The old ancestral Bieniasz Homestead was one of two large farms (folwark) in Karolowka, a portion of the village of Glowaczowa. The term folwark is usually reserved for the large manor farms owned by the Polish gentry, but our family merely hobnobbed with the nobles and were not noble themselves. Exactly when this property came into our hands and how long this farm had been operated by the Bieniasz family is uncertain. It was a large (by Polish standards) farm with soil well-suited for growing grains like rye.
The two farms in Karolowka lay to the northeast of the village and were separated from the main part of Glowaczowa by a small forest, a dirt road connecting them. Straszecin Parish maintained an auxiliary church in Glowaczowa for the convenience of worshippers on the west end of the parish. Jewish residents worshipped at the synagogue in Debica.
A little bit further to the northeast of Karolowka is a place named "Grodoniowka". It has only two properties - one house is currently shuttered and unoccupied while a second is the home of another Grych family who has a thriving farm there.
On the south end of Glowaczowa was the large, wooded estate of the noble Rey Family called "Przyborow". At least one of our family members, Anna Bieniasz - eldest daughter of Franciszek and Jozefa Bieniasz, was born there at the manor house in 1868.
All of these geographic places are quite old. Glowaczowa dates back to the 14th Century while Straszecin, where the parish church is located, dates back to the 11th Century.
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The war took its toll not only on the old farm and our 450-year old parish church, but also on our family. Patriarch Franciszek Bieniasz died in 1940 at age 96. Friends, neighbors, and numerous family members who were our cousins - men, women, and children - were killed or maimed in the conflict. We not only lost the farm, we lost a brace of kinsmen.
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