[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Kappeln near Graetz in Posen

[Jan Textor]

Karl,
I'm almost sure that there is/was no "Kappeln" near Graetz (Grodzisk
Wielkopolski), except perhaps during WWII. A lot of locations were renamed
during the war if they sounded too Polish, and these wartime German names
are very hard to find now. However, there is a village on the southwestern
outskirts of Grodzisk Wlkp that is called Kobylniki. Perhaps this village
was renamed Kappeln? It certainly comes close in sound. Just a thought.

Hope this helps.
Jan Textor, Denmark

>
> Hi everyone. This is my first post here. I thought I would give
> you a hard question to start with. My brother-in-law has been
> pulling his hair out trying to find where the town is that my
> sister was born in. She was born in 1942 during the Umsiedlung.
> Her birth certificate says it was in the town of Kappeln which is
> by Graetz. It is unclear whether "Graetz" is referring to the
> city or the district of Posen.
>
> My mother and family were located very close to my grandfather's
> family (if not the same town) and I know through our
> grandfather's Einbuergerungs-Urkunde (plus some notes in my
> aunt's photo album) that they were situated in/near Kuslin (which
> I can find) plus my great-uncle's Urkunde show they were situated
> in/near Opalinica. So Kappeln has to exist in this restricted region.
>
> Doing desparate searches on the web I found reference to at least
> one other person who was born in Kappeln, Posen in 1943 so this
> name shows up elsewhere. I believe it is a very small collection
> of houses/farms that has changed names since Poland aquired this
> region. My goal is to attempt to identify the current Polish town
> Kappeln corresponds to.
>
> Thank you, Karl Krueger