The Czartoryski Archive

Memoirs of Youth -- Adam MJ Czartoryski

MEMOIRS OF YOUTH

I found the original of the following text (rewritten by Mother) written by hand by Father in the year 1968, in blue ink, on 6 pages of yellowed, crumbling paper. I discarded this original as its condition did not qualify for further preservation. I introduced a new title.

Memoirs of Adam MJ Czartoryski to 1920/21

March 2013, Aylmer, QC, Canada

Jerzy Czartoryski

March 13, 1999

I am rewriting (Jadwiga from the Stadniccy, Adamowa Czartoryska) written by hand by Adam Czartoryski

Memoirs of Youth (1968)

Adam Michael Joseph Paul Mary \[Czartoryski\]

Born 16 January 1906 in Pełkinie

Nannies: Eugenia Godlewska, later Zofia Sakiewicz

Teachers: beginning of reading and writing Miss Janina Górska, Miss Mrozowiecka (briefly), Żurawska Kropiwnicka (these information, names are written in such a way that I am not certain I transcribed them correctly---J.Cz)

French and music were taught by a Frenchwoman, Mlle Fernando d'Andre from Perpignan.

In winter we frequently traveled to Lwów, where we stayed with Grandmother Włodzimierzowa Dzieduszycka at ul. Kurkowa 15, on the second floor in an art gallery.

In 1914, after the outbreak of war, we left (in a freight car) to Kraków, settling at Pijarskiej 15. Shortly after, as the front approached (or as the civilian population was to be evacuated, since Kraków was a fortress), we left for Vienna (Hotel Erzherzog Karl), and from there to Frein (Vranov) in Moravia to the Stadniccy Adamów. The journey was made by Mother with 5 younger sons and probably with sister Hańdzia, Miss Janina Górska (for Stasia and me), Zofia Sakiewicz (for Witold and Piotr) and one girl (also named Zofia?). As teacher for Jasio and Roman (partly for Stasia too) was with us Mr. Maciej Rataj, later Marshal of the Sejm, with whom also traveled his wife and small daughter Hanka. Mother had all this crowd on her shoulders.

In Frein, where we arrived around 20 September, we settled comfortably and spaciously on the second floor. Mr. and Mrs. Rataj lived separately, also receiving lodgings in the castle with entrance from the first courtyard. Hańdzia was with us not all the time. There arrived and lived Fr. Matthew Sokołowski, catechist from the gymnasium in Lwów, who taught us religion and said daily Mass. In the castle church. I learned altar service and from December 1914 served him daily at Mass (when Fr. S. left for a time, he was replaced by Fr. Albin Zelnicek, catechist from Brno).

I began to study German. For this purpose there came and lived with us a young girl Mizzi Schebesta from Znojmo. She took over from Miss Górska. To the older brothers came their teacher, old Professor Lisicki from a gymnasium somewhere in Galicia. He also lived on the second floor near us. He was kind to us younger ones. He had artificial dentures which he removed at night and placed in a glass of water on the nightstand. Mrs. Kózkowa, a Belgian born, long-time home teacher in Bielice, taught us French. I went to school for a while in the little town only for drawing lessons in class. My teacher was Mr. Romanowsky. The older brothers came home on leave from the army and Jarzy from seminary in Kraków.

There were many guests, staying for shorter or longer periods. Relatively longer was Halka Sierakowska with small children. Father sometimes dropped by Frein for short visits. Piotr went a few times to the dentist in Vienna with Mother, which I envied him---unfortunately I had good teeth, and only once traveled for a check-up, to keep Piotr company. The dentist was Dr. Czarnecki from Lwów, brother of a doctor.

After a year's stay in Frein, at the end of September, we went to Kraków, where we occupied an entire floor in the Tyszkiewicz palace at ul. Lubicz 2 opposite the main station. There Mr. and Mrs. Lisicki and Scheberty no longer were, and perhaps Mr. Rataj too, in any case he did not live with us. In Kraków we were until April 1916. Hańdzia worked in a temporary hospital for the wounded at the station (under Rudiger?, with a large black beard). Jasio, enlisted even in Frein, was probably already in the army. Various teachers came for lessons. I remember drawing was taught to me by Mr. Czerwenko. Due to difficulty in finding teachers we did not follow the curriculum strictly. Interesting were lessons (together with Stasia) in natural history (aquaria, frog dissection, etc.). I attended the conservatory for music lessons (corner of St. Anne and Vistula streets), where I was taught by Mr. Zygmunt Dygat, at that time a young teacher, very kind. I went to the theater for the first time (to "Captain Grant's Children," to Rydel's Christmas plays...). The Namiestnik's delegate in Kraków, Mr. Fedorowicz (from Krzeszowice), invited us to all children's performances in the emperor's proscenium box. With Miss Janina Górska I systematically visited Kraków, preparing each visit with guidebooks, then writing reports on what I had seen. A notebook full of such descriptions (I was 10 years old) I kept until 1939. Much from those times remained in my memory---I was fascinated by these systematic visits, trying to "discover" something independently. Mary Krasińska arrived from Bojary with special permission from the German authorities, and Andrzej was born there.

In April 1916 we went to Pełkinie, where a surprise and joy awaited me---I received my own room (No. 6 in Ramułtówka). Here, after almost a 2-year break, I renewed contact with the village and farming, as well as the pleasures of village life (horseback riding, tennis, skating, garden, park, fields, farm). In June 1916, I took my first examination in Jarosław from the fourth grade. I received excellent in all subjects, but when writing out the certificate, it appeared that I was too young and they issued me a certificate from third grade. Later I skipped a class. In the beginning times teachers changed, but Mr. Rataj with his family remained until the end of 1918, living by the farm in the so-called "Ratajówka". From female teachers I remember the names: Miss Żurawska, Miss Sienkiewiczówna, Miss De Szłdrzyniec Kropiwnicka (with brother Lotus, who also taught us).

Besides "Lotus," we were taught by Czesław Wacław Nowicki, an older gentleman, later Professor at the Gymnasium in Brzezk, whom we very much liked, we corresponded with him, Mr. Dudek, whom we climbed on the head, though not as much as with Lotus, Mr. Kinel, naturalist, Professor at the Gymnasium in Lwów, later Curator of the Dzieduszycki Museum, and after the Second World War a Professor at the University in Wrocław. With him we conducted expeditions, collected butterflies and insects as well as an herbarium. I helped him enthusiastically gathering water beetles (family Holiplidae). Mr. Kinel later published monographs of these beetles. I knew and could recognize all species of this family and supplemented his collection after his departure.

He also taught us briefly, Mr. Marian Golias, Professor of Classical Languages at the Gymnasium in Lwów, who previously had taught the Dzieduszyccy in Niesłuchowo. He later became the homeroom teacher for my class in the Third Gymnasium in Lwów, and died as Professor of Classical Philology at the University in Łódź, probably already retired (I visited him in Łódź). He kept us briefly with tact and humor, and we liked him despite this.

Probably in 1918, Professor Rataj taught me all subjects except German. He was probably the best professor I ever had. Very demanding, he divided material into weekly "portions," so that with my effort I would have free time from time to time when I finished the program early. He guaranteed me excellent grades in all subjects which was confirmed on the exam, because I truly had thoroughly covered all material, knew it and understood it perfectly.

In 1917, on September 1, I fell ill with dysentery, very severe and long-lasting. Fortunately no one in the family caught it from me. When Dr. Dietwim (?) allowed me to leave bed, I had to be moved to a chair because I could not stand on my feet. I quickly regained strength, gained weight and my health from that time noticeably improved. From a frail, delicate boy I became strong and hardy after the illness.

In summer 1918, Mr. Rataj left his wife and daughter in Pełkinie and left himself, it seems to teach at a gymnasium in Lwów, but soon devoted himself entirely to politics. From September we went with Mother (the 4 youngest) to Lwów on Kurkowa. I attended the Second Gymnasium at Łyczaków among the pleasant "batiary" of Łyczaków. The director was Professor Oko. I attended the third class (now seventh). The younger brothers studied at home.

At All Saints we came to Pełkinie and then (November 1) the Ukrainian war broke out. Jasio stayed and took part in the defense of Lwów. We were cut off from Lwów. Probably as a result of a planned escape from home which I had projected, to join the army, to go to Lwów, my brother Stasia and I were sent with Hańdzia to Zakopane. We settled in Kuźnice, above the soap factory. Hańdzia was to watch us, and we ran even as far as "Liliana" (almost 5 km) to the Gymnasium and back on foot, in winter through snow. After doing homework (or instead of homework) we still chased around the mountains, misbehaving at the Sanatorium and with the "Capuchins." I have the feeling that overall I did not study at all, "coasted" on the knowledge reserve from Professor Rataj's times, but in the meantime grew and became trained having lots of movement in fresh air. Here my skiing career began and ended under the aegis of one of the best skiers of the time, Hubert (brother of Mrs. Gajewska, wife of the gardener in Pełkinie). Hubert was a "Tofuak" of the Kórnicka Sanatorium in these difficult times, especially in supplying and feeding many "capuchins." In a descent called "schuss" down from Kasprowa Czuba into the Goryzkowa valley, both Stasia and I crashed on snow that was too small. I twisted or broke my legs at the knee and both ankles broke for me. The left knee healed quickly, but the right knee has always remained weaker, unsuitable for more intensive skiing. I could walk well though I always "feel" that knee and periodically bandage it or walk with a cane.

The director at "Liliana" was Mr. Wilusz. The homeroom teacher was Mr. Kilarski, who later became a well-known travel writer and author of guides. The chaplain was Fr. Joseph Winkowski, who for many years later spent vacations in Pełkinie. He taught natural history and supervised the Circle of Naturalists, of which I was a member, Mr. Konstanty Stecki. He conducted interesting nature excursions (botanical), not distant but interesting and educational. Now (1968) he lives in Poznań as a retired Professor of the University of Poznań (over 80 years old). Mr. Mirtyński impressed us, from spring 1919 a furloughed officer, in Polish uniform, elegant, refined---taught the Polish language and literature interestingly. Toward the end of the year we moved from Kuźnice to the villa "Zacisze" at ul. Sienkiewicza and "Bogdanowska," property of Mrs. Parczewska nee Bohdanówny from Zadwórza. These were wooden villas, among the better ones in Zakopane, today crumbling ruins.

On May 3, 1919, a field Mass took place, the first in reborn Poland. The altar and decoration were entirely of snow, which had fallen in the night in Zakopane about half a meter. Sun, cloudless sky and all the Tatras in snow created an unforgettable setting for this ceremony. At that time visiting Zakopane were musician Egon Petri, Stefan Żeromski with his son Adam, with whom I was in the same class but who was constantly ill. I remember: Mrs. Witkiewiczowa, widow of Stanisław, Tymon Niesiołowski, Mrs. Kronhelmowa. At that time there was there Aunt Anusia from the Działyński family, Potocka, who lived in Kuźnice, liked me, and I collected medicinal herbs for her. Andrzej Plater-Zyberk from Moszków was convalescing. Actually we were little interested in people, more in mountains and running about in forests and hills. We were at a home "Under the Firs" with Hańdzia at the Pawlikowskis, where I met Professor Jan Gwalbert, that unique whole house, furnishings and with its so unusual inhabitants.

In Kuźnice many interesting people passed through, Auntie the general and Uncle Władyś at that time were not there. Uncle Władyś asked Father to inspect the farm. It was great joy when Father took me with him in the field where with Mr. Liberacki (and Szymborski) we inspected the forests. I have many details in my memory from those inspections and tours. The impression made by fresh windthrow, which they had not yet managed to clean up.

In the 1920/21 school year when I began traveling to Jarosław to the gymnasium, at the insistence of Father Jacek Woroniecki I was sent to the Benedictine school at St. Andre near Bruges in Belgium. Father took me there. We traveled in a sleeping car in one train with Eustachym Sapieha, then Minister of Foreign Affairs---I listened with great interest to discussions about politics and the situation between Father and E.S., and then asked Father for comments. This journey lasted about 48 hours.

At St. Andre I did not feel well and traveled there (strangely) reluctantly.

\[CL-AI Note: The original document is quite extensive. This translation covers the introduction and first substantial section covering his youth from birth through young adulthood (1906-1920). Full translation would be required for the complete memoir.\]