The Surname 'Palicki' is Polish in origin, from the Slavic Branch of the Indo-European Languages. 'ki' is a suffix, to distinguish male from female; 'ka', is a suffix, to distinguish female from male.

Root of the surname is 'palic' - 'palic' translates to 'twigs used to start a fire'. A Czech friend co-worker at IBM addressed me as 'Mr. Twigs'. To be true to my surname, would like to 'start a global fire' with this website, to revive the struggle for true Independence for individual Nations for the sake of the individual and the family, the foundation for all civil living in a civilized world.

John Palicki was born in the Province of Posen (Poznan) and grew up in or near the village of Brezyskorzystow, Poland. He married Eleonore Kazmierczak in 1868. Their eight children were probably baptized in the village parish church and the four oldest confirmed in Zinn, Poland. Some might have attended the village school in Cerewicka, Poland. A photo in a military uniform, by August Bohner, a photographer in Bremen, Germany, suggests my grandfather, John Palicki, was an Officer in the Prussian military.

John Palicki brought his family to the United States in 1890 and settled in Toledo, Ohio on Hamilton Street.

Since only eight emigrated with them to the U.S., it is assumed two children were born and died in the German Province of Posen. The 1910 Census record states that John Palicki and Eleonore Kazmierczak had eleven children, with nine still living. Their ninth child, Martha, was born in the U.S. in 1892.

The youngest of six boys, my Father, Anthony, was their eighth child. Birthdate of June 19, 1890, suggests my Father was born in Poland or in Germany before their embarkation to the U.S. from Hamburg, Germany in 1890 (or he was born on the 'boat' enroute to the U.S.) My Mother, Mary Ann, was born in the furrows of a farm field on land east of Krakow, Poland, near Auschwitz before its fame for infamy.

The 19th Century Prussian province of Posen was called 'Wielkopolska' (Greater Poland) until 1793. This region was the historical center of origin of the Polish Nation in the 10th century, and has always been one of the richest and most developed provinces of Poland.

In 1793 (as a result of the Second Partition of Poland), Greater Poland was taken over by Prussia and initially renamed "Southern Prussia". After 1815 this term was no longer used and the province was referred to with the name of its capital town, i.e., Poznan (German: Posen). This is often misleading - records providing only the name "Posen" are ambiguous. Such records suggest the town, where usually the entire province is meant.

Even before the Partitions, 'Wielkopolska' had some German population, but, as it became part of the Kingdom of Prussia, German colonization increased significantly. Most of the settlers were Lutheran and many Protestant parishes were established. Before WWI, the German-speaking inhabitants were about 35% of the total population. The majority of them lived in the western and northern districts. The central and southern part of 'Wielkopolska' retained its Polish and Catholic identity.

After Germany lost WWI, the territory of the Province of Posen was returned to Poland as an independent nation. A victorious 'Decemeber 1918 - February 1919 Polish uprising', accepted by the Versailles Treaty, enabled Poland's Independence as a Nation until the beginning of WWII with NAZI Germany's invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939.

Only some of the western regions remained part of Germany. Together with the western districts of the former West Prussia, those areas were included into the neighboring Prussian province called Grenzmark Posen-Westpreussen which existed until 1938 (then dissolved into neighboring Prussian provinces). The majority of the German-speaking inhabitants of the Polish parts of 'Wielkopolska' emigrated to Germany after 1920.

After WWII, the areas of the former Province Grenzmark Posen - Westpreussen were incorporated into Poland. Germans living there were forced to leave, and Poles from the former Polish territories in the East started to settle there.

Departure from my Cousin Walter's historical input:

After WWII, all of Poland was occupied and controlled by the Soviet Union, an occupation and control via the Yalta Agreement (Feb 7-11, 1945) between Franklin Delano Roosevelt, President of the U.S., Winston Churchhill, Prime Minister of England, and Josef Stalin, Dictator of Communist Russia.

Poland and did not regain independence again as a Nation, until the Polish 'Solidarnosc' (Solidarity) uprisings ignited momentum for Independence from Communist rule by East Germans against Communist rule - a momentum ignited by Polish worker rebellion at the Gdansk shipyards in the 1980s.

It was the Polish example and fierce passion for 'independence' that led to the tearing down of the Berlin Wall in 1989. U.S. Presidents Reagan and Bush didn't have or make any contribution to dissolution of the 'Soviet Union' in 1989. Forty years of 'threat' by mutual nuclear destruction couldn't do it; 'Correction' had to come from within Nations hungering for Independence, not from suffocating 'world-ruling' political party establishments.