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

[Jerry Frank]

Thanks for that clarification, Jan.

Fred had told me in private email about the Romanian possibility.  He must have done more research after that to come up with the correct version.




----- Original Message -----
From: Jan Textor <textor_jan at hotmail.com>
Date: Wednesday, June 29, 2005 1:06 pm
Subject: Re: [Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Poland Maps 1919-1939 Rumunki translation

> 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_ 
> [GeographicalDictionary 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 
> Germannoun 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 
> nameundoubtedly came into use from German colonists or by Polish 
> peasants under
> German influence in Great Poland (western Poland, generally in the 
> areaaround 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 
> differentterms used for settlements established in cleared woodlands."
> 
> Personally, I think that this explanation makes much more sense 
> than the
> references to Rumania.
> 
> Jan Textor
> 
> 
> 
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