Copyright: Daniel Raboldt
Johann Rudolf Podworny was the son of Jakob Podworny and his wife Anna [2], née Gusek.[3] Apart from Johann, the parents had two other children, both of whom died in infancy.[4] When Johann was twelve years old, his father Jakob died. Johann and his mother Anna inherited the few possessions of his father: a plot of land in Klein Pasken, a “bed with pillow […] body linen and clothes” [5] and a cow. His mother took over the property and undertook to pay Johann a good 600 marks as a father’s inheritance when he came of age.[6] About eight months after his 21st birthday [7] Johann Podworny died.[8] Eighteen years later his mother Anna died at the age of 72 in the Johannisburg district hospital [9] of an “incarcerated hernia”. [10] The property in Klein Pasken was inherited by her niece Berta Wildenhuss.[11] However, she could not keep it for long – in March 1939 a compulsory auction was ordered [12] and a year later the Pasken farmer Wilhelm Podleschny bought it.[13]
[1] Because in all documents about the family the surname is written “Podworny” and the gravestone is the only exception, the text here exceptionally does not follow the spelling of the gravestone.
[2] Usually listed as Anna, she was posthumously named Johanna in the application for registration and certificate of inheritance by her niece Berta Wildenhuss. Cf. for Johanna, Grundakten des Amtsgerichts Johannisburg, Archiwum Państwowe w Olsztynie (APO) 295/2780, sheet 193f.
[3] Cf. ibid, sheet 179.
[4] Cf. ibid.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Cf. ibid., sheets 179 – 181.
[7] On the age of majority, cf. Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch, Nebst Einführungsgesetz. Vom 18. August 1896 mit Berücksichtigung der bis 1. Januar 1925 ergangenen Abänderungen, <https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111634951> (last accessed 26.04.2021).
[8] Cf. death register [sic], Standesamt zu Gehsen, APO 42/1745/1, sheet 424. In the death register the date of death is entered as 26.09.1920, but on the gravestone it says 26.10.1920.
[9] Cf. APO 295/2780, sheet 194.
[10] APO 42/1745/1, sheet 518. Here another maiden name is given, namely Korrak. However, the burial date, name and age otherwise match Johann’s mother, who was thus born about 1865.
[11] Cf. APO 295/2780, sheet 193.
[12] Cf. ibid., sheet 198.
[13] Cf. ibid., sheet 199.