E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSSNearly 70 years after the end of the Second World War, a Holocaust archive in Germany is helping victims and survivors of Nazi atrocities to find clues about the past -- and is still reuniting families. NBC News' Andy Eckardt reports from Bad Arolsen, Germany.
BAD AROLSEN, Germany -- Wilhelm Thiem may be 72 but he celebrated his first real birthday in November.
Abducted in Poland by Nazi troops at age two, Thiem has spent most of his life on a painful journey, seeking to discover his true name and identity.
Until just a few months ago, the retired entrepreneur had not known his birth date, where he was born, what had happened to his mother or whether he had any other family members.
"I hardly knew anything about my personal history," Thiem said. "I always felt like an outsider, it was a feeling of not belonging in this world."
Thiem was raised by a foster parent in northern Germany who was appointed by the Nazis to take care of the young child. Thiem called her "Mrs. Huebner" but was later officially adopted and given her maiden name.
At age 12, Thiem learned that Mrs. Huebner was not his real mother. He started asking her about his past, wanting to learn more about his family, but his questions remained unanswered. For decades, his personal history remained a mystery.
Early last year, Thiem came across a newspaper article about the International Tracing Service (ITS), an organization that maintains a vast archive of files related to more than 17.5 million victims of the Holocaust and Nazi oppression.
"At first the ITS researchers told me that they could not find any documents with my name on them," Thiem recalled. "But then they contacted the Red Cross in Poland and in the end, there were some leads."
'Very emotional moment'
After several months of research, Thiem was informed that he had been born in Lodz, Poland, and that his birth name was Zbigniew Wilhelm Katmierczak.
For the first time in his life, Thiem held a birth certificate in his hands that gave him an identity.
"It was a very emotional moment," Thiem recalled. "Both my wife and I could not hold back tears."
Researchers revealed that his mother was also sent to Germany as a forced laborer but later returned to Poland. She eventually married a Frenchman and relocated to France.
Thiem was also told of a surviving aunt, who still lives in his Polish hometown.
He is now anxiously making plans for a trip to Lodz with his wife for a very special family reunion.
"I am hoping to learn more facts, maybe find other family members," Thiem said. "Maybe I can find traces of my mother and father. All of this is of huge interest to me, it means so much."
Established by Allies in the final days of the Second World War and originally run by the Red Cross, the ITS helps to uncover the fates of Holocaust victims and others who suffered under the Nazi regime.
The archive in Bad Arolsen is said to be the largest storage facility of documents related to the Holocaust. It includes 30 million documents in 16 miles of shelves housing information about Holocaust survivors, displaced persons, slave laborers and political refugees from former Eastern Bloc countries.
Over the past 50 years, the ITS has answered more than 10 million requests. About 1,000 search requests continue to trickle in to the archive monthly.
"Many people still do not know what has become of their loved ones," said Dr. Ingeborg Berggreen-Merkel from Germany's federal commission of culture. "Even decades after the end of the Holocaust and the war, there is this persisting uncertainty, which results from the fact that part of one's own history remains untold."
Visitors to the archive come into direct contact with the bureaucracy of mass murder.
Its meticulous records include concentration camp files, "deportation cards," patient records and a post-war index of non-German citizens. Its researchers plow through the stacks of yellowing paper, registering and scanning as many of the historic documents as possible. More than 95 percent have now been digitized.
But due to concerns about the victims' privacy, the ITS and the German government kept the files closed to the public for half a century. While search requests have been accepted since the end of the war, the archive was initially not "open source."
Following public pressure from survivor groups, historians and researchers, who called for public access to the archives, the ITS Commission -- consisting of 11 member states -- declared itself in favor of opening up Bad Arolsen in 1998.
Yet, scholars and researchers were only given access to the documents beginning in 2007.
"I think it was criminal that the documents were not opened up earlier," said Holocaust survivor and U.S. judge Thomas Buergenthal. He was able to find records of his father's ordeal in the concentration camps of Auschwitz, Sachsenhausen and Buchenwald at Bad Arolsen.
"This archive is my father's only memorial, we have no other," Buergenthal added.
But although time has claimed many eyewitnesses, the archive is still helping to reunite survivors of Nazi terror -- such as Thiem and his long lost aunt. She remembers her nephew -- who is now an elderly man -- as a "little child."
"I spent a lifetime wondering who I really am, now I know," Thiem said.
Related:
A retired teacher's courageous crusade: Tackling neo-Nazi hate
Despite dark past, young Israelis seek new lives in German capital
Warm glow of Berlin's 'beautiful' gas streetlights set to fade
Leave a Comment:
I had no idea that they archives weren't open to the public?
So glad this man found what he needed. Too bad it wasn't decades sooner, so he could truly reunite with his family and loved ones.
Careful what you mean by "open to the public".
Could identity thieves have used a wide open archve for nefarious purposes?
Also, "political refugees" had records in there not just "slave labor, displaced persons and holocaust victims". Would all political refugees want their records open to anyone?
And the central character in this heartwarming story did not find his identity himself but pouring through the "open source". It was the decades old system that responded to his request for information.
(as I am typing this the story is the biggest boldest main story on NBCNEWS website, must be a slow news day or zionists are in some hot water right now that I don't know about - or plan to be)
I just Googled the central character of this article: Wilhelm Thiem poland
This big bold headline story is a rehash of articles from November.
J.P.--"Zionists are in some hot water..." So your ancestors should show up in the archives of the SS, right?
You're such a moron--this guy isn't even Jewish. Please, just go get another swastika tattoo.
Wonderful story, baby is abducted gets deportation card sent to be brought up by foster parents for his education and welfare. Now an organization tells him who he is and of some family members. He plans a trip and when he gets back he may be notified that the organization made a mistake. They weren't your relatives. My confidence in these matters is far less than most. But if he's happy I'm all for him, not much else in life if you can't be happy.
Mel Gibson ought to go visit the archives of the ITS. Maybe then he will realize that the Holocaust was not a hoax.
Hoax or not there is plenty of room for exaggeration where the story is only determined by the victors. Some people just want to bang their heads against a wall and say it doesn't hurt when facts are involved. Why else would Donald Trump pursue Obama.
@ Dick, in answer to your question "Why else would Donald Trump pursue Obama" it's because Donald Trump is a media "hoar" who panders to his own sense of importance.
Is that it? I thought maybe he'd gotten brain damage from infected hair plugs.
G'Morning rachel!!!
This should be post of the week. Good job, rachel. In addition to the accuracy, my sides are killing me from the laughter.
☺
Personal history does mean so very much. Nice to read some good news.
Get help Dick. My father was in the US military and was among the first to discover Buchenwald. There is no exaggeration about the nazi horror machine.
Uh, Dick-head, "story is only determined by the victors?" By victors do you mean the dead Jews?
Saw that and had zero clue what was meant by it. Actually, not sure what the hell he's talking about at all.
Dick, would you mind clarifying this please??? Thank you.
For those who wish to know the true origin of the "Jews", read this.
http://www.fantompowa.info/13th%20Tribe.pdf
I wonder if these are the work product of the IBM effort in the Axis nations? I mean no disrespect but to keep them closed for so long there had to be a political reason for this. Either embarrassing or records of those who might be exposed for guilt by association. Good that this person found out who he is. A great start to a new beginning.
Sorry, Getmad, but a much more reliable resource, based on genetics, is in Science: http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2010/06/tracing-the-roots-of-jewishness.html
Koestler's claims have long been refuted. People, learn about information literacy and check the authority of the sources that you stumble upon via Google before you believe them and spread them around like the email hoaxes that they are.
Intellect-1949393
I have no doubt IBM wanted it kept closed, it would show how good IBM's machine enabled the nazi's to keep track of their atrocities. IBM made the cards used in their machines in the US, other companies that helped the nazis are Kodak, Hugo Boss, Volkswagen, Bayer, Siemens, Coca-Cola, specifically Fanta, Ford, Standard Oil, Chase bank, Random House publishing, The Bush family(Prescott Bush was a nazi sympathizer and help nazi funding, US froze his assets), Koch Brothers(cousins were in the SS, Ilse Koch the Bitch of Buchenwald was also their cousin, they helped with oil).
http://www.11points.com/News-Politics/11_Companies_That_Surprisingly_Collaborated_With_the_Nazis
J.P. showing his antisemitism once again.
GM Rachel and Chefaz
Getmad ... didn't you learn enough from your sound thrashing on one of your LAST posts! No one believes your propaganda.
Dick
apt name
seriously, IF you read the article or saw the accompanying video you'd see there are millions of documents for millions of individuals that the NAzi's themselves used to keep track of concentration camp inmates. IN this case it isn't "well the victors tell the story" because these documents ALSO tell a story
and it's the same story. Those nazi officials left behind in writing what they did
Laurali, not to refute what you are saying but being a indirect survivor of the American Holocaust by proved bloodline by the Department of Interior, those tidbits of information only tell a story if society at large wish them to be told. One only needs to look towards the US military records and the Bureau of Indian Affairs records to see the atrocities committed on these lands that still go on. You will never read one piece of truth in US history books either in high school or college about the American Holocaust.
People of good intentions other than those who it happened to must step up and make these tidbits of history known and taught in schools. As a professor once retorted back to me, "these students cannot handle the truth of the American Holocaust." While at a private university that evolved from an Indian boarding school and the university just happened to be a federal repository the truth of many atrocities were buried such as the Greenwood Riots, the thoughts of US presidents on the Indian Problem including Andrew Jackson's true intent.
If an American Indian were to take these atrocities to the people of this country they would be refuted and acting out as a radical. Only people who have not been directly effected can bring out the truth without negative recourse. It took someone other than a Black person to bring out the Greenwood Riot that not only Tulsa, but the state and federal government were involved in. All traces of this atrocity were buried in the federal repository I spoke earlier of. The truth is out there but it must be brought out to the light of day.
Getmadstaymad,
I would suggest you do a little more research into this, the writer you are refering too also went on to state that the actual lost tribes of Israel were in the all the white people of Europe. Bunch of nonsense that has since it was writing been shown as nothing but a fabrication.
Now the American holocaust? WTF, you wish to yell about American treatment of Native Americans you may have a point, but this still comes down not to a race but to the condition of humanity. Why don't you go further back and talk about what happened when these same native groups fought and conquered a people, how they destroyed the males and forced their women to marry into the tribe. Or do you wish to get into slavery? Who do you think actually took these poor people and sold them to slave traders, it was other African tribes, and just before the emancipation who do you think was the largest slave holder in the US, it was a black man. So stop blaming everyone else for what has obviously been a universal problem. We need to remember them all and make sure it never happens again.
Tbenton, you have just proved my assertion. I knew there would be someone on here who would be in total denial of the American Holocaust. Where do you think Hitler learned his ways? I lived in Germany studying at MPI wherein many discussions ensued over where this learned behaviour emanated from.
Give me a break, next thing I know some idiot will start yelling for reparations; oops they already are! Bunch of nonsense, as bad as the Egyptians trying to sue the Jewish people for what they took from them at the beginning of the exodus out of Egypt while all the time ignoring they were slaves for a couple of hundred years.
As for treatment to races in America, it happened all over the world, is nothing but a repeat of a cycle that has happened again and again with all races. The problem or difference you have is in the past people have tried to subjugate a race or a people, not wipe them out. There is a very large difference you are seeming to miss.
Also, if you had actually studied Hitler and where he learned from, you will know it was from the catholic church and not America. Next time you actually might wish to study a little more on Hitler and his life, not some book trying to make sense out this madman.
Tbenton, I do not know of any American Indians asking for reparations. I belive your mentality is geared more towards Blacks and hatred thereof. The Greenwood Riot was brought out to prove how the black marks in American History have been buried so deep only those who really search for the real history will find it and the others will wonder aimlessly swallowing whatever their government wants them to believe.
As for a Holocaust here in the US there absolutely was. What do you call POW camps numbered by the Federal Government, US Army, that were later called reservations? There were bounties put on human scalps and othe atracities by the Federal Government to rid this land of the vermin as they were deemed. You need to do some real reading instead of trying to deny what has really happened to make this country a mirrored image of the one Eurpeans left behind. Facts are facts and no matter how much you try to deny it they will not go away. We cannot deny the biological warfare tactics used here on the first people either using blankets infected with smallpox.
Those first people survived the POW camps right here in America. If you do more studying in the archives and interview those who were around when Hitler was in power he did fashion his herding and creation of the ghettos after the POW/reservations of America. First hand from those intelligentsia of Germany who were still alive. Denial breeds more denial as you have so aptly proved.
The Ottoman Turks.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hitler_Armenian_Quote.JPG
Like Albert Speer
http://books.google.com/books?id=XLSa_RIDHMUC&pg=PA96&lpg=PA96&dq=Hitler+usually+concluded+this+historical+speculation+by+remarking,+%E2%80%98You+see,+it%E2%80%99s+been+our&source=bl&ots=xrCFEzODYz&sig=TJz2dN3f8ZCOP0qmc4NLHxekk8E&hl=en&sa=X&ei=-UwxT8PhHIeF0QHv9PTzBw&ved=0CCAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Hitler%20usually%20concluded%20this%20historical%20speculation%20by%20remarking%2C%20%E2%80%98You%20see%2C%20it%E2%80%99s%20been%20our&f=false
A British practice started in their Canadian colony.
Cornwallis's scalping proclamation
To back up his claim of genocide, he points to the specific calls by early Nova Scotians like Halifax founder Edward Cornwallis to exterminate the Mi'kmaq.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/story/2011/09/14/ns-mikmaq-genocide-claims-published.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scalping
[edit] Colonial Wars
Let us not blame America, untill there was one, after 1776.
kpr37, read this section and decide for yourself if America did not participate in Genocide and a Holocaust:
http://www.tachi-yokut.com/history2.html
On August 13, 1853, the Governor of the State of California declared extermination of all Indians in the State of California. So for over 50 years our genocide lasted. The timeline for the extermination of California Indians is as follows: You will the rest of this in the link provided. The Jewish people do not have the corner on the Holocaust in modern history.
Do you know why you will not find that in any reputable academic source?
Because it's fiction, it never happened.
Surely such a hideous act is recorded, it most be on his Wikki page, and every biography of his ever written.
But it is not.
Did you you there is a "flat earth society" with a web page and all.
It does not make it anything other than a delusion however.
kpr37, if you would have followed the link you would have found a UCLA law prof acclamimed:
As Carole Goldberg, UCLA Law Professor, encouraged, "California has a tragic history of hostility toward its Native Peoples, including unrestrained, vigilante groups that hunted Native men, women and children like game animals during the first decades of statehood killing thousands. The state's first governor, John McDougal, famously declared, "A war of extermination will continue to we waged between the races until the Indian races become extinct."
Before you try to refute and claim this is fiction check the link. Once again you are in denial of the history of this country as dark as it might be. Once again end of story.
A law professor's name apears, but no link to her making the statment is there. Again, because it is fiction.
Surely such a hideous act is recorded, it most be on his Wikki page, and every biography of his ever written.
But it is not.
Kpr37,
While I do not agree that the trail of tears is the same thing as the Holocaust, it was a terrible thing. I also know that there are government paperwork supporting that Native Americans were forced from their homes into retraining camps to take the Native American out of them and force them to become more "American".
Intellect, you are correct, I do admit that there were terrible things committed against the Native Americans by the US government, but to be honest the history of the people (before Europeans and later the Americans with the blessings of the Government forced relocation of the tribal people for land, both for settlement and for resources) there are many accounts, both oral and written that the Native Population also killed off the males after war and forced the women to marry into the tribes that won the wars.
All I am saying this is a human problem and not something restricted to one people.
Yes, I agree
I dont question that.
But the Gov. of California never ordered a genocide of the native peoples as was claimed.
kpr37, there are many books published on the California situation: Murder State: California's Native American Genocide, 1846-1873, author http://www.amazon.com/Brendan-C.-Lindsay/e/B0065A18F0/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1, and http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/goldrush/sfeature/natives_03.html, where Professor Frank LaPeno, declares California ordered more than one million dollars for American Indian bounties. There are more professional references and books if you have want to look instead of offering anecdotal evidence. Have a great day.
For those who say the mass killings never happened, here's proof it did, from those who did it.
And to Zbigniew Wilhelm Katmierczak, I am so glad you found out your true name. Welcome to the world.
Not saying you are wrong, but what "proof" is offered by this article?
Are you mentally ill?
Happy Birthday sir. It is sad not know one's own history. I hope you find other family members.
Zbigniew Wilhelm Katmierczak, HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY!
Safe journeys to Poland to meet your family. It has been a long time coming, and a tragedy that should never have happened.
Sorry, but the whole Holohoax deal has been laid wide open. In the trial of Ernst Zundle the proof of the gas chamber lie was shown for all to see. An American expert in Gas Chamber Execution named Fred Leuchter traveled to Poland to inspect Auchweitz. His report was astounding. Absolutely no remnants of Cyanide gas were found in the large areas where the jews claimed executions took place. Also as part of his report a detailed examination of all the buildings, windows, doors, location of crematories in relation to said execution areas etc. After reading this report any normal human being of average intelligence would have to believe that NO EXECUTIONS OF CYANIDE TOOK PLACE. PERIOD. HERE'S A SHORT VIDEO OF LEUCHTER. ITS WELL WORTH WATCHING.
http://search.yahoo.com/search?ei=utf-8&fr=aaplw&p=Ernst+Zundel+trial+gas+chamber+expert
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqbm1Ja1Uek
Ernst Zundel is nothing but a denier of the truth. The Germans catalogued EVERYTHING, so Zundel cannot say it never happened without making himself out the fool.
Getmad .... oh, PLEASE ... your propaganda is over the top!
I've seen some of the ORIGINAL films and photos held by the PRIVATE soldiers who took them.
I've seen and read (yes, I can read some German) some of the ORIGINAL documents created by the Nazis to record the Holocaust.
I've interviewed soldiers who liberated some of the camps.
You have NOTHING but irresponsible crap.
It turns out that "Getmad" is a virulent Jew-hater and possibly Holocaust denier, as he's proven in his private e-mails to me. To that end, I am going to be ignoring him.
One other point, Getmad: one of my uncles (who is no longer among the living) was one of those who liberated one of the camps. He saw the proof of all this.
My father had serious PTSD (although they did not call it that then) from his role helping liberate the camps.
GetMad you are a very scary person. If you think that the holocaust did not happen you may want to check your sources for accuracy.
Getmadstaymad banned, holocaust denial and what usually comes with it - lots of smearing of all Jews.
Getmadstaymad.......wow. You are actually denying there was a Holocaust? Sad and pathetic.
A whole life spent trying to find one's identity so they can "belong" to the world?
Too bad he waited that long to request information.
Who are we to question his experience?
It is an empty feeling not knowing who you really are, who your parents were, where you came from, what siblings you might have, what your ethnic background is, your real family's medical history - so much most of us take for granted. But if you are a displaced child as he was, or adopted in a closed adoption process, you often carry a sense of not really belonging. Other people KNOW and don't think twice about it.
Not questioning the experience. Questioning the allegiance.
WHAT allegiance? That does not even make sense..
Perhaps only an orphan or adoptee can understand the feeling of not belonging. It's a very lonely feeling and the urge to find one's roots is insatiable.
The Inhumanities and Atroscities caused by Hitler AND Stalin,are STAGGERING!
"Men" learn how to use history for their own agendas.
You forgot Tojo bro.
Sociopathic/psychopaths today are no better. Their planning tactics are a little different though.
Add Mao to your list. He killed 60 to 100 million of his OWN people. And we are now givin them our entire manufacturing base and demilitarizing at he same time. Gotta love the CCP! LOL!
Are we rulled by TRAITORS?
Fair Trade not "Free Trade". tarrif the h3ll out of Red Chinese goods NOW! Save American Jobs and raise revenue!
Add W and Cheney to the list, they killed over a million civilians.
And Herr Henrich, Our current President every Thursday afternoon goes over the list to terminate with EXTREME prejudice American citizens. But it's OK, he leads OUR team. LOL!
J.P (#4.1 and your other comments)
There is something seriously wrong with you.
Get some professional help. You desperately need it.
Jean, JP is correct. History is constantly being rewritten. LOL!
Interesting that the story is about a Pole, not a Jew. It speaks to the vast numbers of innocents without regard to nationality or ethnicity who were killed or damaged by the Germans/Nazis. Millions and millions lost their lives for ideology. This is partly why the viciousness and hatred of the Tea Party makes me sick. It is an echo of the same mentality that drove the Germans to destroy half of Europe.
Correct! Does not say "Jew" even once. But it does say "holocaust" a dozen times - a word monopolized by zionists for their ideology. The article says his mother was sent to Germany as "forced labor" and that his mother later married a frenchman. This article could supply more details of why the mother was selected for "forced labor".
There were many holocaust victims that were not Jewish. Poles traditionally were sent to forced labor camps. They were just one step up above Jews in the Nazi scheme of things.
Janine this man was NOT a victim of the Holocaust like the writer of this article would like you to believe. He was stolen and sent to Germany. The Holocaust was the mass killings of Jews and other "non-Aryan peoples and even Germans that went against the Nazi Ideology.
Of course he was a victim. He was taken by the Nazis from his home and family. Just because he wasn't shipped into a concentration camp and murdered doesn't mean he wasn't a victim.
But who I was talking about in what I wrote was about his Mother being forced into a labor camp. That was common treatment of Poles.
"Monopolized by Zionists"==JP do you mean in their evil task of making sure it doesn't happen again? Maybe they need to start with the likes of you.
J.P. Holocaust does NOT means exclusively Jews. Never has. People think of gas chambers and Lines of Jews, but there was much more to it. There were a great many peoples,,of different nationalities and religions that were victims of the Holocaust.
Oh, those wacky Zionists. Always about the monopolizing.
How's that new swastika tattoo coming along, JP?
Ideology? That's an odd choice of word for a people condemned to extermination by the Nazis.
A heart and a brain, JP. Those are what you need.
@JP who stated:
JP - pick up a book, watch the history channel - don't blame the article for your lack of knowledge that I learned in High School history. The Nazis packed up the Poles in cattle cars and sent them to concentration camps or forced labor - if one was young and considered strong, many companies set up shop outside a concentration camp - companies we still have today such as Krupp (coffee), Bayer, Volkswagen, Daimler-Chrysler, Opel.....to name but a few. Link: http://www.theawfultruth.com/salbmw/
For a more complete list of German Companies (IG Farben, etc) : http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/germancos.html
Women were chosen by the Nazis, just as they are today in Chinese manufacturing, because they don't cause as much trouble.
@car56 who stated:
& Jesusiswatching who stated:
Think of children who are adopted who want to find their birth parents here in the US? They may want to know why? They may need medical information, they may want to know if they have siblings? They do, however, have a correct birth certificate, they know when and where they were born, their full name, etc....they were adopted - Mr. Katmierczak WAS STOLEN - he knew that his whole life, he didn't know where he was from, his real name, what happened to him. Perhaps Mrs. Huebler was nice - but she wasn't his mother, she was doing her "Nazi duty" to care for a child who probably had blond hair and blue eyes - an Aryan boy for the Third Reich. A stolen child, given to a women who speaks a different language, who apparently doesn't mind that this child's true family was gathered up in a cattle car and may or may not have survived - I call that a victim of the Holocaust.
Let me put it in an adult perspective - what if both of you suddenly had amnesia? You didn't know your name, you didn't recognize where and who you lived with? You didn't speak the same language? Would you just say, oh well.... or would you try to figure out what happened to you and who you were...i.e. "your identity?"
Car56, so if one of your children had been abducted and raised by strangers and you'd been shipped to a slave labor camp, that would have been okay with you? For your child?
Wow, you're even @!$%#tier than you seem.
@#5.9
Women working in Chinese manufacturing are voluntary migrant workers, they are not chosen.
Your anti-China troll is baseless.
@ Henrich who stated:
Perhaps the analogy is not 100% or even 80% correct, however, if you research who works in (especially) Chinese manufacturing jobs for delicate work, such as cell phones, computer, etc., you will find many young girls who live in rural China and whose parents force them into the factories. I could have left the analogy out - but I have seen that the Chinese girl's hearts are broken - and a broken heart is a broken heart.
Watch just 2-10 minutes of this documentary: http://www.linktv.org/programs/a-dollar-a-day-made-in-china
Yes, the girls are fed but how can they escape, they wanted to go to school...it is forced labor - not by fear of death, but by fear of disappointing Chinese parents...since many girls are jumping off buildings, I would say their cultural fear of disappointment, along with an endlessly gloomy life - makes some think that death is a better "life."
I am not anti-China in any way. I know the US ships tons of toxic material to China everyday and when China reuses OUR waste to make plastic toys or whatever, the US has a fit....that is not right, we use China as a dump but want cheap products (monetarily) returned to us. The US does not care how the Chinese may suffer. Do NOT think you know me, or that I am anti-Chinese....without Dr. Shi at the Grand Meridian in NYC Chinatown - I would not be able to walk at all.
Rachel it appears that reading comprehension was not on the menu for your 6th grade class that you recently graduated from. Read the article again. Slowly so that it absorbs into your tiny brain. Then read it again. Then read my comment. Compare my comment with the story. Sleep on it and tomorrow you will see things more clearly. (One only hopes).
Please access your 2nd grade grammar teacher and fix the first sentence. Your brain is probably in your little head. Which your significant other has hanging by the kitchen door.
And your heart is even more shriveled.
I'm having a real hard time believing this article and it's purpose relating to this gentleman. "Abducted in Poland at the age of two" and sent to Germany? Then this man was NOT a victim of the Holocaust which, in this article, doesn't mention if he was Jewish or not. Nazis did not steal Jewish children, they killed them. Most, if not all, Jewish children accosted under the age of 15 were sent directly to the gas chambers in concentration camps. If you read this article very carefully then you will find that it contradicts itself in many ways in reference to this gentleman. Why is so much known about his early childhood and yet 72+ years later he searches for answers about...his early childhood. This story is not to be believed. Remember the Holocaust is a direct reference to the killing of Jews and others in "The Final Solution".
It does not say he was Jewish. Many times "Aryan" looking Poles or other nationalities were shipped to Germany and raised as Aryan Germans. This was common. He says that the Nazis placed him in a foster home. That could have been his situation. He knows alot about his childhood because HE WAS THERE, and I'm assuming his foster mother told him the details of how he came to be in her home.
car56: I find your cynicism extremely disheartening. I think "The Holocaust" has come to be shorthand for the entire catalog of human atrocities that occurred under Hitler's regime, which targeted Poles, Catholics and the mentally ill along with Jews and many others.
Janine the article places this mans predicament and the Holocaust in the same air. Misleading to the reader. The Holocaust is the mass killing of Jews. So this article is sensationalized. That is my argument.
Daisy in St. Forgetfullness- Refresh yourself in some history then. There was WWII and in the middle-to-the-end there was the Holocaust. The most brutal act of man against mankind ever. I'm not a cynic. I'm mearly rejecting the article's reference to this mans situation in reference to the Holocaust. Look up the definition of Holocaust and while you at it, buy the book "The Diary Of A Little Girl". Then you will see things more clearly.
Car...many were killed during the Holocaust besides the Jews. They were the Predominant victims,,but not the only. There were over 10million murdered by the Nazi, Jews, Poles (of any religion) Homosexuals, Gypies, the mentally and Physically handicapped, Russians and Others.
This man was a victim of the Holocaust in that he was taken by the Nazis ad placed into a foster home, while they shipped his mother off to a Polish Labor camp.
Not all the VICTIMS of the Holocaust died, Many lived, such as this man to tell the tale of their lives.
Car 56,
You do not know your history AT ALL.
The area between Berlin and Moscow was a bloodbath from 1937 to 1945. Stalin got things going with his series of Great Purges in 1937. Nazis and Soviets began liquidating Poles in 1939. Hitler started liquidating Jews in 1942 and he did not stop until April of 1945.
You appear to be a coddled US Citizen who has no idea as to what happened in Europe and Western Asia at that point in history.
"so much is known about his early childhood" from the meticulous and voluminous records kept by the Germans on everyone and everything, that's why. I'm sure his adoptive mother filled him in on when she got him but likely herself did not know much more.
@ car56 who stated:
No, the noun holocaust is often used for the mass killing under the Third Reich - however, that is NOT the full or only meaning of the word.
From Webster's: holocaust definition
1: a sacrifice consumed by fire
2: a thorough destruction involving extensive loss of life especially through fire <a nuclear holocaust>
3: a often capitalized : the mass slaughter of European civilians and especially Jews by the Nazis during World War II —usually used with the
Hitler's "Final Solution" was the complete genocide of the Jewish peoples in Europe.
Definition of genocide: The deliberate and systematic destruction of a racial, political, or cultural group
The Holocaust includes all the ATROCITIES of the Third Reich - including stealing babies!
Hitler's program of genocide was to rid Europe of those who were not his ideal Aryan standard.
Car, it was the vile, vicious, horrific, and misguided effort to purify and create the blue eyed, blonde haired master race.
Most people were next. And most people, (even the folks living a quarter mile down the road), did not realize what Hitler's nazis were doing, until the Russians and the Americans found Buchenwald.
In 1914-1918 First world war ........
ARMENIAN HOLOCAUSTS 1914....
1899-1918 ---Bolochwik Revoltioni 10 Million Russian dyed
1918 SPANISH Flu 50 Million european Dyed
1935-1945 second World WAR 450 000 Dyed feeling over the baltic sea,Torpedo by Russian Submachnie and Roayal Air force bomber ..unde the geneva convetion NO KILLING of CIVILIAN Women and Children.
After the paece treatey signed in april 1945 THE ROAYAL AIR FORCE BOMDT KOENIGBERG>PREUSSIAN .KILL ALL WOMEN and CHILDREN and flatten the City..Yes there is more check out Goethe-institue.org NOW after 50-60 years you can red the beginning of two wars and How the "VIRUS"of hate,greed RULED ......NO WINNING in WAR onlY WEINEN(tears).Now we have the iraqu children look for there parents and the Afghaniatsn, Uganda, Somalia etc etc....And they say LOVE your BROTHER!
(duplicate)
You just like to hear yourself talk, don't you?
20% of all the comments here are from you. Please stop spamming your opinion on everything.
These archives have limits.
This story about Mr Thiem appeared in November in Spiegel Online. It speaks of the sad limitation.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/holocaust-tracing-service-in-bad-arolsen-still-reunited-survivors-a-869289.html
The Nazi's destroyed many of the concentration camps like Auschwitz as the Alies approached so they could hide the truth. Then the holocaust deniers used that as so called "proof" the holocaust never happened saying that the camps never existed in the first place. So sad all around.
I once heard someone say that the only problem with Hitler was that he didn't finish the job of exterminating all of the "undesirables" of Europe, be they Jews, Poles, homosexuals, communists, the mentally ill and the mentally handicapped or those who dared to challenge his regime.
Those who continue to deny the Holocaust in spite of overwhelming proof are only seeking to defend Nazi ideology and "solutions". They are despicable excuses for human beings. Mel Gibson should be forced to do hard labor while wearing only rags in freezing weather. Throw in a little malnution to make things interesting and a good case of dysentery. While you're at it, tell him his children have been gassed and his future is non-existent. Ask him how he likes being on the receiving end of bigotry and intolerance.
There are way too many people out there who cling to their bigotry, despite the evidence of how hateful and destructive intolerance can be. I still will never understand how anyone could herd tiny children into gas chambers and not kill themselves from guilt. This world is an evil place. Hatred is an evil emotion. Intolerance is the crime that never ends.
Wow, now we can't even feel good about "feel good" stories.
GM Stonepipe
of course WE can , those without reading comprehension skills are the ones who miss out. And of course the ever present, read headline only then post, clowns. screw em.
G'Morning Guys!!!
Agreed and as usual, very well stated, IA. ☺
Good Morning guys, a day late. Had to hit the road yesterday.
This happened a lot to Polish children, but Jews were not taken by Germans in Poland to be raised it was against the law - so it sounds like a b.s. story to keep the Holocaust Story on front pages. The Poles sent to Siberia by Jewish commissars were not so lucky and many died of hunger and starvation, others were never able to find their families. So it goes for millions swallowed in Soviet Gulags run mostly by Jews ( see Solzhenitsyn's "200 Years Together"). We shall never forget is the motto.
Joe...no where in this story does it say this may was Jewish. As I said in my posting above, many "Aryan" Looking Polish and other children were shipped to Germany to be raised as Aryan Germans. It sounds like he might have been one of those.
Joe,
Another raving anti-semite? Blaming the Jews for the Holocaust? You "people" never cease to amaze me. Jews were never permitted to have the authority to decide the futures of non-Jews. This is another bs story to justify your hatred of Jews.
There were Jews who unwillingly cooperated with the Nazis in an attempt to save their own families or themselves. It was nothing to be proud of, but there were plenty of people throughout Europe who collaborated with the Nazis in order to survive. The Nazi regime didn't always bring out the best in people. But there are also stories of incredible courage and heroism in the face of certain death. No people is purely good or purely evil. There were Germans who resisted the Nazis and Frenchmen who collaborated. The Jews were just human beings, like all the other victims of this unspeakable evil. Most of them were just victims, not heroes or collaborators, but victims.
I recognize you for the would be Nazi that you are. I'm sure you would have been happy to assist at Auschwitz. Congratulations, you win the award for non-human of the day.
@Antistupedity - You omitted mention of John F. Kennedy's father who, at the time he served as ambassador to The Court Of St. James in UK was recalled due to his pro-Nazi feelings.
A democrat favoring nazi ideals, sounds alot like the current situation in this country.
If the Nazi's placed him in the care of "Mrs. Huebner", then Thiem must have been one of the Lebensborn children. The story fits because he was kidnapped from Poland and the Nazi's kidnapped many children with blond hair and blue eyes so they could be raised by German citizens. These children were among the lesser known victims of the Nazi's. I'm happy that Thiem found his aunt and his real name. May God bless him.
Old WWII veterans who liberated people like this are now called names like "teabagger" and ridiculed in public by Jewish comedians like Robert Klien.
yes because you they weresuckers fighting for these people you are a goim (sheep ) in hebrew
Only if they think that Obama is a seekrit Mooslim Communist Sochulist Kenyan, Jasper.
Non-vetInVa... good description of your Fuhrer. I like it.
You would.
The WWII vet in our family (former POW) would never be a tea party supporter. You shouldn't generalize.
Jane,
Don't believe everything you read on neo-nazi sites. "Goim" means "nation".
Wonder if they could help Obama find his original birth certificate?
Viewer Ready,
Tremendous irrelevant political comment.
Why don't you crawl back into the bunker and drink the Kool Aid?
MSNBC has hired a new troll! Welcom The Intergral.
Oh, hey, four years ago. Nice of you to visit! Bye.
Both parties,
Say what?
There is no relationship between Obama's birth certificate and the article about the holocaust. My comment was a reflection, not an image.
Are you Viewer Ready's BIg Brother?
The Intregal you are as ignorant as the day is long. Look up the definition of Holocaust. It has NOTHING to do with the soviets. Retard.
you can honor and respect the service of those veterans and still abhor their current politics. the two things are not mutually exclusive.
there must be a holocaust quota as every month any bs story gets top headline, found the nail clippers of holocaust victim under a tree... no mention of victims of communism-many millions more than jews in the holocaust, remember rwanda and cambodia? why no poignant stories every month on that? probably so we can keep being fleeced sending 6 billion of us taxpayer money to israel every year, go to wars fro their sake-Iraq soon Iran and silence ourselves against their racist "Im the chosen people, gentiles are here to serve me" Chief Rabb Yusef (google it sheeple) atrocities in Palestine
jane99,
Holocaust articles get a tremendous amount of press in order to make US citizens aware of the dangers of fascism.
Unfortunately the US took up right where Hitler left off in terms of the war on communism, so as the decades go by the US becomes more and more a fascist country so more and more people tend to forget or dismiss the holocaust.
The Nazis were an extremely intelligent group, but they focused their energy on evil, not good. It is the fact that they were so advanced in some ways and so barbaric in other ways that makes it necessary to have holocaust memorials and articles about the holocaust.
In 1933 to 1945 in Germany the problem was Jews.
In 2001 to 2013 in the United States the problem is Terrorists.
Do you see a connection?
Integral, the Terrorists attacked us. The Jews never did anything evil to the Germans..
So NO,,I don't see a connection at all.
I wonder if the records can help non-Jews, too? 15 Million Germans were forcibly driven from their homes forever by the Russians at the end of the war. 12 million were from lands then annexed by Poland and Russia. 3 Million were from lands annexed by Czechs. No reparations were paid, most of the children who didn't starve to death then grew up in refugee camps until the late 1950s (my parents were among them). Families were separated, lost, etc. Some have never been accounted for, although we know that the Russians raped, slaughtered and killed almost all who were not able (some were too feeble) to flee, including women and children. Most of these people from Silesia, East Prussia, Pomerania, etc. were from families that lived there for centuries and built the towns and cities in those areas. They were ethnically cleansed instead of just forced to assimilate to new languages and cultures as in many other historical wars. So much was lost and, because they were ethnic Germans, few people even know the history of those areas, peoples and local cultures that have now been lost forever. A museum for expellees to tell their history, culture and suffering would be a small and useful gesture for their descendants who survived.
PassionatelyCurious,
A bunch of Nazis lost their homes. So what?
At least the Soviets did not round up men, women, and children and liquidate them by shooting or even burying them alive.
All of the Pre-Columbians (who you refer to as Indians) lost their homes. Do you remember that? Do you care?
In fact, yes, the Russians / Soviets DID "round up men, women, and children and liquidate them by shooting or even burying them alive." My parents saw it happen to their family members (all males, including babies lined up and shot, rapes of girls in front of their mothers, etc.)! Secondly, they were not all nazis - a political party that came to power with roughly 30% of people who voted during a severe depression. Third, yes, I care about the indians, and their culture is recognized, payments are made and museums are built. If Florida was invaded by Spain and 18 Million Floridians were slaughtered and ethnically cleansed as those that could ran to Georgia, to be dispossessed and banished forever, without ever having their culture, history recognized, without any reparations, then I guess YOU would not care!
Passion, since the the man in the article isn't listed as being Jewish, I would say YESSS, that the records could help some non Jews find their famlites too.
Integral...at Stalingrad 80-90K germans surrendered to the Soviet Army. In the 1950's less than 5K were returned to Germany.
When the Russians made it into Berlin they broke into civilian homes raping and murdering innocents.
The Integral (#17.1):
There is seriously something wrong with you.
Go back to school and get educated. You're showing your ignorance and stupidity loudly here.
PassionatelyCurious
Unless the Russians kept records I would highly doubt it. The only reason these records exist is because the nazi's were meticulously anal about keeping records of their "achievements".
Janine YOU are the one who is showing the world your utter ignorance. Look up "The Battle Of Berlin" and read it until your tiny brain starts to understand. How many Russians died in that battle? Thats right. They were to busy fighting and dying to take Berlin than to "break into homes?" It wasn't breaking into homes you moron, it was WAR. Man you are stupid.
What is infuriating about this article is it's constant use of the term "Nazi," rather than "German." MSNBC is not alone in doing this; these acts were committed by German soldiers in the German Army under German commanders and supported by the German people. The Nazis were merely the political party of Germany (democratically elected I might add). When articles and historical texts use the term Nazi rather than German, it is an attempt to sanitize and disassociate these acts from Germans and Germany. This said as a German-American.
Elizabeth, whether you like it it or not, Nazi was not just the government, but also the military and in many instances the private citizens as well. Soldiers swore an oath, not to Germany, or the German government, but to Adolph Hitler, the head of the Nazi Paty
Using NAZI isn't used to sanitize or separate it from German or the German people but combine it as they were ALL ONE.Less than 30% of the pubic voted for Hitler in 1933, but he became the head of the country and it was the German citizens who allowed this to happen.
You may "add" what you like but it was not a "democratic" election but one of backroom deals.
http://www.ushmm.org/outreach/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007671
So, with a backroom deal Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany, soon to betray others in power and become Der Führer of Germany (the dictator). There was nothing democratic about the Third Reich. Reality sucks because if the Allies of WW I, ( Britain, France, the US & others), didn't put so much economic pressure on Germany - every historian believes that a man like Hitler would NEVER, could NEVER be elected....
Not all Germans were Nazis, and not all Nazis were German.
In every country the Nazis conquered they would find a few eager recruits from the local population. I know they found plenty in Russia.
A few posts on this vine suggest that they would've found quite a few in the present-day USA, if they had a chance.
Just a word about the politics of Hitler and the Nazi party. in the last free election held in 1932 the Nazis were losing seats in the Reichstag. People were finally understanding how poisonous the Nazis were. Hitler entered into a coalition government in 1933 but almost immediately the Nazis consolidated their power since Hitler became chancellor. No one really voted Hitler into office. By the time decent people figured it all out it was too late. A few years later Hitler further consolidated his power by killing off the SA leadership which made Himmler and the SS the most important political player (at least domestically) in Germany. The rest as they say is history.
I see some other posters also know their history. Bravo!!
If only the German people did not give into socialist indoctrination coupled with allowing themselves to be disarmed.
Historians indicated that about 160 million people were killed by their own Governments in the 20th Century.
Beware anyone who says they will take care of you cradle to grave and they also want you to not be able to defend yourself.
again another monthly article to make us all feel guilt about the happening of WW11. maybe if the new york crowd didn't monopolize the news we could read about other ethnic groups that have been victimized. i prefer to read about the U.S. Govt. and the sleazy way our so called HERO's used genocidel method's to kill our native population. AMERICAN HISTORY NOT FOREIGN HISTORY!
I am so glad for him. I was adopted when I was three months old in Nashville, TN. Although I have tried to find out who I am - who my biological parents were - Tennessee has informed me that I have to have permission from the biological parents. That is how we are treated here. At 57 years old, I have to ask permission??!! I am beyond angry about this. All persons deserve to know who they are - especially in this new genetic ID'd world. I didn't ask to be born and I had no say so in who I was adopted out to - which in my case was to an OCD alcoholic and Mommy Dearest. He kept diaries and the abuse I dealt with, which Mommy Dearest held back because I could have used them in court. My father's cousin, Estes Kefauver, brought to trial an orphanage in Memphis known for selling babies from unwed mothers, in particular to Joan Mommy Dearest Crawford at $5000 a pop. One woman worked with attorneys and judges in Memphis to supply the wealthy with children.
Being adopted in the South - and probably across the US - means you are cut off from many things because you are a NOT a pure blood descendent. As an adopted person, I can't fill out family medical information based on genetics = cancer, high blood pressure, etc that run in families. I couldn't join the DAR or compete for scholarships because I am adopted. If I misbehaved, it was because that must be a trait of my biological mother, who I wouldn't want to meet because she had an illegitimate baby. That sentiment was a recorded conversation in the diary. In my moneyed family, we were cut out of family inheritance because we were adopted - that is recorded in the diary. Of all the things I remember being told about was that I was adopted - like a puppy. I was called the house @!$%# and my brother the yard @!$%# - we are white. I was told I had no opinion and all that was required of me is that I do perfectly what I was told to do 100 percent of the time.
I don't want to hear anyone tell me about how wonderful adoption is for others. The bottom line is that all adopted children always have questions about who they really are. EVERYONE deserves to at least know who they are and who they came from. To know who their birth parents are and to be able to decide on our own how we feel about them.
I am grateful that this man, despite the horror he survived, was able to truly put all the pieces together. He deserves that.
Roz,
Sorry if this posts twice, original hasn't shown up cause I signed up incorrectly, sorry if it posts later.
You sound very bitter over the lack of love from your adopted parents. While I am not adopted and had loving parents, I still feel like we're in the same pond, maybe 2 different boats. My family is also from TN. My father is one of 11 children born in the 30's, none of them know their real birthdays. That's because birth certificates weren't issued til my grandparents brought the baby before a doctor 2 towns over and 2 weeks later. So I attempted ancestry dot com. That got me to the 1840's, still in TN. My uncle told me birth certificates weren't that important to pioneers in a log cabin in the middle of the TN woods, they were more worried about Indians. (kinda shocking since many maternal lines ended in "married unknown cherokee native") When I asked him what nationality we were he told me I was American. lol.
Just because we know our parents often doesn't get us any further answers to who we are, or were. Look at it this way, your children will have your medical records, the DAR is just a bunch of snoots, and scholarships for whites are only for those who apply themselves and get great grades. Let go of the past and live your life freely, for yourself and any children you may have.
Roz, I'm so sorry you had such a horrible childhood. I was not adopted and my mother had some kind of undiagnosed mental illness. While only my brother endured physical abuse, the mental abuse we both suffered left us shy, and self-loathing. I was known as the "weak seed", my brother was the "sociopath". After many years of therapy, I'm finally past that. My brother is a recluse, suffering from physical and mental pain. My point is, very few people have idealic childhoods and we often have to change things for ourselves. I'm the same age as you and my motto now is when I face another pile of %&($, I just change direction. I hope things get better for you.
The bleeped out words above were the "N" word.
So in the sense of openess, let's also demand that Israel open its records on which Israeli citizens, especially Arabs, are "watched." Let's open the records on who is considered a terrorist. King David Hotel. Let's open the records on what those "persecuted by Germany" owned, how many broke thw law to hide it and any complaints on working conditions in say, Poland, funded by those who's assets were seized. Folks. EVERY organization has dark holes. Why are we selective? Should rapacious gentiles be more evil than others? How far back do we go? recorded history? Then a lot of those demanding Justice would be found to have quite a few skelatons in their closets them selves.
Americans are largely ethnic Germans. Germans are the largest ancestry group in the U.S. One third of all U.S. soldiers in WWII were of German ancestry, our first Speaker of the House of Representatives was of German ancestry, etc. We are not all nazis (the other "N" word) just because of this. We have worked hard to build America in many ways since the first German arrived in 1608 and the first large group arrived in 1683, bringing skills, knowledge and a strong work ethic. We are among the most discriminated against Americans today, with our contributions being purposely downplayed by others. Germans suffered more becasue of the nazis than most other people. Most Jews are of German ancestry, too, and thus Germans, Americans of German ancestry, etc. No other nation in the history of the planet has ever made amends for mistakes as Germany has, and continues to do. What more do you want...should all 75 Million Germans, 8 Million Austrians and 75 Million Americans of German descent just kill themselves? You still wouldn't be happy!
I'd like to see where you get those figures from Passion. My family has been in this country since before the Revolution and there is no German blood in my background.
IF you are looking for your families ,ancisters etc. check with the Mormon church for 1200-1945 , the poland census, berlin history churchbooks.
Yes 1/3 of Americans are of german desecnt, and by one Vote we all would have spooking german, The color of our flag and bettsy ross weaer/ are taken from Schleswig-Holstein colors,( at that time there was no german state )only kingdoms,duches ,and the Cahtolic church , Charleman and the Teutonic Order, The templars etc etc..
What a touching story! A boy adopted at the age of two was able to find his roots 70 years later. Given all the other horrors in the world with various people who have experienced way more problems than Willy, I am going to file this story in my Wacky Stories Folder.
What scares me to death these days is that President Obama thinks nothing about arming countries who would like to wipe Israel from the face of this earth. Doesn't he have the common sense to realize the U.S. will soon be on their list of countries to take over. Why is no one concerned that Mr. Obama thinks it's ok to hire REGISTERED communists for his cabinet? Why was the public at large NOT ALLOWED to read his health care bill BEFORE it was even signed? Anyone with a brain KNOWS there are many things in this bill that have NOTHING to do with healthcare? I could go on for hours, but Americans have been so "DUMBDED DOWN" in school they don't even know their Constitutional Freedoms are slowly but surely being wiped out. Germany, here we come.
Gloria, thank you for not "going on for hours."
Gloria-1264343 (#30):
I can't believe your comment! Oops, then again, you'e one of "those" people so yes I can.
You are so full of it you're pathetic. Please list your sources regarding your (false) "information." OH! I forgot--must be faux news--no wonder you're totally ignorant and closed-minded. Who are the registered communists you claim that are in Obama's cabinet? Their names, please, and did you check their backgrounds, etc.? I know you didn't or you would not have commented the way you did.
You need to be scared of many other people/things but not Obama.