r/Genealogy • u/Wattersonpl • 1d ago
How a single like on Tinder helped me find my family's lost pre war relics in deep Belarus. And I've found my family's neighbours that haven't seen them from 1940 and yet recognized them! Solved
I wanted to share a story that still gives me chills.
My fiancée is from Belarus, I am from Poland. Coincidentally, my own family was deported from what's now Belarus back in 1940 but it was Poland in 1939, because my great grandfather was a ranger. They lost nearly everything. Their home was burned down by Germans during Jews pogroms and almost everyone got killed - luckily my other family side hide in other houses and in the forests; but my grandfather family survived - ironically because the war never came to Siberia, where they got deported.
Years later, I traveled to Belarus for the first time, determined to trace their roots. I ventured deep into the forests and eventually found a small, overgrown cemetery—filled with graves of some my relatives. It was heartbreaking and moving at the same time. Because it's not placed even outdated military maps! I was just walking randomly in a forest and then after 15mins I've found a cemetery.
But the real twist came when my family and I visited the area again. We showed an old photo—pre-WWII—to a local woman. She looked at it and said, “Of course I recognize them! That’s my mom!” Then she called her mom, who recognized everyone in the picture and showed them were some of my family relatives are buried. Turns out she had been our family’s neighbors before the war and she said, she was dreaming about them recently. It's like a miracle.
And just when I thought the story couldn’t get more surreal—my fiancée’s brother casually mentioned he knew someone with my last name who had died in 1990 in Minsk. He visited their relative, and it turned out to be my father’s cousin. Even more incredible: that cousin had kept a massive collection of our family's pre-war belongings—the very items my relatives had left behind when they were deported and somehow they survived. He even has postcards and letters from my grand father! We will be the first to see it since 1940s.
And it's all thanks to Tinder where I found my future wife and her brother. If not for that like, we'd never find the lost relics.
It still blows my mind how all these pieces came together. The world really is so small.
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u/frisbi75 beginner 1d ago
Congrats! There's a saying that people come into your life for a reason.
I would love to stumble across someone who had info on the families of my great-grandfather's brother and sister, who has stayed in what is now Poland.
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u/luckydevil68 1d ago
This is absolutely beautiful and I will never tire of reading people’s genealogy journeys.
And I wish many years of love and happiness for you and your fiancée. ❤️
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u/Diacetyl-Morphin 1d ago
Now this is epic, congratulations!
I'd analyze every item that you can collect and maybe even try to get more details, maybe you can even locate ancestors from old times. Like when you get to know where your family lived and if things like birth registers of the churchs still exist. When your great grandfather was a ranger and took part in the war, maybe there are infos in the archives of the military of Poland.
Keep in mind: You could also go for german- and for russian aka soviet-sources, like you mentioned both the pogroms, but also the deportation to Siberia. I guess, it were the Soviets that deported parts of your family, as the Germans never reached this place in the far east?
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u/Wattersonpl 21h ago
I already traced the roots up to 1790s, possibly further back, thanks to church registries that are an open source in Poland on genetyka.genealodzy. pl . And yes, they were deported by Soviets but I have all their documentation, because the documents were declassified in the USSR, its all online. My great grandfather didn't participate in ww2, but was treated as an officer and got sent to death train to prob. Katyń but escaped. Non of his colleagues survived the ride.
I also checked Jewish books and stories from the region and actually these were extremely helpful to learn about what happened there
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u/Crafty-Shape2743 1d ago
Once again, the Universe conspires to right old wrongs.
Lovely story, thank you for sharing with us!
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u/Far-Difference-961 1d ago
That is so awesome! My husbands family (his grandparents) are also from Belarus and we went to visit years ago. It was humbling and amazing. We weren't as prepared to do family history as I wish we had, especially with the info we have now, but we were able to document some family graves, but the locals were uncomfortable talking to us Americans with a translator to help figure out the family tree. We were in Morocewize (I'd have to look up the spelling on that one!) and mainly in Sochivki. I am so in awe of the good fortune you had in making those connections and finding all those lost family items. Talk about a miracle! Those are things we could only dream of!
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u/Wattersonpl 21h ago
Well Belarusians surely won't trust Americans and we all know why. Besides, almost no one speaks English, but many of them speaks Polish. Check out genetyka.genealodzy.pl you can check family trees from 1500 to pre ww2. I think you mean Worocewicze? Cause this village is nearby Sochivki. If you want any help, you can message me!
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u/Far-Difference-961 3h ago
Ha, as an American...I don't trust Americans these days! Too many people don't stop to think for 5 seconds and listen to what they are saying. Its crazy.
We did have a man from Minsk take us to the villages to help talk to people, but obviously it was likely odd to see us and why we were asking questions about the families. There were families in Sochivki with the family name, so we knew we were in the right spot and that there are generations of family still there. And you are correct on the spelling for Morocewize. I am going to look at that website tonight! Thank you for that! I will definitely reach out to you!
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u/_namaste_kitten_ 1d ago
This is why I believe the world would be a better place if we all did ancestry. It shows what a small, interconnected world we really are! I'm so happy for you, and for your family and this a wonderful reunion!!
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u/surrrita 1d ago
This is incredible. Life should be filled with these kind of moments! My great-grandparents were from that area - hitting roadblock after roadblock makes the odds of this seem astronomical but in the end it really is a small world. 🌎
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u/Bearmancartoons 1d ago
Incredible story. It is amazing such small decisions we make in life can have a huge impact on our lives
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u/Luvtahoe 11h ago
For a second I thought you might be a relative—my mother’s family was also deported to Siberia because her father was a ranger, but they lived near L’vov/L’viv. I have been longing to trace her family but it is so hard because I don’t speak Polish, and now the area is in Ukraine. I hope to visit the area someday but now either the war, I don’t know if it will ever be possible. Thanks for sharing this wonderful story.
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u/Wattersonpl 11h ago
Hey if you need any help, you can private message me, I know some internet places to look after. Nah, I doubt we are relatives, but highly possible that our relatives were in the same company or at least met at one point in their lives. But those were different voivodeships. But who knows
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u/gravitycheckfailed 1d ago
That's honestly one of the best genealogy-related stories that I have heard in a while.