Polish Army soldier, WW II
Dyonizy was in the Polish Army on the western front of Poland when Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. He was 25 years old and in his second stint in the Polish Army. The order to distribute ammo was never given. Thus, when the shooting began, he and the men in his unit had rifles, but they had no bullets. Some of the Polish soldiers were blown to bits. Survivors picked up the pieces and put them in blankets. Others who were hit by German artillery were not so lucky: they were blown apart but did not die immediately and cried out to other Polish soldiers, "Finish me! Finish me!" Dyonizy survived in the live war zone for a few days, taking cover wherever possible. One of the Polish officers shot his horse and then shot himself. Finally, another Polish officer issued the order, "Every man for himself."
The unit fell apart and Polish troops became individuals fighting for their lives. Dyonizy was one of the surviving troops who retreated east.
Dyonizy began the trek east, to his hometown of Pinsk, 100 miles east of the Bug River. Early on, he came upon a farmer, and he exchanged clothes with the farmer so as to get out of the military clothing. He had a rifle; for his own safety, he had to get rid of it. He removed the barrel and threw it in one direction, and he threw the rest of the rifle into another area. As he walked east, much of Poland already was under control of Russian soldiers. They would order him, "Show your hands!" He had rough, working-man hands. If he'd had the smooth hands of a scholar or officer, he'd have been shot on the spot.
After Dyonizy got to Pinsk, he saw Russian soldiers clear the seminary of all religious. The Russian soldiers lined the seminarians up against the wall, and the seminarians shivered as it snowed. Dyonizy was told the seminarians were shipped to Siberia.
In late October after getting home from the war, Dyonizy's 63-year-old mother died. He helped to carry her coffin to her grave in the old Pinsk Cemetery.
For a while, Pinsk was under Russian control. While it was under Russian control, the Soviets went to the police and found the gun registration records. Gun registration and licensing had begun while Poland was in control. Polish people felt that they had no reason to fear their Polish government. But under Russian control, there were those same records, ready to be used by the Russians. Russian soldiers went door to door and confiscated guns and ammo. Sometimes the gun owner got off with just having his gun taken; sometimes the punishment was, well, worse.
Then Pinsk fell under Nazi German control. Early on, the Germans cleared out the Jews. After the Jews were removed, there was the day when German soldiers came to Dyonizy's little home outside the town and ordered him and all others in the area into a field outside the little houses. The people were divided into two groups, with no reason or rhyme. One group was machine-gunned (to death) in front of the other group. Those allowed to live were then just dismissed. Why did one group live and the other group die? Who knows?
These people had no means of defending themselves: the Russians had taken their guns in a door-to-door sweep, after finding the gun registrations.
In March 1941, Dyonizy married a Catholic woman. In March 1942, their son Victor was born. In about early autumn 1943, German Nazis put Dyonizy, his wife, and their baby onto a freight car (not a cattle car, but a freight car), crammed with other Poles being taken by freight train to forced labor camps. They were taken first to Dachua and soon after to Augsburg. It was in Augsburg on December 31, 1943, where he and his wife saw a Nazi doctor inject their 21-month-old son with something that killed the little boy. On January 2, 1944, when his son's death certificate was created by some German, Dyonizy was described as an "ostarbeiter" on the death certificate. (The word "ostarbeiter" was used by Nazis to mean people who had been brought into Germany from "the east" and who were being held as slaves by Germans.)
Dyonizy and his wife were held as slaves for the rest of World War II. After the camp was liberated by the U.S. 2nd Army, the camp became a refugee camp. Dyonizy remained in the refugee camp until March 1949 when he was able to bring his family to the USA. Before coming to the USA with the help of Catholic Charities (then "National Catholic Welfare Council"), Dyonizy had arranged for a job and a place for his family to live in the USA.
They arrived in New York on the S.S. Marine Falcon, having sailed from Hamburg, Germany, on March 19, 1949. There were 550 refugees on the ship, all coming from the American Zone in Germany: 248 males and 211 females; 18 children up to two years old, and 73 children from age two to age ten. Of the 550, 348 were described as being of Polish nationality; 83, Lithuanian; 38, Latvian.
In the USA, he first worked on a dairy farm in La Crosse, Wisconsin. That's where his family began the transition to America. He then moved his family to Chicago, where he worked full-time in a factory, operating a punch press; at the same time, he also worked part-time as a security guard, and his wife worked full-time in a factory, at night. In summer of 1953, he moved his family to South Bend, Indiana, to a Polish neighborhood where he was able to purchase a small house for his family. He supported his family as a laborer, in various jobs.
Dyonizy said he could speak eight languages, "and a little bit English." His first language was a Russian dialect spoken in his village (Dubatovka). It was the language he would speak when speaking with his sons.
Officially his religion was Orthodox, but he had little use for any organized religion.
Dyonizy was the brother of Trofem, Nadia, Irena, Michael, Anastasia, and Sergei. Dyonizy was the youngest of the siblings. When he was a little boy, the chaos and aftermath of the 1917 Russian Revolution and World War I were happening in his part of the world. His father was seen by the Red Russians as a supporter of the White Russians; therefore, his father was sent to Siberia to work in an electric plant. That left the family with no means of support.
In that time and place, there were no public schools. In order for a child to go to school, the school master had to be paid by the family of each child. Dyonizy's mother had no money to pay for his schooling after first grade. When second grade began, little Dyonizy went to the school, and the school master chased him away. Then the little boy stood outside the one-room school, looking in at the window and trying to listen to the teacher. The teacher could not have children getting free education; it would mean that the teacher was not being paid for his work. The teacher instructed the other children in the class to go outside and throw rocks at Dyonizy. And that was the end of Dyonizy's formal schooling.
Dyonizy was born in a tiny village called "Dubatovka" which was near the larger -- but still small -- village of Morozovichi. (The name "Dubatovka" means something like "place of the oaks," and the name was used for more than one small village.) The village of Morozovichi is northwest of the city of Baranavichy and southwest of the city of Novogrudok. Approximate latitude and longitude of the Morozovichi are 53° 32' north, and 25° 34' east.
Morozovichi was in the volost (township) of Koshelevskaya, which was in the uyezd (district) of Novogrudok, which was in the guberniya (province) of Minsk. The system of guberniya uyezd volost village existed from 1843 until 1918. By 2010, the area is part of the oblast of Hrodna, and Grodno is the administrative center of Hrodna.
Dyonizy was in the Polish Army on the western front of Poland when Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. He was 25 years old and in his second stint in the Polish Army. The order to distribute ammo was never given. Thus, when the shooting began, he and the men in his unit had rifles, but they had no bullets. Some of the Polish soldiers were blown to bits. Survivors picked up the pieces and put them in blankets. Others who were hit by German artillery were not so lucky: they were blown apart but did not die immediately and cried out to other Polish soldiers, "Finish me! Finish me!" Dyonizy survived in the live war zone for a few days, taking cover wherever possible. One of the Polish officers shot his horse and then shot himself. Finally, another Polish officer issued the order, "Every man for himself."
The unit fell apart and Polish troops became individuals fighting for their lives. Dyonizy was one of the surviving troops who retreated east.
Dyonizy began the trek east, to his hometown of Pinsk, 100 miles east of the Bug River. Early on, he came upon a farmer, and he exchanged clothes with the farmer so as to get out of the military clothing. He had a rifle; for his own safety, he had to get rid of it. He removed the barrel and threw it in one direction, and he threw the rest of the rifle into another area. As he walked east, much of Poland already was under control of Russian soldiers. They would order him, "Show your hands!" He had rough, working-man hands. If he'd had the smooth hands of a scholar or officer, he'd have been shot on the spot.
After Dyonizy got to Pinsk, he saw Russian soldiers clear the seminary of all religious. The Russian soldiers lined the seminarians up against the wall, and the seminarians shivered as it snowed. Dyonizy was told the seminarians were shipped to Siberia.
In late October after getting home from the war, Dyonizy's 63-year-old mother died. He helped to carry her coffin to her grave in the old Pinsk Cemetery.
For a while, Pinsk was under Russian control. While it was under Russian control, the Soviets went to the police and found the gun registration records. Gun registration and licensing had begun while Poland was in control. Polish people felt that they had no reason to fear their Polish government. But under Russian control, there were those same records, ready to be used by the Russians. Russian soldiers went door to door and confiscated guns and ammo. Sometimes the gun owner got off with just having his gun taken; sometimes the punishment was, well, worse.
Then Pinsk fell under Nazi German control. Early on, the Germans cleared out the Jews. After the Jews were removed, there was the day when German soldiers came to Dyonizy's little home outside the town and ordered him and all others in the area into a field outside the little houses. The people were divided into two groups, with no reason or rhyme. One group was machine-gunned (to death) in front of the other group. Those allowed to live were then just dismissed. Why did one group live and the other group die? Who knows?
These people had no means of defending themselves: the Russians had taken their guns in a door-to-door sweep, after finding the gun registrations.
In March 1941, Dyonizy married a Catholic woman. In March 1942, their son Victor was born. In about early autumn 1943, German Nazis put Dyonizy, his wife, and their baby onto a freight car (not a cattle car, but a freight car), crammed with other Poles being taken by freight train to forced labor camps. They were taken first to Dachua and soon after to Augsburg. It was in Augsburg on December 31, 1943, where he and his wife saw a Nazi doctor inject their 21-month-old son with something that killed the little boy. On January 2, 1944, when his son's death certificate was created by some German, Dyonizy was described as an "ostarbeiter" on the death certificate. (The word "ostarbeiter" was used by Nazis to mean people who had been brought into Germany from "the east" and who were being held as slaves by Germans.)
Dyonizy and his wife were held as slaves for the rest of World War II. After the camp was liberated by the U.S. 2nd Army, the camp became a refugee camp. Dyonizy remained in the refugee camp until March 1949 when he was able to bring his family to the USA. Before coming to the USA with the help of Catholic Charities (then "National Catholic Welfare Council"), Dyonizy had arranged for a job and a place for his family to live in the USA.
They arrived in New York on the S.S. Marine Falcon, having sailed from Hamburg, Germany, on March 19, 1949. There were 550 refugees on the ship, all coming from the American Zone in Germany: 248 males and 211 females; 18 children up to two years old, and 73 children from age two to age ten. Of the 550, 348 were described as being of Polish nationality; 83, Lithuanian; 38, Latvian.
In the USA, he first worked on a dairy farm in La Crosse, Wisconsin. That's where his family began the transition to America. He then moved his family to Chicago, where he worked full-time in a factory, operating a punch press; at the same time, he also worked part-time as a security guard, and his wife worked full-time in a factory, at night. In summer of 1953, he moved his family to South Bend, Indiana, to a Polish neighborhood where he was able to purchase a small house for his family. He supported his family as a laborer, in various jobs.
Dyonizy said he could speak eight languages, "and a little bit English." His first language was a Russian dialect spoken in his village (Dubatovka). It was the language he would speak when speaking with his sons.
Officially his religion was Orthodox, but he had little use for any organized religion.
Dyonizy was the brother of Trofem, Nadia, Irena, Michael, Anastasia, and Sergei. Dyonizy was the youngest of the siblings. When he was a little boy, the chaos and aftermath of the 1917 Russian Revolution and World War I were happening in his part of the world. His father was seen by the Red Russians as a supporter of the White Russians; therefore, his father was sent to Siberia to work in an electric plant. That left the family with no means of support.
In that time and place, there were no public schools. In order for a child to go to school, the school master had to be paid by the family of each child. Dyonizy's mother had no money to pay for his schooling after first grade. When second grade began, little Dyonizy went to the school, and the school master chased him away. Then the little boy stood outside the one-room school, looking in at the window and trying to listen to the teacher. The teacher could not have children getting free education; it would mean that the teacher was not being paid for his work. The teacher instructed the other children in the class to go outside and throw rocks at Dyonizy. And that was the end of Dyonizy's formal schooling.
Dyonizy was born in a tiny village called "Dubatovka" which was near the larger -- but still small -- village of Morozovichi. (The name "Dubatovka" means something like "place of the oaks," and the name was used for more than one small village.) The village of Morozovichi is northwest of the city of Baranavichy and southwest of the city of Novogrudok. Approximate latitude and longitude of the Morozovichi are 53° 32' north, and 25° 34' east.
Morozovichi was in the volost (township) of Koshelevskaya, which was in the uyezd (district) of Novogrudok, which was in the guberniya (province) of Minsk. The system of guberniya uyezd volost village existed from 1843 until 1918. By 2010, the area is part of the oblast of Hrodna, and Grodno is the administrative center of Hrodna.
Polish Army soldier, WW II
Dyonizy was in the Polish Army on the western front of Poland when Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. He was 25 years old and in his second stint in the Polish Army. The order to distribute ammo was never given. Thus, when the shooting began, he and the men in his unit had rifles, but they had no bullets. Some of the Polish soldiers were blown to bits. Survivors picked up the pieces and put them in blankets. Others who were hit by German artillery were not so lucky: they were blown apart but did not die immediately and cried out to other Polish soldiers, "Finish me! Finish me!" Dyonizy survived in the live war zone for a few days, taking cover wherever possible. One of the Polish officers shot his horse and then shot himself. Finally, another Polish officer issued the order, "Every man for himself."
The unit fell apart and Polish troops became individuals fighting for their lives. Dyonizy was one of the surviving troops who retreated east.
Dyonizy began the trek east, to his hometown of Pinsk, 100 miles east of the Bug River. Early on, he came upon a farmer, and he exchanged clothes with the farmer so as to get out of the military clothing. He had a rifle; for his own safety, he had to get rid of it. He removed the barrel and threw it in one direction, and he threw the rest of the rifle into another area. As he walked east, much of Poland already was under control of Russian soldiers. They would order him, "Show your hands!" He had rough, working-man hands. If he'd had the smooth hands of a scholar or officer, he'd have been shot on the spot.
After Dyonizy got to Pinsk, he saw Russian soldiers clear the seminary of all religious. The Russian soldiers lined the seminarians up against the wall, and the seminarians shivered as it snowed. Dyonizy was told the seminarians were shipped to Siberia.
In late October after getting home from the war, Dyonizy's 63-year-old mother died. He helped to carry her coffin to her grave in the old Pinsk Cemetery.
For a while, Pinsk was under Russian control. While it was under Russian control, the Soviets went to the police and found the gun registration records. Gun registration and licensing had begun while Poland was in control. Polish people felt that they had no reason to fear their Polish government. But under Russian control, there were those same records, ready to be used by the Russians. Russian soldiers went door to door and confiscated guns and ammo. Sometimes the gun owner got off with just having his gun taken; sometimes the punishment was, well, worse.
Then Pinsk fell under Nazi German control. Early on, the Germans cleared out the Jews. After the Jews were removed, there was the day when German soldiers came to Dyonizy's little home outside the town and ordered him and all others in the area into a field outside the little houses. The people were divided into two groups, with no reason or rhyme. One group was machine-gunned (to death) in front of the other group. Those allowed to live were then just dismissed. Why did one group live and the other group die? Who knows?
These people had no means of defending themselves: the Russians had taken their guns in a door-to-door sweep, after finding the gun registrations.
In March 1941, Dyonizy married a Catholic woman. In March 1942, their son Victor was born. In about early autumn 1943, German Nazis put Dyonizy, his wife, and their baby onto a freight car (not a cattle car, but a freight car), crammed with other Poles being taken by freight train to forced labor camps. They were taken first to Dachua and soon after to Augsburg. It was in Augsburg on December 31, 1943, where he and his wife saw a Nazi doctor inject their 21-month-old son with something that killed the little boy. On January 2, 1944, when his son's death certificate was created by some German, Dyonizy was described as an "ostarbeiter" on the death certificate. (The word "ostarbeiter" was used by Nazis to mean people who had been brought into Germany from "the east" and who were being held as slaves by Germans.)
Dyonizy and his wife were held as slaves for the rest of World War II. After the camp was liberated by the U.S. 2nd Army, the camp became a refugee camp. Dyonizy remained in the refugee camp until March 1949 when he was able to bring his family to the USA. Before coming to the USA with the help of Catholic Charities (then "National Catholic Welfare Council"), Dyonizy had arranged for a job and a place for his family to live in the USA.
They arrived in New York on the S.S. Marine Falcon, having sailed from Hamburg, Germany, on March 19, 1949. There were 550 refugees on the ship, all coming from the American Zone in Germany: 248 males and 211 females; 18 children up to two years old, and 73 children from age two to age ten. Of the 550, 348 were described as being of Polish nationality; 83, Lithuanian; 38, Latvian.
In the USA, he first worked on a dairy farm in La Crosse, Wisconsin. That's where his family began the transition to America. He then moved his family to Chicago, where he worked full-time in a factory, operating a punch press; at the same time, he also worked part-time as a security guard, and his wife worked full-time in a factory, at night. In summer of 1953, he moved his family to South Bend, Indiana, to a Polish neighborhood where he was able to purchase a small house for his family. He supported his family as a laborer, in various jobs.
Dyonizy said he could speak eight languages, "and a little bit English." His first language was a Russian dialect spoken in his village (Dubatovka). It was the language he would speak when speaking with his sons.
Officially his religion was Orthodox, but he had little use for any organized religion.
Dyonizy was the brother of Trofem, Nadia, Irena, Michael, Anastasia, and Sergei. Dyonizy was the youngest of the siblings. When he was a little boy, the chaos and aftermath of the 1917 Russian Revolution and World War I were happening in his part of the world. His father was seen by the Red Russians as a supporter of the White Russians; therefore, his father was sent to Siberia to work in an electric plant. That left the family with no means of support.
In that time and place, there were no public schools. In order for a child to go to school, the school master had to be paid by the family of each child. Dyonizy's mother had no money to pay for his schooling after first grade. When second grade began, little Dyonizy went to the school, and the school master chased him away. Then the little boy stood outside the one-room school, looking in at the window and trying to listen to the teacher. The teacher could not have children getting free education; it would mean that the teacher was not being paid for his work. The teacher instructed the other children in the class to go outside and throw rocks at Dyonizy. And that was the end of Dyonizy's formal schooling.
Dyonizy was born in a tiny village called "Dubatovka" which was near the larger -- but still small -- village of Morozovichi. (The name "Dubatovka" means something like "place of the oaks," and the name was used for more than one small village.) The village of Morozovichi is northwest of the city of Baranavichy and southwest of the city of Novogrudok. Approximate latitude and longitude of the Morozovichi are 53° 32' north, and 25° 34' east.
Morozovichi was in the volost (township) of Koshelevskaya, which was in the uyezd (district) of Novogrudok, which was in the guberniya (province) of Minsk. The system of guberniya uyezd volost village existed from 1843 until 1918. By 2010, the area is part of the oblast of Hrodna, and Grodno is the administrative center of Hrodna.
Dyonizy was in the Polish Army on the western front of Poland when Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. He was 25 years old and in his second stint in the Polish Army. The order to distribute ammo was never given. Thus, when the shooting began, he and the men in his unit had rifles, but they had no bullets. Some of the Polish soldiers were blown to bits. Survivors picked up the pieces and put them in blankets. Others who were hit by German artillery were not so lucky: they were blown apart but did not die immediately and cried out to other Polish soldiers, "Finish me! Finish me!" Dyonizy survived in the live war zone for a few days, taking cover wherever possible. One of the Polish officers shot his horse and then shot himself. Finally, another Polish officer issued the order, "Every man for himself."
The unit fell apart and Polish troops became individuals fighting for their lives. Dyonizy was one of the surviving troops who retreated east.
Dyonizy began the trek east, to his hometown of Pinsk, 100 miles east of the Bug River. Early on, he came upon a farmer, and he exchanged clothes with the farmer so as to get out of the military clothing. He had a rifle; for his own safety, he had to get rid of it. He removed the barrel and threw it in one direction, and he threw the rest of the rifle into another area. As he walked east, much of Poland already was under control of Russian soldiers. They would order him, "Show your hands!" He had rough, working-man hands. If he'd had the smooth hands of a scholar or officer, he'd have been shot on the spot.
After Dyonizy got to Pinsk, he saw Russian soldiers clear the seminary of all religious. The Russian soldiers lined the seminarians up against the wall, and the seminarians shivered as it snowed. Dyonizy was told the seminarians were shipped to Siberia.
In late October after getting home from the war, Dyonizy's 63-year-old mother died. He helped to carry her coffin to her grave in the old Pinsk Cemetery.
For a while, Pinsk was under Russian control. While it was under Russian control, the Soviets went to the police and found the gun registration records. Gun registration and licensing had begun while Poland was in control. Polish people felt that they had no reason to fear their Polish government. But under Russian control, there were those same records, ready to be used by the Russians. Russian soldiers went door to door and confiscated guns and ammo. Sometimes the gun owner got off with just having his gun taken; sometimes the punishment was, well, worse.
Then Pinsk fell under Nazi German control. Early on, the Germans cleared out the Jews. After the Jews were removed, there was the day when German soldiers came to Dyonizy's little home outside the town and ordered him and all others in the area into a field outside the little houses. The people were divided into two groups, with no reason or rhyme. One group was machine-gunned (to death) in front of the other group. Those allowed to live were then just dismissed. Why did one group live and the other group die? Who knows?
These people had no means of defending themselves: the Russians had taken their guns in a door-to-door sweep, after finding the gun registrations.
In March 1941, Dyonizy married a Catholic woman. In March 1942, their son Victor was born. In about early autumn 1943, German Nazis put Dyonizy, his wife, and their baby onto a freight car (not a cattle car, but a freight car), crammed with other Poles being taken by freight train to forced labor camps. They were taken first to Dachua and soon after to Augsburg. It was in Augsburg on December 31, 1943, where he and his wife saw a Nazi doctor inject their 21-month-old son with something that killed the little boy. On January 2, 1944, when his son's death certificate was created by some German, Dyonizy was described as an "ostarbeiter" on the death certificate. (The word "ostarbeiter" was used by Nazis to mean people who had been brought into Germany from "the east" and who were being held as slaves by Germans.)
Dyonizy and his wife were held as slaves for the rest of World War II. After the camp was liberated by the U.S. 2nd Army, the camp became a refugee camp. Dyonizy remained in the refugee camp until March 1949 when he was able to bring his family to the USA. Before coming to the USA with the help of Catholic Charities (then "National Catholic Welfare Council"), Dyonizy had arranged for a job and a place for his family to live in the USA.
They arrived in New York on the S.S. Marine Falcon, having sailed from Hamburg, Germany, on March 19, 1949. There were 550 refugees on the ship, all coming from the American Zone in Germany: 248 males and 211 females; 18 children up to two years old, and 73 children from age two to age ten. Of the 550, 348 were described as being of Polish nationality; 83, Lithuanian; 38, Latvian.
In the USA, he first worked on a dairy farm in La Crosse, Wisconsin. That's where his family began the transition to America. He then moved his family to Chicago, where he worked full-time in a factory, operating a punch press; at the same time, he also worked part-time as a security guard, and his wife worked full-time in a factory, at night. In summer of 1953, he moved his family to South Bend, Indiana, to a Polish neighborhood where he was able to purchase a small house for his family. He supported his family as a laborer, in various jobs.
Dyonizy said he could speak eight languages, "and a little bit English." His first language was a Russian dialect spoken in his village (Dubatovka). It was the language he would speak when speaking with his sons.
Officially his religion was Orthodox, but he had little use for any organized religion.
Dyonizy was the brother of Trofem, Nadia, Irena, Michael, Anastasia, and Sergei. Dyonizy was the youngest of the siblings. When he was a little boy, the chaos and aftermath of the 1917 Russian Revolution and World War I were happening in his part of the world. His father was seen by the Red Russians as a supporter of the White Russians; therefore, his father was sent to Siberia to work in an electric plant. That left the family with no means of support.
In that time and place, there were no public schools. In order for a child to go to school, the school master had to be paid by the family of each child. Dyonizy's mother had no money to pay for his schooling after first grade. When second grade began, little Dyonizy went to the school, and the school master chased him away. Then the little boy stood outside the one-room school, looking in at the window and trying to listen to the teacher. The teacher could not have children getting free education; it would mean that the teacher was not being paid for his work. The teacher instructed the other children in the class to go outside and throw rocks at Dyonizy. And that was the end of Dyonizy's formal schooling.
Dyonizy was born in a tiny village called "Dubatovka" which was near the larger -- but still small -- village of Morozovichi. (The name "Dubatovka" means something like "place of the oaks," and the name was used for more than one small village.) The village of Morozovichi is northwest of the city of Baranavichy and southwest of the city of Novogrudok. Approximate latitude and longitude of the Morozovichi are 53° 32' north, and 25° 34' east.
Morozovichi was in the volost (township) of Koshelevskaya, which was in the uyezd (district) of Novogrudok, which was in the guberniya (province) of Minsk. The system of guberniya uyezd volost village existed from 1843 until 1918. By 2010, the area is part of the oblast of Hrodna, and Grodno is the administrative center of Hrodna.
