If you are looking for a truly personalized tour guide to help you locate the site of an ancestor’s birthplace in Poland, get in touch immediately with Tomasz Laskowski and Poznan Tours! I originally found his name and agency on this forum a couple of years ago.
Tomasz is an experienced and skilled group tour guide, whose knowledge of Polish history, and major tourist sites across Poland is likely unsurpassed. He is clever, personable, well-organized and prepared, communicates promptly, and was unusually patient and flexible while adjusting our itinerary in order to meet our changing wishes. Tomasz’s command of written and spoken English is impeccable, and he has some fluency in German and Greek, in addition to his first language, Polish. His services are provided at a very reasonable rate.
But in addition, Tomasz has a special talent at researching and designing journeys to link individuals with their ancestral roots. My husband and I recently returned from a trip to Poland, with the primary goal of visiting the church in Kcynia where my great grandfather, Carl Gottlieb Ulrich, was baptized in 1839, and the cemetery where his parents and siblings were buried. Tomasz helped us realize that goal, but went way above and beyond what we expected, in order to locate the site of the now nonexistent village of Neudorf Muehle, near the Netze/Notec river. Prior to our arrival, Tomasz and his employee Jaroslaw conducted a search of church records, to confirm that my ancestors indeed came from this area. They also searched maps dating back to the 1800’s, and with a local horticulturalist who advises farmers on crop planning, located the remote site of the ruins of the of grain mill and community of Neudorf Muehle . It was with great excitement that we were able to walk to and photograph this site. Tomasz’s preparation for our tour was no small task, and his work far exceeded our expectations.
Part of the “icing on the cake” was that Tomasz and a local Farm Horticultural Advisor, made arrangements for us to visit with a local farmer and his two sons, who, over the last 30 years, have been able to develop a large farming operation, growing wheat, rye, barley and corn on 1000 acres. As a former farm girl and manager of my family’s farms in Nebraska, it was pure delight to be able to visit with this farm family about crops, yields, farming practices, and challenges associated with farming. We were honored that the family graciously invited us into their home for coffee where we chatted and laughed, and learned that farm family life in Poland is very similar to that of Midwestern farm families in the U.S.
We ended our exciting day, toasting Tomasz and his sweet wife, Anna, at a wonderful Poznan restaurant that specializes in serving authentic Polish dishes (e.g. perogi, duck blood soup, roast duck, wild boar cutlets in chantrelle mushroom sauce etc.). Topping everything off, Tomasz and Anna presented us with maps, photos of the Evangelical Lutheran church site, and links to church documents that Tomasz and Jaroslaw had prepared before our journey began.
Our only regret is that we didn’t spend more time with Tomasz and Anna to learn more about life under communist rule. We highly recommend Tomasz Laskowski and Poznan Tours, and are certain that future customers will be very pleased with his services.
Laura & Richard R., Nebraska