[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Where did they go?

[Helen Gillespie]

When my parents and grandparents left Wartegau - under pressure of course - in January 1944, they went north, crossed the Oder at Frankfurt, the day before the bridge was destroyed and continued north to the Nordrhein/Westfallen area - specifically a tiny place called Poppenburg near Burgstemmen.  They worked on the Domaine.  Of course, workers were needed because all the men were already in the army.  My grandparents had 7 daughters - aged 7 1/2 to 23, one married with 3 children, one widowed with one.  Needless to say, getting ahead of the Russian Army was paramount - my grandparents having survived the banishment to Siberia.  

I think that those that survived the escape ahead of the Russian advance were lucky and took work wherever they could find it.  My Mother says that she (aged 19 at this point) and a friend were sent ahead to check out and confirm opportunities. The return trip to where the rest of the family 'rested" for a few days took a bit longer as the train station was bombed out in the meantime.  But they ended up on the Poppenburg Domaine for a couple of years. Obviously, working on a farm - which was what they did - was also survival - esp. after the war ended.  Those in the cities did not fare so well.

Am not so sure that it was a case of another resettlement plan as was the case for Warthegau.  The last year of the war was probably not quite so structured when dealing with civilians - although a huge attempt was made for those seeking escape via the sea from East Prussia and Danzig.  Witness the case of the ship Wilhelm Gustloff with an estimated 10,000 civilians and wounded military being torpedoed by the Russians....

I must ask my Mother for more details.....
Helen

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The wise man must remember that while he is a descendant of the past, he is a parent of the future. --Herbert Spencer

--- On Sun, 9/2/12, Jack Milner <wjmilner at shaw.ca> wrote:

From: Jack Milner <wjmilner at shaw.ca>
Subject: Re: [Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Where did they go?
To: "Kerstin Petersen" <kerstin.petersen at mail.dk>
Cc: ger-poland-volhynia at eclipse.sggee.org
Date: Sunday, September 2, 2012, 5:36 PM

After WW I: They were possibly assisted by the Fu"rsorgeverein deutscher 
Ru"ckwanderer (Welfare Association for German Repatriates). A 
Ru"ckwanderer is a citizen returning to his home country after being 
abroad. This association helped ethnic Germans return to Germany and 
aided with their naturalization process until 1918, perhaps later.

Article translation can be viewed at:

http://translate.google.ca/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=http://www.wolhynien.de/pdf/rw_GstAPK.pdf&prev=/search%3Fq%3DF%25C3%25BCrsorgeverein%2Bdeutscher%2BR%25C3%25BCckwanderer%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26hs%3DrHF%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26prmd%3Dimvnsfdb&sa=X&ei=IJhDUN_EOIj7iwLov4DADg&ved=0CDUQ7gEwAQ

Jack Milner
=============

On 02/09/2012 8:44 AM, Kerstin Petersen wrote:
> My grandparents told me, they went to Berlin and contacted some employment offiice there. From there they were offered jobs. My grandparents went to Nordschleswig (northern part of Schleswig Holstein) and after WW1 this part was given back to Denmark.
>
> Regards
> Kerstin Petersen
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