Poland/Prague Heritage Tour 2019 Update: Traveller Reflection

Reflections from Tour Participant Horst Wohlgemut:

Before we embarked on the Prague and Poland  tour, I was aware that at least five generations of Wohlgemut(h)s had lived in the Deutsch Wymysle area.  To actually see where they lived, worshipped and were laid to rest was a deeply moving experience for me.

After seeing the church and cemetery, it was interesting to speculate on why these places had been allowed to deteriorate to the point that the church was  derelict and the vast majority of  names  on  the few remaining gravestones fragments were indecipherable.

One of my aims for the trip was to locate the house in Gombin where I lived until my fifth year.  We did not find the house and adjoining Wohlgemut business venture, but our exceptional tour guide was able to find the local heritage director.   This lady indicated that the area where our home and business was located had been bombed by the Russians  when they moved through the area in 1945. She also stated that the town was in the process of creating a museum of the area that will  feature the history of Gombin, including a section that would emphasize  the Second World War years.  This conversation with the official gave me a sense of closure and a hope that in the research for the Second World War section, they will unearth some written or pictorial records of our presence in Gombin during those years. She gave us assurances that she would forward any such materials to us.

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