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Remembered Today:

Marcin FELEDZIAK Infantry Regiment 171


Martin Feledziak

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On 05/12/2018 at 12:16, Martin Feledziak said:

Remembering that pre war - IR171 were Garrisoned at Colmar, down there in the purple area, in ALSACE.

That area had been under German control since the war of 1871.

Strictly speaking not WW1, but thought I'd park it here anyway:

 

Interesting article on the website of the Belgian news VRT on the fact that 100 years ago Elsass-Lotharingen became part of France again.

And it includes a map of the area by language spoken (French or German). The more reddish the more German was spoken, in the grey area less that 50% spoke German:

47ecfc47-fa24-11e8-abcc-02b7b76bf47f.jpg.0446fd66ee5e711e6c37f0b0edcfa2b0.jpg

 

That article goes on and states e.g. that, after the area fully welcomed the French back:

 

Quote

Yet it was not for everyone. Soon there were measures against "unwanted" residents. More than 100,000 Germans not born in Alsace-Lorraine had to leave the area and leave most of their possessions, even though they had lived there for decades. Those expulsions, which led to protests from the United States, would also have detrimental economic consequences.
The sudden reintroduction of French as the only official language caused many difficulties because many residents did not know French. And there was no question of autonomy for the area. Alsace-Lorraine disappeared from the map: it was divided into three French departments and even the name could no longer be used. For years afterwards Alsace would fruitlessly pursue for autonomy and the preservation of the regional language.

 

Edited by JWK
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12 hours ago, JWK said:

100 years ago

 

Great Map-

you are always good at finding the most appropriate diagrams.

 

In the years before the outbreak of war the Polish Feledziak's were sent to do their national service in the border lands. I say Poland as it had  been partitioned in the late 1700's. So technically they were actually Prussian.

 

Both Johann, who was later killed in 1915, and Andreas who was wounded in 1914, both did service in METZ, ( which is in the squiggle top left of your picture ).

Grandfather was attached to the Colmar regiment, but I don't think he will ever have been there as he was a war time recruit and too young for prior military training.

 

Jacob Feledziak was sent to the Eastern lands and did his training in Thorn. Then as a reservist in 1914 badly wounded on the eastern front.

 

So there was, and still remains, issues over borders.

 

So 100 years ago Poland came back as a country too. The Feledziak's were from the region I highlighted in pink, near Poznan

 

 

1661826337_Poland__The_New_Baltic_StatesMJF.jpg.b113bf63a5feaf4f09711ed1f952acc4.jpg

 

 

 

Edited by Martin Feledziak
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  • 3 weeks later...

Best wishes,

Forum friends another year over. We now look forward to 2019.

 

Not exactly sure what faced IR171 as they made their way back through their homeland to face 1919.

I think I see some involvement with Barracks in and around Berlin.

 

 

 

122030428_blob3.jpg.d7ad570ee87bbd7866cc426e40cfe3e3.jpg

 

The below links to a viewer which allows access to the full regimental history.

 

http://dfg-viewer.de/show/?tx_dlf

Edited by Martin Feledziak
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7 hours ago, Martin Feledziak said:

Not exactly sure what faced IR171 as they made their way back through their homeland to face 1919

 

Well, marching in the rain, having to build their own billets, and getting shot at from the rooftops, amongst other things:


 

Quote

 

In mid January [1919] the Landesschützenbrigade moved, from its quarters in Teltow – south of Berlin - , to the area between the Berlin Castle and the Landwehr-canal to the south, with II detachment in the forward position.

How well the then Berlin Commander’s office of the “new” regime cared for the newly arrived troops (which they had summoned themselves) is shown by how the troops, after a 20km march in the rain, had to wait for hours before, after a lot of to-ing and fro-ing, they were set with the arduous task of constructing their own billets in the old Dragoner barracks (which was fitted out as a hospital for Russian POW’s), and in the adjacent schoolbuildings.

 

Work was not easy. Guards were posted on the stations of the elevated railway, and on the bridges over the Landwehr-canal, amidst the hustle and bustle of revolution-heavy streets preparing for the Reichstag elections [= 19 january 1919]

But the good conduct of the troops soon earned them the necessary respect, even so that shooting at the troops from the rooftops soon ceased.

 

Later the Brigade spent some time in Teltow again, and after a few days in Lichterfelde (G. Schützen Barracks and Kadettenkorps) and Dahlem (Kaiser Wilhelm Institute) the 1. Landesschützenbrigade was transported to the region of Münster in Westfalen, and the II detachment went to the region of Haltern [= SW of Münster]

 

 

The writer of this history sure was not a fan of the "new" regime!

 

522699209_aaaDragoner.jpg.f243f105c6f70265403191ec99869737.jpg

The Dragoner Brarracks in the Alexandrinenstrasse

From a book Kreuzberg in old photographs  (part of it on Google Books)

 

 

Edited by JWK
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1 hour ago, JWK said:

Alexandrinenstrasse

 

Wow Great JWK

 

I can see that the elevated railway is still present In Alexandrineenstrasse. Not sure if those old military structures are still present.

 

I did try to run that paragraph through a on-line translator but I got nothing usable from it.

Now, with your help,  I have a better understanding and from looking through the book you linked to I get a kind of feel for what it was like for those returning troops.

Sad to think that the locals felt a need to shoot at their own countrymen.

 

Best wishes for the new year.

 

264496394_Elevatedrailway.jpg.3191f46743220bbf685ba19f8e92b4c3.jpg

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23 minutes ago, Martin Feledziak said:

Not sure if those old military structures are still present.

 

In that book "Kreuzberg, old photos tell a story" it says the Dragoon Barracks is now a sportsground:

306959154_aaaDragoner1.jpg.6d7a3855fde666d84cf78d4c989c454e.jpg

 

Home to Berliner Fußball-Club Südring e.V.   ( Wikipedia and their website  -they're looking for new players!- )

 

The school nextdoor still exists though, although in a modern form after the blanket-bombing of WW2.

 

And it's right next to Berlins geographical centre.

 

Szczęśliwego Nowego Roku!

Gelukkig Nieuwjaar!

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Hi,

the building in #955 on the corner was the Reichspatentamt (Imperial patent office) today it is a branch of the National patent office.

In the part of the regimental history you posted and JWK translated in part is also a mention of the Vorwärtsviertel. As this bit is not mentioned in the translation, I´d like to add that this is a reference to the newspaper of the German Social Democratic Party and its publishing-house in the then Lindenstrasse (today Mehringplatz) which was (and still is) called Vorwärts(haus). It was fiercely contested in January of 1919. Seven people were killed and many wounded in the fight to control it.

GreyC

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15 hours ago, GreyC said:

In the part of the regimental history you posted and JWK translated in part is also a mention of the Vorwärtsviertel. As this bit is not mentioned in the translation, I´d like to add that this is a reference to the newspaper of the German Social Democratic Party and its publishing-house in the then Lindenstrasse (today Mehringplatz) which was (and still is) called Vorwärts(haus). It was fiercely contested in January of 1919. Seven people were killed and many wounded in the fight to control it. 

 

Ah! Thank you very much, that explains a lot!

I'm not that well versed (if at all) in German politics in 1919, so in the translation I completely missed that connection to the newspaper.

Edited by JWK
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Hi,
if  I knew a fraction about the Netherlands or Belgium of what you know about German military etc, I´d be very pleased.

GreyC

Edited by GreyC
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18 hours ago, GreyC said:

Vorwärts

 

21 hours ago, JWK said:

Berlin Commander

 

Gentlemen this is truly very interesting .

The below is from Bob LEMBKE posted in 2013. (Sadly Bob died in 2017 so we lost a valuable contributor)

 

I know he would have loved to come in on this topic and add some epic observation. But time waits for no one.

 

He has mentioned this incident several times in his contact with me. Now I find that IR171 were in almost the same location at that very time.

 

 

Bob said :-

 

"in January 1919, 26 communist sailors, who were terrorizing Berlin, that they captured at the Vorwarts building fight; the sailors were trying to hunt down and kill my grand-father's old commander, General von Beseler, Governor-General of Poland. How? The latter died by a personal Parabellum round to the forehead, after a drumhead trial of sorts. My father did not enjoy the civil war as much as the Great War itself."

 

So this looks like it must be the same incident. Bob's Dad was there and deeply involved in resolving the outcome. 

I will now go and look back to see if I can find other "Gems" in the various posts he has left.

 

P.S I don't know much about anything and can't even read German BUT history is very important and understanding it is vital.

Edited by Martin Feledziak
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On 22/07/2017 at 15:32, bob lembke said:

After discharge my father went to Hamburg to visit his mother, in December 1918, and was stopped on the street by a patrol of Red sailors, who at rifle-point stripped him of his great-coat (almost certainly identifying the Prussian Guard) and his boots. Furious, he

said to himself that it was time to kill some Red sailors, went back to Berlin and signed into the Freikorps most associated with the Prussian Guard, and in a couple of weeks, along with others, shot the 26 Red sailors in the forehead.

 

The above paragraph is from post 763 in this thread.

Fits with "Potsdam Regiment" and the events of Vorwärts(haus).

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This is relevant to this timeline.

 

Walenty Feledziak born 1898 from Malgow. 

 

He is on my family tree and was the brother of Andreas FELEDZIAK, served with IR145 and Martin FELEDZIAK served with Fusilier regiment 39,  He was a cousin of the other

Feledziak's and they were all from the same Prussian (Polish) region.

I suspect he was just too young for military service.

 

I understand that he is listed as a soldier in the fledgling Polish Army involved in the 1918 uprising against German authority. So as revolution was happening in so many places.

Even though the war was over - it still was not over.

 

Walenty.jpg.d6c34d5586ed82f286c80d9d619e07b0.jpg

 

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Poland_Uprising_(1918–19)

Polish History Site

http://www.powstaniewielkopolskie.pl

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

This is Pit number 8 at Auby-Les-Douai, Not far from LENS.

 

Fosse No 8 Mines De L'Escarpelle (Port-Arthur).

Grandfather was probably unaware of the damage caused by German occupation and even less aware

that he would spend most of the rest of his working life under those buildings.

 

The first shaft was sunk in 1906 and mining started in 1910.

Then in 1914 war arrived.

 

377070779_Pit8.jpg.135252d96b7b0e3a13d7c353034ec6e5.jpg

Edited by Martin Feledziak
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  • 2 weeks later...

The below is an exact fit for what happened next to Marcin, Jakob and his brother Michel and their families in the years following the end of the great war.

Marcin became  a miner in the above pit. His brothers worked at adjacent pits.

I understand that Michel was a miner in Holsterhausen, Germany perhaps his brothers were too.

 

Historical context :-

 

In the period between the wars, 500,000 Poles arrived in France to look for work, particularly in the mining basins of Nord-Pas-de-Calais, where they found 300,000, or 75% of this worker emigration.

 This population remains very often in community, lives in the same mining cities (corons), creates cultural associations, sports, Catholics (Polish priests) and even sends its children to the Polish school (teachers also arriving from Poland).

 These Polish colonies are a real breeding ground for resistance. Indeed, when the Polish consul of Lille sends in the North zone, in the summer of 1942, the agents Rémy Szczesny and the Paczkowski brothers to recruit new members for the POWN, it very easily finds reliable persons and, moreover, very close to each other for years.

 Moreover, in the northern zone, movements already formed (S, Orzel, Zorza) join the POWN. It is in 1943 that the movement recruits massively.

The total number of POWN members was 8000 in 1944, which is not negligible. 

Their future situation at the liberation is not clear for everyone: some are forced to go back to their country; others remain, not knowing if they will be recognized as full French. It is interesting to note that these resisters feel, for the most part, Polish and at the same time French.

A 1945 ordinance states that foreigners may acquire French citizenship for acts of war or resistance. The Poles' requests for naturalization increase compared to the pre-war period, but are lower than those made by the Italians, in particular because of the policy of returns to Poland (from 1946 to 1948) and the cold war.

 Naturalization also depends on the generations: the old ones are often more reluctant to ask for it.

 

 Finally, it should be noted that naturalization does not necessarily mean integration, or even assimilation. It is therefore difficult for us to say whether the Poles who belonged to the POWN became part of society after the liberation of France.

 

Excerpt from Peggy Desoutter, "The POWN Movement",

 

http://museedelaresistanceenligne.org/media8733-Croix-du-POWN

Edited by Martin Feledziak
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  • 4 weeks later...

The mine was back in business in 1921.

This is the same view as above.

 

The  pit head winch replaced.

 

534_001.jpg.3574d0bc446b7bd70fe48dcb3048043a.jpg

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Yesterday I learned that Grandfather had 2 other siblings that I have never heard mention of before.

Szczepan and Jozef.

 

 

I think they must have been boy twins as I don't think Szczepan is a girl name.

Edit - this is a version of Stephan

 

their births were registered in 1904 so they would have been too young for war service. 

I suspect that they died in infancy as I have not found  other traces of later documents for them.

The indexers are busy adding records to the database so there may be other records later.

 

 

957972372_twins2.JPG.7bc5b12eb6cd624b35007c51747d11c4.JPG

 

 

http://www.basia.famula.pl/

Edited by Martin Feledziak
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OK, so yesterday I learned of Szczepan and Jozef, Brothers of my Grandfather.

Today I found that they died that same year.

I did suspect that this would have been the outcome.

Still it shows that documents become available everyday.

 

It is always worth checking old places for updates.

 

1215125379_infantdeaths.JPG.49228448c2e8aff8a57dc6ab2e262efb.JPG

 

 

 

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This is a link to the 1905 Prussian Census which gives a fairly comprehensive picture of the various Cities, towns and villages under German control.

 

See: Gemeindelexikon für das Königreich Preussen. Auf Grund der Materialien der Volkszählung vom 1. Dezember 1905 … Heft 5. Provinz Posen. 

http://www.wbc.poznan.pl/dlibra/docmetadata?id=2094&from=&dirids=1&ver_id=&lp=1&QI=47668B17DFCDDF94B9285D29E0172A2D-13

 

 

landesamte.JPG.d45f9e23564a50fd3d3199e1e224e36e.JPG

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  • 1 month later...

The camp called "West Moreau Vally" was built and occupied by German soldiers from Feb1915 to Sept 1918.

Johann almost certainly spent time here.

 

Moreau.JPG.464e8070fecc7fe74dfdb72917ea23e6.JPG

 

 

DSC_0177.JPG.8d74fb433a8fc695e543fa56a5a4e619.JPG

 

 

The information sheet states that the original plans for this site have been found in German archives and activity is now taking place to reconstruct the site to it's war time state.

 

 

Edited by Martin Feledziak
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Indeed the memorial to PI29 FAR49 and UL 19 is to be found at this site.

 

 

 

DSC_0175.JPG.6351f8b6ed10a75991117160d7a105c3.JPG

 

 

 

 

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6 hours ago, Martin Feledziak said:

Indeed the memorial to PI29 FAR49 and UL 19 is to be found at this site.

 

 

 

DSC_0175.JPG.6351f8b6ed10a75991117160d7a105c3.JPG

 

 

 

 

 

That monument was originally for RIR 73 if I'm not mistaken.

 

Jan

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Good observation Jan.

 

I did also take this photograph on site.

There appears to have been a third stage to the monument.

RIR73 are identified.

 

and the original site is not clear

 

DSC_0180.JPG.710cec7acc7c23c714df54ba58ee0641.JPG

 

 

Edited by Martin Feledziak
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