Haruch Family

Happy first day of summer!

Veselé Velikonoce!

Veselé Velikonoce!

Veselé Vánoce (Merry Christmas)! Grandma Haruch would make “houskas” during the holidays, which was delicious toasted with butter. My spouse, Cinda (Novak) Haruch, makes it too, which always made Dad happy!

Are you going to bake this traditional Christmas bread Vánočka? I will be baking two. 😊 Recipe: https://www.czechcookbook.com/christmas-bread-vanocka/

Thanks to everyone who helped celebrate the 100th anniversary of the immigration to America of James & Katherine Haruch!

Presentation with information and pictures:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1f_PkTtJ8quV8hCi3zW8MfzWdKpPlbKHq087dVfcCkV8/edit?usp=sharing

Video recording of the Zoom call:

https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/hpM6YKY8NpIEOSylLaTP8G2EP4pKBXyzdct8CAJb9CKBtdGiY8oMoeCLzd5CIvPC.ipHrFxcUhTINPKVH?startTime=1701051690000

Audio recordings of James & Katherine’s personal histories:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Q_ejO8hVZ0JBkNNQpig5xO6pbFdGaL08?usp=sharing

Recordings of Grandpa & Grandma Haruch - Google Drive

TOMORROW SUN NOV 26!
9p ET, 8p CT, 7p MT, 6p PT

James & Katherine Haruch
100th Anniversary in America

Zoom link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84968684273

Meeting ID:
849 6868 4273

Additional information and photos will be shared. Please feel free to share the link and ID with others.

If you live in the Chicago area, this will be aired again on PBS…

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1236409233160854&type=3

My aunt Marcelka Hrabovska in the Czech Republic made this incredible project decorating ostrich and goose eggs with a straw. It took her one year to accomplish. It is what we call Křížová cesta (Calvary, Stations Of The Cross). It was showcased in some churches and now it is in private collection. What a treasure!

Memory shared by Daniel M. Golich, Jr.:

JAMES BASIL HARUCH: MY GRANDFATHER, always affectionately, called GRANDPA !!! Just some thoughts and memories, that have hit my Heart Lately !!! A Man who always shown LOVE with Disipline, and sometimes He would direct that Cane at You, Gently with Love !!!! I REMEMBER, the ci**rs, the DutchMaster, cigar box, just the aroma that touched the air. He always had Lemondrop candies, and Spearmint Leaf candies. I remember the long walks across the empty lots by the Bowling alley, to the DesPlains River, as we walked I listened to those stories of WW1, a machine Gunner, who was shot in the shoulder, He would always show the Scars, His capture and time in a prisoner of war Camp, his escape and help from some farmers, on his journey !! When we walk down the hill and finally got to the river, he would tell us to look up at the draping nests in the the trees and HE WOULD SAY THERES THE NESTS OF THE FLYING FISH !!! and The many walks in the long backyard, to the cement wall, and climbing up the cinder blocks, to get to the Bowling Alley, to have a few drinks, at times maybe one too many !!! MY FONDEST MEMORY: as He aged, Aunt Hollie hid his Blackberry Brandy, "BUT", He would come up to me, put his finger to his lips, and say Shhh ! I KNOW WHERE SHE HIDES IT !! I would take the Brandy out of the cabinet, WE would have a shot, put it back, and He'd say don't tell Aunt Hollie, to me that was always a Magical Moment !! Just some memories !! I always felt Love with Disipline !! He was always more of a Father to me than my own, Grandpa and Father !!! all of these memories are with Love and many more !! JUST A FEW THINGS FROM THE HEART, I WLL ALWAYS LOVE YOU , GRANDPA !!!

Happy Valentines!

Grandma’s houska at Chrtmas! Veselé Vánoce!

Here’s a video on how to make houska or vánočka…
https://youtu.be/fBP3l5SNpIU

The Ball Turret on a B-17 Bomber circa 1943. The brave Gunners operating this small claustrophobic contraption had to endure sub-zero temperatures, hours spent breathing through an oxygen mask and cramping in their muscles from sitting hunched in a fetal position for long periods.

Happy Birthday Grandma! (Katherine Haruch, born Nov 23, 1900)

https://www.facebook.com/233159982065/posts/10159127836602066/

Beautiful houska!

As a young boy, I remember Grandma (Katherine Stach-Haruch) making delicious home-made Czech dishes. She always seemed happiest in her kitchen cooking for family (Looks Iike she’s making dough for boiled dumplings). Grandpa was usually there too, at the table drinking beer while singing or playing his harmonica.

My mother recorded Grandma in her kitchen in 1978 and made an audio tape. On this recording (4 min), Grandpa plays his harmonica and Grandma sings along:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Q8u13_Ar21w5sOivCFZnE3ryY27UnDzA/view?usp=sharing
(After clicking the link, select the Download icon at the top to play)

Happy Memorial Day! Katherine “Ma” Haruch with her son John Haruch, a newly minted Ensign in the US Navy, circa mid 1950s at home in Lyons IL. Dad looks so serious and Grandma looks so proud!

Grandma (Katherine Stach-Haruch) was Czech and she and Grandpa settled in Lyons IL within a Czech suburban area outside Chicago.

Below is a recently completed PBS documentary about their history that will initially air this FRI CST.

Here’s the broadcast schedule:
https://schedule.wttw.com/episodes/575119/Czechs-In-Chicago/

Here’s how to watch on TV, online, or mobile:
https://interactive.wttw.com/ways-to-watch.

We're delighted to let you know that our feature documentary 'Czechs in Chicago: A Home in the Heartland' will have its TV premiere airing on Chicago PBS, WTTW, Friday May 20 @ 8 PM, CDT... See below for further WTTW airings. With thanks to all who helped make it possible!!

(FYI: We just completed the making of this film. The Chicago PBS airings are the 1st step in our Distribution process. Wider distribution will occur as things unfold. We'll announce further airings, streaming & screenings in other locations as they are arranged. Thanks!)

Here is another photo of Grandpa (Basil James Haruch) in uniform. He was conscripted into the Austrian-Hungarian Army at the beginning of WWI which the people/area of Ukraine were a part of. By the end of the war in March 1917, the Ukrainian People's Republic was declared.

“Ukrainians were politically divided between the Austrian-Hungarian Empire and the Russian Empire. When war broke out, Ukrainians were conscripted into the armies of both nations: 3.5 million fought as part of the Russian army, while a quarter-million took up arms for the Austrian throne.”
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Ukrainian_nationality

Given recent events, I can’t help but think about Grandpa (Basil James Haruch) and how he fought during WWI to help establish Ukraine’s brief independence at the end of the war, but after it became part of the Soviet Union in 1922, he emigrated to America in 1923 (and met Grandma on the ship).

Katherine Stach Haruch was born on 23 November, 1900 in Smrci, CZ—121 years ago. Happy Birthday Grandma! We love you!