John Guzik Sr. - Years of Fighting Between Russian & Lithuanian Poles in South Camden, New Jersey

1901

This article from 1909 followed by many more got me interested in learning more about the rival between Russian and Lithuanian Poles in Camden, New Jersey.  Regardless of being unified by nationality under the Russian Empire, it seems like many of the Polish immigrants were not able to see through their differences brought on by their Ethnicity, and their identity.

Living in the packed streets, frequenting the same events, I can see why these groups would get into tussle after tussle (to say the least).  These fights often extended beyond your average scrap, and included homicide, skull fractures, and black eyes.  Think that these boys would learn to behave and have some respect at family affairs?  Think again.  After seeing that my 2nd Great-Grandfather John Guzik got into a match at a Polish Christening, curiosity got the best of me.  You would be surprised if you do a newspaper search for the term "Polish Christening" how many of these stories are about fights, brawls, stabbings and shots fired.  

My research topic of the Lithuanians vs. Russians and the Polish population of Camden will continue, but for now I will outline the turn of events that occurred between John Guzik (1878-1955) and his adversaries.  I am sure there are even more that I did not capture, but this research is my preliminary comb through the papers.  Interesting enough, since I do not know this information from records or family knowledge, I am not able to discern whether John is one of the Russians, or Lithuanians, but I am going to use some research skills to create a working hypothesis.  Here's how this research went...

 I was digging a little deeper into my family history research on the Guzik side.  I decided to do a newspaper search for address rather than name, and boy did I find a lot more information.  Due to good old fashion human error, mix ups in translation and in interpretation these events detailing the rough house escapades of John Guzik Sr. refer to him as Duzik, Guziack, Duziak, Buzik, you name it!  Evident by the continuation of the story, matching address, and dates matching up that mention the correct name, it is completely verifiable that this is our John.

Saying that John Guzik was injured in this fight would be an understatement.  It seems like he was not even expected to live and a number of other "combatants" sustained broken heads, or what we can assume were fractured skulls as well.  At Cooper Hospital he was treated from his skull injury stemming from a brick being thrown at the head.  Sanduski, the man at the other end of the brick was held for bail until Guzik's outcome was determined, but Sanduski did not take this lightly, and will come back for revenge.  

Flash forward 3 years to 1912 and John Guzik gets in another fight.  While the article mentions these two men as countrymen, I do not believe they were at odds.  According to my grandmother and her siblings the Brodzik's were their cousins on the Guzik side of the family.  I am unsure of the connection yet, but we can assume that ethnicity did not play a part here.  The article describes a drunken fight between the Polanders.  This time John Brodzik, 23 - 1855 S. 4th Street, is in Cooper and death is expected.  John Guzik - 23 - 1877 S. 4th St. gives the police a confession, but reports it was self defense.  The fight started in a boathouse on Jefferson and continued while gaining intensity on the way home as the two made their way home through railroad yards.  Guzik hit Brodzik with a beer glass, and Brodzik hit Guzik with a plate over the head with such force it fractured his skull, which I am assuming was healing up from getting smashed open by a brick less than 3 years prior.  

1916 and it looks like John Guzik is narrowly escaping death again.  So far, we know of the brick smashing his skull in 1909, heavy plate fracturing his skull in 1912 and now comes a Memorial Day, or Decoration Day (as it was known then) brawl results in a dying Guzik in the hospital with a skull that has been crushed.  Now John is 32, still living at 1877 South 4th Street and finds himself lying in Cooper Hospital "in dying condition".  Here is where the Lithuanian vs. Russian tension comes back into play.

Reports claim that a fight between the Russian and Lithuanian Poles in the 8th Ward result in a fractured skull (John's) and bullets flying.  Anthony Sanduski is arrested.  Wait....Sound familiar?  It is because this is the same assailant from the first article in 1909 and the two groups are at it again, somehow Guzik and Sanduski finding themselves at the front of the action again.  Adam Slowich (Slovich) is held as a witness.  The intensity of these street fights and brawls seems to be building in fury and intensity.

The police had actually learned earlier that the "two factions of Poles had been at odds all day", and a fight occurred earlier that day.  Heavy drinking occurred, likely for the holiday, or likely because they were always drinking, which is always a contributing factor to more fights.  

At night, a full blown riot breaks out at 4th & Emerald Streets in Camden between the Lithuanian and Russian Poles and the 2nd District police arrives to the scene.  They describe the. neighborhood as being in a "fever heat" with excitement.

Guzik's near death state comes from a blow to the head from a heavy piece of mortar which left his "skull bone crushed in".  The ambulance found him bleeding from the head wound and a chunk of mortar nearby saturated with blood.  Doctors did not expect him to make the night and it is reported that he "rallied" and while staying in critical condition, was the slightest bit better the next day.  Good enough to talk because when police can question him at the hospital, he also reports 4 shots were fired at him from a revolver.  Not good enough to talk correctly though.  This article reports the entire time that his name is John Duzik.  Is it their error, or could they not hear him correctly in his swollen and injured state, and while speaking Polish?  We will never know.

While Sanduski keeps claiming that he was not the one to crush Guzik's skull with the mortar, he is identified as the assailant.  After hiding out for three hours he is found on South 6th Street that night, and Guzik spends another two weeks in the hospital.

Guess what!  Guzik is out, it is now June 11, 1916, just a mere 11 days since the skull crushing incident (literally) and fresh out of the hospital.  In an unlucky twist of fate, Guzik decides he is well enough to a Polish Christening.  Think 2 fractured and 1 crushed skull, and two hospital stays in critical condition with the angel of death nearby warrant a miraculous survival story?  Try the 4th traumatic skull injury.

Guess who brings on this 4th cracked skull to Guzik?  Yes.  You got it.  None other than Anthony Sanduski.  This time Guzik is arrested, but not after being beat over the head and suffering a concussion of the brain.  Sanduski (article mentions him as Sadoski) has a slashed hand.

All of these scuffles, brawls, bullets and bricks seem to be doing a number because on the 15th of June 1916, 4 days later, John Guzik gets a surgery to his left eye.  This article also butchers his name and reports this as "John Cousicz" (which was a first for me, and I've seen every spelling of Guzik, ever).

Guzik, by some sort of miracle, does not have any long-term ailments due to any of these injuries and lives until 1955, and somewhere around 76 years old.  He is buried at St. Joseph's Cemetery and has his Mass at St. Joe's Church respectively.  The funeral is held at Ciechanowski funeral Home.

Wait, but, was Guzik or Sanduski the Lithuanian Pole?  The Russian Pole?  Guess what?  I still don't know.  I am doing my best to piece together my family history on my side (and recruiting more DNA testing) but for now I can say that on records of both John Guzik and of Anthony Sanduski they are listed as Camden's favorite nationality on a Census, Russia crossed out with Poland written next to it (I see it so many times).  Sanduski does list on one census just Russian, and Slowik, our two times witness also lists Russain.  This is taken with a grain of salt because the tangled and multi-faceted history of Poland between the turn of the century and World War's is eloquently and intricately complex.  For now, I am just going to keep drudging on with my research and using great resources such as Camden DVRBS, Ancestry, MyHeritage, and Google to help me.

Thoughts?  I would love to talk!  Let me know in a comment below.

Thanks for stopping by!  - Michelle Beech - History lover, enamored with archives & always researching.