Memorial stone at the site of the death of forester Oswald Kahnert

Memorial stone at the site of the murder of forester Oswald Kahnert

 

 

The inscription on the stone reads:
"The soldier Oswald Kahnert died on August 16, 1919."

 

Translation:

"At this place, assistant forester Oswald Kahnert from Jörkischken was shot by poachers on 18.8.1919"

 

 

Oswald Kahnert (? -1919) served as an assistant gamekeeper in 1911 and as a gamekeeper in 1912. From 1912 he was the warden of the Jörkischken cordon in the Rominten forestry district. By the age of 35, Kahnert had exposed a large number of poachers and made many personal enemies. He was killed on the morning of August 16, 1919, while pursuing the poachers Otto and Albert Weichert.
Hearing shots in square 23F, Kahnert went to that area. His body and dog were found the next day. A gamekeeper's rifle was lying 50 meters from the body. It turned out that Kahnert's rifle misfired, which was what the killers took advantage of.

The autopsy revealed that Kahnert had been shot with three bullets from a Luger P-08 army pistol. Three days later, the brothers suspected of the murder were arrested and brought to the Goldap court along with the murder weapon. During a dance, they had bet their third brother 3,000 marks that they would kill a forester. The murderers were sentenced to life imprisonment, but in 1926, Otto escaped from prison and his subsequent fate is unknown.

 

 

Coordinates:
N54°19'40.3″ 2E2°25'06.3″