Vacation – cucumber season. We do small or, especially as a child, we do nothing. We rest, go on vacations with parents or relatives, to colonies, youth camps or scout camps. After this period of recreation and recreation for our ancestors, can the genealogist find any sources for the past of his family?
Admittedly, the vacation is not reflected much in archival documents, especially in the papers of authoritative state archives. But that doesn't mean we can't track anything from that time. Detailed query made first in the archive records (e.g. through the portal I'm looking for warchiwach.gov.pl), and then straight in archival papers may surprise us very positively.
Front on vacation: organized form of recreation
When do we have the best chance of uncovering anything? First of all, erstwhile our ancestor utilized organized forms of recreation. Relationships with household trips, we can only find them in our own photograph albums and ghastly home archives, as long as, of course, our ancestors supplemented specified ones after coming from vacation. Here we can find many interesting photographs, sometimes folders or guides to visited places. Among them, at the discretion of entry tickets, bills or dried flowers.
photo. National Archives in KrakowIn addition, it is worth looking around the home corners and wondering if there are any souvenirs after these vacation trips, which would confirm the departure preferences of our relatives, e.g. made in wood souvenirs from the mountains, shells or ambers from the Baltic Sea, or equally distinctive styled cups for drinking water with inscriptions Szczawnica, Karlsbad, BadenBaden. It's just that sometimes home-made old porcelain can tell us about vacation peregrinations of loved ones. It needs to be stressed again that then we will discover fresh information about our ancestor, erstwhile he himself solemnly applied to perpetuating things in a more or little conventional way. Photographs and postcards will besides be helpful – these are the ones we do or do on holiday, or we send to friends and loved ones from interesting places of leisure.
However, we are more curious in the situation erstwhile our ancestor rested in an organized way: he went to a scouting or wandering camp or to a colony, for example, from industrial plants known in the region. Then we usually have respective possibilities to look for archival materials confirming this fact.
photo. National Archives in KrakowChronicles and memorial books
Chronicles and memorial books of camps or colonies and albums with photographs and individual photographs – these are the most common finds. We can find them in various collections or archives from the full 20th century.
The oldest example of this kind of act are Chronicles of hosts and Scout camps stored in fresh Files Archives in the files squad Archive of the Historical Commission of the Union of Scouting Republic. These chronicles relate to the years 1925-1932. It should be added that in the state archives throughout the country there are many very interesting acts concerning Polish Scouting. Besides, reasoning of wandering camps, first of all, the Scout and Scout teams come to mind. small wonder, then, that in the files of this organization we can find the most archival archives documenting the life of scouts in the camp.
photo. National Archives in KrakowCan we find individual information in the chronicles and albums to aid identify our ancestor? It's different. Most frequently these are mostly descriptions of the experiences and most crucial events that took place on the colony or camp. But in many cases specified a chronicle begins with information about the breakdown by group/replacement, and these were given appropriate names. Thus we have maintained in various conventions of naming: the Order of the Eagles, the Order of the Hawks, the Martians, the Sons of the large Bear, the Jumpers, the Javelins or the Culturers. It is worth recalling here what a celebrated song referring to another, but highly frequently utilized in colonies the group's name – Jagodniki: We're blueberries, black berries, we live in a green forest... The organization of the colony or camp after being divided into these groups was to delegate to them certain persons and appoint those who would execute circumstantial functions. And here is simply a list of the names of persons assigned to groups or hosts.
Holiday destination: ZSMP or OHP
In the case of scouting or scouting at the camp, circumstantial specialities or fitness could be obtained. While specialities were selected before going to the camp (e.g. wandering, sailing), the efficiency had to be managed independently. After hard work, you could gain the skills from various groups: for example, Samaritan, field research, tourism, natural, communication, scientific, sports and become a hiker, a weightbuddy, a rover, a cooker or a camp bar. It is not hard to know that in the chronicle there should be a corresponding evidence of another individual gaining a peculiar fitness.
But camps and colonies are not just Boy Scouts. It is essential to list various camps or peculiar trips: not only holiday, but besides winter, ski, sports, archaeological, ethnographic, local studies, cycling or hiking. By showing this incredible diversity here, I have been feeding on the records of the state archives – thus the possible search will be equally diverse and interesting. The camps with ideological speech organized by the Polish Youth Union, the Association of Socialist Polish Youth or the Labour Huffs should be added to this. any of them considered it a form of remainder – work at, for example, harvests or harvesting stunks. Or to learn Polish past while hiking through the First Division of the Polish Army through the Baltic coast. There will be no more competition for fitness here, just... competition for work. People who "rested" the most intensely were frequently mentioned in the camp chronicles and immortalized in photographs.
photo. National Archives in KrakowVacations organised by workplaces
The most interesting and best preserved, however, are materials documenting colonies organized for children of workers of large industrial establishments or offices. As examples we can mention here Kostrzyn Paperworks in Kostrzyn (AP Gorzów Wielkopolski), Krakow mill of Cables and Cable Machines (National Archives in Krakow), Kielce City Construction Company (AP Kielce), Bureau of the Provincial National Council in Olsztyn (AP Olsztyn) or Lenin Huta (National Archives in Krakow).
Large and rich industrial plants owned their vacation and colonial centres. due to the large number of employees and the large number of children of school age, the colony’s action was rather an undertaking. There's plenty of documentation left. Amongst her data about who, erstwhile he went to the colony and where he was resting. Additionally, many colonial and camp chronicles and photographs have been preserved. The second illustrate the course of the colony in a colourful way: from the minute of escorting the children going to the colony to the railway station in the ass of the mill orchestra, by handing scarves, naming groups, participation in state celebrations, skids, mushroom pickings, trips, until the return of the happy kid to the house. Here again we can see photographs glued to the chronicle with not necessarily satisfactory genealogy signature. With a certain amount of happiness, we can trace the signed name of our ancestor.
Resting places
It is besides crucial to indicate many places where they were rested as part of camps or colonies. The trips were organised both nationally and abroad, e.g. in Eger and Balatonboglar, Hungary. Of course, typical vacation villages reign
Both from the south and north of Poland: Wysowa, Rymanów-Zdrój, Lesko, Sromowce Wyżne, Karpacz, Bieszczady, Limanowa, Piwniczna, Wisła, Rabka, Krynica, Jura Krakowsko-Częstochowska, Gdynia, Gdańsk-Oliwa, Olsztyn, Wolin Island, Kaszuby, Warmia, Mazury. The river could be: a classical vacation and vacation set current in the erstwhile century, but besides now, in the 21st century.
Finally, a fewer more search tips for genealogists trying to track their ancestor on vacation. In any state archives, apart from the indicated acts concerning scouting and circumstantial workplaces, we have a separate collection of chronicles. For example: Collection of chronicles and memorial books from 1934, 1966-1975 (AP Kalisz) or Collection of memorial books and chronicles of colonies and youth camps from 1960 to 1973 (National Archives in Krakow).
photo. National Archives in KrakowOther sources
Information can besides be sought in institutions that straight organise leisure or youth work. Both field structure files will aid here Volunteers of Laboryouth organisations (ZMP, ZSMP, ZMW etc.), cultural centres (e.g. M.E. Andriollego territory Youth Cultural Centre in Otwock from 1964-2005 – AP Warsaw), as well as sports institutions (e.g. Workers' Sports Club “Raków” in Częstochowa at the B. Bierut Hut from 1962 to 2002 – AP Częstochowa). Additionally, we can find chronicles in places where camps and colonies had accommodation, which is most frequently in schools or burs. E.g. in the file I Teacher's survey in Tarnów from 1950 to 1994 (National Archives in Krakow, Tarnów Branch) or J. I. Kraszewski advanced School in Biała Podlaska from 1919-2008 (AP Lublin, Branch in Biała Podlaska).
The last "reserve" on the search will be collections and heritage of celebrated people specified as teachers or educators (e.g. Leon Chrust Collection from 1936 to 1979 – AP Radom or Collection of household materials 1808-2015 – AP Kalisz).
In this immense amount of preserved genealog documentation can only have 1 problem: go on vacation or start a search immediately? The hint is clear and apparent – get a good and intense rest, so that with a double energy and hope for success you can enter the question immediately after your vacation!
Written by Iwona Fischer (National Archives in Krakow).
Original publication: More Maiorum No 3 (86)/2020.
