An Ocean Away...

 

 I was hesitant to work on this particular post for a few different reasons. One reason, being that these are my grandparents. That's close when you're considering generations. Another was simply that I knew their basic story, but I was worried about getting something wrong. I've decided to just go with it and I'll make changes later if needed.

Another reason, could possibly be that for the life of me, I always spell the names wrong. Of course, since I've been working on a family tree to hang in my parents' house, I have things written down.

So, that being said, these are my father's parents. Liselotte Brauninger and Sigmund Koch. This picture was taken shortly before they left for America.

Yup, you heard that correctly. My grandparents were the immigrants. I am a second generation American on my father's side. It's really pretty cool when you think about it. Most people, even those looking for their ancestors, don't have such close connections to the countries their families came from. I still have cousins and aunts and uncles in Germany. I've been to see some of them twice. Some of them have come to visit us in the States.

Here's some of the things I know. Sigmund was born August 8, 1914. He was the youngest of three sons and from what I understand, he was the youngest by quite a few years. The Koch family owned both a farm and a saw mill near Bad Waldsee, Germany.

Liselotte was born February 23, 1927. She grew up in a town nearby and worked at the Koch farm. She was the second oldest of 10 children. The area that they grew up in is located in the southwestern part of the country, a region known as Swabia. It's one of the prettiest parts of the country and what I always think of when I think of Germany.

According to the history that I've learned, we consider the start of World War II as September 1, 1939 when Germany invaded Poland. By the 3rd, Britain and France had declared war. This changed things for many people, including my grandparents. My grandpa served as a soldier in the German Army. I have always been told that his job was to act as a guard in the town and guard prisoners of war sent to work on their farm.

My grandmother told lots of stories. I've never been able to keep them all straight. She did however mention working in a factory and burning her arm on purpose so that she didn't have to work there anymore. This story came up most often, so I remember it best. What hits me the hardest is the fact that Sigmund was only 25 in 1939. Liselotte was only 12. I have no doubt that growing up in this time and place had some bearing on the choices they made, including coming to live in a country, an ocean away from their family, and with a language they didn't even know.

May 3, 1945 Germany signed an unconditional surrender. The war, at least officially, was over. I'm not sure exactly what went on between 1945 and 1951 for my grandparents. I'm sure there are some people still living that might be able to tell me, but the most important thing to know is that they were married and made the decision to immigrate to America.

They packed their things in trunks that my grandpa had made with wood from the saw mill. They left their home and traveled to Rotterdam. They left there July 31, 1951 on a Holland-America ship and were admitted to the US in New York on August 8. This picture was taken on the ship and below is a part of their passport.

They settled in Erie, MI and later moved to a small farm in Ida. They had six children, my dad being the oldest. He looks the most like my grandpa. And he speaks Schwabisch (the dialect my grandparents spoke in their region) better than the others. It helps that that's all they spoke at home until he went to school. It might take him a few minutes, but it always comes back. He might not realize it but I've traveled with him over there and I've watched him slide into it so naturally that he forgets he's speaking it when he turns to talk to me.

Sigmund passed away in June of 1971, eleven years before I was born. I'm sad that I never knew him, but I've heard lots of stories and that helps. I'll save those for another time. Meanwhile, I'll continue to keep in touch with as many of the relatives that still live in Germany. I've met so many others through social media like Facebook and have gotten to know more about their lives through the things they share there.