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My mother who was born in Beuthen/Bytom, but must have lived at least for a while in Martinau, "Strasse der SA 19". I want to go there and find the street.

Martinau was Rokittnitz (part of the Landkreis Beuthen from 1927 on) and was named Martinau from 1936 until 1945. Rokitnica is now a part of Zabrze (*) I think from 1951 on, according to Wikipedia.

Before my mother married my father in Bytom in the year 1941, she must have lived in Martinau. I have a confirmation of the marriage (Bescheinigung der Eheschliessung), in which her address is given as

Martinau, Strasse der SA 19.

Please help me to find the actual current Polish name of this street in Rokitnica in Zabrze, Poland.

(*) Zabrze also named Hindenburg O.S. 1915-1945

Confirmation of Marriage. Bescheinigung der Eheschliessung

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    I need more context to understand this question. Where is Martinau? Is it in Poland? Google gives me StormAbteilung for "SA", and Poland for Rokitnica. "Strasse" is merely street. Please clarify Please at least tell us which country? There is a Martinau in Poland and in Austria, both of which were encompassed by the only tag given (Nazi-Germany).
    – MCW
    Jul 29, 2019 at 12:48
  • @MarkC.Wallace Isn't this about a street in Bytom, Martinau just superfluous info? Jul 29, 2019 at 13:05
  • The suspicion is now that in Martinau there was no street of that name? Please clarify this with an edit. Jul 29, 2019 at 13:37
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    I still doubt that the smallish settlement had a street of that name. But can you give us the maiden name or better yet a scan of that certificate? Jul 31, 2019 at 11:27
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    No no. Martinau is now called Rokitnica as part of Zabrze. It was named in pre-Nazi times Rokittnitz. But the Nazis named it Martinau between 1936 and 1945. I am looking just for a street named Strasse der SA in Martinau (which was not that small as you suggest). Jul 31, 2019 at 13:21

1 Answer 1

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In Beuthen there was a Straße der SA, that is now Bytom' ulica Żołnierza Polskiego (Street of the Polish soldier):

enter image description here Map

The street was before that the Feldstrasse:

Bytom, then Beuthen O.S., the SA militia quickly found their place. It was a building existing to this day at 9 Żołnierza Polskiego Street (then a plot of land Vorstadt 317, formerly Feldstrase 1b). From 1923 the house was owned by the widow Atonine Ebet (her husband Otto died during World War I), who later boasted of her merits for the Nazi movement. It was in this building that members of the German organizations Schwarze Schar and Landesschützen gathered as early as 1921. Probably also sympathizers of this movement from nearby towns and villages came here. After that, the building became the first meeting place for members of the Nazi party NSDAP and its militias SA (so-called Sturmlocal). It was in this place that the Bytomian fascist movement was formed. Later, in recognition of the history of this place, the Nazi authorities of Bytom renamed today's Polish Soldier's Street to Strasse der SA, and the building was given number 9. One can expect that the activists of the fascist movement from Piekary knew this place perfectly well, because it was a point of contact for them with their Bytomian principals.
src: Centralne sterowanie 2004

Wikipedia Beuthen Stadtplan

And this is a detail from a 1941 map:

enter image description here

Combining Digitale Bibliothek Beuthener Architektur, which gives you all German names from 1928 (in this case Feldstraße) and current Polish names:

enter image description here

you'll arrive at number 19

enter image description here

Which in 2014 is this:

enter image description here


The previously Slavic name of the other village slightly to the West in the same county (50°22'0" N / 18°48'0" E) was renamed between 1935/6 from Rokittnitz → Martinau and now Rokitnica.

Unless clarified by OP, I doubt that it also had a street "Straße der SA". That may be an error, but my guess is that the certificate was misread. The woman was born in Rokittnitz/Martinau and then at the time of marriage living at the given address in Beuthen?

The village of Rokittnitz/Martinau is with 7845 inhabitants in 1939 just a bit too small to be a probable candidate for containing such a street name:

Map of Rokottnitz 19th cent: https://mapire.eu/en/geoname/poland/rokitnica-3087033/ Map of Rokittnitz from 1935: http://maps.mapywig.org/m/German_maps/series/100K_KDR_Gross_and_Einheitsblaetter/Eb_118_Lublinitz-Woischnik-Gleiwitz-Beuthen-Katowice_Karte_7_Gleiwitz-Hindenburg_40K_Anl._zur_H.Dv.g.40-118_1935_LoC_U115_.G3_A32.jpg Map of Martinau 1940

Here is an address book of Beuthen and Martinau, from 1937. The street in Beuthen was apparently renamed after 1937 (?), as there are still people living at the Feldstraße, like Czerwensky, Peter. For Martinau as well, there are no entries for "Straße der SA" in 1937. But perhaps OP can find the maiden name of his mother and a 1937 street name address. Alternative versions with some maps at Martin-Opitz-Bibliothek.

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  • I suspected that the street name should be preceded by "ulica", then went into Google Street View and confirmed it by looking at a street sign. I'll edit this in for you. However, I'm not sure where that link is supposed to go.
    – Spencer
    Jul 29, 2019 at 23:14
  • @Spencer What link? The forum link? In it one poster discusses the name change of the street from 45. Was the first breadcrumb I found. Is it not working at all for you or the relevant passage not found easily? (I guess the full gif-map from Beuthener Architektur makes that link less important now?) Jul 29, 2019 at 23:26
  • No no, it is not Bytom, I am looking for, I just look for Martinau, today Rokitnica as part of Zabrze, where a street named Strasse der SA would have been existed Jul 31, 2019 at 13:16
  • In 1937 no people with my mother's name are found in Martinau, neither the Strasse der SA. This means clearly that my mother came to Martinau later than 1937 (what is very probable) and that the change of streetnames in Martinau was later too. In 1937 there is already een Adolf-Hitler-Straat of Platz, een Dietrich-Eckard-Weg en een Schlageter-Str. But not yet a Strasse der SA. Aug 3, 2019 at 10:45

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