[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Poland Maps 1919-1939 Rumunki translation

[Jan Textor]

William F. (Fred) Hoffman wrote about this subject on 1 Aug 2002 as per
http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/POLAND-ROOTS/2002-08/1028990279

I quote from his message:

"I was pretty sure I remembered the definition, but just to check, I looked
in the 15-volume _Slownik geograficzny Krolestwa Polskiego_ [Geographical
Dictionary of the Kingdom of Poland]. It defines RUMUNEK, plural form
RUMUNKI, as coming from German _räumen_, "to clear, empty" -- although I'd
say it's more accurate to characterize it as a Polonized form of a German
noun derived from that verb, which in modern German takes the form
_Räumung_, "clearing." Either way, it refers to a settlement founded on
woodlands that have been cleared of trees. The _Slownik_ says this name
undoubtedly came into use from German colonists or by Polish peasants under
German influence in Great Poland (western Poland, generally in the area
around Poznan). It says we see this name mainly in that area, and also in
some western counties of the Kingdom of Poland (the Russian partition),
namely, Gostynin, Lipno, and Rypin counties.

So the name means "clearing" or "clearings," and is one of many different
terms used for settlements established in cleared woodlands."

Personally, I think that this explanation makes much more sense than the
references to Rumania.

Jan Textor