In 1938, my great-grandfather, Meier Jacob immigrated to the United States, alone. He had five siblings who stayed in their home country, Germany. Once in America, Meier communicated with this three younger siblings Ilse, Manfred and Ferdinand by writing letters to them trying to get them to come to America. Meier’s two older siblings spent many years running from persecution, Meier’s older sister, Hanna fled to London to get married. Simon, his older brother, fled to Israel.
As time passed, Meier was unable to contact his younger siblings who were unable to escape from Germany, he soon realized that he would never hear from them again. Meier spent the next fifty-six years writing inquiry letters to the United States Army and the Red Cross International Association trying to get information about the whereabouts of his younger siblings. We soon realized that Ilse, Manfred and Ferdinand were murdered during the horrific events of the holocaust. My great-grandfather never knew himself where his siblings ended up, as the letter from the Red Cross stating their whereabouts came to my house a month after he passed away.
My family members stories are mixed up within this horrific historic event, even 72 years after the holocaust ended, we still don’t know specific stories about my family and where many of them died. They reside in unmarked graves, with their life stories untold. My family’s stories will remain scattered across generations and I will continue to pick up the missing pieces.