A short story about Narama,s long history.
Introduction to the story.
The village of Narama is a rural community located in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship, in the Kraków County, and in the Iwanowice Commune. The first written records of Narama date back to 1360. It is possible that Narama is even older than the written records that pertain to it, but access to such records is currently unavailable.
In the photo: Panorama of downtown Narama. Drone photography.The website "Narama Yesterday and Today" (“Narama wczoraj I dziś”) provides contemporary news that is useful and necessary for the residents of Narama. The website also presents historical content in the form of short historical sketches, as well as extensive historical studies that discuss specific events from Narama's rich history, or describe important individuals, including the owners of the Narama estate.
Below is a brief historical sketch of Narama. If you are interested, we suggest that you carry out translations on your own. This is especially relevant for those who bear surnames such as Naramski, Naramsky, Narembski, Narembsky, or Narębski, as their ancestors who bear the "Nowina" coat of arms are certainly from Narama.
Narama is a village located in the Małopolska Voivodeship (Lesser Poland), in the Kraków County, in the municipality of Iwanowice. It has a population of about 2,000 inhabitants. The village is situated at 50°10'49"N 19°56'02"E, and it is approximately 10 km away from Krakow.
A very, very long time ago.
The southern areas of the current Kraków-Częstochowa Upland, including the Prądnik Valley, were inhabited for several hundred thousand years. Natural residential objects such as caves and rock shelters, abundant flint deposits, and varied terrain, creating favorable defense conditions, attracted people to these areas already in the Paleolithic (Old Stone Age). This is evidenced, among others, by finds in Ojców and its surroundings.
In the photo: A reconstructed Neanderthal camp in one of the caves near Ojców.There are nine archaeological sites from the Neolithic period in Central Europe in Narama (according to the "Municipal program for the protection of monuments of the Iwanowice Commune for the years 2014-2017"). Archaeological sites from this period are not only found in Narama but also in the surrounding areas (Ojców, Iwanowice, Sąspół, etc.). Mines and stonemasonry workshops were discovered in these sites, especially flint, which was used for making tools and for making fire.
The history of the Kraków region, Kraków, and thus Narama, which is located not far from Kraków, is somewhat different from that of other regions of Poland, especially the Piast Kingdom and its ruler Mieszko. The later "Kraków region" is synonymous with the earlier territory of the medieval Slavic "Vistulan’s" state. Christianity existed in our region at least 100 years earlier than in 966 when Mieszko, the Duke of Poland, was baptized.
After Bolesław Chrobry took over the Kraków region, the former capital of the Vistulan's (Wiślan) state became the seat of the bishopric. And over time, it became the capital of the powerful Commonwealth of Nations (present-day Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, part of Latvia, Estonia, Moldova, and the Duchy of Smolensk (Russia)).
It was they who founded the settlement of Narama.
The beginnings of the village of Narama are related to the history of the noble Nowina family, who had a coat of arms bearing the name "Nowina." According to historical records, one of the main Polish princes, known as Bolesław Krzywousty, in 1121 granted the "Nowina" coat of arms to one of his warriors for saving his life in battle. As he was responsible for guarding the pot in which food was cooked in the military camp, he had an ear from the pot and a sword on his coat of arms. As he lost a leg in battle, a golden leg in knight's armor was also included in the coat of arms.
The name of the village of Narama comes from the frequently used name Naram in the Middle Ages. In Slavic, the name Naram meant someone who was powerful, tall, and distinguished by exceptional strength.
In the photo: transumpt of the contract concluded before the Kraków Land Court in 1393 between the owners of estates in Narama.From the name of the village, a part of the "Nowina" family who lived and worked in Narama adopted the surnames Naramski, Narembski, and Narębski (indicating that they came from that village, for example, in Latin Andreas de Narama and in Polish Andrzej Naramski). The village was originally recorded as "villa Narama." Unfortunately, at that time there was a significant variability in the recording of names and surnames, so when the name of the village was modified, the name of the landlord was also modified accordingly.
The first written information about the village of Narama.
The first written records concerning Narama are dated to 1360. More information can be found in the records of the Kraków Land Court, which was created around 1374. Documents from this court in 1388 indicate that individual parts of Narama (peasant farms) were owned by different noble owners, who constantly took actions on this estate.
In 1407, Heldwig of the Nowina coat of arms, who identified himself as from Marszowice, Przybysławice, and Narama, paid off all the co-owners of the estate and thus became the sole owner of the entire Narama.
In the photo: a scan of the original document from March 17, 1477, in which Jan Bohun, the judge, and Jan from Pielgrzymowice, the subjudge of Krakow, certify that on October 3, 1447, Andrzej of Narama bequeathed to his wife Anna, 50 fines in a silver dowry coin and 50 fines in a secured dowry half of his estate in Narama
It was marked as a "curia militaris", a military structure or settlement, owned by "Andreas Naramsky, nobilis de domo Nowina" ("Et primo habet decimam manipularem in Narama sub parochial ecclesiae de Korzkyew sita, cuius haeres Andreas Naramsky, nobilis de domo Nowina. Item est ibi una curia militaris. Item est ibi una curia militaris quae de agris suis praedialibus decimat plebano et ecclesiae de Korzkew.").
The owners of Narama were knights subordinate to the ruler of Kingdom Poland. Therefore, when the King of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth waged war, they were obliged not only to participate in it but also to arm themselves and their subordinates accordingly. As there were more and more descendants of the owners in Narama, many of them emigrated from it for economic reasons. They bought, received land in other parts of the Republic or neighboring countries, or became soldiers, educated themselves and became scholars, or chose to enter the clergy.
In the photo: a note in "Liber beneficiorum dioecesis Cracoviensis" (Book of benefices or Book of salaries of the diocese of Krakow) made by Jan Długosz in the mid-15th century. A printed copy of the document.
Why was the spelling of the village name changed several times?
When they emigrated from Narama, they "took" with them the surname "de Narama" or "z Naramy", which means Naramski. Hence, this surname can be found not only in Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, or Ukraine but practically on all continents.
The Narębski or Narembski variant of the surname also derives from the name Narama. This is because it was only in 1514-1515 that the book "Orthographia seu modus recte scribendi et legendi Polonicum idioma quam utilissimus" was published, which defined the rules of Polish orthography. In addition to other letters with diacritical marks, the letter "ę" was introduced to denote the nasal vowel "en, em". The letter "ę" (e with a tail) was used in Latin since the twelfth century as "E caudata" to indicate "æ" (i.e., the intermediate sound between "a" and "e"). Therefore, before 1515, the surname Naręmski was written as "Naræmski", and after the orthographic reform, it was pronounced as Naremski or Narębski. The letter "b" inserted into the surname stems from the specificity of the Krakow dialect.
In the photo:the cover of the book from 1515 entitled "Orthographia seu modus recte scribendi et legendi Polonicum idioma quam utilissimus", in which the author defined the spelling rules of Polish orthography.This is how the owners of Narama change.
In 1581, In 1581, Stanisław Narębski (Naramski) divided Narama into two equal parts and allocated them between his sons, Stanisław Jr. and Jan. Both brothers were supposed to use this estate to repay their sister Dorota, the wife of Paweł Szydłowski, the burgrave of Kraków. The common tomb of Dorota and Paweł was located in the no longer existing Church of St. Michael on Wawel Hill in Kraków.
In 1600, Krzysztof Narębski (Naramski) of the Nowina coat of arms, the son of Stanisław Jr. and owner of half of the lands of Narama, donated his portion to his brother-in-law Łukasz Lobeski (Łobeski), along with the right to present a candidate for the position of parish priest of the church in Korzkiew. The recipient, Łukasz Lobeski, in the same year, as part of settlements, donated Narama to Paweł Żydowski of the Doliwa coat of arms, the owner of a neighboring part of Owczary (also in the Korzkiew parish).
In 1617, on the donated part of the village, Paweł Żydowski built a wooden church. The temple was consecrated on July 14, 1654 by Bishop Wojciech of Lipnik Lipnicki.
Since Paweł Żydowski had no heirs, in 1618, in exchange for protection, he gave his estates in Narama to the Order of the XX Discalced Carmelites in Krakow on Piasek. He was buried in the church in Narama in 1625, where he rests to this day.
The owner of the second half of Narama, Jan Narębski (Narembski, Naramski) of the Nowina coat of arms, was a soldier, a captain (commander) of an infantry unit (company). As he was childless and closely collaborated with the Dominican Order in Kraków, following the example of Paweł Żydowski, he decided to endow this very order with his possessions. In the church of the XX Dominicans, there is a tomb of Jan Narembski (Naramski) and his wife, with the following epitaph: "This stone bears witness to the benevolence of the noble Jan Narembski and his wife Ewa Milanowska, with whom he lived for 50 years, choosing this tomb during his lifetime as a tribute to God, in this chapel of his half-part of Naręba, with certain lands from Owczary and Szczodrkowice as his endowment. Being grateful, the monks of this house wanted to save their noble souls through prayers and show respect with this epitaph. In the year of our Lord 1633, on the 7th day of August."
In the photo: view of the church which was built in 1617 with the funds of Paweł Żydowski, the owner of half of the estate in Narama. The photo was taken after World War II, in the 1950s.Thus Narama became a monastic village.
In this way, from 1625 to 1864, the village of Narama was a monastery village. One half of it belonged to the Carmelite Order and the other half belonged to the Dominican Order. In 1716, the Carmelites bought the Dominican part and became the owners of the whole Narama. They supported a priest, fulfilling the last will of the deceased owner, Paweł Żydowski.
In the Carmelite inventory (description) of the village of Narama from 1789, it was noted that there was a church dedicated to St. Adalbert, Bishop and Martyr in Narama, which was surrounded by a cemetery measuring 18 sazhen in length and 13.5 sazhen in width. One sazhen nowopolski was in use in the Kingdom of Poland (under Russian occupation) from 1819 to 1848. It was equal to 1.728 meters and was divided into 3 cubits, 6 feet, 72 inches.
In 1795, the Third Partition of Poland took place between Russia, Prussia, and Austria-Hungary. After the partition, Narama came under Russian occupation, while Krakow and therefore the Carmelite monastery on Piasek, to which Narama belonged, was under Austrian rule. Due to the border and customs chamber, there were significant difficulties in managing the Narama estate.
It is worth noting that in 1827, there were 22 homesteads with houses in Narama, where 116 residents lived. Meanwhile, the Narama estate had 262 hectares of arable land and a garden, 242 hectares of pasture, 5 hectares of unused land, and 15 hectares of plots; 12 wooden buildings, crop rotation was 7 and 12 fields. There was also a forest in Narama, which belonged to the order. Timber was extracted from this forest for the construction of houses and enclosures, and windfall and brushwood were collected for fuel. The deposits of limestone were also exploited.
Tsarist (Russian) authorities confiscate the property of the Carmelite Order in Narama as retaliation for supporting the Polish uprising.
In 1864, as a retaliation for their support for the January Uprising, the Russian authorities, who occupied one-third of Poland, confiscated the entire estate of the order and forced the monks to leave Narama.
In 1864-65, the process of emancipating peasants was carried out in Narama. The remaining part of the estate was sold by the imperial administration in 1880 for about 13,000 silver rubles to the last lessee of the estate, Henryk Chrzanowski of the Korab coat of arms. In the early 20th century, the land and manor in Narama were given as a dowry to his sister, who married Józef Russocki and managed the estate with him. Józef Russocki passed away in 1935, and his heirs gradually sold the property, having other possessions.
After the sale of a large part of it, the estate was not subject to parceling after the communists took power. The last sale transaction took place in 1947. Meanwhile, the manor house was taken over for the needs of the Narama Community, and after its dissolution, it was sold along with the land plot. Finally, the manor house was demolished in 2021.
After the Carmelites left the village, the wooden church practically had no owner, as in 1869 Russian officials introduced an actual ban on celebrating Mass in Narama. The church fell into ruin to the point that the chalice, vestments, and many other things necessary for the priest to celebrate Mass were even moved from Narama to Korzkwa. From time to time, a priest from Korzkwa, on whose territory Narama lay, came to the church.
The situation changed after 1905, when it became possible to celebrate Mass once a year on the occasion of the feast of St. Vitus, following the weakening of the imperial power. From 1914, after the outbreak of World War I and the complete displacement of the Russians by the Austro-Hungarian army, Mass was celebrated once a year.
... and after the Great War came the Independent Republic of Poland.
In 1918, Bishop Augustyn Łosiński of Kielce established the parish of Our Lady of the Scapular in Narama. It was separated from the mother parish of Korzkiew and part of the parishes of Smardzowice, Minoga, Iwanowice, and Więcławice. At the time of its establishment, the Image of Our Lady of the Scapular was already placed in the main altar of the parish church, while the previous main image, a 17th-century painting of St. Adalbert, became a curtain for the Image of Our Lady of the Scapular.
The first administrator and then pastor of the newly-formed Parish in Narama was Father Stefan Marzec. He was 29 years old when he took over the parish. In the years 1918-1920, the church was expanded according to Kryński's design, and a rectory was also built. The parishioners, together with the landlord of the Narama farm, provided the parish with 14 acres of land, and agricultural buildings were erected so that the priest could support himself. In 1938, a chapel was added to the church according to the design of Franciszek Mączyński.
In 1922, thanks to the efforts of the residents and the then-pastor, Stefan Marzec, two classes of elementary school were established in leased rooms of Władysław Kurtyka's agricultural building. Tadeusz Piech became the school's headmaster. After a fire, the school operated in the "organist's house," then in the home of Ignacy Kluzek and his wife Maria. Since there was already a five-class elementary school in Narama, some children went to the seven-class school in Michałowice for further education. In 1932, 12 children from Narama and Kopanina went to Michałowice. The current successor of the former school is the Public Primary School named after St. Jadwiga (Hedwig) the Queen with a kindergarten in Narama.
In 1925, the "Stefczyk" fund was established. In addition to the residents of Narama, residents of neighboring towns also belonged to the fund. Father Stefan Marzec became the Chairman of the Board, and Tadeusz Piech became the Chairman of the Supervisory Board. The fund no longer exists today.
In 1926, the Fire Brigade was established on the initiative of Father Stefan Marzec and Tadeusz Piech, the school director. Father Stefan Marzec became the President and Tadeusz Piech became the Chief. In 2021, the Narama Volunteer Fire Department became a part of the National Firefighting Rescue System.
The great fire of Narama village.
In 1928, due to the dense and mostly wooden construction of the village, a fire broke out that completely destroyed it. After the fire, land consolidation was carried out, which was completed in 1932. Narama became more extensive with dispersed buildings, which is why the names of individual hamlets became significant: Łaziec, Ustki, Podgórz, Odole, Białe Drzewo, Pod Lasem, Za Lasem, Zapuszcze, Pierdółka, Nadlipie, etc.
In the photo: map of the village of Narama, which includes the names of village hamlets (very important since the village fire in 1928) and street names introduced in 2015.Fortunately, the church was saved from the fire. Also in that year, after the fire, Father Wacław Ptaszyński, who succeeded Father Stefan Marc, together with parishioners, built a house for organists, purchased organs and formed a parish orchestra. Until 1939, the orchestra was conducted by Władysław Nawrot, from 1946-47 by Franciszek Czerw, from 1956-72 by his son Julian Czerw. Then Józef Ziębiec became the conductor, and currently Jerzy Piekara holds the position.
In the same year of 1932, Father Dr. Jan Piskorz, who resided in the rectory, founded a group of altar boys.
In 1936, the idea of building a school was born at a village meeting. The cornerstone for the construction was consecrated on September 3, 1938, but the building was completely finished only in 1945.
Hard times of the German occupation during World War II.
During World War II, there was a partisan point of the AK "Maria" Inspectorate with headquarters in Miechów in Narama (in the forester's lodge).
In December 1942, the Germans conducted a raid near the church in Narama shortly after a service. As a result of the raid, several women were rounded up and put on the back of a truck, which was taken to the firehouse in Iwanowice. They were later freed by underground resistance fighters from the Home Army (Armia Krajowa).
In the same year, the Germans stole two church bells, one weighing 254 kg and the other 114 kg, leaving only a small bell.
In the photo: Bogusław Kleszczyński, a 20-year-old sergeant of the Polish underground army (AK), who died as a result of wounds sustained during the battle of the partisans with the Germans in December 1944 in Narama. After the war, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant in the Polish Army.From the spring of 1944 to the last Sunday of August, a unit of the Partisan Army of the Polish Underground State (Armia Krajowa) operating under the codename "Żelbet", whose commander was a lieutenant nicknamed "Gołąb" (Pigeon), who after the battle with the Germans near the village of Barbarka withdrew to Narama, received an order to move to another area. Before the night trek to another area of operations, several hundred armed guerrillas marched in formation to the Holy Mass. in the parish church in Narama, saying goodbye to the local community and recommending himself to God for further journey.
In the winter of 1944, specifically on December 18th, a battle between Polish partisans and the German army took place in and around the Narama manor. During the battle, Lieutenant Bogusław Kleszczyński of the Home Army (Armia Krajowa) from Jakubowice near Proszowice was killed, and the captured wounded soldiers of the Polish underground were taken to prison in Krakow for interrogation by the Germans.
From post-war times to the present day.
From 1954 to 1961, there was a commune named Gromada Narama, consisting of the villages of Narama, Krasieniec, Damice, and Żerkowice from the abolished Iwanowice commune, as well as Kozierów from the abolished Michałowice commune (these villages were part of the Narama parish). The Gromada was dissolved on December 31, 1961, and incorporated into the Gromada Iwanowice.
In 1967, the electrification of the village was completed. The electrification was carried out with significant community involvement.
In 1969, the Rural Women's Association was established in Narama, which has been continuously active to this day. Since 1985, the folk dance ensemble "Naramianki" has also been active.
In the mid-1970s, the church in Narama was thoroughly restored on the inside. It is worth noting that the church also housed a painting of St. Paul from 1460, created by a Krakow monk named Jan of Nysa. Originally, this work was a wing of a triptych altar. It is unknown how it ended up in Narama and what happened to it.
In the photo: Nave with the main altar of the church in Narama. This is part of the church, which was built in 1617. Photo from 1968, before the renovation of the polychrome inside the church in 1974.The Narama Church was one of the pearls of the historic Wooden Architecture Trail in Poland. Unfortunately, on January 13, 1980, it was completely destroyed in a fire, along with all its historic furnishings. Fortunately, the parish priest, Father Zdzisław Ligorowski, who arrived in Narama in 1974, had already built the planned rectory before the church burned down. The old rectory was temporarily converted into a chapel where services could be held. A year later, the construction of a new, brick church began.
It is worth noting that during the construction work, the actual existence of the tomb of Paul the Jew was confirmed near the altar.
The new church was equipped with marble side altars, 20-voice organs, a figure of the Virgin Mary of the Scapular, who is the patron of the temple, and stained glass windows. The exterior of the church building is covered with Pińczów stone. On November 9, 1986, Bishop Stanisław Szymecki consecrated the new parish temple. In 2017, the Narama parish celebrated the 400th anniversary of the Church in Narama. In 2018, a statue of St. Michael the Archangel was placed in front of the church, which was created and donated to the parish by Professor Marek Dryniak, and consecrated by Bishop Andrzej Kaleta on September 29, 2018.
In the years 1980-1990, a water supply and gas pipeline were built in Narama, and most of the roads were constructed and paved. The local fire station was also expanded with the help of community work. In addition, a bus line numbered 257 from Krakow-Kleparz to Narama was opened.
In the photo: New Temple built in 1980-1986. On November 9, 1986, it was consecrated by the Bishop of Kielce, Stanisław Szymecki. Next to the temple is a statue of St. Michael the Archangel erected in 1917.In 1997, the school building was expanded, which was completed in 2006. In 2000, the school was named after Saint Queen Jadwiga.
Unfortunately, in February 2005, the Iwanowice Commune Council passed a resolution to close the school in Narama on August 31, 2005. On September 1, 2005, Mr. Krzysztof Zadora, as a private individual, established a public character school that continues to operate to this day. In 2013-2014, a gymnasium was built and put into use, which was built with the municipality's funds and significant support from European funds.
Since 2011, the Volunteer Fire Brigade has been further expanded and modernized. In 2014, the municipality purchased a plot of land in the village center next to the fire station and handed it over to the Narama Volunteer Fire Brigade.
In the photo:The construction of the new school began in 2006 and was completed in 2013 - 2014 with the construction and commissioning of a sports gym building.At the beginning of the first decade of the 21st century, during the tenure of Father Józef Tkacz as the parish priest in Narama, the idea of building a full-size sports field emerged among football enthusiasts. They approached Father Tkacz with this idea, who after some thought allocated them a plot of land from the so-called priest's fields for the construction of the field. The work began. Father Jan Jurkowski, who succeeded Father Józef Tkacz, upheld the decision of his predecessor to allocate the land for the field. The field was built with contributions, equipment input from local entrepreneurs, and the community work of football enthusiasts and residents.
In 2012, the People's Sports Association "Novi" Narama was registered, whose members are residents of the villages that are part of the Narama Parish. To help the newly established sports club, in 2014, the municipal authorities decided to limit the pumping station building's surface to the necessary minimum and allocate the remaining space for the needs of the LTS "Novi" Narama.
On March 6th, 2013, the Council of the Municipality of Iwanowice, by resolution no. XXXI/212/2013, approved a request made by the residents during a village meeting and adopted a resolution to grant the village a coat of arms called "Nowina," which is a noble symbol of the likely founders of the village. On October 26th, 2016, the Council of the Municipality of Iwanowice adopted a resolution to introduce street names for roads in Narama. In 2018, the "NOVIST" foundation was registered and has been very active in supporting the local community.
In recent years, specifically in 2021, a new fire truck was purchased for the Volunteer Fire Department, and in December of the same year, the Naramia Volunteer Fire Department joined the nationwide firefighting rescue system known as the National Firefighting Rescue System (KSRG), which is formally a voluntary fire department, but is so well-trained and equipped that it can act like a professional fire department and cooperate with state fire department units in rescue operations.
Currently in Narama, there are:
- the Parish of Our Lady of the Scapular in Narama,
- the Public Primary School named after St. Jadwiga (Hedwig) the Queen with a Preschool Department in Narama,
- the Volunteer Fire Department-KSRG Narama,
- the Folk Sports Society "Novi" Narama with male, female, and youth sections,
- the Wind Orchestra "Naramianka,"
- the Rural Women's Circle (KGW “Narama”),
- the Folk Singing Group "Naramianki,"
- the "Novist" Foundation,
- and others.
VERY INTERESTING PLACES AND FACTS ABOUT NARAMA.
TULEJ.
In Narama there is a pond and a settlement called "Tulej". The origin of the name is unknown. This pond is located in the middle of a steep slope on the road to Owczary, it is fed by four large springs. The springs from this pond, among other springs, gave rise to the river which is called Naramka.
PRZEZNO (PRZEZDNO, BEZDNO)
In the forest along the road leading from Leśna Street to the hamlet of "Kolbuszowa" in Szczodrkowice, there is a place called "Przezno." According to legend, it was a small pond that was so deep that no one could find its bottom, hence the name "pond without bottom." It is most likely a karst sinkhole. There is no visible water in it now because fallen branches have woven together to form a pseudo-bottom. However, this place is very dangerous, and it is associated with many legends and chilling stories.
SOURCE OF BIAŁE DRZEWO.
On the road from the fire station (Andrzej Naramski Square) towards Koziers, in the Białe Drzewo (White Tree - birch) hamlet at Brzozowa Street, a valley stretching all the way to Krakow begins. In this valley there was a centuries-old cased well from which water flowed constantly. The well served as a source of water for the inhabitants, especially in dry years. The valley is now filled with earth, but the source is strong enough to find an outlet and keep flowing.
NARAMKA
The popular "Naramka Valley" and the "Naramka" River also begin in Narama. Both the Naramka Valley and the Naramka River flow through the villages of Międzygaje, Garlica and Zielonki all the way to Kraków. The sources of the Naramka stream were: Przezno, Tulej, a well in Białe Drzewo, a periodically appearing spring in the hamlet of Ustki, as well as seasonal springs in the hamlets of Kopanina and Łaziec.
CEMETERIES IN THE FOREST:
During World War I in the vicinity of Narama, heavy fighting took place between the armies of Austro-Hungary and the armies of the Russian Empire. A lot of soldiers died during these fights. There was also a military lazaret in Narama, Damice and Krasieniec, where many soldiers also died from wounds. Therefore, there are many cemeteries with mass graves of soldiers in Narama and the surrounding area. In Narama, the first cemetery is located about 1.2 km north of the center of Narama, on the edge of the narama’s forest. In the mass grave rest 24 soldiers of the Austro-Hungarian army and 1 soldier of the Russian army. The cemetery is marked. The second cemetery is located about 1.5 km north of the center of Narama, in the north-western part of the narama’s forest. 154 soldiers of the Austro-Hungarian army rest in a mass grave. The cemetery is marked. There was also another military cemetery from that period. According to Austrian documents, it was located on the narama,s road, about 128 paces from the village of Kozierów. Unfortunately, after the fire and land consolidation in Narama after 1928, the road layout changed, making it difficult to determine where this grave is located.
UNKNOWN SOLDIER'S GRAVE.
The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Narama is located on the edge of the forest, right next to the Cemetery. Everything indicates that it is from the period of the January Uprising of 1863-64. There is no preserved information about the name of the person who lies in this grave. During the Uprising, the soldiers of the uprising did not use family names to avoid repression by the partitioning powers against their families and estates. They often used pseudonyms or avoided providing their personal details. In the village of Ojców, not far from Narama, there was a large camp of the Polish Insurgent Army. Therefore, Narama was located in an area where heavy fighting between Polish insurgents and Russian troops took place. So it is possible that if no one died from a bullet in the village, then someone might have died from wounds received in combat and was buried at the edge of the forest in Narama. But because a lot of time had already passed, during the communist era it was impossible to talk about the fights between the Poles and the Russians, so this fact could have been forgotten. In the interwar and postwar period, patriotic ceremonies of the Common School and villagers took place at this grave.MIRACLE OF BIRTH.
In December 1942, the Germans rounded up the church in Narama. When these women left the church, the Germans arrested them and put them in the back of a car and took them to the fire station in Iwanowice. They wanted to take them to forced labor in Germany. When the Polish partisans found out about this fact, they attacked the post of German soldiers and released the women to freedom. One of the detained women was heavily pregnant. Fortunately, this woman, with the help of others, reached one of the farms, where she gave birth. This is how Mr. Marian Dziwisz, who comes from Michałówka, belonging to the Narama parish, was born, as he often mentions.VICTIMS OF "ZYGMUS".
In 1941, a 20-year-old Silesian German Nazi, Zygmunt, brutally abused the inhabitants of the village of Narama. He often walked between the houses and looked for and watched if anyone was doing some things that the Germans had forbidden to Poles. And if he tracked down someone, he would beat him with a whip until that person lost consciousness. Among other things, he tracked down and personally, in the presence of German gendarmes, killed a Jewish family of four. They were buried on the edge of the Catholic cemetery, but then after the war, in 1946, the family was moved to a Jewish cemetery. As the situation became unbearable for the inhabitants, the Polish Underground State issued a death sentence to Zygmunt. To carry out the sentence, Polish partisans, far from the village, ambushed Sigismund and executed him. Together with Zygmunt, a German gendarme, who also abused Poles, died.
MASS GRAVE OF CHOLERA VICTIMS.
On the border of Narama and Owczary there is the so-called Choleric Cemetery. The victims of the cholera and typhus pandemics rest there. The first burials were probably related to the cholera pandemic in 1831, which broke out in Poland after cholera germs were brought from the Balkans by the Russian army. Unfortunately, it has not yet been possible to obtain information whether this is a burial place only for victims from this period, or from earlier or later periods. On maps from the end of the 17th century, this place is not yet marked with a cross, which would suggest that earlier, before 1831, this grave did not exist.Author Zbigniew Grzyb
P.S. This story in English was written by a non-native English speaker. Therefore, if you notice any language errors, please let us know. We will be happy to correct these linguistic errors in the text, so that this story reads well.
Below Narama on google maps.