Romanian Solider and Wife Help

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billyj1138
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Posts: 3
Joined: 24 Jul 2014, 22:13

Romanian Solider and Wife Help

#1

Post by billyj1138 » 24 Jul 2014, 22:22

I'm searching for my wife's ancestors. i'm looking primarily for her Grandfather who supposedly died during WW2.

The information I've been able to put together is as follows:

Name: Johan (John?) Rudolf Ziegler, father John Ziegler, brother Michael Conrad Ziegler
Born: Born in Ohio, but moved with his family back to Romania, specifically Transylvania region (he and his wife are ethnic Germans or Saxons).

The information we've found or have heard has been mostly rumor.

We understand he fought on the side of the Axis during the war.
He was supposedly captured by Allied forces and committed suicide while a Prisoner.
He was supposedly buried in Bergedorff, but I can't find any info proving that.

His wife, Sofia Ziegler ne Galter, was taken into Russian custody after the war as reparations and worked in a labor camp.

Any information would be great, even if it's just a direction to go in.

ChiJohnAok
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Posts: 3
Joined: 27 Jul 2014, 02:11

Re: Romanian Solider and Wife Help

#2

Post by ChiJohnAok » 29 Jul 2014, 00:33

Hello,

My parents/grandparents are also ethnic germans from Transylvania (Siebenburgen) as well, so I have done some research on the subject.

I know that there are many Transylvania Saxons that migrated to Ohio and there are still some Transylvania Saxon social clubs that are located in the area. There is a US organization of these clubs called the "Alliance of Transylvania Saxons". They have a website here:
http://www.atsaxons.com/

And they have a page of local branches across the US, including Ohio here:
http://www.atsaxons.com/membershiprep.htm
I'm not sure how current the list of names and contact numbers are but it could be a start.
This group also has a Facebook page here with their contact information:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Alliance ... 9603312090

As for the possibility that your relative fought on the side of the Axis, its quite possible. Many ethnic Germans in Romania were drafted into the Romanian army early in WW 2. As Romania was initially allied with Germany, at some point there was an understanding worked out where ethnic Germans in the Romanian army were transferred to the German armed forces (Wehrmacht and/or Waffen SS). Some were later drafted directly into the German armed forces. My grandfather, and great uncle went through this.

As for "Bergedorff", I am not familiar with the name of that town.
There is an organization in Germany which is for the Transylvania Saxons that migrated to Germany. Their website is at:
http://www.siebenbuerger.de/
and on their website they list the cities and towns in Romania that contained Transylvania Saxon communities.
That webpage is at:
http://www.siebenbuerger.de/ortschaften/
I did not see Bergedorff listed there.
This website is in German.
There is also a webpage that is in both German and English that contains a list of the fortified churches in Romania that were Transylvania Saxon churches.
That webpage is at:
http://fortified-churches.org/en/
I did not see Bergedorff listed there either.
Perhaps the name of the town was different.
If you do happen to find the name of the town you may wish to contact the Lutheran Church in Romania. They are called "Evangelische Kirche A.B. in Rumänien".
The website for this group is at:
http://www.evang.ro/
Each of the town churches in the Transylvania Saxon villages in Romania used to keep records of births, confirmations, marriages and deaths in their respective village. In some cases these records went back hundreds of years. Now since the mass migration of Saxons from Romania in the early 1990s most of the individual churches are now closed, but it's my understanding that the "Evangelische Kirche A.B. in Rumänien" collected many of those records from the individual churches as they were closing down. So perhaps they might have some information concerning your relative. They also might have information concerning the earlier family members. Its also my understanding that the Mormon Church in the USA has some of those church records on microfiche or other data sources.

If your relative did serve in the German armed forces they would have some record of that. While I don't have a website or contact information for that you may wish to search for that and contact the German armed forces. I think that their records are fairly accurate as my grandmother collected a pension from the German government for the time that her husband served in the German armed forces. You might be able to obtain assistance for that by contacting the closest German consulate or the German embassy in Washington, DC.

As for your relative that "was taken into Russian custody after the war as reparations and worked in a labor camp", I had several relatives that also went through the same thing. It's my understanding that the Russians issued quotas to their "new" Romanian allies indicating that they wanted XXX number of ethnic Germans to be submitted for work in their labor camps. It is my understanding that generally males from the ages of around 16-40 and females that were around the ages of 18-30/35 were forced to go into these labor camps. My maternal grandmother and my paternal grandfather (and his oldest son) were forced to go to Russia and were there for around 2 1/2 to 3 years. I think my grandmother indicated that the camp that she was in was somewhere in the area of Stalino in the Ukraine. I have read that approximately 15% of the Transylvania Saxons that were sent to Russia never made it back alive.

I hope that this provides you some additional information and leads to follow.
If you should have some additional questions please do not hesitate to contact me via this website and I will answer what I can.

Good luck on your search.


billyj1138
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Posts: 3
Joined: 24 Jul 2014, 22:13

Re: Romanian Solider and Wife Help

#3

Post by billyj1138 » 29 Jul 2014, 18:25

Wow that is a lot of information.

Thanks!

My mother-in-law says that her mother received a letter from her husband after having been injured and badly burned during the bombing of Bergendorf which, from what I understand, is a part of Hamburg, Germany.

I'm trying to piece it all together, not easy.

billyj1138
Member
Posts: 3
Joined: 24 Jul 2014, 22:13

Re: Romanian Solider and Wife Help

#4

Post by billyj1138 » 29 Jul 2014, 20:37

I would have thought that the German Armies of World War 2 would have been easy to find soldiers from. I mean, I've always thought that the German attention to detail would have had everything listed. Boy was I off.

I've tried everything I can think of, but I'm at a loss. The injury he wrote about, I'm guessing is from Operation Gomorrah and the bombing of Hamburg. The fact that his wife, who is still alive, collects a pension from Germany with regards to her husbands service, leads me to believe this death MUST be documented somewhere....

ChiJohnAok
Member
Posts: 3
Joined: 27 Jul 2014, 02:11

Re: Romanian Solider and Wife Help

#5

Post by ChiJohnAok » 30 Jul 2014, 01:54

My grandmother still collects a pension to this day for my grandfather's military service in the German military.
I think his service period was for about 4 years but that is just a guess as I have no documentation regarding it. My grandfather lived many years after the war.

So Bergendorf is near Hamburg...no wonder I had not heard of it.

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