Preface
O the greatness of the mercy of our God, the Holy One of Israel! … For he knoweth all things, and there is not anthing save he knows it.
- Jacob, The Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 9:19-20
If there exists any record, knowledge, story, or other information on Earth with the name of your ancestor or part of her/his story, our Heavenly Father and our Savior know exactly where such records are. You can find it; you should find it.
- The Authors
Уважение к минувшему – вот черта, отличающая образован-ность от дикости.
Respect for the past is the attribute that distinguishes educated society from a savage one.
-Александр Сергеевич ПУШКИН,
О русской словесности (стр. 367),
Набросок, 1830
- AleksandrSergeevich PUSHKIN,
On Russian Literature, 367, Draft, 1830,
Translation by the Authors
Nescire autem quid ante quam natus sis acciderit, id est semper esse puerum. Quid enim est aetas hominis, nisi ea memoria rerum veterum cum superiorum aetate contexitur?
To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain perpetually a child. For what is the worth of a human life unless it is woven into the life of our ancestors by the records of history?
- Marcus Tullius Cicero, (106-43 B.C.E.), Orator Ad M. Brutum,
Chapter XXXIV, section 120, 46 B.C.E
Dnieper River near Kokhonovo, Krasny, Smolensk, Russian Federation, 2015. (Image 0001)
(54°41'04.0" N 31°34'04.0" E – village of Kokhonovo; 54°40'57.6" N 31°33'15.5" E – location of photograph)
(HF, 18 April 1927 1)
“I love you, my Ziunia2,” he said quietly in Polish3. He had walked up behind her, put his strong arms around her slim but surprisingly muscular back. He kissed her as he put his work-worn hands on her pregnant stomach.
Józefa smiled in a way that only he – her husband, Wincenty4 – ever saw. There was no kissing or hugging5 in the homes on the Borkowski land6. They, the Borkowski’s, were higher Polish nobility7 than the Kimont family from which she came8. The Belarusian heritage of the Borkowski family didn’t help either.
Her mother and father would occasionally hug in front of Józefa and her siblings, and they would kiss as well. This was perfectly acceptable in the lower, landless nobility, especially in Lithuanian Russia.
Józefa was glad that Wincenty spoke in Polish. She replied in Lithuanian, “Happy sixth anniversary9!” Wincenty had never spoken Lithuanian aloud in front of his wife. Józefa realized that he quickly learned Lithuanian after her arrival – that arrival with many other Lithuanians10. She had realized it because of some comments he made about some of her Lithuanian girlfriends after a visit to the city. It was only later the same evening that she realized that, in making those comments, Wincenty had unwittingly let her know that he understood almost perfectly. That had been less than two months after her arrival.
“I wonder if Helena11, Liusia12, and little Zheni13,” she patted her belly as she mentioned the last given name, “will take walks with their husbands along the river. What about their children and grandchildren? It’s so beautiful…”
Her voice trailed off into silence as she realized that she had switched from Polish to Russian to speak the last sentence. Things were different, now. The Bolsheviks looked militant whenever they heard Polish14. Some would say things such as, “Speak only in Russian, you White!” or “No more of that silly, child talk, Burgeois!15” In addition to the derogatory language, there had also been beatings15.
Wincenty had realized what Józefa was really thinking from the time she had started talking about the children. He remembered her stories about the Russian captain. Józefa could still quote the whole conversation perfectly.16
“Iosif17, you need to leave. Your German is too good18. They will find a reason to punish you, especially because you are so popular with the Lithuanian peasants…and the Jews.” The sound of artillery in the warm August air19 and a strong feeling, Iosif’s wife said it was the Holy Spirit, had come that night. This led Iosif and his wife, Teklė20, to pack up their belongings that night21. They – Józefa, Józefa’s four sisters and two brothers22 – were on the road to Russia the next day.23
A similar thing happened in 192024 when Iosif moved his family back to Lithuania25. No one knew how long the Bolsheviks would let them return26. This time there was a week to pack and a train to take, but it had still felt so hasty. Wincenty had believed Józefa’s promise, given at the train station that she would come back. Iosif had already given his blessing to their union. Luckily, there were still no problems when Józefa did return the next year25.
Wincenty wasn’t sure if he said the truth as he turned his wife so she was facing him and gave her a hug. He didn’t know that in 2015, one of their great-great granddaughters would walk along the river with her husband26 and enjoy the beauty. He couldn’t know that, several years before the 2015 visit, two grandsons27 of his uncle, Michal28, would re-purchase the Borkowski land in search of their heritage. He had faith enough to say it though:
“Милая моя, всё будет хорошо. Не волнуйтесь; мы в руках Божьих.”
No, he wasn’t sure if it was truth when he said it: “My dear, everything will be all right. Don’t be afraid; we are in God’s hands.” He didn’t know it then, and he didn’t know the hell through which they would have to go through before he would realize it had been true. As it would turn out, his statement was right.
Notes from the Preface (Will be in another document and eventually put at the end of the publication.)
1. Józefa Iosifovna KIMONT and Wincenty Dominikowicz BORKOWSKI were married on 18 April
1921. David and Anastasia had an interesting experience discovering this.
During our summer 2015 family history expedition, we were supposed to leave Moscow the ****date**** to spend the next month with Anastasia’s parents in Chelyabinsk, Chelyabinsk, Chelyabinsk, Russian Federation. This same date, we received a letter from the Moscow ZAGS (Civil Registration Bureau) telling us that the records of Józefa’s and Wincenty’s marriage had arrived from Smolensk. We thought that we would need to wait for this information.
On our way to the airport, our train stopped. It turned out that the train in front of us had broken down completely. We waited as the extra time we had given ourselves almost all ran out. Still, we arrived at the airport with what we thought was enough time to catch the flight. As it turns out, we had missed it by minutes.
It wasn’t a happy night, but the airline said that we would get our tickets refunded. The next flight was late enough in the day that Anastasia had time to go by the Civil Registration Bureau. We joked that Józefa and Wincenty had broken the train so we could get the documents. The problem was that when Anastasia got to the office, she didn’t have enough documents to get through the red tape that so often makes getting so many records difficult.
When Anastasia let Dave know, he said, “Well, at least ask them that date. The worst that can happen is that they say, ‘No, we won’t tell you that.’” Anastasia asked. They looked at the record and told her the date. That evening, we flew to Chelyabinsk with no problems.
2. Ziuna can be a diminutive form of Józefa in Polish. The name, “Zinaida”, is also used to refer to Józefa; Ziuna is also used as a short form of Zinaida. The possibility of Ziuna being diminutive for Józefa was verified by Dave as he visited Vilnius, Vilnius, Vilnius, Lithuania ****dates****. In the hostel where he stayed were three Polish students who spoke perfect English. They answered quite a few questions that helped a lot with our research.
During Anastasia’s ***year*** interview with her paternal grandmother, Евгения Викентьевна НОВГОРОДОВА БОРКОВСКАЯ (Evgeniya Vikent’evna NOVGORODOV née BORKOWSKI), Evgeniya (Grandma Zhenya) talked about these names. (It seems she didn’t know about the diminutives.)
****Quote*****
Evgeniya: “Ее не нравится Юзефа.”
Throughout most of this book, we will refer to Józefa “Zinaida or Ziunia” Iosifovna KIMONT simply as “Józefa”, because that is how we learned about her.
3. I here am assuming that, at least before the Russian Revolution, Józefa and Wincenty talked in Polish. From ***cite references with Letters to Sofia and the fact that the nobility spoke Polish.***
This hypothesis receives further credibility from the discussions we had with Михайл Вацлавович БАРКОВСКИЙ (Mikhail Vatslavovich BARKOVSKIY) Виталий Вацлавович БАРКОВСКИЙ (Vitaliy Vatslavovich BARKOVSKIY). ***Describe these two a bit*** These two men told us that in their home, with their parents who had lived on the BORKOWSKI land (see note 4), Polish was spoken in their home in ***place*** when they were young ***years***.
4. Until a few years before this publication, we always knew Józefa’s husband as Викентий (Vikentiy). This was the name by which he went in Russian-language documents and in Russia – it’s also the Russian-language form of the Polish “Wincenty”. We now believe that he went by the Polish, Wincenty, at least until the Russian Revolution. We do have one hint from a ***letter/interview*** with Anastasia’s Grandma Zhenya, (Evgeniya), where she uses the alternate spellings/pronunciations, ***write them down***.
We find a lot of interesting spelling adventures with Wincenty’s name. The BORKOWSKI family was Belarusian/Polish nobility – actually, the earliest records we have found show that they were szlachty (nobility) in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. We’ve traced the direct BORKOWSKI line back to Sluck (or Slutsk), Minsk, Belarus region. In the Belarusian documents, the surname is written, БАРКОЎСКІЙ. It seems that all of these were pronounced more-or-less consistently.
These varied orthographies help explain why different branches of this same family, the family whose original Polish name was spelled BORKOWSKI, have such different Russian-language spellings of the name. ***more about this***
With Wincenty, we have even more fun. His patronymic (a middle name which identifies the person as being the son of his/her father) shows up on various Russian-language documents as Доминикович (cite document), Даминикович (cite document), Доменикович (cite document), and ***any others***. The Polish version of his father’s name would most likely have been Dominik. The Belarusian version was almost certainly ***Belarusian orthography
5. This detail comes from notes that Anastasia took during an interview with Grandma Zhenya (Evgeniya) around ***year***. I quote from Anastasia’s notes:
Поцелуи и объятия в семье не были приняты, в отличие от семьи сестры Ольги КОКЕРАНАС.
Kisses and hugs were not [publicly] given in our family, unlike in the family of [Józefa’s] sister, Olga KAKERANAS.
This next part doesn’t completely relate to the story I’m telling, though it does give credence to the idea that more emotions could be shown in Lithuanian families. However, this next part of Anastasia’s notes means so much to me. It helps me to realize how Anastasia’s ancestors helped to create the wonderful person that she is.
Иосиф очень любил свою жену Татьяну, она полька была. Иосиф всегда проверял, одели ли девочки под платья теплые штаны или нет. Без них не отпускал. В любой час спроси его, что где лежит, он ответит. Он построил дом и качели.
Iosif was very fond of his wife Tatiana (Teklė); she was Polish. Joseph always checked whether the girls put on warm pants under their dresses or not. Without them, would not let them go outside. At any hour of the day, if you would ask him where anything in the house was and he could tell you. [He was a very sharp and a very well-organized man.] He built a house and a swing.
6. This “BORKOWSKI land” was деревня Кохоново – the village of Kokhonovo. At that time, it was likely in the Perm region, Smolensk gubernia, Russian Empire, cf. e.g. the book on Belarusian nobility. Currently (2016), the administrative divisions are as follows: (village of) Kokhonovo, (region of) Krasny, (oblast of) Smolensk, Russian Federation. The Russian way of denoting this village is, as we wrote, ***Russian version***. There is also a Belarusian way of identifying this village (cf. Minsk heraldry thingy), ***Belarusian orthography*** and a ė
7. ***Discuss the fact that the BORKOWSKI family had land*** The connection of Belarus and less displays of affection was something Dave just put in.
***Use any information from the heraldry. Talk about the fact that the KIMONT family members we found didn’t have land.*** If Iosif really was an excise officer, this would mean that he was likely landless nobility. We know he was nobility from the birth record of his son, Konstantin. ***Maybe discuss this or point to another place where it is discussed.***
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