Have you seen those tv-programmes where famousor common people search for their roots? Well, Marion Rung was featured in one. She only knew about her parents and grandparents from her mother's side but with this programme Who are you? the research went back to early 1800's, to find her father's side of the family in a village called Wysokie in Poland, where a certain Sender Orzolek was born. He married later Frejda Kojsek. They had a son Chaim, born in Łomża. Chaim Orzolek was sent (or forced) to be soldier in the Russian army and eventually ended up in Helsinki. He married Dvera Radsevitsch who also came from Łomża. They had a daughter Eva Orzolek, Marion's grandmother.
On the other side Josef Rung from Vilnius region in Lithuania married a girl named Hilda. Josef was born in 1830 and there are no record beyond that from him nor Hilda. They had a son Moses in 1880 who was a (forced) soldier in the Russian army just like Chaim and just like him ended up in Helsinki. He married beforementioned Eva and they had amongst others a son Oscar, Marion's father. Oscar married later Rosa, a quite famous singer under name Rosie Andrews and they gave birth to Marion.
Marion was touched to tears during the programme realizing what kind of life her great grandparents had had, and what a strange twist of fate it is she would have her career's biggest successes just in Poland by winning the Intervision Song contest not once but twice. Not far from Łomża.
Are there any Orzoleks or Kojseks amongst my readers? Or readers from Wysokie or Łomża? Give a shout in the message box!
1 comments:
My great-grandfather was an Orzolek and we believe he was originally from a village near Lomza, just as Marion's paternal family was. I have minimal information about him, so it was exciting to come across this blog posting. Perhaps we're distant cousins? All the best to Marion and her newfound discoveries.
- Andrea
Mountain View, California, USA
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