[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] German Occupation - Latvian - Contractor

[Gary Warner]

Reiner,

Thanks.  I understand your message, but how unsettling.   I was hoping 
that my great-grandfather was someone important to someone other than 
his family and me!  But now I suspect that he was something like an 
employee- and just like me, still looking for an easy retirement.   Oh 
well, I guess I will just have stop doing my genealogy because there is 
no money to be gained by doing so.   :-)

Gary Warner


Reiner Kerp wrote:
> Dear fellow searchers,
>
> as I understand the sence but cannot find the word "kontranik" in any of my 
> dictionaries, the best I can make aut of this, is to compare ist to other 
> kinds of occupation. The closest may be an "Instmann".
> While a "Gärtner" did´nt own enough land to feed his family, an "Instmann" 
> (mostly) didn´t own any land at all.
> A Gärtner had to find an additional income as a day-laborer.
> As my mother-in-law told me, an Instmann was more comparable to an employee.
> An Instmann made a contract with the owner of an estate regarding his 
> employment. This contract contained details about housingspace in an 
> "Insthaus", the garden, the number of hours and the time (different seasons) 
> to work and, what kind of work and how many hours his wife had to do. 
> Sometimes also the duties of the Instmanns children were covered.
>
> Best wishes,
>
> Reiner 
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Ger-Poland-Volhynia Mailing List hosted by
> Society for German Genealogy in Eastern Europe http://www.sggee.org
> Mailing list info at http://www.sggee.org/listserv
>
>