Well I recently learned that my father, his grandparents, Aunts and Cousins spent several years in a DP (Displaced Persons) Camp in Germany at the end of WW2 ! From 1944 to 1951 most were in the Resenburg, Ganghofosiedlung DP Camp , just outside of Bavaria Germany.This was a lightning strike shock to me! I always knew it took several years for them to emigrate from Ukraine to America but it was just today that I realized why it took so long! Wow, My ftaher spent much of his childhood in a Camp, with fences, Gaurd Towers, etc….. Mind Blown !
In my research to learn more about the DP Camp I discovered that through the ITS you can request and receive the camp records of family members. It takes some time as they receive thousands of requests each month, however I think the wait will be worth it. The ITS is the “International Tracing Service” that has records of most people in the camps (DP and otherwise) during and after the wars. It is a free service and I am thankful they exist to help families reconnect and/or discover more about their family, in my case my father and his grandparents.
I also connected with a person through the Ukrainian Genealogy FB Group whose mother and Family was in the same camp as my family during the same time! She identified some of the people in the pictures I shared with her which was amazing! Meeting someone, even online, whose family was in the same DP camp during the same period and learning more of their lives their is priceless! I encourage others to investigate this are if your family or ancestors emigrated during or just after the WW……
I am very excited and looking forward to the information and leads I will get from the records of the camp. I am also very thankful for those who pointed me in the directions to discover and pursue these leads!
You never know what you will discover in your family history research, but I can tell you, Learning your family history, where they came from, what they lived through and how they survived is an indescribable feeling!
Happy hunting and I will continue to update my family history pages here and make posts as I learn more!
The Family Babble... 