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« on: Sunday 19 May 24 18:35 BST (UK) »
I have just returned from another visit to Poland to visit my family - the family my father left behind during WW2.
My eldest half-sister, Jadwiga, who now has dementia, remembers events from her childhood (she is now approaching her 92nd birthday) and this time she was telling of how, with her mother and three siblings, they were to be evacuated from Gdynia onboard the MV Wilhelm Gustloff, but as the boat was full, they were left behind.
The ship sank, and many thousands of people drowned.
I have tried unsuccessfully to trace the siblings of my father (he had 9 siblings) and I am now wondering if they were onboard the Gustloff and maybe drowned, or if they were evacuated on another ship and moved abroad somewhere, after the war - and that is why I cannot find any records of them.
Jadwiga also remembers that the family were living in 265 Albert Forstell Strafe, which we think maybe was in Gdynia, Chylonia.
Family research is so fascinating - but so frustrating.