Janet, the sister!
What an amazing experience. A beyond-blog experience. In a stark contrast to another, unnamed relative, Janet (with her son Paul) went through all of her old papers, looking for anything that may be of interest to me. And Paul? Paul flipped thru pages of old books that used to belong to Charlie almost until 2 in the morning... looking for old letters and documents that may have become bookmarks.
And there were results.
Some of them were:
1919: Charlie's grandparents with Werner Guttmann, Charlie's (and Janet's) cousin:
Werner is a relative I have never heard about before. Apparently his mother, of whose existence I had no prior knowledge, managed to enter the United States before WWII, and so Werner socialized with Janet, the cousin, while growing up.
To counter this brand new information, I told Janet that I have found yet another cousin of hers, Lilly Bannet, daughter of Charlie's aunt Wally Meisels. Janet never heard of Wally Meisels, nor of Lilly.
But according to documents I have found this past Thursday in the files of the National Refugee Service, in 1938 Charlie got US affidavits for his "aunt Wally Meisels, her daughter Lilly Bannett, and the daughter's husband Bernd Bannet" thanks to assistance from the "Humane Refugee Aid Society, Inc."
While Lilly and her husband Bernd most probably got to the US via Switzerland and survived, aunt Wally never utilized her affidavit. She was deported from Berlin to the Riga ghetto, and died there.
This means Alfred Jordan, Charlie's father, had two sisters - or to be more precise, he had at least two sisters we know of as of now.
To counter this brand new information, I told Janet that I have found yet another cousin of hers, Lilly Bannet, daughter of Charlie's aunt Wally Meisels. Janet never heard of Wally Meisels, nor of Lilly.
But according to documents I have found this past Thursday in the files of the National Refugee Service, in 1938 Charlie got US affidavits for his "aunt Wally Meisels, her daughter Lilly Bannett, and the daughter's husband Bernd Bannet" thanks to assistance from the "Humane Refugee Aid Society, Inc."
While Lilly and her husband Bernd most probably got to the US via Switzerland and survived, aunt Wally never utilized her affidavit. She was deported from Berlin to the Riga ghetto, and died there.
This means Alfred Jordan, Charlie's father, had two sisters - or to be more precise, he had at least two sisters we know of as of now.
Janet, 4 years old
(with her and Charlie's father, Mr. Alfred Jordan)
(with her and Charlie's father, Mr. Alfred Jordan)
Janet, as a young lady
(with Werner Guttmann)
Janet today, at 95 years of age
(with Werner Guttmann)
Janet today, at 95 years of age
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