Hi all,
While I was in Poland this summer I got a chance to go to the national
archives in Sanok and Przemysl. My driver/translator/opener of
doors/generous host was Jaromir Wilusz. He and I spent a day looking for
records related to Operation Wisl~a (hereafter OW). I want to know what
happened to my Semanczyk relatives that didn't emigrate to the USA.
Here's what we did.

We started in the BT and so our first stop was Sanok because it's quite
close. The archivists there were *not* keen on showing any OW documents
to us because I was not Polish. They made us wait for about 30 minutes
while they got the director of the archive's permission, and in the end
they only showed them to us because Jaromir (a Polish citizen) was
there. I don't think there's any such rule on the books but we weren't
in a position to argue.

The Sanok archive has a number of records regarding OW but it mostly
covers those who were *not* moved. I did dig up the following tidbits
from documents in the archive:
- Salomea and Tomasz Semanczyk (children Bronislaw and Mieczyslaw)
remained in Wolica in 1949 and were listed as Roman Catholic. I know
from my research that Tomasz was at least part if not all Ukrainian
Lemko and that his family was at one time Greek Catholic. There is a
Bronislaw Semanczyk buried in the Wolica cemetery; I presume that's
Tomasz and Salmomea's son.
- The Lemkos of Zboiska were moved 9 Apr 1946.
- My family (who lived in Wolica) was probably moved before 22 May 1946.
This matches my cousin's story that she was moved from Wolica in April
of 1946.
- In Wolica 168 people were *not* moved. I don't know if this represents
168 Lemkos that were not moved or if only 168 people remained in Wolica
after the Lemkos were forced out.
- Due to WWII and fighting between the Polish Army and the UPA, the
villages of Bel~chowka, Ratnawica, Tokarnia and Wola Piotrowa were
destroyed and/or their populations removed.

From Sanok Jaromir and I arrived in Przemysl by noon where I ate the
strangest pizza I've ever had (dough with tomato slices on top plus a
fistful of green peas and corn covered with mozzarella and baked). After
this odd lunch we went to the archive and asked about OW documents. The
archivist was quite forthcoming and helpful, just the opposite of those
in the Sanok archive. And the records that I want were there -- records
of who got resettled where and what property was appropriated by the
state. I was so excited! Unfortunately, the archive documents are housed
in different building than the catalog so one must order documents in
advance, and they don't take orders after noon. You also can't order
documents over the phone (e.g. "I will be there in one hour, I want to
look at..."). One must be there to fill out a form in person, in Polish.
(I don't imagine you'd accomplish much here without speaking at least
some Polish.) In short, a day trip to this archive isn't really feasible
unless you start the day in Przemysl (or bright & early in Sanok). Final
archive notes: copying is allowed at 2 Zl per page. I don't know if
digital cameras are permitted.

If I seemed unprepared during this trip, I was. =) This opportunity came
with no advance warning. I was glad to get it and am very grateful to
Jaromir for all of his help.

In the words of Aahnold: I'll be back!

Philip