There Was Nowhere to Look – This Week with Nanny A

I asked Nanny Antoinette whether or not she had looked for her relatives after the war.  She told me, “where would I look?”

That being said, she did meet a few people after the war who knew what happened to her siblings and parents who were left in Poland.

Her sister Laura was hiding in a bunker and it was dynamited.

Her sister Mincha was taken away to the Belzec concentration camp.

Her parents had been staying/hiding with Ukrainian clients of her father’s.  Eventually one of their neighbours turned them in and they were taken away.  Their ultimate fate is unknown.

But what of the cousins and aunts and uncles?

Nanny is sure that no one survived.

But today, we have such a wealth of information at our fingertips.  I find myself compelled to do a little more digging.

I spent only a couple of hours and discovered the birth registrations of her father (my great-grandfather) and her nine aunts and uncles.  I also found the marriage registration of one of her aunts, and the death registration of one of her uncles who died as a child.

Nanny was so excited.  She did not know how old her father was when he was killed.  And now she does.  She did not know her grandmother’s name.  And now she does.

Nanny gave me my great grandmother’s maiden name too, and will look that up.  Perhaps, with some additional digging, I might find some long lost relatives.

But for now, I will continue with this story… the family tree can be the next project.

Have you ever discovered any long lost relatives?  If so, how did you find them?  Did you ever meet them?  Do you keep in touch?