Remigration or return? Back to the old homeland as a Ruhr Pole

The families Tomczak, Galewsky, Jankowiak and Kobuczyński in front of the house of the Tomasz/Galewsky family, Ziegelstr. 63b, Osterfeld. 1929.
The families Tomczak, Galewsky, Jankowiak and Kobuczyński in front of the house of the Tomasz/Galewsky family, Ziegelstr. 63b, Osterfeld. 1929.

After three years working at the colliery, Józef met my great-grandmother Anna Maria Galewska in 1921. Anna's family also came from the Province of Poznan – from the village of Koryta in the district of Krotoszyn. Her parents immigrated to the Ruhr area in 1895. Anna Maria's father Tomasz, my great-great-grandfather, was also a miner at Osterfeld colliery. Tomasz Galewsky and his wife, Maria, could not speak German. They only picked up a few German words from their five daughters who went to school here. The Galewsky family had been living in a colliery house of the settlement Stemmersberg in the municipality Osterfeld since 1903.

Anna and Józef's wedding followed quickly. For her, like many other Polish immigrants, a marriage with a German would have been inconceivable for many reasons. The Poles were called "Polaken" by the Germans and were regarded as second-class citizens. Discrimination against non-German Ruhr Poles was the order of the day. Most Poles therefore took refuge in a Polish parallel society after work, and remained among themselves. Being "foreign" in Germany, having a common language and culture, family pressure and the proximity of the company housing estates prevented intercultural marriage for a long time. Hence Anna Maria's four sisters also had Polish husbands – even from the Province of Poznan. Her oldest sister Pelagia had already returned to Poland in 1919 with her husband.

In 1922 Anna and Józef's first child was born. This was my grandmother Henriette. Initially the young family lived in a very cramped room in the home of Józef's parents-in-law, until they were able to move into their own apartment on the outskirts of Osterfeld in 1924. Henriette grew up with her two younger brothers Jan Józef and Edmund. Like many other Polish children in the Ruhr, in the 1930s they spent their summer holidays regularly with their relatives in Poznan. From Oberhausen central station there was a special train for the children of Ruhr Poles, with which Henriette also travelled every summer to her grandparents, the Tomczaks in Poznan. Here, as in Osterfeld, the family ties were very strong. Every weekend the whole family got together: uncles, aunts, and cousins. They ate and drank and danced together. Socializing together was a central aspect of family life.
After finishing primary school my grandmother Henriette completed an apprenticeship as a sales assistant.

At the beginning of the 1940s Henriette met her future husband, my grandfather, at a dance. He was a musician in an orchestra. Apart from drums and trumpet he played the violin. His name was Heinz Johannes Mlinski. He was also a Ruhr Pole, and had been born in Bottrop in 1921. His family originally came from Smolno in the district of Puck, Pomerania. His father, Daniel Paweł Mlinski, was also a miner and worked at the Prosper colliery in Bottrop. In 1945 my grandparents Henriette and Heinz Johannes were married. They had two daughters: their eldest daughter Jutta was born in 1946, and my mother Marlies was born in 1950.

 

Media library
  • The birth certificate of Józef Tomczak

    The birth certificate of Józef Tomczak
  • The House of the Tomczak/Galewsky Family in the 1920s

    The Galewsky, Kobuczyński, Jankowiak, Vinc and Tomczak families in the house of the Tomczak/Galewsky family in Ziegelstr. 63b, Osterfeld 1920s.
  • Maria Galewska in the 1920s

    Maria Galewska in the 1920s
  • Stanisław Tomczak (brother of Józef Tomczak) in 1925

    Stanisław Tomczak (brother of Józef Tomczak). 1925
  • Jan Józef Tomczak (son of Józef Tomczak) in 1926

    Jan Józef Tomczak (son of Józef Tomczak) in 1926
  • In front of the House of the Tomasz/Galewsky Family, Osterfeld in 1929

    The wedding of Helena Galewsky. The families Tomczak, Galewsky, Jankowiak and Kobuczyński in front of the house of the Tomasz/Galewsky family, Ziegelstr. 63b, Osterfeld in 1929.
  • The wedding party in the yard of the Tomczak/Galewsky family. Osterfeld 1929

    The wedding of Helena Galewsky: the families Tomczak, Galewsky, Jankowiak and Kobuczyński in front of the house of the Tomasz/Galewsky family, Ziegelstr. 63b. Osterfeld 1929.
  • Family Photo, Osterfeld in 1930

    The Galewsky, Vinc, Tomczak, Jankowiak, Kobuczyński and Biały families in the house of the Tomczak/Galewsky family in Ziegelstr. 63b, Osterfeld 1930
  • Henriette Tomczak (daughter of Józef Tomczak) in the 1930s

    Henriette Tomczak (daughter of Józef Tomczak), Osterfeld. 1930s
  • Henriette Tomczak in the 1930s

    Henriette Tomczak in the 1930s
  • Henriette Tomczak on the motorcycle of Antoni Jankowiak

    Henriette Tomczak on the motorcycle of Antoni Jankowiak in Mellinghofer Str. Oberhausen in the 1940s
  • Józef Tomczak in his living room in the 1940s

    Józef Tomczak in his living room at Osterfelder Str. 147, Osterfeld. 1940s
  • The wedding of Henriette Tomczak and Heinz Mlinski in 1945

    The wedding photo of Henriette Tomczak and Heinz Mlinski in the house of the Mlinski family in Kapitän-Lehmann-Str. 13, Bottrop (31.12.1945). Left to right: Martha Mlinski, Daniel Paweł Mlinski, Henri...
  • Józef Tomczak with his great-grandson Patrick Barteit, Osterfeld in 1975

    Józef Tomczak with his great-grandson Patrick Barteit in his garden in Osterfelder Str. 147, Osterfeld in 1975
  • The back yard in the Stemmersberg settlement in Ziegelstraße, Osterfeld in 2018

    The back yard in the Stemmersberg settlement in Ziegelstraße, Osterfeld. 2018
  • Patrick Barteit standing in front of the Tomczak/Galewsky home in Osterfeld in 2018

    Patrick Barteit standing in front of the Tomczak/Galewsky family house in Ziegelstr. 63b, Osterfeld. 2018
  • Patrick Barteit standing in front of the Tomczak/Galewsky home in Osterfeld in 2018

    Patrick Barteit in front of the Tomczak/Galewsky family house in Ziegelstr. 63b, Osterfeld. 2018
  • Patrick Barteit in front of the former Osterfeld colliery in 2018

    Patrick Barteit in front of the entrance gate of the former Osterfeld colliery, Osterfeld in 2018.
  • On the site of the former Osterfeld colliery in 2018

    Patrick Barteit on the site of the former Osterfeld colliery, Osterfeld 2018
  • Geburtshaus von Józef Tomczak

    Geburtshaus von Józef Tomczak in Orkowo (2019)
  • Geburtshaus/Hof der Ur-Ur-Großmutter von Patrick Barteit Stanisława Tomczak

    Geburtshaus/Hof der Ur-Ur-Großmutter von Patrick Barteit Stanisława Tomczak (z.d. Bratkowska) in Binkowo (Śrem); v.r. Patrick Barteit und sein Cousin Krzysztof Budzyn, 2018
  • Alte Scheune der Familie Tomczak/Pawlisiak in Orkowo, Bj. 1907.

    V.l. Patrick Barteit mit Tochter Lili-Marleen, Onkel Edward Pawlisiak, Cousin Krzysztof Budzyn mit Dominika. 
  • Patrick Barteit am Ortseingang Orkowo

    Patrick Barteit am Ortseingang Orkowo, 2019