uzupełnij jewishbialystok@gmail.com 
100 years German settlement Michałowo
On the 14thand 15th of August this year, Michałowo will celebrateits 100th anniversary. On the occasion of this anniversaryof the village and its Lutheran community some facts about its originand development will be recounted here.
In the third decadeof the previous century, Czar Nikolai I issued a proclamation toGerman tradespeople and professionals in Poland. They were invited toemigrate freely and without obstructions to Russia and to settlethere. To this end, the Russian government promised 10 “free years”without payment of taxes to the state. On the basis of this promisemany Germans occupied in the textile business in Congress Poland leftthe country and settled in Bialystok.
As this settlementin the Bialystok region become known, some estate owners invitedGermans to found other settlements under favourable conditions. ThusKasimir v. Michałowski, landlord of the estate Niesbudka (?), 35kilometres from Bialystok, advertised for a settlement of Germantextile producers. Soon 10 families followed his call andprovisionally took residence in the Niesbudka fortress. According tothe agreement made, the landlord had houses built for these newsettlers, to be paid off by instalments. He also gave them a buildingfor their school and for religious purposes, as well as a garden andpasture for the cantor. The first families moved into their houses inthe autumn months of 1832. The settlement was given the name of itsfounder. In 1838, the settlement was enlarged by further arrivals ofGerman tradespeople and journeymen. A large proportion of thesettlers were born in Prussia and in the Grand Duchy of Poland.
In 1839, thelandlord gave another building, situated on the market place, to thesettlers for their school and chapel, after the first teacher,Gottfried Launer, had been appointed in 1835. In 1841, the communitywas able to buy a bell [for the chapel] at the price of 50 Gulden.After some years had passed and the new factory location flourishedincreasingly through the industry and thrift of the settlers, andthere were more new arrivals, a new school building became necessary.The landlord, v. Michałowski, supported the settlers in a mannerworthy of gratitude, donating a sizeable plot of land in 1857. Onthis plot, the community erected a new school- and chapel building.It was inaugurated on the 2nd Advent Sunday of the year1861 by pastor Küntzel. From that time on, the school and chapel hadseparate rooms. When in 1871 a Russian teacher was detailed to thevillage by order of the Russian government, for whom the communitywas obliged to provide residence, a larger building became necessary.In September of that year the annexe was completed and handed overfor use. In the following years, a harmonium and an organ weredonated to the community, the harmonium finding its use in theschool.
The school did notremain unaffected by attempts at Russianization. Even religiouseducation in the native tongue was being interfered with. But thanksto the fact that only Germans occupied the office of village head,any major harm could be averted.
The school wasmaintained by the community through its own taxes. The tradespeoplepaid an annual contribution and the journeymen paid one kopek foreach ruble they earned. When gradually people of other ethnicity[fremden Volkstums] began to press into the journeymanpositions – usually this happened because of attractive pay –there soon…. [this part is missing]
… because theGerman [school] had already more than 200 pupils, and the Lutheranparishioners lent active help in this.
In the year 1882 thecommunity celebrated the 50th anniversary of itsexistence. The religious service was conducted by pastorKeuchel-Bialystok, who admonished the parish to remain loyal to thefaith. The chronicler [?] also mentioned by name two men whom hedescribed as the salt of the earth. He praised the love of truth andsense of justice of the textile manufacturer Otto Fitzke [Fitzle?],who rebuked any lack of resolution. The chronicler also mentioned thelong-serving teacher Karl Marggraf, whose service was a blessing forover 20 years.
In 1894, the [new?]landlord, Baron v. Engelhardt, donated a plot of 2400 square klafter[1 klafter = 1.88m] for the building of a new cemetery; theold cemetery, which was situated within the village, wasdisestablished.
Even in the 1880sthe chapel turned out to be too small and in 1885 the building of achurch was considered. But the idea was abandoned due to the opinionthat it would be impossible to obtain permission, because the villagedid not yet have a Greek-Catholic church. In 1893 the idea was raisedanew. The parish received a visit from the adjunct of provost Keuchelof Bialystok, by the name of Julius Pürsch. He encouraged theproject and urged the submission of a petition. He himselfrecommended an architect, Friedrich Lehmann-Poniewerz [?], whoprepared the design. In autumn 1894 the petition together with thedesign plan was submitted to the general consistorium in St.Petersburg, and in December 1895 the parish received permission tobuild a church and to organize a collection to this purpose. Thecollection of contributions was begun immediately, so that thebuilding materials could be acquired during 1896. In the spring ofthe following year, the laying of the foundation stone wascelebrated. Pastor Liß, who visited the parish four times a year,held the dedication sermon on the basis of Hebr. 13,8: Jesus is thesame yesterday, today and in eternity. Among those who performed theceremonial strike of the hammer were, apart from the pastor, thelandlord of Michałowo, Baron v. Engelhardt, architect Lehmann, andthe two church superintendents Robert Klemt and Ferdinand Potempa,who both had rendered outstanding services to the project. A documentcontaining the history and the current situation of the parish aswell as a report about the general situation in the world at the timeof the foundation-laying was immured in the foundation. The buildingwork, which was then begun immediately, proceeded rapidly; as earlyas 1898 the entire church was finished. The cost of the building was19,163 rubles and 43 kopeks, the entire sum being raised byself-taxation and voluntary contributions. The bells, the clock onthe steeple, the chandeliers, 3 windows with glass paintings, andmuch else, were donated by individuals. This church is the ornamentof the village. The interiors too received a most tastefuldecoration. The Church of the Cross at Michałowo, which holds nearly1000 churchgoers, must always be an admonishment to he descendants ofits builders to show the same spirit of sacrifice and to remain loyalto the faith and to the heritage of their fathers. The consecrationof this beautiful house of God took place on Reformation Day 1898.The pastors Liß, Tittelbach, Schulz and Ne… [illegible] took partin this uplifting ceremony.
[something ismissing here]
…Robert Klemt thesuggestion to establish a trombone choir. Some young men keenly tookthis up and the choir was founded. Herr Alfred Neumann has conductedthe choir from its beginnings to the present day; it is to be hopedthat its musical activities will not be neglected.
In 1905, Herr pastorPlamsch-Grodno became administrator of the Michałowo parish. Thereligious life of the parish from then on developed well until thewar created a deep rupture in the history of the parish.
Since the pastorfrom Grodno took up his service in the parish, the documents havecontinued to be registered in Bialystok but apart from this theparish has been independent. In 1908, pastor Plamsch founded awomen’s club; through cultural events of various kinds a fund wascreated for the appropriate support of the poor and the sick. Thechoir singing was usually taken care of by the teachers. Among theseGustav Redlow excelled; under his conductorship the “Creation” byHaydn was performed in 1908, and in 1010, during the synod,“Christus” by Mendelssohn.
In 1910, the synodof the Wilna [Vilnius] provost district was held in Michałowo. Itbrought together 12 pastors in this remote settlement. The churchcouncil was permitted to participate in all sessions. The churchservices held in connection with this synod were unforgettable eventsfor many.
In the world war theparish shrank dramatically because of deportation [Verschleppung]of its members. In 1915 it forfeited its three lovely bells, whichwere taken away by the Russians. In 1917 a new bell was acquired bythe efforts of pastor König, and this has performed its solitarytask up to the present day. Many pastoral church services took placeduring the war in Michałowo.
In 1918, manyreturned from Russia. Before the war about 30% of all Lutherans wereGermans from the Reich. These almost without exception did notreturn to Michałowo. These days the young generation leaves itshomeland for opportunities to find work. For unemployment is rifehere too; most of the workshops/factories are defunct, the otherswork only with great interruptions. Before the war there were onlyGerman village heads. After the war Poles, Russians and Jews wereinvolved in the [illegible], and the surrounding villages wereincorporated. The German element is no longer represented asstrongly. The Lutheran parish, which once counted 1000 souls among3300 inhabitants, today consists of only 300 souls. Sometimes theemptiness of the church is depressing.
PastorPlamsch-Grodno, with whom the parish deeply bonded, took up itsadministration after his return from exile/banishment. Life must goon, under the pressure of difficult economic conditions. –
When today, on the anniversary of the German settlement of Michałowo,we look back on the 100 years of its history, it is our wish that ourco-nationals there may continue to hold fast to their faith andnational identity, … [rest is missing]
