April 16 - 19 2006

Finding Family Homes in Gdansk

Doing Danzig

One of the primary reasons for our visit to Gdansk was to check out D's Dad's addresses. Even though much of the Old Town of Gdansk has been rebuilt since World War II,

only one of the (family related) buildings still exists.

• 85 BreitGasse, (German street name before the war) residence in 1937, now Szeroka:

• 104 BreitGasse (German street name before the war), now Szeroka (was the family's store of men's ready-to-wear); the entire block is now a public park... either at one end, or the other:

• 32 Paradisgasse, (German street name before the war... the family moved there in 1937), now Rajska (the entire block on each side has been, or is being redeveloped (not restored)

• 2 Pfefferstadt (German street name before the war... the family moved there in 1938), now Korzenna (near the train station... once again, the entire block on each side has been redeveloped (not restored)

We took a nostalgic photograph near the stream that runs through town.

We took many other photos in the picturesque Old Town, but we won't foist them on you.

Who Are Bursztyn, Bernstein and Jubilerer?

Or...

What color is "Amber"?

Gdansk is known for its amber. We learned a little bit about it while we were there. For one thing, I had never known that Bernstein and Bursztyn were variant names. I'm sure there must be other spellings. And, that Jubiler (...we know a Jubilirer family at Adat Shalom) means Jeweler. I [Mark] was struck by how prevalent the color was in the area: the man staining his building was dressed in the same colors (he was tickled "amber" that I wanted to take his picture). But, what is the connection of Jews and "the Jewish God" to Gdansk and amber? The illustration is from a book called Das Grosse Bernsteinbuch, by Elzbieta Mierzwinska (with photos by Marek Zak). I couldn't find more publication information.

The colors range from soft opaque yellow to clear green and a wide spread in between and beyond. The actual color depends on the "age" of the stone.

The Sporting Life in Sopot

On our last day, before we left Gdansk for our trip to Berlin we visited the neighboring resort town of Sopot. We had a lovely, sunny morning walking along the Baltic promenade, strolling the longest wooden pier in Europe, taking care of some correspondence, using email at the Novotel and enjoying some free tea. D can see why Dad likes the ocean experience at Oceanside.

On to Berlin

Then back to two lane highways to get us out of Poland, with a night at a Orlen gas station which fortunately had free showers. As Pesach ended (seven-day count!) we enjoyed a breakfast of latkes and blintzes, Polish style, at a roadside restaurant, which perked us up for the long drive, the two lane highways and the assorted detours of the day.

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