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REPRESENTING THE LARGEST COLLECTION OF 2X2 HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS ON THE INTERNET
Poland
While there is no evidence that the workers arrived in Poland before World War I, it is known that quite a number of workers were in Poland between the wars. Some of their names were:
Tom Alexson (born in Ukraine, professed in Manitoba)
Jack Annand ( Victoria, Australia)
Vasyl "Willie" Evanov (born in Ukraine, professed in North Dakota)
Carl Leonhardt ( Saskatchewan)
Willie MacDonald (Scotland/Saskatchewan)
Frank Patrick ( Scotland)
Bert Todhunter ( Scotland)
Tom Turner ( Scotland)
The years and order in which these men went to Poland is not known for certain. A letter mentions that Tom and Jack went to Poland in the spring of 1925, but it is not known if they were the first to go there.
Willie Evanov went to Poland in 1927. At some point in the 1930s, Willie MacDonald and Bert Todhunter went to western Ukraine which was under Polish occupation. When WW2 broke out, Willie was trapped there alone by the war. He never left Ukraine, and continued there alone until his death in 1957. A few friends from that time were still living when Ukraine was opened to the workers again in the 1990s. Now there are quite a number of workers, several conventions and several Ukrainian workers.
Shortly after WW2 in 1947, a Polish sister, Mila Gargas, started in the work with a Swiss companion named Marie Heiniger. Apparently there was a short time when there was a little bit of movement there permitted by the communist government. Marie eventually had to leave and Mila was left alone. She died in 2005, but wasn't active as a worker during the last years of her life. Of course, everyone had to hold registered jobs under communism.
A Polish man named Eduard Podgorski, was able to leave and go to Switzerland where he started in the work in 1960. Two years later he returned to Poland and died in 2005. He also had to hold a registered job, but he was generally able to get out to Switzerland for convention every few years, and even came to Canada for conventions one year--likely in the 1980s.
During the interwar period, it seems that a number of the Eastern European countries -- Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czechoslovakia -- worked together during those years, so the men’s names listed above were moving back and forth from country to country, and would not all have been in Poland at any one time. From letters, it seems that visas were a major problem, and often they could only get a few months permission at a time before having to leave and be out of the country for at least several months before returning. So with a number of them divided between those countries, they were able to rotate in and out as visas were available.
Russia, of course, was already closed by communism. One Russian brother, Konstantin Petrochuk, had professed in Germany in the early 1920s, and by the mid 1920s had returned to Russia alone, where he worked in Leningrad and had some converts. As far as can be determined, he was never able to leave the country again, and it is a bit uncertain if he survived World War 2.
When WW2 broke out, Bert Todhunter was in Switzerland for some meetings and was trapped there. After the war, he spent most of the rest of his life in Austria, being Overseer there for a number of years. He returned to the British Isles in his very old age, where he died in 2008 at 102 years old. During his years in Austria, there was a relatively large group of workers. Most of them learned various languages so they were able to make visits into the countries then under communism. Outside workers might visit Poland for a few weeks at a time when they could get a visa, but for the most part Mila and Eduard were the only workers there during the communist years.
Perhaps in the late 1980s or early 1990s, Loran Skaw and Jeff Evans, both from Iowa, and had been in Romania and Austria, were able to go and stay longer on some sort of student visas. Then Jeff returned to the States and Domenic Enrietta (from Colorado, and had been in Italy), went to be with Loran for several years. Eleanor and Arlene Leszewski (biological sisters from Wisconsin) went in the early 1990s.
At present (2009), there may be either six or eight workers in Poland. Loran Skaw is now Overseer. Among the workers there is Ian Simpson from Indiana, grandson of Virgil Simpson, former worker from Indiana who labored for a time in Italy. Eleanor Leszewski is there and also Tammy Carr from Montana. Since Romania and Ukraine have both had a number of native-born workers in recent years, there are some from those countries who work in Poland. Evidently there is good freedom of movement between Poland and Ukraine without a lot of visa complications, so there is a lot of movement back and forth between those countries. No native-born Poles have gone in the work since the fall of communism, and not very many young people have taken an interest there.
When did the workers first arrive? Probably sometime between WW1 and WW2
Who were the first brother workers? (in random order) Tom Alexson, Jack Annand, Vasyl "Willie" Evanov, Carl Leonhardt, Willie MacDonald, Frank Patrick, Bert Todhunter, Tom Turner. It is known that Tom and Jack went to Poland in the spring of 1925.
Who were the first sister workers? “Shortly after the war, a Polish sister, Mila Gargas, started in the work with a Swiss companion named Marie Heiniger.”
Who was the first native to go in the work? “Shortly after the war, a Polish sister, Mila Gargas, started in the work.” In 2010, a 26 year old young lady started in the work in Poland, the first one to do so for 50+ years.
Who was the first to profess?
When & Where was the first meeting?
When & Where was the first baptism?
When & Where was the first convention?
Where have subsequent conventions been held?
Where is the convention currently held? Held for the last several years in a rented facility in Wisla.
Who have the Overseers been? Bert Todhunter (died March 31, 2008 in England); Loran Skaw
TTT Editor's Note: Corrections or additions are most welcome; as well as other historical accounts for other countries.
Email TTT
About Poland...
During the country's long decades of foreign domination, Polish scholars, politicians, noblemen, writers, and artists (many of whom were forced to emigrate) became the revolutionaries of the 1800's, as desire for freedom, independence and liberty became one of the defining aspects of Polish identity. This has continued until the present, so it is hardly surprising then that Poland became the first of the communist satellite nations to finally overthrow its communist government. Soon after the Revolutions of 1989, Poland became what is constitutionally known as the "Third Polish Republic." This encouraged the great collapse of communism all across Eastern Europe. Poland is now a democracy, with a president as a head of state. The equivalent of a Congress is called the Council of Ministers, led by a prime minister. The president of Poland, Lech Kaczynski, died in a plane crash in April of 2010. While he was president, his identical twin brother was prime minister.
In May of 2004, Poland became a full member of the European Union, along with 9 other countries -- Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, Malta, and Cyprus -- but Poland is larger than all the other nine put together, with a population of almost 40 million (larger than that of Spain, or of California). So it has the potential to be a very important country in Europe. The geography is quite varied, with a large coastline on the Baltic sea, several mountain ranges, over 10,000 lakes, and even one of the few deserts in Europe. More than half of the land is devoted to agriculture, and 29% is covered by forest. Poland has more of its land protected in national parks than any other country in Europe.
Until World War II, Poland was a religiously diverse society, in which substantial Jewish, Protestant and Orthodox minorities coexisted with a Catholic majority. As a result of WW2 and the subsequent flight and expulsion of German and Russian populations, Poland has become overwhelmingly Roman Catholic. In 2007, 88.4% of the population belonged to the Catholic Church. Poland remains one of the most devoutly religious countries in Europe. Religious minorities include Orthodox (about 500,000), Protestants (about 150,000), Jehovah's Witnesses (125,000), Jews, and Muslims. Freedom of religion is now guaranteed by the Polish constitution
The Polish language has the reputation of being one of the most difficult in Europe, having seven declensions, five genders, formal and informal address, no articles, and full conjugations with dropped pronouns. Even though the spelling looks quite bizarre to an English speaker (Miedzyrzecz, Władysławowo, Szczuczarz, Przybiernów, and Pielgrzymowice are typical names of towns in Poland), the pronunciation is quite regular, and the language has a pleasant sound to the ear. Four Polish authors have won the Nobel Prize for literature.
Poland's economy is the healthiest of all the ex-communist countries. It is the only member of the European Union to not have a decline or contraction in its gross national product during the late 2000's recession. In 2009 Poland had the highest economic growth in the EU. Right after joining the EU, over a million Polish citizens left to work in other countries, particularly Germany, Ireland, and the UK; the billions of dollars they sent back to Poland greatly helped its economy, and now more Poles are returning to the country than are leaving, bringing a knowledge of Western European standards and languages with them, which will be of great help in furthering the advance of their country.
Tourism is becoming very popular and important in Poland. Much of Warsaw was obliterated in WW2, but the old central city has been rebuilt as exactly as possible to match old city maps, blueprints, and photographs. Some cities just stagnated during the communist years, receiving little development or improvement, which has proved to be an advantage now, since their historical centers and architectural monuments were hardly touched for most of the 1900's and have only needed some refurbishing to reveal their charms. The cities of Torun, Lublin, and Gdansk are known for their magnificent architecture. The amazing salt mines of Wieliczka include 300 miles of rooms and tunnels, dug over the last 800 years, which can be visited, including its underground church built entirely of salt. But the great royal city of Krakow is perhaps the most beautiful and best-preserved city of this fascinating country. Still little-known to the masses of European tourists, and therefore not overrun yet with visitors, this city, perhaps more than any other, will give one the amazing feeling of being transported back in time to a golden age.
"About Poland" written by Galen Berry, Oct. 2010
TTT Editor's Note: In the absence of a written account, the above information has been compiled by the TTT Editor from various sources. Corrections or additions are most welcome; as well as other historical accounts for this country Email TTT
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