Footprints on Cobblestone: An uphill battle

This morning we ventured into the villages surrounding Zborow to see if anyone remembered hearing about Marisia hiding a group of Jews, including Mama Manya, on her farm. Picture this: we turn off of the main road onto a dirt road leading to one such village, in what feels like the Ukrainian version of a jungle. We see an old woman on the side of the road, we ask her if she remembers a name or part of a story, and even if she doesn't, she keeps us captive for at least the next fifteen minutes. We let her into our car, she directs us where to go, and brings us to all of her friends' houses, whom she thinks might be able to help. We get out at each house, meet the next person, and as the group of us gets bigger and bigger, there's more and more back and forth chatter about who did this, or who owned this property, or who worked where. After a few of these experiences, we met one woman who directed us to Stefana, who directed us down a hill, through a field, and up another hill to Klima's house. We met Klima and her husband as they returned from working in the field, and when we mentioned that we knew Marisia, they began telling all the stories they could remember about Marisia and her family--about where they lived, their lives before and after the war, and how they were hiding Jews. Just like yesterday, when we found someone who remembered Mama Manya's family, it was a crazy feeling to hear someone so many miles away tell the same stories we knew about Marisia and her family.

Anyway, later in the day, we returned to Zborow to see Mama Manya's school and house, as well as the memorial to the Jewish community from Zborow. We also revisited the technical department to see if they had any information about house #32, since the information we received about #30 was no longer relevant. Yesterday, they were all interested in hearing about our search, were willing to pull out the records, and showed us everything they had about that house. Today, however, even though it was the same people working there, and the same type record we were looking for, they claimed they couldn't be of much help. Without checking any lists or databases of records, they said that no such record about #32 existed. We were skeptical, but it seems like that's the way things work around here. You'll have luck one day, and not the next, people will choose to help you one day, and not the next. The next few days will mark the end of the first half of my "hometowns" leg of my trip, and we'll spend these days in the archives here in Ternopil and in Lviv searching for school records, taxpayers lists, Jewish community records, and so on. Just like the inconsistent help at the technical department, the records are very inconsistent. There will be a record of births from a given town for the years 1815-1865, but not for any years in the 20th century. There will be a census from 1780, but not for any other year. There might be a property owners list for the 19th century in one archive, but another list from the 20th century in another distant city. Anyway, we're trying to see all we can in the next few days to fit as much as we can together. Then off to my dad's parents' hometowns. Wish us luck for our first venture into the archives!