Over one hundred years ago, Ksenia Marczak left her tiny remote village in the Carpathian Mountains to start a new life in America. She was only 16 years old. Her village, Nieznajowa, was extremely isolated and had an ethnic Lemko population of about 250 souls. When Ksenia and her loved ones said goodbye in 1907, everyone knew that they would never meet again. Ksenia, who called herself Sadie, did have a new life in America, and she married and eventually settled in Detroit. Her two granddaughters Nancy and Pat never heard her speak of the "Old Country". No one can remember Sadie speaking of her days in the village or even if she ever wrote to anyone back home. Sadie was a good wife, mother, grandmother and she also babysat her great-grandkids. Nancy and Pat knew their grandma Sadie's life in Poland was difficult. Sadie was baptised in a Catholic Church but she was true to her Orthodox traditions and customs, and had friends who spoke her native Rusyn language. Sadie has long since passed away, but Nancy and Pat were determined to learn more about their Lemko heritage and about Sadie's life in the village of Nieznajowa. Translated, Nieznajowa means "Unknown" or "that which is not known." In English, we may say it was No Man's Land. Sisters Nancy and Pat decided to vacation in Poland and to explore Nieznajowa for themselves.

Robert Zasadni, a Polish cousin to Nancy and Pat, had volunteered to drive the sisters from Debica County into the Beskid Niski mountain area of Magura National Park in the Carpathian Mountain range to find this village that was "Unknown."

This area had been fought over for hundreds of years by Hungarian Kings, Swedish forces, Transylvanian Princes, Czarina Katherine of Russia and the Austrian armies as well. Nieznajowa was abandoned after 1945, when Soviet agents organized the resettlement of its residents to Ukraine and those who opted not to go were intimidated by native Poles into rejoining the group at the Gorlice railway station. The sisters were excited and hopeful, finding this journey to be a heartfelt connection and link to their dear grandmother. Their "Search for Sadie" began in earnest. Robert Zasadni describes the first leg of the journey: "When we arrived in the area, we saw the guidepost written with 'Nieznajowa 2 km'. Above us was a beautiful blue sky, and we could hear the voices of birds, the hum of the forest, the sun was shining. It was very amazing; there were no people, no cars, houses, and no lamps for nighttime, only us and nature. We surmounted these two kilometers and found chapels and crosses close to the road. We walked across a foot bridge above the Wisloka River next to an old house. About the next half mile, we looked for a cemetery, but it was impossible to find in this big area." Nancy, Pat, and Robert hiked back to the car and drove back a little ways and they spied a park ranger, who had opened up the windows and doors of the old house. The ranger was going to spend the weekend in this structure, but he took time out to escort the party of three to the ruins of the cemetery. "There was nothing left of this town. Nothing." Nancy said. "And without that ranger we wouldn't have found the cemetery. He showed us the ruined foundations and footings of the church. It was just unbelievable. We were in the middle of nowhere. How did there ever used to be a village here?" Robert and the ranger tried to uncover some of the overgrown gravestones to read the names. The sisters took a lot of pictures. The ranger explained that many former residents over the years earned money abroad and then came back to erect large headstones and chapels to mark the area and keep Nieznajowa from disappearing off the face of earth completely.

Pat explained her feelings, "I couldn't imagine my grandmother living there. We drove for miles and there were no signs of civilization. The next bigger town was so far away. I felt that this just couldn't be where my grandmother was from." Nancy and Pat learned years ago that the residents of this village populated by Lemkos struggled to maintain their national origin, ethnicity, and religion on Polish lands. Most were ox herders, pasturing their animals in the meadows, clearings and woodlands around the village. Life was harsh, and winter made the area extremely inhospitable to human habitation. The villagers' livelihoods revolved around their herds, fields, gardens, and some trade and commerce. Their spiritual lives were centered on religious holidays, customs and traditions that made the people feel whole and secure. The small church served the populace and news from the outside world probably was scarce: news and mail did not arrive regularly.

Nancy observed, "Very little of the main road was left, it was all broken up. All I could think was how did anyone get out of here 100 years ago?" Robert countered, "Yes, how had the people knowledge about America? How long must the trip have been, by cartload, next maybe by train and in the end by ship across the sea? How did they have timetables of ships?" and Pat wondered, "How could you just leave your parents? They had so much courage!" Despite the natural beauty of the Nieznajowa area, to the sisters it was a lonely place.  Pat had hoped to walk the streets of the village, see buildings and homes, and see through her own eyes what her grandmother may have seen. Nancy was more prepared for the desolation of Nieznajowa, having researched the area on the internet. Robert was impressed by the wherewithal the emigrants to America must have had to make the difficult decision to sell their belongings and houses, not knowing if all would be well on the long trip. The trio explored the area all afternoon and then, exhausted, they went back to their car. The "Search for Sadie" had come to an end for Pat. "To tell the truth, I wish I hadn't gone to Nieznajowa. I wanted to see where my grandma grew up. Even trying to imagine a village there, it was devastating and so sad for me to see what just looked like nothing but isolation." Nancy's "Search for Sadie" has only begun, "I wanted to see where she had come from and I still want to see more. I want to see more records from the church, and I want to go back and go into the larger towns around there and explore more. I just couldn't believe it, my grandma only 16 years old and going to the USA from there." Robert wondered, "Maybe some people still live who have stories about their families."

The "Search for Sadie" led to the Unknown, and for the sisters, at least now there is more that they do know about their grandmother. Nancy is looking inward, towards Nieznajowa and for more answers to how and why Sadie left it. Robert looks outside the village, knowing that there are former residents somewhere who can still tell their story. Pat, on the other hand, looks away from what seems to her to be only sorrow and sadness in the ruins.