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Soon after the death of Emperor Joseph II, the growth of the German settlements in West Galizien was even more impeded. [Previous activities] of the Catholic clergy had made it difficult for the German settlers to acquire new land. The numerous descendants of the 1783 immigrants, mostly Palatines from southern Germany who had settled in Hohenbach, Padew, and Reichsheim in the County of Mielec, district Krakow, were forced to look for new settlement areas on the other side of the Weichsel (Vistula) River. This was a part of Congress Poland governed by Russia. As a result the following colonies, among others, originated: Luschyca (earlier known as Samuelow), Hartfeld (Przeczow), Penclawice, Niemscice, Oglendow, Lubnica—the latter three no longer in existence—and in the year 1832 Mikolajow, near Osiek and the Vistula River, in the present county of Opatow.

Parish records in this area were kept by the Evangelical-Reforned church in Sielec which are archived in the government "Sippenstelle" in Krakow. The earliest entry is in 1797 when Johann Stiber, a colonist in Samuelow (Luschyca), age 26, married Christine Pelzer who was 6 years younger. The marriage was witnessed by Wilhelm Dinges. Six years later, Johann Schmidt, colonist of Samuelow, age 24, a widower, married 19 year old Anna Maria Schmal in January 1803. This marriage was witnessed by Johann Butschke and Gottfried Bottelberger.

In Mikolajow, the Polish landowner Osiek gave the German colonists wasteland. This land had not been worked because it would have been too costly, and it was being used only for pasture. The higher area to the west was mostly loose sand (literally "flying" sand) and the lower part neglected swampy area where only willows, reeds, and thorns grew. Most of the settlers came from Padew and a few from Hohenbach. In 1864 the following families are listed in Mikolajow to be freed from service to the estate of Osiek:

10 full farmers with 30 Morgen* each = 16.80 hectare*

And 4 craftsmen each with 70 ares* for their home and garden land all together 5 Morgen*

In addition 2 Morgen* school land and 35 Morgen* community pasture together with

342 Morgen* arable land, meadow and pasture. (See end notes for * equivalents)

In the spring of 1832 the first German settlers with their teams of oxen and belongings arrived on the other side of the Vistula to establish new homesteads on the Russian side. The work that was ahead of them was doubly difficult. First they had to provide shelter to protect themselves against the weather. In the sandy hills they shoveled holes, which were then augmented with split wood. While the men broke the ground with the plough, the women worked with hoe and spade in the lower lands. The relatives from the old homeland helped with their resources so that at the beginning of autumn a house with stable, and a barn or shed with a roof was erected. Thus they were able to thresh the first harvest and prepare the fields for the winter grain. Those who didn’t have their own houses ready helped a neighbor finish theirs, and they lived together during the first winter. In the second year every family had their own house, stable and also a barn. More new land was cultivated and the lower dry parts were cleared of willows, reeds and thorns. The big flood of the Vistula in 1836 annihilated the whole harvest of wheat and barley in the lower parts. But diligence, economy, and perseverance saved them from hunger and need.

Children went to the school in Luschyca to the southwest, an earlier established settlement of people formerly from Hohenbach. In 1840 the Mikolajow colonists bought an empty farmhouse in Osiek for 85 rubels and reassembled it on the north end of the town as their first schoolhouse with a little attached dwelling for the teacher. On Sundays the school was used as a prayer house. The following teachers, who taught also either before or after in Luschyca, taught here from 1840-1941: Fischer, Uhl, Busse, Schumann, Pinscher, Vollmert, Schmidt, Reuss, Emeritzy, Marks, Bernecker and Kornelia Schmidt. In 1876, when this schoolhouse became dilapidated, the community bought the schoolhouse which was still in good condition from the former German colony of Lubnica, County Stopnica, for 180 rubels and reassembled it on the site of the old schoolhouse.

In 1864, the year of the Polish rebellion, of which event the Mikolajow colonists were scarcely aware, they were finally freed of forced labor on the estates. Every farmer became a heritable landowner and had to pay taxes to the Russian government. First it was one rubel for each morgen* per year. But the colonists were happy only a short time with this arrangement because the property had to be divided among the heirs. The size of the land for the farms became too small for making a living. In about 1880 two families sold their farms to Polish people and moved to the USA. Others came back from America with money and bought land parcels from struggling Germans. The owners of the farms changed except for the farms of Lang and Wagner.

In the beginning, World War I had only little influence on this village because of its isolation. But on March 12, 1915 all the Germans from Mikolajow were sent to Kursk in central Russia. Seventy eight souls had to leave house and farm after selling all their property to Polish and Jewish families at very low prices. Only clothes, linen, and bedcovers could be taken along. They spent the summer of 1915 in Kursk, where they found work in the factories and lodging with the German inhabitants. Then they were forced to Orenburg on the border of Siberia. There they spent three severe winters working very hard cutting trees, loading freight trains, and clearing the roads. In the summer they had to work in the fields of the Ural Cossacks (kazaks) and on the town grounds. After the breakdown of the Czar Empire, in the spring of 1918, they started the return journey which took more than 3 months. Because of the fights between the Red and White Armies they were forced to travel a long way down the Volga River to access other railroads not yet under Bolshevic control. A few families arrived in East Prussia where they worked as agricultural laborers on large farms for 1 ½ years. Some died of fatigue, including children and babies. Less 18 persons, the Mikolajow colonists returned in August of 1918 without clothes or money. Their fields were [in poor condition] and the farmhouses devastated. Fortunately this area was still governed by the Austrian authorities which helped them get their farms back, and provided them with seeds, military horses, clothing and linens. In addition the farmers were forced to surrender 1/3 of their crops to the returnees. In the years 1919 and 1920 the colonists needed help and the Polish people refused to sell them the needed commodities. But they overcame all the hardships, rebuilt their farms, economized, and in time became modestly prosperous.

The pastor of the Evangelical-Reformed church in Sielec, to which the Mikolajow, Hartfeld, and Luschyca colonies belonged since 1850, did not want the German language used in the settlement schools. For this reason the settlers cancelled the contract of 1850 with the Ev-Reformed Konsistorium in Warsaw. This agreement stated that the Ev.-Reformed minister in Sielec had to serve the Lutheran Germans with their own rites. The settlers decided to join the Lutheran church in Kielce. The Kielce pastor, Rev. Tietz, installed German teacher, Emil Marks (who later wrote the Chronicle of Mikolajow) on July 1 in Mikolajow. Teacher Marks restored the badly war damaged school and started classes on August 20, 1921. But then the Polish school inspector closed the school. However, according to Polish law, the Germans had the right to teach their children in the German language. For 40 or more pupils the government provided a teacher; if there were less than 40 pupils, they could have a private school and teach in the German language. The community fought hard for this right and finally in May 1922 received permission to continue the private German language school.**

On March 2, 1922, the Vistula River once again overflowed its banks, but the land still being frozen escaped much damage. In 1926 the combined parish of Mikolajow, Hartfeld and Luschyca was disconnected from the pastorate of Kielce because of the long distance and joined with the Hohenbach parish as they had been before 1850. Here is a hint for the family researcher. In 1928 the colony suffered a big loss as 3 German families sold their land to the Poles and migrated to Canada. In 1931 a fourth family sold their establishment and moved to Litzmannstadt. In 1933 the Polish government found reasons to remove the teacher, Mr. Marks. Soon the Germans called Mr. Bernecker to teach, who satisfied all the requirements of the Polish school officials. But now this office declared the old school too dilapidated to use and demanded a new school which would be safe and modern especially in regard to "modern school hygiene". So the community started construction of a new school. In 1934 at the beginning of the harvest, the Vistula flooded the area due to a failure of the dam at the estate Szwagrow and ruined most of the harvest. Thus the community was not able to finish the school without assistance. The German School Association and the Lutheran Superintendent in Stanislau helped; from America came $100 and the German landowner, Francke from Nisko donated wood for the windows, doors, and floors. Finally on August 1, 1935 the construction was allowed by the County Building Commission without any objections.

So the post WWI years passed with struggles and difficulties for the German colonists of Mikolajow until the year 1939 came. Their situation was constantly becoming more difficult and there was [more friction between the Poles and the Germans]. Eventually at the beginning of WWII, teacher Kornelie Schmidt, and farmers Ludwig Hauser and Philipp Pelzer were arrested and taken to the notorious concentration camp Bereza Kartuska, from where they eventually returned after a long march. But soon came the retaliation. The German troops came close to Mikolajow. In the fight near Osiek on September 12, 1939, Mikolajow was between the fronts. The Polish troops [had to escape quickly] across the river. The German soldiers saved the Mikolajow colonists from their bad situation. But with the marching in of the Germans troops, a new time for the German colonists was about to begin.

END NOTES:

* 1 Austrian Morgen = 0.57 ha (hectare), a measure of land = 1.41 acres.

*Are—metric unit of measurement equal to the area of 10 meters square or 100 sq. meters

*Hectare—metric unit of area equal to 100 ares, or 10,000 square meters, or 2.47 acres

* 1 acre = 0.405 hectare

**These small private German schools were not government supported.

Mikolajow was often visited in recent years by former inhabitants. As a result of their travels we have up-to-date pictures from Mikolajow. Thanks to the recollection of Edmund Görk we have a map of Mikolajow with the house owners in 1939.

The original rural character of the village became more and more influenced through its proximity to the sulfur mining industry and resultant environmental problems.

Map showing Mikolajow, which lies north of River Weichsel

Mikolajow 1994 - former house of Ludwig Hauser constructed 1936/37, taken by Georg Hauser*1938

Mikolajow 1994 - former German School, taken by Georg Hauser*1938