Visiting the Old Country

Meeting up with your past and with distant relatives

At some time in their lives, most people get interested in their family history. Looking back several generations, for many of us that means learning something about those ancestors that left their old home country and came to the USA.

Slowly out Airplane back

It took them anywhere between 16 days to 5 months to cross the ocean to get here

It takes us about 8 hours to get back there (provided there are no delays as usually)

Starting to look into those things, many of us with Czech ancestors actually want to "go back" and look up our ancestral country, village, or home, maybe even talk with some yet unknown distant relatives.

It is important to realize that the stories from the ancestral country is as important a part of our private history and America's history as is the story of the early settlers here in America. And it can be great fun to find out that story.

Mostly they came from a very feudal system where they virtually had no rights at all. From the local nobility and priests up to the highest authorities; everybody could decide about these peasant. With the new law of 1848, resulting from a failed revolution, serfdom was abolished and peasants got the freedom of movement.

Our ancestors took that freedom to get away from the old and help build something new. Theirs was a scary choice into an uncertain future, gambling everything. Looking back can help us understand that choice and appreciate it more fully.

Design by the Bear (Robert Dulfer 2006-2016)