Origin Story: The Schmidt Family of Goldbeck, Pomerania

 Map of Kreis Saatzig in Pomerania (source)

Today's origin story will deal with the hometown of  my Schmidt family. As far back as records for the area were recorded, my Schmidt family can be found in Goldbeck, Kries Saatzig, Pomerania, Prussia, now known as Sulino, Stargardzki, Zachodniopomorskie, Poland . This post will detail the history of Goldbeck. While it was difficult to find much about the area, I did manage to find enough to paint a general picture of some of the critical points in its history. The descriptions of Goldbeck will stop after 1945, as that is when it became part of Poland.

A History of Goldbeck [aka Sulino]

Location

Goldbeck was part of the administrative district of Marienfließ. It laid 18 km east of Stargard and 8 km east of Jacobshagen. The village is adjacent to the river "Gestohlene Ihna". There is another farmstead located 2km northwest from the main village called Augusthof. In 1905 this section had only 9 residents [1].

Demographics

Goldbeck was a very small community. In 1925 the population numbered just 401 individuals. 400 of these were Protestants with no Catholics or Jews living there at the time [2].

Land

In The Origin, Evolution And Distribution Of Open Fields In Poland: A Case Study Of Pomerania by Halina Szulc, Goldbeck is identified as a "Regular street-green village", a type of village setup common in agricultural colonies where streets divided up the village and farms/properties were tightly compacted together.

An 1826 village plan for Goldbeck (Szulc 182)

Cultural

Every year Goldbeck would celebrate 'Kinderfest'. A festival dedicated to celebrating the children of the town. They would also participate in an annual competition called a "Vogelschießen"[1]. The book Germany in MDCCCXXXI, Volume 2 by John Strang explains it well:

"The Vogelschießen or archery to which so vast a crowd of well dressed people thus annually congregate is under the direction of a society whose members with the exception of strangers are alone permitted to draw a cross bow The birds which form the mark are fixed upon three lofty poles the Adler or eagle as it is called which surmounts the centre pole 140 feet high being about ten feet in height Notwithstanding the goodly size of the object it was seldom hit The marksman who brings down the head is entitled to five dollars and for a wing four The competition seemed to create the most intense interest among the spectators Independent of the local and personal feeling excited by it there are also historical recollections associated with this national wappenschaw which I find is universally celebrated at this season over all Saxony [3]."

Historical

This section, in terms of content, will be largely a translated version of this site, with some paraphrasing.

Fire

In 1907 there was a big village fire [1].

The Old Church

The church of the village was a 'findlingsbau', which is a rectangular style of building from the late middle ages. There was a wooden tower with sloped walls and a low baroque style roof. On one of the tower beams was carved "built 1728, reroofed 1765". The walls of the pulpit were covered in rich imagery with vivid coloring. Tiles were painted with evangelists, and despite later being painted over the likenesses still showed through. One of the window panes depicted the nine-fielded pomeranian coat of arms [1].

The Pomeranian Coat of Arms (Source)

The altar shrine featured a late gothic triptych, in which stood a female Saint, Maria and a bishop, in the flaps up on the left Petrus and Johannes, up right Nikolaus and Paulus, below Barbara and Hedwig. The carvings were of middling quality, the details good. Everything was painted a gold-bronze color [1].

The villages first known priest was Tagheuer. He was instated in Goldbeck in 1493 on a recommendation by the provost and nuns of Marienfließ. In 1594 David Großkopfhais was named as the priest [1].

The church no longer exists as it once did. It was completely leveled to ruin during World War 2. The graveyard surrounding the church suffered the same fate, the bits of rubble eventually being totally encased by grass. Only the warriors memorial remained preserved from the old times. On its tip it carries a Madonna and the polish Eagle; the names of the German fallen from 1914-18 are no longer recognizable [1].

German Expulsion During WW2

Over the span of just 3 days during the March of 1945 the entirety of the district of Saatzig was taken from its German occupants [1]. In the years leading up to the end of World War II the Red Army (the Soviet Union's military comprised mainly of peasants and workers [4]) was marching steadily westward on a path through Pomerania. In eastern Germany the public was growing increasingly fearful of the impending Russian occupation due to Nazi propaganda detailing the atrocities committed by the Red Army against the Germans [5]. Still though, Franz Schwede, the regional leader of the Nazi Party in Pomerania, assured the population of Saatzig and other districts that the Russians were far from close, and that the powerful army of Germany still had the advantage. He prevented the flight of Germans in these areas, delaying orders to leave until it was too late. Under the threat of punishment by authorities, some residents who still felt great distrust despite all the reassurances, managed to flee the area before occupation. Still though, there were some that stayed with their land until the very end [1] [5].

In January of 1945 the Russians began to target the town of Arnswald [1][6], south of the port cities of Szczecin and Stargard during the Vistula–Oder Offensive. Strategically, taking these major cities (both of which were geographically very close to the district of Saatzig) would be beneficial to the Russian attackers since cutting of trade to these ports would mean severely restricting Germany's access to resources [8].

As the Russians continued their attack on Arnswald, the III. Germanischen SS Panzer Corps (one of Germany's armored tank divisions [7]), was relocated to Jacobshagen, then spread through the rest of Saatzig [1]. The residents of Arnswald began to flee their village, and on February 3rd crossed over the bridge of the river Ravenstein in Saatzig [1]. The Russians began their attack on the district of Ravenstein soon after [1].

The Walloon Waffen-SS (Belgium's collaborationist volunteer soldiers that fought alongside the Nazi Waffen-SS ) engaged in short attacks against the Russians in Ravenstein until February 20, 1945, at which point the Walloon units were replaced by a German Infantry. Desperation of the residents of Saatzig continued to grow as the Russian airman and tanks partially destroyed the villages of Ihnaau, Robenthal, Lenzhof, Ravenstein, and Altenwedel. Some from these towns were able to escape in the brief stints between attacks. This continued with village after village in Saatzig, and by the first few days of March, 1945 residents of all the villages in Saatzig were attempting to flee [1].

On March 1st, 1945 the residents of the village Rehwinkel fled. A Russian bomb had turned the village into a bloodbath, and the survivors had little choice other than to leave.One Rehwinkel farmer named Gottlieb Becker refused to leave, as his family had resided there since 1665. On the return of the Rehwinkel villagers after the fighting, he was discovered to have been murdered by the Russians, and was given a proper burial. The returned residents of Rehwinkel were later forced to leave once again when the government expelled them and gave their homes and belongings to new Polish residents[1].

The residents of Goldbeck and the rest of the Villages by Marienfließ left on March 2, 1945, just hours before it would have been impossible to escape. They left quickly with the hope they would one day be able to return. Later that day the Russian units reached the Marienfließ-Freienwalde line [1]. It can be assumed that it was around this time when Goldbeck's church and graveyard were destroyed in the war.

The trek that would follow for the residents of Saatzig district would be long and hard. The ultimate destination they were attempting to reach was the bank of the Oder river, across which they would be free from the soviet occupied Pomerania. Many of the fleeing Germans wouldn't make the journey; the roads were clogged and Russians would sometimes block treks, forcing them to return to their burned and destroyed villages. Many of the children and the elderly would die from sickness and lack of medical care. Others would die from prolonged exposure to the cold wet winter of Germany. Any of the villagers who returned after the war were subsequently expelled and their property given to native poles [1].

[1] Organisation des Heimatkreises Saatzig. “Goldbeck.” Heimatkreis Saatzig Pommern, www.saatzig.de/goldbeck.html. Accessed 12 Jan. 2018.

[2] Stübs, Gunthard. “Die Gemeinde Goldbeck” [“The community Goldbeck”]. Informationssystem Pommern,Pommerschen Forschungsgemeinschaft, gemeinde.goldbeck.kreis-saatzig.de/. Accessed 11 Jan. 2018.

[3] Strang, John. Germany in MDCCCXXXI. E-book, vol. 2, Macrone, 1836. 2 vols. pg. 129

[4] Reese, Roger R. "Military, Soviet and Post-Soviet." Encyclopedia of Russian History, edited by James R. Millar, vol. 3, Macmillan Reference USA, 2004, pp. 936-941. World History in Context, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/CX3404100836/UHIC?u=fall83743&xid=d5c86d4e. Accessed 13 Jan. 2018.

[5] Ahonen, Pertti, et al. People on the Move: Forced Population Movements in Europe in the Second World War and Its Aftermath. Berg, 2008. Questia School, www.questiaschool.com/read/118669936/people-on-the-move-forced-population-movements-in. Accessed 2018. pg. 134-5

[6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choszczno

[7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/III_(Germanic)_SS_Panzer_Corps

[8] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vistula%E2%80%93Oder_Offensive