Tape 4 Side 1
Paul Sapieha begins by explaining his purpose in creating these recordings for his descendants Krysia and Nicholas. He acknowledges the difficulty of speaking to a machine while attempting to share family history and personal experiences: “I have decided to buy this instrument which is really a torture to me.”
Family History and the Sapieha Name
He provides extensive genealogical information, starting with the earliest known ancestor, Sunigal, a Lithuanian governor who participated in the Union of Horodło in 1413. The name evolved from Sunigal to Sopiha to Sapieha, becoming officially documented in the 16th century.
Notable historical figures in the family include Lew, Great Chancellor of Lithuania; Alexander, a friend of Napoleon who surveyed the Balkans; and Leon, who built the Vienna–Lwów railroad and brought the family to Galicia after the 1831 uprising. Cardinal Archbishop Adam Sapieha was prominent during the Nazi occupation.
The Galician Estates
Paul’s great-grandfather Leon purchased several estates including Krasiczyn, Boleszyłce, Bilcze, and Siedliska.
Krasiczyn featured a Renaissance castle that required restoration after a fire following Adam’s marriage to Edwige Sanguszko.
Siedliska, approximately 7,000 hectares mostly forested, was developed from a mill into a habitable house where Paul was born: “The main, and most beautiful thing about the estate of Siedliska was its forest.” The estate included two major farms, approximately 120 cows and 60 horses, an alcohol factory using potatoes, fish ponds stocked with carp, and crops of beetroot, wheat, oats, rye, and barley. The wooden house was later destroyed by fire, possibly by Ukrainian peasants.
Reflections on Exile
Sapieha reflects on the difficulty of exile and family separation, comparing his experience to themes in The Fiddler on the Roof: “I believe the most difficult thing in exile is the dispersion.”
Munich and Oktoberfest
Writing from Munich on 19 September during Oktoberfest, he describes hosting a Polish literary figure and refugee, and discusses her experiences under the Communist regime. He describes evening walks with his dachshund, Phoebe, in the Theresienwiese, which is transformed during Oktoberfest with fairground attractions including Russian railroads, horses, zebras, llamas, and monkeys.