See you soon Caroline! Chaper 12 The Convoys

Chapter Twelve:

The Convoys

 

The Weavers were back at the Holocaust Museum in Paris the following morning.  Earlier they had sat a long time over their breakfast considering the plans for the day. Dad said that although they needed to find out as much as they could about Grandad and his camp, they ought to find time to see something of Paris while they had the opportunity.

“I don’t think we’re going to find out much more anyway” agreed Simon. “We spent ages going through those files on the computer yesterday, and apart from those two letters, we really found nothing else!”

Caroline disagreed. “What we did find though is really important. We know as sure as we can ever be that Grandad was in Rivesaltes, and that he was rescued by Marion whatever her name was. And what’s more, we know that there were two of them!”

“No we don’t” objected Simon. “We only know that Marion intended to rescue two of them. We don’t know that she actually did. And the fact that the Jewish organisation only mentioned Franz suggests that something went wrong and the other child didn’t make it.

“Do you know what I think?” said Mum, who had been silent until now.

“What do you think?” asked Dad.

“I think that we should have a talk with that nice French girl – Sabine I think she was called. We should explain what we have found out and what we still need to know. She may have some idea of what we should do next!”

The others had thought that this was the best idea Mother had had since she took them to the BHV restaurant last night, and so that’s what they did as soon as they had passed through security.

Sabine listened to their story and asked them a few questions.

“I don’t think that there’s much doubt” she said. “Marion Oakes only took one child. That seems pretty certain. What happened to the other one? Almost certainly the mother changed her mind and refused to part with him or her. We see many examples of this in the records we have here. Mothers simply couldn’t believe that their children would be better off with strangers than under their own protection. But of course, they had no idea of what was in store for them.”

“So you think that our Grandad had a brother or a sister who died in Auschwitz?” asked Caroline. “That’s terrible!”

“Well, all the survivors of the Shoah lost members of their families, and there are many examples of brothers and sisters being separated, some to survive and some to perish. But if you really want to know the truth about your ancestor, we can probably find out for you right now! Do you want me to go ahead?”

The Weavers looked at each other in consternation. They had not expected this! Caroline spoke first.

“Well, it’s your aunt or uncle we’re talking about Dad! Do you want to know?”

Everyone looked at Dad. He took a deep breath and nodded. “Go on please!” he said.

Sabine led them to a desk and arranged seats for them. Then she fired up the computer standing there and typed something on the keyboard. Turning to them she asked:

“Have you heard of the Klarsfelds?”  They shook their heads.

“No!” said Dad. “Should we?”

“Probably not if all this is new to you” smiled Sabine. “Serge and Beate Klarsfeld have done a tremendous amount of research in tracing the French Jews who perished in the Shoah.  Particularly the children. They have identified over eleven thousand children, they wanted them to be known as individuals, not just as ‘eleven thousand’, and they have listed them by name and their last known address. In the case of two and a half thousand, they even have their pictures. And they want surviving relatives to help them find pictures of the rest of them.”

All this time, Sabine was typing on the keyboard. She turned to the family who had left their seats and were crowding around her. “Look!” she said, “Here you are. This is convoy number thirty three from Drancy. This convoy included all those who had just arrived from Rivesaltes on convoy number five. You see, it says here ‘Camp of Rivesaltes – 571 names. This group had arrived at Drancy from Rivesaltes on September 15.’ That’s a couple of days after your grandfather was rescued. You see here it tells you what room in Drancy they were held in. And if we click on this…we get a list of all the children on the convoy.” She scrolled down to the K’s. “And there’s no Krauch! So your Grandad’s brother or sister didn’t die in Auschwitz!”

“Wow!” said Simon. “That’s something! So what do you think happened then?”

“Maybe the mother changed her mind. There might have been an opportunity which presented itself before they reached the German occupied zone. After that it would have been too late.”

“So you think Grandad’s brother or sister might have survived after all?” asked Simon

“It’s certainly possible!”

“And what about Grandad’s mother?”

“Well, Serge Klarsfeld has only listed the children here. We need to go elsewhere to find the names of the adult victims.” She was about to type in something else, but Caroline stopped her.

“Just a minute!” she said. “Not all of those children in the list have got addresses!  There’s just a blank space! Why is that?”

“Good point!” replied Sabine. “But do you see the assembly point for most of them? They’re from Rivesaltes! That was their last known address! Most of the others where we do have addresses, were assembled at Drancy, and there are records of where they were taken from, their actual home address here in Paris.”

Caroline looked puzzled. “What is Drancy?”

Sabine smiled. “Another good question! But let’s find your great-grandmother first! We need to go to our database – here look! ‘Search for a person’.  What was her name?”

“We don’t know her first name” said Dad. “Just her surname, ‘Krauch’”

“OK! Could be tricky if there are several! Let’s try!... Oh! There you are then! Just one! Read it for yourselves!”

Simon leaned forward and said “It’s all in French!”

Sabine smiled again. “Sorry! I forgot! I’ll translate! It says:

 

‘Madame Helga Krauch, born 17th January 1914 at Breslau. Deported to Auschwitz by the convoy number 33 departing from Drancy 16th September, 1942’”

 

“So she did die then?” asked Simon

“Almost certainly.  I’m sorry! But I think that you guessed that! Anyway, you have her name now. That should help you in your research. Helga Krauch from Breslau!”

“Where is Breslau?” asked Dad “Is it in Germany?”

“It was then! Now it’s part of Poland and it’s called Wroclaw!  But you were asking about Drancy?”

“Yes!” said Caroline.  “You said something about them being assembled in Drancy. Is that the name of a place?”

“Drancy is a suburb of Paris” replied Sabine.  “Just before the war they started to build a new housing estate of high rise flats there. It was going to be called ‘La Cite de la Muette’, ‘The Silent City’ because it was supposed to become a place of peace and rest. But under the German occupation it became a sort of holding pen for all the people known as ‘undesirables’, which of course included all the Jews. Terrible things happened there. Fortunately, it seems that your Helga was only there for one night, although the journey east must have been terrible too!”

“Is it still there?” asked Mother.

“It is, and people live in those buildings today! But there are memorials and a museum. If you have time, I think you should go there!”

“Shall we?” asked Caroline looking at her father.

“We said that we should take the opportunity to see more of Paris” he replied. “Perhaps this is what we should do this afternoon! We’ve got the rest of the day free! How do we get there?”

Sabine explained the best way of getting to Drancy, and promised to keep her eyes open for any more information which might lead to finding  Grandad’s missing brother or sister.