We met the relatives of Władysław Jakubowski
Thanks to the help of family history enthusiasts and friends and supporters of the Remembrance Museum of Land of Oświęcim Residents, we have been able to reconstruct part of the life story of the craftsman from Brzeszcze.
In 2021, the Remembrance Museum of Land of Oświęcim Residents received a journeyman’s certificate from over 110 years ago for its collection. It belonged to Władysław Jakubowski, born in 1887 in Brzeszcze. As it turned out, a man with the same name and surname and born in 1887 was buried in the cemetery in Brzeszcze. However, it was not certain whether it was the same person.
We are looking for relatives of Władysław Jakubowski from Brzeszcze
In December 2021, we made an attempt to find the relatives of Władysław Jakubowski. We sent information to the media on this subject. A friend of the Remembrance Museum, Teresa Jankowska, who lives in Brzeszcze and is a member of the Oświęcim District Board, also joined the search.
Among the messages that came in response to the museum was an e-mail from Michał Sobol. He wrote:
“At the outset, I would like to mention that I am writing about the Władysław who rests in the cemetery in Brzeszcze together with his mother Ewa Jakubowska, but I am not sure that this is the same person that the guild certificate refers to. I am the great-grandson of his youngest sister Zofia Klus (née Jakubowska). Władysław Jakubowski was the son of Jakub and Ewa, née Korczyk. Jakub came from Zator, whilst Ewa came from Jawiszowice and before settling in Brzeszcze belonged to the local parish of St Martin. Władysław Jakubowski had numerous siblings: Karolina, Maria, Anna, Helena, Filomena and Leon and the youngest Zofia (my great-grandmother born in 1905)”
Michał Sobol, who lives in Brzeszcze, turned out to be a person who meticulously documents family stories.
“I liked listening to my grandmother and grandfather’s stories,” he said when asked what made him interested in the fate of his ancestors.
Staff at the Remembrance Museum checked the entries in the registry books that are currently held at the St. Urban Parish office in Brzeszcze (with the help of Father Kazimierz Kulpa, the parish priest) and were able to establish that Władysław Jakubowski, as described by the Remembrance Museum and the person named by Michał Sobol are the same person.
Thanks to Michał Sobol we also discovered that Władysław Jakubowski was married three times but had no children. As for some of the events in Władysław’s life, only conjecture remains. Information about them comes from oral tradition and is not documented.
“He belonged to the second generation of the Jakubowskis who settled in Brzeszcze, the first being Jakub (his father, who also worked on the railway, including its construction) and his brothers (Władysław’s uncles): Tomasz Jakubowski and Michał Jakubowski (tailor). The Jakubowskis who now live in Brzeszcze are the descendants of those three brothers,” wrote the family history enthusiast.
Michał Sobol has made photographs available to the museum, thanks to which we know what the locksmith from Brzeszcze looked like.
“The portrait photo dates from the late 1950s and early 1960s, while the other is a photograph from the wedding of my great-grandparents – Zofia Jakubowska and Jan Klus (June 1931). Władysław Jakubowski is standing in the last row, holding a glass, while Ewa and Jakub Jakubowski, the parents of Władysław and Zofia, are sitting beside the bride and groom,” pointed out Michał Sobol.
Thanks to his passion for documenting family history and his time, it has been possible to learn more about the fate of people who lived in the Oświęcim area.
The Remembrance Museum of Land of Oświęcim Residents is a local cultural institution run by the Oświęcim District and co-managed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.
The mission of the Museum is to carry out activities aimed at commemorating the inhabitants of the Land of Oświęcim, with particular emphasis on the period of World War II and the aid they rendered to KL Auschwitz prisoners, often at the risk of their own lives.
The permanent exhibition in the museum building at 2A Kolbego Street in Oświęcim will open to the public in May 2022.
June 1931. The wedding of Zofia Jakubowska (sister of Władysław Jakubowski) and Jan Klus. Władysław stands first from the right (with a glass in his hand)
Photo: Family Archive of Michał Sobol
Władysław Jakubowski on a photograph from the late 1950s and early 1960s.
Photo: Family archive of Michał Sobol
Entry in the register of births of Władysław Jakubowski on 8 November 1887 in Brzeszcze
Photo: Collection of Remembrance Museum of Land of Oświęcim Residents
Apprenticeship certificate of Władysław Jakubowski, 1908
Photo: Collection of Remembrance Museum of Land of Oświęcim Residents
