas of the world that will ensure many more visitors, much like himself.
