Borsch Anyone?

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Confused ?  Well, Had history gone differently by just a few miles I could very well be speaking Russian.  Or not exist at all since my parents would never have met at the "Paczki Dance" at St. Joseph's Church in Jackson, Michigan, USA.  Heck, half of the population of Jackson may not exist because THAT is how intertwined the descendants of the Poles from Suwalki are. They came, married, and multiplied in a fervent effort to keep their faith, language, and culture alive for as long as possible. 

There are several ways to determine where your ancestors in Poland may have come from.  They include but are not limited to Census Records, Death Certificates, and or the "Ship Manifest" of the vessel or vessels they boarded to get here. It is also quite possible that each will give you a different answer. For example, they could point to a birth in Poland, Russia, Prussia, or Germany depending on the answer given to the recorder at the time as well as their interest in being accurate. This is a copy of the boat manifest for my Great-Grandmother's Uncle Stanley Laski who (along with thousands of others) preceded her to American shores.

The Polish cities of Suwalki, Lomza, and Plock accounted for most of the emigration to the U.S. until 1904. Even as late as 1905 Suwalki still accounted for 1/3 of Russian Polish immigrants sailing to America. In Suwalki Poles were not allowed to own land, practice their faith and in some cases they could not speak their native language without fear of official retribution. When we look at where Suwalki is geographically we can see why when the opportunity presented itself they ran.

This is the oldest map of Poland that I could find. Suwalki sits atop of the rest of Poland and is a continual battleground for ownership between Lithuania, Poland and Russia. 
More on Suwalki History

This 1939 map shows the area as split up after WWI. Nothing is easy Suwalki...
Suwalki Agreement 

And last but certainly still "almost" part of there is the "Suwalski Gap".  Suwalki it seems is NATO's top choice for location most likely to host the beginning of WWIII.  Just yesterday Poland gave a not so subtle request/hope that the US troops being pulled from Germany will be sent to Poland. Yikes....I think I will pass on visiting the Motherland any time in the near or far future. The Suwalki Gap