Raczki

We are walking on the traces left by others, who lived here before us.
It is on top of their already-written stories that we fill the page anew with our own;
blurring the signs of their sojourn, adding our own storylines to theirs.

Premysław Czapliński

trans. Karen Underhill & Tomasz Tabako

Raczki is a gmina--or commune, borough, parish--comprised of the town of Raczki itself, along with over 30 hamlets (settlements, rural neighborhoods) which range in size from fewer than 5 to around 40 households:

Bakaniuk
Bolesty
Chocki
Chodorki
Dowspuda
Franciszkowo
Jankielówka
Jaśki
Józefowo
Koniecbór
Korytki
Krukówek
Kurianki I
Kurianki II
Lipowo
Lipówka
Ludwinowo
Małe Raczki
Moczydły

Click on the map to see a full-screen version.

Ogrodniki
Planta
Podwysokie
Rabalina
Rudniki
Szkocja
Sidory
Słoboda
Stoki
Sucha Wieś
Szczodruchy
Wasilówka
Wierciochy
Witówka
Wronowo
Wysokie
Ziółkowo
Żubrinek

Fewer than 10 households	20-29 households
10-19 households	Over 30 households
No information available
Data extracted from the 2002 Suwałki phone book Map located at Plac Kosciuszki, Raczki

Raczki is the area from which my grandfather and several of his siblings emigrated to the U.S. at the beginning of the 20th century. Having finally had the opportunity to visit recently, I'm using the pictures I took and my prior research to create a website designed to provide some information about--to catch the flavor of--the area from which your ancestors might have come, and to share what I've been able to learn about my Raczki ancestors.

In exploring the Raczki of today, I was also trying to get a glimpse of the Raczki of yesterday. That glimpse, while primarily from my imagination and research, was aided by remnants of the past that I saw:

19th century, non-gasoline powered farming technologies--next door to 20th century technologies;

the parish church, which both reflects post-Vatican II Catholicism and bears witness to the past through statues and fixtures bearing 19th century dates;

wayside shrines;

monuments to the sorrows and courage of Poland's past.

And although I wasn't able to find any more documentation about my family history, I was fortunate to meet local residents who were willing to work patiently with my pitifully weak Polish to try to help me in my search.

So, while the following subpages of this site may not help you with your search for data about your Raczki-area ancestors, perhaps just as importantly they might help you gain a stronger understanding of the land and life.

Since these pages are filled with photographs, they may load slowly.

  Landscape   Town of Raczki

  Holy Trinity Church   Wayside Shrines

  Dowspuda & Pac Palace   Raczki Area Links

  Raczki History   Ostrowski Family from Raczki

*Landscape*	*Town of Raczki*
*Holy Trinity Church*	*Wayside Shrines*
*Dowspuda & Pac Palace*	*Raczki Area Links*
*Raczki History*	*Ostrowski Family from Raczki*

Ancestral Streams Homepage.