Starting Life Over in Buffalo: A Polish Family Reunited
Title
Starting Life Over in Buffalo: A Polish Family Reunited
Creator
Description
Casey Wrobel defected to the United States in 1981, fleeing martial law in his native Poland. He is deaf and went from being a locksmith to working in a Buffalo metal stamping plant. He immediately started saving his earning in order to bring his wife and two daughters to Buffalo as well. It took years for their visas to be granted.
WIVB-TV reporter Rich Newberg flew with Casey to JFK Airport in New York the day he was reunited with his family. They all embraced. His wife Katrina is also deaf and worked as a tailor in Gdansk to make ends meet.
Daughter Kataryna was able to speak for the family through an interpreter. She said, "Without father there is no life." In Buffalo, Catholic Charities and St. Mary's School for the Deaf were prepared to help the family start life over again.
In a follow-up report almost a year-and-a half later, we see Katrina working as a seamstress. Daughters Katrina and Monica learned to speak English at St. Stanislaus School in Buffalo. Monica had become best friends with a fellow student. Katrina was having a harder time adjusting to life in America.
The Catholic Church continued to play a major role in their lives. Msgr. John Gabalski of St. Stanislaus Church said of the Wrobel family, "They preach a better sermon by their behavior than I can preach orally." Monica had just celebrated her first communion.
WIVB-TV reporter Rich Newberg flew with Casey to JFK Airport in New York the day he was reunited with his family. They all embraced. His wife Katrina is also deaf and worked as a tailor in Gdansk to make ends meet.
Daughter Kataryna was able to speak for the family through an interpreter. She said, "Without father there is no life." In Buffalo, Catholic Charities and St. Mary's School for the Deaf were prepared to help the family start life over again.
In a follow-up report almost a year-and-a half later, we see Katrina working as a seamstress. Daughters Katrina and Monica learned to speak English at St. Stanislaus School in Buffalo. Monica had become best friends with a fellow student. Katrina was having a harder time adjusting to life in America.
The Catholic Church continued to play a major role in their lives. Msgr. John Gabalski of St. Stanislaus Church said of the Wrobel family, "They preach a better sermon by their behavior than I can preach orally." Monica had just celebrated her first communion.
Contributor
Date
1985-01-16
1987-05-24
Subject
Publisher
Buffalo & Erie County Public Library (publisher of digital)
WIVB (Television Station : Buffalo, N.Y.)
Rights
Copyright held by WIVB-TV. Access to this digital version provided by the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library. Videos or images in this collection are not to be used for any commercial purposes without the expressed written permission of WIVB-TV and the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library. Users of this website are free to utilize material from this collection for non-commercial and educational purposes.
Type
Moving Image
Format
video/mp4
Language
Collection
Citation
Newberg, Rich, “Starting Life Over in Buffalo: A Polish Family Reunited,” B&ECPL Digital Collections, accessed December 5, 2025, https://digital.buffalolib.org/document/17432.