Looking for grandfather and prior: Laskowski, Ostroleka Poland 1850+ / Witzke

Merged:
I have a mixed heritage of Polish and ethnic Germans from before WWII. On my mother's side, her mother's parents are Polish from Gniezno. Her father's side is also from Poland, but were ethnic Germans. So she is half Polish, half ethnic German. They met in America after emigrating from Poland and had my Mom.

On my Dad's side, his mother appears to be half ethnic German and half Polish. But this marriage took place in the late 1800's. I am under the impression that mixed marriages were rare between Polish and Germans before WWII. My father's maternal grandfather was Witzke (ethnic German) and my father's maternal grandmother was Laskowska. I assume this to be Polish, but wonder if it was a case of Germans who had Polonized many years before. Any experts out there who know if Laskowski can be Polish and also German?

duden.de/duden-suche/werke/famnamen/000/028/Laskowski.28522.html

Names origin in polish places as: Laskowo, Laskownica, Laskowa, Laskowiec, Laskowice, Lasków

Found also in Tirol, Vorarlberg, Bukovina, Berlin etc.

Here are 39 Laskowskis alone in West Prussia:
westpreussen.de/retrospect/index.php?m=surnames&sn=Laskowski&PHPSESSID=cqhtn5bpjtpq3u9026pi06o096

...Google is your friend! :)

Thank you Bratwurst Boy. I also have found a map that is searchable for current-day frequencies of names in Poland and one for Germany.

moikrewni.pl/mapa/
verwandt.de/karten/

Interesting link, thank you! :)

You're very welcome. I always learn a lot from your posts. :-)

Hello Softsong,

I see that your father's maternal grandfather was a "Witzke" (ethnic German). My
grandmother was a Witzke of German descent, but was actually born in Lebo (?),
Russia. She told me that she lived for some time in Prussia. She and her sister, Hilda and brother Albert all came to the United States around 1910-1911 into Philadelphia.

I have been searching for her brothers and sisters who were left in Russia. Some of
them in Ukraine (Wjasowitz) and some of them in Omsk, Siberia, Russia. Some of their names were Richard Witzke and wife Ida, Olga Witzke, Regina Witzke, Oskar Witzke and Jonathan Witzke.

I was hoping that perhaps some of these names have turned up in your family search.

Thank you, Nancy in South Carolina

Hello gglbs,

Yes, you are correct. My father's maternal grandfather was Andreas Witzke. They lived in "Dobriner Land" which is located in Central Poland, in the Rypin-Lipno area. The furthest back I have on that line is 1790, and I am not sure where they came from before that. I am about to research it. I am going to see if I can find the death certificate which may name the place of origin. In general, I've heard that most were from either East or West Prussia and moved into Central Poland and then others into Ukraine.

My grandmother and her two sisters came first to Connecticut, and then later, Brooklyn, NY. She left two brothers and a sister in Poland.

I've come across a Richard Witzke, but not sure if this is the same one. There is another researcher, I believe her name is Gail. If you check ancestry.com you may find her by typing in Witzke.

Looking for information about the family of my Grandfather Boleslaw Walenty Laskowski b. 1878 ,who emigrted to US c. 1900-1901. He wound up living in Pennsylvania.

Watchmaker; worked in coal mines; held position in Polish American society in the 1940s
[A brother John (Jan) lived in Connecticut-- but I know nothing about him]

Father: Jan Laskowski-- family lore says he was a "County Judge"
Mother: Eleanora (maiden name?)

ANY help?? At this point I am going in circles:

Boleslaw (sometimes listed himself as B.W., sometimes (apparently) as Walenty or William married Amelia Dlugolecki in 1906. [That part of the family has names: Ziemkiewicz, Krupinska, Cendrowska -- family from Makow. Jan Dlugolecki said to own a "casket factory"]

On Laskowski: looking for date of emigration (May be August 25, 1901 from Hamburg-- I cannot read the writing on part of the passenger list-- the ink seems to be smeared)

church where baptized?
additional children of Eleanora and Jan? May who did not emigrate?
additional information about parents, grandparents, dates of birth, death"
family lore?

Would be most grateful for any help.
Glad to return the favor if I can.

LASKOWSKI: topo nick from Laski, Lasków, Laskowo, Laskowizna, etc. (Woodville, Hazelton)

ZIEMKIEWICZ: patronymic tag for Ziemko's son (Ziemko is a hypocoristic version of Ziemowit).

KRUPIŃSKI: topo nick from Krupin, Krupieńskie, etc. (Groatville, Grainton)

CENDROWSKI/CĘDROWSKI; topo nick from Cędry or Cędrowice (Teddyville); the Greek name Theodoros (whose roots mean gift of God) produced a variety of spin-offs across the Slavonic realm inlcuding Cędor, Czador, Chodor, Todor, Fiodor and Teodor.

D£UGO£ĘCKI: topo nick from Długołęka (Longmeadow)

For more information and genealogical leads please contact me

have you found any Ellis Island arrivals?

Hamburg ( for Me ) doesn't really show to much information.

On Ellis Island ( not sure if folks realize) that you can look at previous and next pages
on the 1907 and up theres usually two pages. but sometimes when you click previous
it might show a signature so you would click next and it should show the page two of the
same manifest you are looking at.

If you need some help, I can look , the information you have is from census?

* for Walenty that is*

Hi,

My 2nd great-grandfather was Ksawery (sometimes called Sylvester) Laskowski. He immigrated from Poland to Shenandoah, PA around 1895. He also worked as a coal miner.

Hello my husband is a Laskowski. His father, Hans, came from Germany in 1955. Hans had a brother Chesic and sister Francesca. Hans use to tell me stories about growing up during the war. He mentioned that his brother lived in Poland and when Chesic came to visit him in Germany, the gestopo stopped Chesic from entering the theater due to the marking on his shirt. We have been trying to build my husband's family tree and are having no luck. The only other information we have is that Hans' mothers name was Sofia and she was born in Posen Poland possible date of birth May 10, 1902 and possibly died in 1944. Hans also has 2 half siblings, Elizabeth & Bruno Swhajor.

We continue to search for more information about his family.