The case of the missing great grandfather
There has been a HUGE question mark surrounding my great grandfather’s cause of death and why it happened.
As my great grandma, Omi, had passed when I was too little, the only other person who talked about my great grandfather was my grandmother, Hannelore.
Hannelore never wanted to talk a lot about her father.
I understood why, but it still didn’t help me understand what happened to him.
One time Hannelore, my grandma, said that her father spoke poorly of the Nazis at some gentlemen’s club (the old-school drink & discuss type) and an officer or someone reported it to the SS. In order for him not to jeopardize his family’s lives, he committed suicide.
Apparently, there was some tradition of committing suicide to protect one’s family, so Hannelore and Omi were saved from persecution.
I was under the impression that that was why Omi moved to Bad Kissingen after her husband’s death, to get as far away as possible from Berlin and those who knew her husband’s “treason”.
I didn’t even know his name; no one spoke his name.
He was just Omi’s husband. Grandma’s dad.
But he had a name. He was a person.
Side note: I encourage everyone to learn the names of the people in their lives, even if you call them “Mom” or “Grandpa”. Speaking their name gives them an individual life outside of their roles they played.
Also, I don’t even think we have a picture of him, which is sad.
So I decided my next goal was to get the marriage license of Omi and my great grandfather. What I knew was that they were married in Berlin, so Berlin was where I had inquire about their marriage.
My aunt, Linda, gave my mom two great pieces of information. First was my great grandfather’s confirmation certificate and the other was the papers of inheritance (I will get to those in another post):
Getting this was the first time I have ever heard or seen his name - Johannes.
The confirmation certificate reads:
Johannes Clauder
born on August 28, 1891 in Berlin
baptized on November 9, 1891, after completing his education on the
confession of the evangelical faith and the vow to remain faithful to this faith,
was blessed on March 5, 1907 in the Holy Cross and was allowed to receive Holy Communion.
Revelation St. John 2:10: Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.
Berlin, March 10, 1907
So I searched the Berlin Archives for their matching names since the archives had not got back to me. This was very manual work and I had guessed they were married before Hannelore was born, as was the typical tradition. So, I started from 18-year-old Omi and started going up in years till 1932 (the year Hannelore, my grandma, was born).
Surprisingly there were not many last names starting with “C” so that was helpful.
Finally, I found it and requested it specifically from the archives:
This is a rather interesting marriage license as most are one page.
My mom, Pamela, told me that they were said to have been married by the mayor himself.
The document reads (transcribed by Transkribus + checked):
PAGE 1
Berlin on the 26th of September 1931.
The following appeared today before the undersigned registrar for the purpose of marriage:
The merchant, Johannes Wilhelm Max Clauder, identified by birth certificate, also known, born on the 28th August 1891 in Berlin, birth register no. 3325 of the registry office in Berlin IV. A., resident in Berlin, Bergmannstrasse 9;
Anna Hendel, without occupation, identified by birth certificate, born on the 15th February 1890 (again, listed as the 15th!) in Bad Kissingen, birth register no. 15 of the registry office in Bad Kissingen, resident in Berlin, Bergmannstrasse 9.
PAGE 2
The following witnesses were called in and appeared:
The merchant Ernst Rade, identified by his driving license, 44 years old, resident in Berlin, Planufer 13;
The merchant Hans Weise, identified by his driving license, 40 years old, resident in Berlin-Charlottenburg, Wilmersdorferstrasse
The registrar asked the engaged couple individually and one after the other whether they wanted to marry each other. The engaged couple answered in the affirmative and the registrar then declared that they were now legally married by virtue of the Civil Code.
Read out, approved and signed (the following are the signatures):
Johannes Wilhelm Max Clauder
Anna Clauder (geb. Hendel).
Ernst Rade, (last signature unrecognizable)
The registrar
(signature ends with a “ski”)
Note at the bottom:
A daughter was born, No. 57./1932, Berlin IVa
So that was the first step at identifying my great grandfather, Johannes.
I still have yet to find out where he is buried but it is a goal of mine.
Till next time,
Caitlin
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