Greetings all
I am searching for my German grandfather who I've been told was a language instructor in the Luftwaffe and based in Paris. Can anyone help me with information on where I can start my search? His name was Gerard Burrow and he met and helped my grandmother to escape from La Prison de la Sante in Paris, in 1943. He took her to Corsica and then went missing shortly after. I would greatly appreciate any suggestions.
Isa
Searching for German Grandfather
Re: Searching for German Grandfather
My grandfather taught at the Feldafing Reichsschule. There is limited information on the internet, and i don't speak German so can anyone advise where I can find information on this Reichsschule's history?
Re: Searching for German Grandfather
Feldafing is a tiny village 30 km SW of München on the west shore of the Starnberger See. In the reference books I have for wartime German secondary schools there is no mention of Feldafing. The secondary school students from Feldafing attended the Oberschule Starnberg, just 6.8 km north of Feldafing. So the Feldafing Reichsschule must have been an elementary and middle school for students through age 12 or 13.
Your grandfather's name, Gerard Burrow, is not German and that raises some questions. The Luftwaffe, like the rest of the Wehrmacht, employed hundreds of thousands of civilians for jobs like teaching, administration, finance, supply, clerical, etc. Unless you can find some of his papers that prove otherwise, I think he may have been a civilian employee of the Luftwaffe and not a military member of the Luftwaffe. Do you know where G.B. was from, his nationality, where he was living on 1 September 1939, his age or any other key pieces of information that might fill in some of the blanks here?
L.
Your grandfather's name, Gerard Burrow, is not German and that raises some questions. The Luftwaffe, like the rest of the Wehrmacht, employed hundreds of thousands of civilians for jobs like teaching, administration, finance, supply, clerical, etc. Unless you can find some of his papers that prove otherwise, I think he may have been a civilian employee of the Luftwaffe and not a military member of the Luftwaffe. Do you know where G.B. was from, his nationality, where he was living on 1 September 1939, his age or any other key pieces of information that might fill in some of the blanks here?
L.
Re: Searching for German Grandfather
Thank you so much, unfortunately we have very little info about GB and yes I agree his name seems too "anglicized" to be German. One thing we have been told is that GB was actually born in Australia to German immigrant parents. So I assume he had dual citizenship. He went to study languages in Germany in the 38(?) and ended up conscipted, so I imagine he was in Germany on sept 1 '39. We don't know his age. I found information about the "Feldafing Reichsschule" on Wikipedia: it was called "Reichsschule der NSDAP Feldafing" and was converted into a Displaced Persons camp by the US Military in 1945. I have requested records of staff members. I have a photo of GB in Luftwaffe Uniform - were civilian employees given Military Uniforms to wear?
Re: Searching for German Grandfather
Yes, Isa, the uniformed civilian employees of the Luftwaffe, which from February 1944 was called the TSD (Truppensonderdienst), wore the same uniform as the regular Luftwaffe. Their arm of service color on their collar tabs was light blue and their shoulder boards had a Caduceus (staff entwined with a serpent and eagle wings at the top - almost identical to the Caduceus used by today's medical profession) affixed in the middle. Otherwise, it would be quite difficult to tell the two uniforms apart. The TSD only numbered 9,000 - 10,000 officers but there were many, many more civilian employees in lower ranks.
It sounds like you have already made some progress. If the school's records still exist, then they should give you some additional information. It almost sounds to me like he may have been a member of the NSDAP based on the assumption that the Party might have required it for faculty members. If that's the case, then there may be a personnel dossier on him in the NSDAP records collection in Berlin. These NSDAP membership records were fully microfilmed by the U.S. National Archives and those copies are in Washington.
L.
P.S. The TSD officer records survived the war too, and these also are on microfilm in Washington.
It sounds like you have already made some progress. If the school's records still exist, then they should give you some additional information. It almost sounds to me like he may have been a member of the NSDAP based on the assumption that the Party might have required it for faculty members. If that's the case, then there may be a personnel dossier on him in the NSDAP records collection in Berlin. These NSDAP membership records were fully microfilmed by the U.S. National Archives and those copies are in Washington.
L.
P.S. The TSD officer records survived the war too, and these also are on microfilm in Washington.
Re: Searching for German Grandfather
Much appreciate the info Lorenz, this helps enormously. As soon as I work out how to attach an image to a post I shall do so as the photos show GB's uniform quite clearly, although they're in sepia colour and I can't see a Caduceus.