"In Opole we met with our translator and guide, Kinga Pietrzkowska-Mroz. Bob Prokott had told me to contact Kinga who served as his translator when he was in Opole a few years ago for a family reunion. She teaches English at the Polytechnic Institute of Opole and welcomed the opportunity to practice the language with us. Kinga is a charming, generous person and fortunately had a day off work to spend with us in our search for information about Kampa ancestors. Call it providence or good luck, Kinga remembered a class mate from high school or university days named Kampa who was from Polska Nowa Wies, Kornelia Kampa. She called Kornelia Kampa-Gryoss (professionals use hyphenated last names) who was available for a short time. Nela is a dentist who has an office in a building built by her grandfather who lives nearby. Her own home and her parents live in the same neighborhood. She's about 49, married with two sons - one a student of Psychology studying in the U.S. and the other still in high school - and a daughter who is backpacking in Ukraine. She has a brother and a cousin in dentistry, a brother living in Berlin who's an engineer and a sister. We received one of her sister's small paintings in exchange for the gift we brought.
"Nela welcomed us warmly in passable English and she frequently flashed the winsome smile you see in the photos. We weren't able to determine whether our families are actually related on the spot. However, her brother in Berlin knows a lot about the family background. I will email information from the Stimler/Kampa website and genealogy for her to use as she consults with her brother and others. Bonnie and I want to declare her a cousin no matter what we learn about family ties.
"We were nicely surprised about the conditions we found in and around the village of Polska Nowa Wies and the neighboring village Komprachcice. Homes are nicely maintained, streets are clean, Saint Francis of Assisi church is immaculate - see it at http://www.parafia.komprachcice.eu/viewpage.php?page_id=4, fields are well laid out. The church and cemetery reminded me of St. Lawrence Catholic church in Duelm. There is also a wonderful outdoor museum with exhibits of the architecture of rural 18th and 19th century Silesian village farms, homes, buildings. See for yourself at http://www.muzeumwsiopolskiej.pl
"The city of Opole is one of contrasts. It's still rather blighted with many dreary apartment complexes - but satellite TV dishes sprout from every one. There is a huge shopping mall outside the city and a very modern shopping complex in the heart of the city surrounded by little shops. Cellphones and texting young people are to be seen everywhere. On the way over from Prague we saw lines of commercial trucks heading east carrying goods for Poland. The area seems to be prospering. We heard that Silesia is doing better economically than parts of the country further east."
Nela and sons
There are many Kampas, Jureks, Dzuiks and Barteks buried in this cemetery
that serves Polska Nowa Wies and Komprachcice.
-- from a June 30, 2009 e-mail
