Kleinen

The earliest mention of the Klein surname can be traced back to Wurzburg, Germany in the year 1185. As the word means “small” in German, it is believed that the name originally referred to someone short, or perhaps the youngest member of the family. Today, Klein is one of the most popular surnames in Germany, though few have adapted the ‘Kleinen’ version of the name.

Our branch of the Kleinen/Klein family can be traced back to Kowalken, East Prussia (now Kowalki, Poland), where Gustav Leopold Klein was born in 1794. Gustav was a law student who served as a second lieutenant in the Wars of Liberation. He later pursued a career in politics, and was awarded the Order of the Red Eagle class III and class IV for his work.

Gustav’s son and grandson were both quite wealthy, owning land in East Prussia. His great-grandson Max Klein Jr was born in October of 1885 in the town of Bittkowen (now Bitkowo,Poland), and worked as a navy First Officer while raising his two children. The family owned various farms, including a 5,000-acre property in the town of Adlig Kessel (now Kociołek Szlachecki, Poland) until the Nazi government took control of their land. ​The family name was officially changed from Klein to Kleinen in July 1918, possibly for reasons connected to the post-WWI German Revolution.

During World War II, 25 year old Wolf Dietrich Kleinen went missing while on his way to Erfurt with the 2nd Panserjäger batallion. He was never found. After the war,the surviving female members of the family, including Margarete Seydler Kleinen, Clara Tzchabran Kleinen and 26 year old Inge Kleinen, were captured on the family estate by the Red Army and taken to a work camp. Margarete and Clara passed away sometime after their capture, though details are not known. Inge spent several years as a prisoner of the Russians, first in Germany and later in Kazakhstan, before finally being liberated in 1952. 

Inge Kleinen eventually made her way back to Germany and was reunited with her father Max, who had since remarried. Struggling to readjust to her new life in Germany, she decided to set sail for Canada, arriving in Halifax and making her way across the country to Winnipeg. It was there that she met Adolph Pytlik, and the couple continued across the country, settling in Western Canada.