Good evening friends.
I want to ask you for advice, possibly help.
My family and I are looking for any information about my great-great-grandmother Anna Ludwig. She is German by nationality. From the stories of relatives from the Republic of Belarus, I know that Anna Ludwig was born in Germany in 1899. There she married Joseph Drozdovsky, a prisoner of the First World War. They had four children whose real names are unknown to me and my family, but we managed to see some of them. They were still alive. When trying to question the children of Anna then ... nothing sensible came out. They were silent. They were very afraid that the Soviet government (they lived in the Republic of Belarus) would find out about their origin and that they would be persecuted after the Second World War.
Therefore, we have no information about why they fled from German territory through the war with the Soviet Union. Presumably in 1939, but this is not accurate. I was able to obtain scarce data from the marriage certificate of Anna Ludwig and Joseph Drozdovsky, concluded in 1922, although the certificate itself indicates 1924.
The marriage certificate says that Anna Ludwig and Joseph Drozdovsky entered into a marriage in Gulau, Schweidnitz County. And they lived there. The wedding was attended by her father Joseph Ludwig and coachman Alois Schmidt.
Why am I writing all this?
My family and I want to know where Anna Ludwig's parents lived and where they were buried (there is not a word about them in the address books), how many children were actually born to Anna and Joseph in Germany and what their names were. Why and when they decided to flee from Germany to the territory of the Republic of Belarus. During her lifetime, Anna mentioned once that she often went to the Catholic Church and misses it very much. That her whole family in Germany went to church. But at the same time in what - she never said. She also said that she had two brothers. She did not name them. One died in 1942, served in Lutwaff. There was also a sister - Eve. But Eve was a stepbrother, Anna's father married another woman and she appeared.
There is a photo of Eve. But the photo is very strange. Since my relatives from Belarus were very sick of this topic, they did everything to destroy knowledge about our German roots. There is Eva in a wedding dress, according to legend - with a German officer. The officer is kindly carved and burned. I will attach this photo.
Friends, I want to say so much about this. But I absolutely do not have reliable information and knowledge of the German language. Therefore, I will attach a piece of photograph and text from the marriage certificate. And, if there is someone among you who can help me and my family ... It doesn’t matter if it’s just a link to an Internet resource or a book. We will be grateful to you.
Anna and Joseph are buried in Belarus, near Minsk. I was at their graves. Joseph was buried with honors. He has a good gravestone. And Anna ... She doesn’t even have a cross. Ordinary catholic cross. No name on the grave, no data nicknames. She didn't even have a passport. Nothing. Her grave is far from the rest. Like a suicide or a criminal. Just because she is German. You know, we just want to eliminate this misunderstanding and injustice.
Thank you for reading to the end ...)
Heiratsurkunde
Nr. 5
Guhlau am einundzwanzigsten
Juni tausend neunhundert zwanzig und zwei
Vor dem unterzeichneten Standesamt erschienen heute zum Zweck der Eheschließung:
1. der landwirtschaftlich Arbeiter Josef Drosdowski
ledigen Standes
der Persönlichkeit nach bekannt,
g.k. Religion, geboren an siebzehnten
November des Jahres tausend acht hundert
achtzig und acht zu Jastrow Kurgan
Bezirk Minsk (Russland), wohnhaft in Guhlau
Kreis Schweidnitz seit 1916
Sohn des Stellsmachers Simon Drosdowski
Und seine Ehefrau Katarina geborene
wohnhaft
in Jastrow Kurgan Bezirk Minsk in Russland;
2. die ledige Arbeiterin Anna Ludwig
der Persönlichkeit nach bekannt,
k. Religion, geboren am neunzehnten
Mai des Jahres tausend acht hundert
neunzig und neun zu Stephanshain
Kreis Schweidnitz
Tochter des Ackerkutschers Josef Ludwig
Und seine In Guhlau verstorbenen
Ehefrau Anna geborene Katther
wohnhaft
in Guhlau Kreis Schweidnitz
Als Zeugen waren zugezogen und erschienen:
3.der Kutscher Alois Schmidt
der Persönlichkeit nach bekannt,
34 Jahre alt, wohnhaft in Guhlau Kreis Schweidnitz
4. der Ackerkutscher Josef Ludwig
der Persönlichkeit nach bekannt,
48 Jahre alt, wohnhaft in Guhlau Kreis Schweidnitz
Der Standesbeamte richtete an die Verlobten einzeln und nacheinander
die Frage:
ob sie die Ehe miteinander eingehen wollen.
Die Verlobten bejahten diese Frage und der Standesbeamte sprach
hierauf aus,
daß sie kraft des Bürgerlichen Gesetzbuchs nunmehr rechtmäßig ver-
bundene Eheleute seien.
Vorgelesen, genehmigt und unterschrieben.
Josef Drosdowski
Anna Drosdowski geborene Ludwig
Alois Schmidt – Josef Ludwig
Der Standesbeamte.
(Signatur)
Das vorstehender Auszug mit dem Heirats - Hauptregister des Standesamtes zu
Frauenhain Guhlau Kreis Schweidnitz, gleichlautend ist, wird hiermit bestätigt.
Guhlau am 27. September 1924.
Der Standesbeamte.
(Signatur)
(Siegel)