One WWII Legend resolved... A partial family history
Dec 26, 2017 01:05:27 #
During WWII my uncle went missing. Many stories flew after the war.
He was part of the resistance (true).
He was denounced by a neighbor and arrested (false)
He fled France and became a pilot (false)
He fled France and became a air mechanic (false)
He was shot down over Poland and somehow survived but could not come back(false)
While vacationing in France last summer we stayed in the farm of a relative. My wife read some book then she came to me and asked: "Is that your uncle?"
Last name, first name middle name fit as was the DOB and occupation. He was listed has having been a resistant of the first hour in Angers. He was listed along the names of several folks, all killed by the germans.
No other information.
The relative who owned the farm was as surprised as we were. She had an interest to learn more because her parents took in my younger uncle to hide him from the german. So, she went to work.
A couple of months later she found an official notice of him being dead, no other information. She kept digging and received a witness statement that he died the day after the concentration camp he was in, in Poland, was liberated, of typhus. But there was no independent confirmation and while more precise this did not say much. Poland was cited thought.
Then four days ago (2017/12/21) I received a phone call from my relative. She had the full story.
My uncle had been arrested in Bordeaux in a 'raffle'. He was trying to flee France and get to Algeria to join the french military there.
He and others were sent to a transit camp in Compiegne where he was identified as 'wanted terrorist' and deported to Poland.
My relative was able to find records from the french DoD (equivalent) and obtained his deported number (tattoo) and found two more certified witness statements that partially confirmed the one she already had: that he was ill and died the day after the camp liberation*, outside, trying to go back to France. He was buried by his friends outside the camp, in a forest.
So, one the WWII mysteries in my family is solved. Another one that will never be: What was my mother doing in Germany during the Berlin blitz... The third one relates to my maternal grand mother. When she died she had all types of dignitaries and resistants coming to her funeral. The family was barely represented and she had military honors. No one in the family has a clue as to why.
The only thing I have in my hand from that grand mother is a school notebook used by someone to report his activity during WWII. To give you an idea of what this person did... "We had two german prisoners. We did not know what to with them so we killed them and hid the corpses under a manure pile..."
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* Liberated by the US then turned to the russian following the Yalta accord.
He was part of the resistance (true).
He was denounced by a neighbor and arrested (false)
He fled France and became a pilot (false)
He fled France and became a air mechanic (false)
He was shot down over Poland and somehow survived but could not come back(false)
While vacationing in France last summer we stayed in the farm of a relative. My wife read some book then she came to me and asked: "Is that your uncle?"
Last name, first name middle name fit as was the DOB and occupation. He was listed has having been a resistant of the first hour in Angers. He was listed along the names of several folks, all killed by the germans.
No other information.
The relative who owned the farm was as surprised as we were. She had an interest to learn more because her parents took in my younger uncle to hide him from the german. So, she went to work.
A couple of months later she found an official notice of him being dead, no other information. She kept digging and received a witness statement that he died the day after the concentration camp he was in, in Poland, was liberated, of typhus. But there was no independent confirmation and while more precise this did not say much. Poland was cited thought.
Then four days ago (2017/12/21) I received a phone call from my relative. She had the full story.
My uncle had been arrested in Bordeaux in a 'raffle'. He was trying to flee France and get to Algeria to join the french military there.
He and others were sent to a transit camp in Compiegne where he was identified as 'wanted terrorist' and deported to Poland.
My relative was able to find records from the french DoD (equivalent) and obtained his deported number (tattoo) and found two more certified witness statements that partially confirmed the one she already had: that he was ill and died the day after the camp liberation*, outside, trying to go back to France. He was buried by his friends outside the camp, in a forest.
So, one the WWII mysteries in my family is solved. Another one that will never be: What was my mother doing in Germany during the Berlin blitz... The third one relates to my maternal grand mother. When she died she had all types of dignitaries and resistants coming to her funeral. The family was barely represented and she had military honors. No one in the family has a clue as to why.
The only thing I have in my hand from that grand mother is a school notebook used by someone to report his activity during WWII. To give you an idea of what this person did... "We had two german prisoners. We did not know what to with them so we killed them and hid the corpses under a manure pile..."
-----
* Liberated by the US then turned to the russian following the Yalta accord.
Dec 26, 2017 01:14:53 #
Dec 26, 2017 08:46:35 #
It is always nice to find out family history. Keep digging, Rong, keep digging!
Dec 26, 2017 10:10:32 #
Keldon
Loc: Yukon, B.C.
Very interesting family history.
One minor item that caught my attention however was the information you have astericked. Are you sure the camp was liberated by the US? I may be wrong but I don't believe any camps in Poland were leiberated by US forces.
One minor item that caught my attention however was the information you have astericked. Are you sure the camp was liberated by the US? I may be wrong but I don't believe any camps in Poland were leiberated by US forces.
Dec 26, 2017 11:50:18 #
Keldon wrote:
Very interesting family history.
One minor item that caught my attention however was the information you have astericked. Are you sure the camp was liberated by the US? I may be wrong but I don't believe any camps in Poland were leiberated by US forces.
One minor item that caught my attention however was the information you have astericked. Are you sure the camp was liberated by the US? I may be wrong but I don't believe any camps in Poland were leiberated by US forces.
Yes, I am. The US went into Poland and liberated several concentration camps but the US forces has to pull back due to the Yalta treaty. Note that poland had been split in two by germany the soviet at the beginning war as the two were seemingly 'friends' until germany attacked the soviet union. The portion attributed to hitler became part of what was called 'the greater germany'.
This split led to countless suffering as both country selected folks for deportation and execution. When gernamy invaded the other part of poland they went into a killing frenzy. Then the soviet union came back and purged the country of 'collaborators' or 'perceived collaborator's. This could have stopped there but it did not. All the war survivors who fought on the side of the allied forces (excluding the soviet union) who returned to their country found themselves in precarious position and many were sent to Siberia for 'reeducation'. To add insult to injury, the allied politicians refused the polish fighters the right to parade under they own polish flag in fear of the soviet union reaction.
If one country was victimized during WWII it is Poland.
I have to rectify some of my post.... Many of the concentration camps in Poland were 'relocated' in eastern germany due to the Soviet approach. When the US forces arrived they liberated camps mostly in Germany but these fell onto East germany and administered by the soviet union later on and became internment camps again with the same determination for a 'final solution' this time for anyone refusing the soviet domination. Mass graves from that eras have been found all over surround the original camps. These graves have been dated post WWII due to the artifacts found inside the few that have been excavated since.
Dec 28, 2017 04:07:14 #
gnawbone
Loc: Southern Indiana
Rongnongno wrote:
...... Another one that will never be: What was my mother doing in Germany during the Berlin blitz... The third one relates to my maternal grand mother. When she died she had all types of dignitaries and resistants coming to her funeral. The family was barely represented and she had military honors. No one in the family has a clue as to why. ......
The missing part about your mom and your grandmother are interesting, not that the part about your uncle isn't. I wonder if whatever your mom was doing is related to your grandmother's "recognition"?
You need to go back over there and figure this out, this is like not watching the last 10 minutes of a mystery movie .... :)
Dec 28, 2017 07:03:29 #
gnawbone wrote:
The missing part about your mom and your grandmother are interesting, not that the part about your uncle isn't. I wonder if whatever your mom was doing is related to your grandmother's "recognition"? .../...
That I can answer: NO. They were sworn enemies, my grand mother abandoned her daughter because she did not like girls and preferred boys. She 'gave' to her husband, after kicking him out and kept the boy. She prevented them to meet until they were 21 and the met against her will, she never fully forgave her son. So... That also explains why no one knew what she did.
Jan 7, 2018 23:05:06 #
And it just got weirder....
Tattooing man
This man, a deported jew, was in charge of tattooing prisoners before transit. It is likely that he or his assistants (also deported) had a contact with my uncle, not knowing who he was of course...
Tattooing man
This man, a deported jew, was in charge of tattooing prisoners before transit. It is likely that he or his assistants (also deported) had a contact with my uncle, not knowing who he was of course...
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