Shadows of a Forgotten World

I found an old benchmark in Przemysl, located on a little post near the river. The outer ring reads "Znak Wysokosci" (Height Marker), followed by 2 letters and 4 numbers, looks like AA-0001, which means it was probably the first one in the series from this period (1947-1955). The inner ring reads "Uszkodzenie Podlega Karze" (Damage Is Punishable)

I found some more interesting information about conscriptions numbers  since I wrote my first post on them. From John D. Pihach's "Ukrainian Genealogy": "House numbers, also called house conscription numbers, had their origins with the Austrian imperial regime's need to know the names of all eligible men who could be drafted into the army when the need arose. A metal plaque with a number was attached to each house. With this number in the records of births, military officials could examine the transcripts in the bishop's office and calculate the age of everyone in a particular house." It is not uncommon in Przemysl to find two, three, or even four different number signs on one building (dating to different periods and regimes: Austrian, interwar Polish, Communist, modern). The reason is probably because unlike in Lviv, in Poland there was never a campaign to remove Polish inscriptions from the urban landscape. Thus old signs were generally kept, ...

In Poland it's a little more difficult to determine the age of manhole covers than in Ukraine, because in Ukraine if it's in Polish, it's old; but in Poland, everything is in Polish... However, by comparing them with prewar ones in Lviv, I think I've been able to distinguish which ones are old. Przemysl has several manhole covers produced by the Wisniewski Brothers factory. Fabryka Maszyn Odlewnia Żelaza i Metali Bracia Wiśniewscy  w Przemy ś lu Machine Factory Iron and Metal Foundry Wisniewski Brothers in Przemysl  A business directory from Przemysl 1938 lists the  Wiśniewscy  brothers' hardware store : Below is a cover made by just one of the Wisniewski brothers. Pomiar Miasta means “measurement of the city” Water valve covers made by Roman Sapa & Son in Tarnów This zasuwa (stop valve) cover is exactly like ones in Lviv   — a testament to the fact that Lviv and Przemysl were once in the same s...