The Great Tree

What force can make a village multiply the number of people in it 5 times over in the space of a few hours? Family! Because family is like a mighty tree.

The reunion pack

We reach the village of Jasionka, set between Zbuczyn and Wiśniew, shortly before 9.00. On the field that coloured signposts have been pointing to for several kilometres there is not much movement yet.

As we get out in the still-empty car park we see several large marquees, a bouncy castle with a slide ready for the children, several dozen sunshades and a good-sized stage with rows of benches in front of it. Stanisław Orzełowski — the enthusiast without whom there would be no First Jasiński Family Reunion — has barely stepped out of the car before he is talking to relatives. Now he is explaining to a group of older ladies who Dorota and her daughter Klaudia are, the 2 women from Kraków who came with us.

A moment later I come to a smaller marquee marked "Name badges". Inside there are a few small tables, a row of boards with rectangular badges pinned to them, and a group of young people. Before long they will become something like a customer service desk. For now they are listening to Katarzyna, one of the Reunion organisers. "Here are the instructions, in case I go into labour," she explains, touching her rounded belly tenderly through her dress. Then she goes on: that we look people up by first name (guests from outside the family too); that those described in the Family Book have been divided into branches marked with letters, while people from branches not yet covered have badges with crosses and question marks; and that everyone is to receive a reunion pack. I get one as well. It holds a full programme of the day, a fair-sized booklet of "Reunion songs" and, last of all, a leaflet on the history of Jasionka.

Equipped with all this, Dorota, Klaudia and I go over to the board showing the family tree. For a few minutes now only an elderly gentleman has been studying it closely. Later crowds with cameras will descend on it, and my new acquaintance will ask her mother: "Are we from Józef or from Adam?" "From Józef, son of Adam," Dorota will reply, and then Przemek, Mr Stanisław's son, will explain what the symbol "C61521" on the younger woman's badge means.

I recognise them, I do

There are still almost 2 hours to the official start of the Reunion, and there is already a sizeable crowd at the "badge desk". And the snatches of conversation I will hear dozens of times today. "Do you know who that is? Auntie Jadzia, and that is her son and daughter," says a voice behind my back. "A beautiful blonde, she lived by the church," a lady approaching seventy reminds her children, before they hug a cousin they have not seen for years. "There is Baśka! Dressed in blue," another man calls out, pointing to the benches in front of the stage. "I go to weddings, to funerals and to family reunions," a man in sportswear explains. Someone beside him says he has told Hania so many times to get her own family together at last, and an elderly lady by the marquee confides: "I recognise them, I do. We get a bit muddled, but we recognise each other."

"I came here for my mother," Dorota says after a while. "She died 2 weeks ago. This reunion mattered a great deal to her," she adds. And with every hour that passes I will understand her better. If only because on the badges I will find more than 50 different place names: from Siedlce and its neighbourhood, through Gdańsk, Kraków, Maciejowice, Częstochowa and Katowice, all the way to… Vienna.

My soul rejoices

It is 11.00 already, the hour at which the Mass was to begin. "Please be patient for a minute, there is a great crush at our family ambassadors," S. Orzełowski announces over the microphone. Like a good many of the cousins settled on benches, chairs, tables and blankets (most with sunshades to keep off the sun), I glance towards the marquee with the badges. There is indeed a queue of at least 200 people. "My Basia, my wife, is asked to come," Mr Stanisław adds meanwhile from the stage.

The Mass is concelebrated by 7 priests. "We think of taking part in the reunion as a pilgrimage to our roots. To a great tree," says Fr Michał Rozwadowski, parish priest of Our Lady Help of Christians in Borki near Radzyń Podlaski, during the service. The tree that holds thousands of people in close bonds will be mentioned again by the organisers and by the man whose idea this gathering was, rewarded by those present with flowers and "Sto lat" for sharing what matters most: love of the family. "My soul rejoices that I have been allowed to live to see this moment," he will say, not hiding his emotion. "The Jasińskis of Jasionka are a mighty tree! I greet you all warmly, worthy relatives, and ask you never to forget that every tree withers if its roots do not reach water. Our family tree will wither too if we do not feed it with brotherly feeling."

Then come further announcements, among them an invitation to take part in a family photograph. But since the family gathered here is a large one ("There are a thousand!" Przemek announces happily as I come up to the badge desk), the photograph is out of the ordinary too. Everyone on the field is recorded for posterity by Karol and Rysiek, who, thanks to a fire engine fitted with a ladder, are now rising to a height of… 30 m. By chance I end up in the front row.

Keen on their own history

14.25. Now it is just as a family gathering should be. Cameras click, the murmur of conversation never dies down (it drops a little only while the cousins are eating) and there are performances on the stage. I find Dorota and Klaudia in the company of Józef, Mr Stanisław's brother. As at the Orzełowski family reunion held 4 years ago, he serves as Master of the Family Seal. He wields a great stamp with the family coat of arms, which he presses onto songbooks and onto the bulky volumes of the family book. These can be bought near the entrance to the field. Although those who paid the subscription will get their copies later, many are already buying books for their relatives. "The Jasińskis are very keen on their own history," says Mrs Mirosława of Wólka Konopna. Heavy though the books are, people keep them close, and often begin reading the moment they have paid.

10 minutes later the crowds of participants set off in procession through the village. "Look how many people. And they said they would not go. Jasionka waited 600 years, but its day has come," says Mr Stanisław. Then he stops at one house after another, explaining which branch of the family began there. After 20 minutes we reach the local wayside shrine. Here the stone commemorating the Reunion is unveiled, a message to those who come after us is buried beneath it, and the oak is planted. Those with cameras besiege the site of these symbolic acts like paparazzi. The villagers, even those with other surnames, listen in delight as well.

The spirit is like a seed

It is past 17.00. The procession is back and the uhlan display, in which the Orzełowski brothers — also relatives of the Jasińskis, of course — delighted the gathering, is over. Only now does Mr Stanisław find time to eat. Tired but happy, he talks to a reporter from Radio Podlasie. There is modesty and satisfaction in his voice. "I feel honoured that God let me do this," he admits, and a moment later is speaking of the priceless help of his closest family and his fellow workers, without whom the Reunion would never have happened. "People today are short of spirit, but I hope the Reunion will wake it. This seed will come up," he adds with conviction.

And before I leave Jasionka I know that it has already begun to come up. As the cousins were lining up for the reunion photograph, I met Andrzej Jasiński, a man in his twenties, who created the site jasinscy.org.pl. "I found out about Mr Stanisław a month ago, entirely by chance," he told me. "I think I always had leanings towards looking into my roots, but somehow there was never time. When I learned about the Reunion on the internet, I caught fire at the idea. It turned out that Mr Stanisław has a great deal of information about my ancestors that is not in the family book. I want to take it up. The Reunion convinced me it is worth it. I was sceptical, but what the Committee did went beyond anything I expected. A fantastic thing! I believe there will be more gatherings!" he finished.

After what I experienced during those 9 hours on Saturday, 21 July, in Jasionka, I cannot but agree with him.

Siedlce, 26 July 2007. Author: Bartosz Szumowski · Source: Echo Katolickie, Siedlce (echo.siedlce.net).

Cuttings from "Echo Katolickie"

• 
•