Forced labour during WWII - information on relatives sought.

[Katharine75]

Hi all. Hoping someone will be able to assist me as I am delving into unfamiliar records here!

My daughter's boyfriend has ancestors who immigrated to Australia as part of a Displaced Persons resettlement scheme. I have the documentation which gives some tantalising clues to their origins.
I have birthdates and birthplaces. It refers to brothers, sisters, parents (but not names provided - except maybe one).
It shows that both ancestors were in forced labour at Jeseritz until end of war, then in Displaced persons camps.

Can someone point me in right direction for suitable information on forced labour at Jeseritz (document also gives employers names and pay)?
Can someone tell me best place to investigate births? One is born in Wtorek Poland, the other in Moscow, Russia. Both are listed as Roman Catholic but we are sure the Russian wife is actually Jewish.
If this couple ended up in forced labour, how would I find the family members who I assume might have had the same fate?

Thanks, Katharine. 

[majm]

Hi,

There's likely to be scant official paperwork on their arrival as Displaced Persons and I am sure your research skills can delve very deeply and patiently through what meagre records are likely held at the National Archives of Australia.  So I can see that its the European records - births, baptisms, marriage and the like that you are asking for help with.   I am a novice when it comes to those European ones, so I am very sorry.  I can share the following from the NAA website's fact sheet https://www.naa.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-05/fs-66-migrant-selection-documents-held-in-canberra.pdf :

<sub>Displaced Persons program

In 1947 Australia agreed to include in its migration program people living in camps in Germany who had been brought from their occupied homelands in eastern and central Europe during World War II to work in German industry, or who had fled their homes in the face of occupation, and after the war were unable or unwilling to return.

Between 1947 and 1953 Australia received over 170,000 migrants from this source under the ‘Displaced Persons’ program.

Search the collection to find migrant selection documents for those who arrived as displaced persons. The records are arranged in nominal roll order for each voyage or airflight to Australia.

The item details include the full name and date of birth of each person. Where a number of people listed on a nominal roll have been identified as a family group a single entry has been made that lists the names and birth dates of each person in the group. Searches using the names of migrants should identify relevant records. Remember to use variations in the spelling of names if the expected result is not returned.

The records for each voyage or airflight have been arranged into separate series. Consult the information in the series notes for records you are interested in to find the name of the ship, dates of the voyage and related information.</sub>

Your daughter's boyfriend may have knowledge of the possible given names of the parents of those people who migrated under that scheme, or he may know who to ask - or where to look, or he may know of the locality/ies where family members lived in the 1930s, or earlier...  those tiny clues will help your quest.  Do you know when and where in Australia they settled - and if no longer living, is there information available to you from the d.c. - perhaps be careful as these may be still within the restricted access period so some of the information that is on the certificate held by a family member may need to be held confidentially at present.   

If you know the name of the Displaced Persons Camp in Europe, then a photo is often found at the NAA website - keywords Displaced Persons Camp - xxxxx  (xxxxx being the camp name). 

https://www.naa.gov.au/help-your-research

JM

[Katharine75]

Hi JM.
Thanks for reply.

Yes, I already have the family file (31 pages) from NAA. It was the documentation I refered to in OP (I should have put the source in there!) and it does have some great information therein, and of course the photographs!
He has used them as Christmas presents. They do have date stamps over each corner. I had tried to get them posted to the photo forum to be edited but the moderator would not come to the party on it sighting various reasons for not allowing it .

The family have limited information on the couple as they were understandably secretive about their past. I have name of DP camp they were in so I will have a look for photo as you suggest.

SO...as you see, it will be European records that will most help at this stage I think. I did look for any connections to other DPs coming into Australia at NAA and Ancestry.com.au but cannot see anything relevant at this stage.

Have a lovely Christmas. Katharine.

[aghadowey]

Are the couple deceased?
Did they belong to a church or synagogue in Australia? if so, perhaps try to see if there are any details in the records that might be helpful. For example, if they belonged to a Catholic church in Australia they might have provided details of baptism, marriage, etc. at some stage.
You could also try searching for their families on this site- as well as searching by names of victims you can also used 'Advanced Search' to find submitters-
https://yvng.yadvashem.org/

Another possible resource?
https://www.icrc.org/en/document/international-tracing-service-and-icrc

[Katharine75]

Yes they are deceased.
Yes, I could try the church at some point. Not sure it will give me anything further than what I already have though. Maybe baptism if they knew it.
Can't see anything further on those two websites at the moment. Thanks though.

[Rena]

The International Red Cross used to be the organisation to turn to.

I've looked at their current web site and it's not clear what information they provide, see below link:>

https://www.icrc.org/en/archives

[Sam Swift]

Used this site before, but can't get the same search page up in English now. owever it still works by typing the persons surname into the first box (Nazwisko) and then pressing the bottom box SZUKAJ

This brings up those indexed listed under the surname and you can
then click on the entry for further info which is all in Polish, but easy to cut and paste into Goolge if you can't interpret the info which includes names of other family members, their town of origin, date and camp to which deported, date and place to which they were repatriated.

https://indeksrepresjonowanych.pl/int/wyszukiwanie/94,Wyszukiwanie.html

There were other links, which don't seem to be functioning, but if I find them I will post them

[Sam Swift]

Found it - in English that has lost of links
https://www.polishexilesofww2.org/

[RJ_Paton]

You could also try the Arolsen Archives at https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/en/search

The Arolsen Archives are an international center on Nazi persecution with the world’s most extensive collection of documents about the victims and survivors of National Socialism. The documents relate to the various groups persecuted by the Nazi regime and contain references to around 17.5 million people, making them an important source of knowledge for society today.