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My great-grandfather, Johann Ludwig Wilhelm Poch, was born July 8, 1878, and emigrated from Pritzig, Germany, Kries Rummelsburg, in 1886.
His father was Johann Poch and his mother was Charlotte Yok, and his father was known as Trouta Poch, apparently named for his hobby of poaching trout from the ponds, rivers, and streams of the ruling duchy of that region.
The family traveled to Deerfield or Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, and settled as farmers in Deerfield and Jefferson, Wisconsin. Some of the family branch surnames were apparently changed to 'Pooch' by U.S. immigration officials, and that is my last name today (other relatives have changed their names back to the original spelling of 'Poch').
During World War II, my grandfather and his family sent CARE packages to relatives back in east German Pomerania, Hinterpommern, which was east of the Oder-Neisse Rivers and later annexed by Poland after the war. Thus, Pritzig is now officially known as Przytocko. Many of the German residents there were driven from this area by Poles as part of an ethnic cleansing program in revenge for earlier Nazi atrocities. Their farms, home, and possessions were confiscated by Poland and all means of contact were lost with those relatives since 1945.
I would be interested in tracing this side of my family as far back as possible. Many of the official records of that area may have been relocated to one of several Lutheran Evangelical Church central repositories in Germany, which I am in the process of contacting.
Please let me know if you might have any information on the Poch or Pooch surnames in Pomerania.
Thanks,
John Pooch
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