Manstein was of Polish origin?
jacek
relations was presented astonishing fact. Erich von Manstein was a child
adopted by German aristoctrats, originally he was named Lewinski, Polish
origin. Could someone confirm that statement or reject it ?
DZ
Rich Rostrom
>On the polish newsgroup: pl.sci.historia in discussion about Polish-German
>relations was presented astonishing fact. Erich von Manstein was a child
>adopted by German aristocrats, originally he was named Lewinski, Polish
>origin. Could someone confirm that statement or reject it ?
Erich Von Manstein was the son of Eduard von Lewinski, an
artillery officer in the Imperial German army. Judging by the
"von" prefix, von Lewinski was himself "aristocratic".
He was later adopted by his uncle, a General von Manstein, and
took his uncle's last name. (I suspect that "Manstein" would
be more acceptable in the German army than "Lewinski". The
latter name might even be considered "Jewish", a real career
crippler.)
The name suggests Polish ancestry, but Prussia/Germany had
incorporated large ethnic-Polish regions for many years
before this, and there was much intermingling of Germans
and Slavs in eastern Europe. Many Germans bore "Slavic"
patronyms. For instance, there was SS General Erich von dem
Bach-Zelewski, who led the suppression of the 1944
Warsaw Rebellion. (Bach-Zelewski was much admired by Hitler
for his unscrupulous ingenuity; he escaped trial at
Nuremburg by becoming a prosecution witness.)
--
Never consume legumes before transacting whatsoever | Rich Rostrom
even in the outermost courtyard of a descendant of |
Timur the Terrible. | rrostrom@dummy
--- Avram Davidson, _Dr. Bhumbo Singh_ | 21stcentury.net
Martin Rapier
<8r7jll$lns$1...@beast.TCNJ.EDU>...
{snip}
> relations was presented astonishing fact. Erich von Manstein was a child
> adopted by German aristoctrats, originally he was named Lewinski, Polish
> origin. Could someone confirm that statement or reject it ?
He was certainly originally called Lewinski, although I've no idea if he
was Polish. There has been some speculation over the years as to whether he
was Jewish, but that would not appear to be the case.
Cheers
Martin
jesper christensen
is true, but wether or not is was truly polish is another matter. Manstein
writes that he was the son of "General der Artillerie und Kommandierenden
General des 6. Armeekorps Eduard von Lewinski" and that he was born in
Berlin, page 658 Verlorene Siege, 1979.
Jesper
jacek
Thank you for the confirmation of the fact.
>From the other side there were many Polish generals who had "German" names
e.g. Kleeberg, Julius Ro'mmel, Fieldorf, Berling (?), Anders, etc...
DZ
RLA99
news:8rfmkc$evp2$1...@nntp6.u.washington.edu...
| He was certainly originally called Lewinski, although I've no idea if he
| was Polish. There has been some speculation over the years as to whether
he
| was Jewish, but that would not appear to be the case.
He's probably Monica's great grandad or something. ;-))
A recent book has it that after Manstein was put out to pasture by Hitler in
'43?, he put all his donative and family money into buying an estate in
Prussia. True?
RA