Invitation to the V Szparaga Family Reunion

Dear Family,

On behalf of the Szparaga House Committee I would like to invite You and your family members to take part in the V SZPARAGA Family Reunion organised in the period of 26th and 27th June 2004.

The first day of our reunion begins with the meeting at 4 o’clock in the afternoon in front of the Lubraniec Mansion, district of Włocławek. The official part of the meeting starts the next day – on Sunday. The mass for our ancestors starts at 11.30 at the church in Boniewo, that in the distance of 11 kilometres from Lubraniec. Afterwards the solemn unveiling of „the Commemorating Plate of the Szparaga Family” attached on the outside wall of the church. (the text enclosed in the annex) is due to take place. The unveiling of the commemoration plate is conducted by the head of the House – eighty-seven-year-old Marian from Sarnowo. The further part of the meeting is to be continued, as in previous years, in the restaurant in Lubraniec.

This invitation does not limit your stay only to the presence during the reunion but you are also welcomed to come to Poland with your families and stay for a longer period of time. We promise to take care of you and help you in getting from the airport and paying the role of a host.

I must admit that while writing this invitation to you I am afraid of two things that your world is different and maybe the values I am mentioning are not quite clear to you or even seem naïve. I am curious of what is your attitude, those who live outside Poland, towards Family roots. How many ancestors do you know by their names? Is ‘awakening’ of the House for you living abroad just a romantic idea?

From our fathers stories, we learn that many of the Szparaga’s at the beginning of the twentieth century went to America in search of a better live. The are Szparaga lines as well in France and Germany where they settled after the II World War. Some of us moved to Germany in the eighties of the twentieth century. And finally I should mention those who are living at present in Ukraine, which belong to Poland before the II World War.

When one looks at the archives pages in the Internet of the American Immigration Office (www.ellisislandrecords.org), it may be noticed with no trouble that many of our family went to the United stated in the period of 1890 – 1920. Immigration officers often mispronounced the name creating numerous of its derivations such as: Sparaga, Shparaga, Schparaga, Sparage. Among those who emigrated to America 27 people declared their Hebrew nationality, most of whom came from former land of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania – the country that has its reach over land of contemporary Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Belarus and Ukraine. As you are probably aware of, in the period of 1795 till 1918, Poland did not exist as a separate, independent country and was the annexed territory by Russia, Prussia (Germany) and Austria. When analysing the case it may be concluded that their ancestor, Szparaga, married a Jewish girl and converted to the Jewish religion. This might be explained through careful investigation the Warsaw archives describing the times of the Jewish community in the east parts of Poland.

My desire is to mention every Szparaga branch in the family tree in order to memorize all the members of our family. Therefore I would like to ask you, o matter if you are able to come to the reunion or not, to join to the already existing family tree. I also ask you to pass the invitation to the Reunion and all the information to all of the members of the family that I may have overlooked.

I greet you and your families warmly from all of the Szparagas from Poland.

With regards of

Szparaga House Council

P.s. I enclose numerous documents concerning our Family that will allow for a broader view of our idea. I would like to encourage you to browse the Internet page of the Szparaga family that is also run in English, i.e. www.szparaga.prv.pl.