Goldburn in Ecuador

[davidgoldburn]

Erato,

There is a distinct possibility that he dumped his family, I have got letters from him from the period he was gone 1935-44/5.

We do know that he never came back to UK after 1935.

9 years is a long time away from the wife. I do think that there would be a possibility of wife/children in south america somehere in Venezuela or colombia.


Liverpool Annie,

I have not managed to find any census data on any of them. His wife my great grandmother is a known i.e she died here in the uk in 1992ish and from 1935 was here in the UK with my great grandfathers and family.

The Family story which I have got from several family members is..

Rudolf born youngest male of 4 children in Pforzheim in Janurary 1890, to a strict Jewish family hates it falls out with family aparently leaves when teenager to ? possibly the states? as there is family story of him being in new york with another relative at or around the 1st world war, story he is possibly in or was in german army/navy.

However the next document I actually have to is his wedding certificate in Charnaral  in Chile in january 1917. Age 27.
Marries Regina Reginato who moved to Chile from Italy/swiss border in 1902 as a child. Her family all come from treviso in Italy.

He was married in the hotel the hotel in which he gives as his adress! Job discription is  Constructor.

I have the records of their Children being born in Sewell in Chile Which is the town on the side of the Copper mine, have pictures of him with miners but we think he was management rather than worker bee.So geologist/ miner/engineer?  However the mine no longer has any records of him being there so dont actualy know is position within mine.

I have pictures of the family as they moved from chile to germany where he again falls out with the family ( apparently borrowing in the local town on his brothers name with out permision) Still stays in contact with his big sister through out all of this but is not talking to the rest of the family.

He goes to look for a job in England gets on in Venzuela whilst the family are moved to Switzerland to stay with Reginas family. He goes in 1933 comes back in 1935 and moves the family to Cornwall for Camborne School of Mines.

He then dissapears from English shores for good. Still trys to send money home etc for the family but never comes back.

Umm Moves from Job to Job in the letters saying he is unwell and must keep looking for a job, but they key thing is he does not come back the UK he heads further west to Colombia and then finaly to Ecuador.

As aside the rumour is that my grand uncle who went in the oil rather than hard rock mining goes out to colombia on his first job his name is Jack Rudolf, dad was called Rudolf Jack apparently the hotel got confused as a Rudolf Jack had just checked out! He did not/could not find him next story is that Rudolf was dead in Ecuador.

That is a story which may or maynot be true as there is a big time difference between 1944/5 and 1947 when Jack went to Colombia

Umm

David

[liverpool annie]

Well David .... I had to ask didn't I ?? 

Fascinating stuff there ! ..... you could write a book ! .... but we have to come up with some conclusions first !! 

I'll be looking ..... and I'll post as I find ( I hope !  )

Thanks for sharing all that ..... lets see what can be found !

Annie 

[Erato]

Any idea if Rudy kept up with his religion?  Even today, the Jewish community is pretty small in Ecuador.  I've got a Jewish acquaintance here who came from Germany shortly before WWII.  If Rudy was practicing Jew, my friend might know of him.

[davidgoldburn]

Erato,

I would hazard a guess that he would not have done. As his Children are/were Catholic because he did not marry into the Jewish Faith.

To be truthful I dont know. I expect he would have hidden his Jewishness, But I dont know!

David

[Erato]

One other thing, what passport would he have carried?  German, British?  It might be worth  checking with the embassies in Quito; they get involved when a foreigner dies.

[davidgoldburn]

Again No idea! He wife was definatly chilean and never changed even died a chilean in the UK. I have tried the English, and chilean embassys and got nowhere.

I did not try the German Embassy because i know he was married as an German however I think he might have changed/ pretended to be american or somthing he might have stayed German I just dont know. I have looked on the websites for Germans coming to S America and he does not appear any where.

Thing is how did they find the wife, i,e my great grandmother, she was a chilean national living in cornwall? To tell her he was dead?

David

[liverpool annie]

I'm wondering if something like this could also have been a possibility ?? .... he could have been malined all these years ... he could have done all that for their safety !  what were the postmarks on the letters David - do you know ??

1942

The US initiated a cooperative program whereby Latin American countries at US direction captured German Latin Americans, including German and Austrian Jews who had fled persecution.  Under US military guard, prisoners were shipped to the US in the dark, dank holds of boats and rarely permitted on deck. Open bucket latrines were placed among the prisoners.  No one told them what was happening to them.  They were interned and many forcibly shipped to Germany.  General George Marshall stated in a 12/12/42 memo to the Caribbean Defense Command:  "These interned nationals are to be used for exchange with interned American civilian nationals."   By the end of the war, over 4,050 German Latin Americans were brought to American internment camps.

http://www.foitimes.com/internment/gasummary.htm

http://www.rootschat.com/links/02hq/

http://www.mnsu.edu/news/read/?id=old-1097125200&paper=topstories

[davidgoldburn]

umm interesting..
He was in and around Cuidad Bolivar between as i have letters from both periods, he was with different jobs once of them i think was governmental between 1937-1943.

Just found the letter Ministro obras Publico that was in 1943 as well as being on a mine site earlyer in the year

He was in Caracus in  a PO box was his adress in1940

Between 29th May and 8 august 1943 he changes jobs 2 times all in Venezeula

22 April 1944 he is in Bogata working for Ingersoll rand Company

I do not have any letters from ecuador..

My main issue that all of his letters to his wife are in spanish! except when drunk when it jumps in spanlish and bad handwritting

D

[Erato]

Have you translated the letters?  Any clues there?