The Marshfield Times of Wed. October 16, 1918 printed a short article about the funeral of Max Gewanski.
"Co. I, W.S.S, was over to Pittsville last Friday, where they took part in the funeral of Max Gewanski, who died of influenza at Camp Taylor, KY, last monday. Max was the oldest son of Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Gewanski, living northwest of Pittsville, on the west Marshfield Rd. He entrained from Grand Rapids on September 1st."

I am writting this brief history about my Uncle Max Jewanski who died in WWI. It is my understanding that his death was due to the "pandemic of Influenza" that was sweeping Europe and America in 1918-1919.

Max Jewanski was born in Pittsville, WI. on July 26, 1891 to William C. and Catherine (Krieger) Gewanski. His parents lived on Polish Rd, which was morthwest of Pittsville, in Wood County. They had a farm there. Uncle Max was the 5th child born to the family, and he had two brothers and seven sisters.

Uncle Max helped farm at the time he entered the Military. He had never married, and was 27 years old at the time of his death. He was also the first of the siblings to die.

You will notice the difference is spelling of the Gewanski name. I understand that it was not uncommon, back in those years, for immigrants to change the spelling of their names.

I, Genevieve (Gewanski) Itzen, was the 2nd youngest of the 13 nieces and Nephews of Uncle Max. I had never heard much about him, as by the time I was born my other Aunts and Uncles had moved to bigger cities.

My father, William Gewanski also served in WWI, but he returned home safely and lived on the family farm until 1952.

Genevieve Gewanski Itzen, Nekoosa, Author

Over four and a half million Americans volunteered to enter into World War I believing that they would be fighting "the war to end all wars," unaware of the conditions and enemies they were about to face. According to author Tony Dokoupil in The War We Forgot, the war's grand promise to make the world safe for democracy also left people cold. This is because we lack concrete information about this conflict from those who participated or observed it.

In similar fashion little is known about Private Max Jewanski; a farmer who chose to set aside his pitchfork, leave his family in Pittsville, and enlist in the armed forces. Max was born the fifth child of eleven to William and Catherine Jewanski on July 26, 1891. His parents lived on Polish Road, northwest of Pittsville in Wood County.

The Jewanskis were a typical farming family which meant most of the time the eldest son would eventually take over the family farm. It appeared Private Max Jewanski had other ideas-but who knows why this young man was motivated to choose a different path? No family letters, pictures or local newspaper articles are available to tell us about this time in his life. Perhaps he was influenced by propaganda about the war that made him think wearing a flashy uniform, traveling the world, and earning his own money would be the road to success.

Unlike today when the U.S. President's daughters are given a puppy and the whole nation knows what its name is, newspapers back in the early 1900's did a poor job of tracking local soldiers. Dokoupil notes that this is because "WWI was the last war fought without modern methods of bearing witness." Battles were not captured in photographs or on film reel, and little reliable information was written about frontline battles.

In movies and television documentaries later created to tell about WWI only portraits of soldiers in uniforms could be used- all scenes needed to be staged because no war events were captured on film. Be it a lack of technology or a form of censorship, times back then are very different than today when an American captured by an enemy can be murdered in cold blood and shown on television shocking our nation. In The War We Forgot, Tony Dokoupil points out that our nation has done little to recognize WWI's events with national monuments, blockbuster films or novels.

Family information about Jewanski states that he trained at Camp Taylor, Kentucky. His story ended there (October 7, 1918). Max, unfortunately, was one of 63,114 personnel that died from disease or causes other then death in battle during WWI. Typhus, pneumonia, influenza, and many other diseases plagued our soldiers on home lands as well as Europe. Sadly, the statistics about war mortality in WWI wasn't known until after the war concluded. It may have been hard to collect the data about war victims and even harder to acknowledge the fact that they existed.

It's sad to think that a young man, who may have been inspired to make a difference for his country, but didn't get to live out his dream. It's upsetting to think about the parents who lost a son, and hoped that he may return to take over the farm, the siblings who didn't get to throw a reunion party for him when the war ended, or the girl who might have been awaiting his kiss when he returned. Private Max Jewanski will be remembered as one of the unfortunate young soldiers who answered the call to defend his country, but died prematurely from disease before he could serve his nation.

Maddy Schotten
East Junior High School