Zeyers Friedhofen (Cemeteries )
The cemeteries of the former Zeyer, West Prussia have severely deteriorated over the years. Clearly the destruction of the Zeyer ev. Kirche by Russian bombardment did the most complete removal of burial sites. But time itself has eroded the Zeyer Mennonite burial grounds as well.
The photos below are what is left of both the Lutheran and Mennonite Cemeteries (2010).
Lutheran Cemetery
All that remains of this burial ground is a marker placed there in 2009.
Mennonite Cemetery
As evidenced by the photos, this burial ground has been left to the elements and time.
As Rainer wrote me:
- We follow a track on the left of a farm.
- In the distance, we see a small forest surrounded by fields … we think that’s it.
- Trees, bushes, sunken graves, cement frames of graves, one lonely grave stone of a Mrs. Wiehns, born Wienhs, died 1934 …
- An iron framework that served apparently for funeral ceremonies …
- Some remnants of a fence, that’s it. … a sunken world ..
Dec 19, 2010 @ 16:27:08
Your website is very, very good. The expulsions are so sad. My families left Klein Tromnau, West Prussia (about 20-30? kms east of Marienwerder which is where the Vistuala River is found). I would like to go there to see if my families, the Mischke and the Janke family, tombstones are still there in the cemetery. I am sure I will be disappointed. My ancestors left in the 1860s and 1870s, however, even the dead have their memories wiped out in later wars. Mankind, of all races and ethnic groups find excuses to oppress, imagined or real. It is sad.
Best wishes to you as you continue to help genealogists and lovers of history and human interaction…….Maurice Robinson
Dec 19, 2010 @ 16:31:00
Thank you Maurice. Yes, it is sad. Would that we were as good as our potential. Perhaps one day we will learn tolerance and be able to coexist. Happy holidays to you and yours.
…mark