Wisoka?

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jgarcia
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Wisoka?

#1

Post by jgarcia » 18 Jun 2007, 05:41

Hello,
Forgive me for my severe lack of knowledge on WW1 history, but I will anyhow post a question. Where is Wisoka? Is this Poland or Russia? My grandfather was a German soldier in WW1 and fought mainly on the Eastern front because he was Alsactian. I have several pictures of him with the label on the back as Wisoka 1915. Any help would be appreciated. I would also be interested in knowing what happened there at that time.
Thanks in advance.
Mike

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henryk
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#2

Post by henryk » 18 Jun 2007, 21:28

There is no Wisoka in present day Poland or Visoka in Belarus or Ukraine. There are a number of Wioska and Wysoka in Poland, as well as other close spellings.
http://www.jewishgen.org/ShtetlSeeker/LocTown.asp
Enter Wisoka for Poland, Belarus and Ukraine, and use soundex search method.
http://mapa.szukacz.pl/
To find places in Poland. enter name in Miejscowosc and click on pokaz (search).


stevebecker
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#3

Post by stevebecker » 19 Jun 2007, 02:14

Mate,

If you can post the photo we maybe able to id the uniform and other details on it.

S.B

jgarcia
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wisoka

#4

Post by jgarcia » 19 Jun 2007, 04:17

Thank you...I'll check the different spellings and will also post the picture tomorrow..I will post 2 sides, one with the German soldiers (including my grandfather) and the other side with the handwriting that states Wisoka (preceded by 2 other German words...the words are in the older German and I cannot tell the actual spelling, maybe someone can help with that too.)
Thanks again for the replies.
Mike

teg
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wisoka

#5

Post by teg » 19 Jun 2007, 10:40

Did your ancestor told any stories about the battles on eastern front?

jgarcia
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Re: wisoka

#6

Post by jgarcia » 20 Jun 2007, 05:02

teg wrote:Did your ancestor told any stories about the battles on eastern front?
I always asked my grandfather about the war, but he would always respond that war was bad and we should not talk about it. My gf was from Alsace and had French blood in him, but was drafted into the German army because Alsace was of course German at the time. He was not happy about this but I know he was proud of how he served winning the Iron Cross. I know that he was in Poland and Russia and I know he was shot in the hand. I also know that he was a machine gunner , but I don't know anything specific. He never kept his Iron Cross, but he did keep his Bayonet which I now have. I have been on a quest to get more information from the German government but they don't help much as most of the records were destroyed in WW2. He was in from the beginning to the end of the war and I'm sure he was severely affected by it, so talking about it only brought up bad memories.


I am posting the picture that Steve Becker requested. I have the front and back. The front I think most of you will enjoy. My gf is dead center front row wearing long trench and with hands in pocket ,but is the soldier with the belt on, not the one with the belt off.
If anyone has any ideas about the writing on the back of the card, especially in regards to Wisoka (where is it etc) I would really appreciate it.
Mike
Attachments
ws1915.jpg
ws1915.jpg (45.89 KiB) Viewed 1888 times
WisokaBack picture.jpg
WisokaBack picture.jpg (28.04 KiB) Viewed 1887 times

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Renner aus Schlesien
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Re: wisoka

#7

Post by Renner aus Schlesien » 20 Jun 2007, 13:31

jgarcia wrote:Thank you...I'll check the different spellings and will also post the picture tomorrow..I will post 2 sides, one with the German soldiers (including my grandfather) and the other side with the handwriting that states Wisoka (preceded by 2 other German words...the words are in the older German and I cannot tell the actual spelling, maybe someone can help with that too.)
Thanks again for the replies.
Mike
The postcard says 'Andenken aus Wisoka' (Memory of Wisoka)

-Erik

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Peter H
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#8

Post by Peter H » 20 Jun 2007, 14:38

There's a Visoka in Serbia.

Do you know which regiment he was in?

jgarcia
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wisoka

#9

Post by jgarcia » 21 Jun 2007, 04:35

Thank you Eric for the translation...much appreciated.

Peter: I don't think my gf was ever in Serbia, but fought exclusively in Poland (Russian Poland) and Russia.

I'm not quite sure about the unit he was in, but another member a couple of years ago spent much time helping me with this (Bob Lembke). There is evidence that he was at least inducted into the Ersatzbataillon Landw. Inf. Regt. 73. Beyond that I do not know, as he probably transferred into several different units later on.
The search continues....
Mike

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#10

Post by hass77 » 22 Jun 2007, 16:39

Peter H wrote:There's a Visoka in Serbia.

Do you know which regiment he was in?
There is no W in Serbian alphabet,and I don't think that Germans would even try to translate names of Serbian villages only few days after occupation of Serbia(winter 1915-1916).
Don't know for shure but Wisoka sounds Polish to me.
Btw. it means "tall" in most slavic languages,so it could be only part of the name.

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henryk
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#11

Post by henryk » 22 Jun 2007, 19:54

No tall (wisoka) places in Poland, but a lot of Wieka/Wielki (large, greater) places. There is a reference to Wisoka, in the 1880 Geographical Dictionary of Poland. It is a village, with name deriving from the Hungarian Vissoka. Probably near Slovakia. Will follow-up later with its location.

Mad Zeppelin
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#12

Post by Mad Zeppelin » 23 Jun 2007, 12:33

German army report May18th, 1915, Eastern Front:
"Gestern wurden 1700 Russen gefangen. Nördlich der Wysoka warf unsere Kavallerie die feindliche. Russische Angriffe auf Mariampol scheiterten."
This refers to a river, however, not to a village.

My old German map gives a town "Wysokie" some 30 km southeast of Lomza (between rivers Narew and Bug).

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#13

Post by Mad Zeppelin » 23 Jun 2007, 14:19

Should advise that there was no ErsBatl LdwIR 73, but a Ersatzbataillon Füsilier-Regiment 73 at Hannover, which also trained peoplef or RIR 73 and LdwIR 73.
The LdwIR 73 was mobilised in 37th mixed LdwBrigade in 1st LdwDiv in August 1914, but 37th mixed LdwBrig transferred to 5th Ersatzdivision (aka Division Basedow) in mid-1915.
In early 1915, the 1st LdwDiv was engaged at the winter battle in Masuria, then fought in the Lomza-Osowiec area in February.

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henryk
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#14

Post by henryk » 23 Jun 2007, 22:02

That river is Wisłoka in Polish (stroke through the l).
The Geographical Dictionary says Wisoka is in the county/earldom of Szaryski (w hrabiostwo Szaryskiego). I can not locate where this was. Assuming it was part of Hungary and then Polish in 1918, leads to these areas transferred in 1918.
1) northwestern part of Spis, south and east of the Polish village, Trybsz.
2) northeastern part of Ostrawa, south and west of the Polish village, Piekielnik.
Another possibility it is in Slovakia in the area of Saris, in which the Szaryski Castle (Zamek Szaryskiego) is located.

Mad Zeppelin
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#15

Post by Mad Zeppelin » 23 Jun 2007, 22:09

Not sure whether this matches. The Wysoka river in the German army report is a tributary to the Njemen/Memel. The Wisloka river is - IIRC - situated in the Carpathian mountains.

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