Faber Family

[Heimatschuss]

Hello,

may I suggest a few corrections?

Faye came from a family of 7 siblings:

Angelika Maria or "Ange" b. Metz August 1 1892 / d. July 12 1971 Heemstede
Aimee Faber b. May 19 1894 / d. April 16 1923
Nicolas Faber or "Claas" b. March 1 1896 / d. June 2 1964 Frankfurt
Mathias Faber b. December 14 1903 / d. July 25 1927
Katharina Luzia b. June 29 1905 / d. July 22, 1950
Maria Magdalena b. Metz March 26, 1910 / d. December 26, 1966 Frankfurt
Felicitas Maria b. Metz March 26 1910 / d. 1983 or 84 (If I remember correctly) San Francisco

Just for clarification: Faye = Felicitas Maria?

I have not found pictures for Katharina at all, unless the nickname "Gerda" could be short for Katharina? Doesn't sound close but there are many pictures of a "Gerda"?

There's no apparent reason in German language to substitute 'Katharina' with 'Gerda'. The most common short forms of 'Katharina' are 'Kati' or 'Käthe', like in the inscription on the lower left photo

For my dear Käthe from Raphael [must be a location]
Her Marie

for [?? writing not continued]

Raphael may be a code name for a Luftwaffe position but could also be Saint Raphael on the Cote d'Azur in Southern France. You mentioned a photo with swim suits and palm trees, that could be Cote d'Azur.

Best regards
Torsten

[Larry D.]

Cammie - there is some additional information for you at these threads:

http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic. ... 0&t=176232
http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic. ... 7&t=176333

The information there gives information on her basic training curriculum at Bad Kreuznach and her specialty weather training with IV.(Ausb.-u.Ers.Abt.f.Ln.-u.Wetterdienst-Helferinnen)/Luftgau-Nachr-Rgt. 13 (Mainz-Hechtsheim, fall 42 – spring 43), then followed by IV.(Ausb.-u.Ers.Abt.f.Ln.-u.Wetterdienst-Helferinnen)/Luftgau-Nachr-Rgt. 12 (M-Hechtsheim, spring 43 - 1944). This new information will help you flesh out your timeline for Faye. Mainz-Hechtsheim will now play an important role after she completed basic training and left Bad Kreuznach. Her unit in Mainz not only provided the training (Ausb. = Ausbildungs = Training), but it was also the replacement pool (Ers. = Ersatz = Replacement) for the girls after they were trained as weather specialists.

Reserve-Lazarett just means Reserve Hospital. It was a civilian hospital in Bad Kreuznach that was mustered to treat military wounded during the war. Faye would not have had anything to do with it. But Maria might have if her basic training included nursing instruction.

Captioned Photo: “An Army female auxiliary, a policewoman and (? this 5-letter word could be “ihrer” = “your”) nurse-attendant (Pflegerin). A (? 5-letter word beginning with “F”) in the hospital.” At the bottom: “France, 3 June 1944.”

Maria Faber Hoehn Photo: this is an interesting portrait. The patch is not military but rather that of one of the Party youth organizations, possibly the Hitler Jugend which used a diamond-shaped emblem with a swastika in the center. It could also be the B.D.M. (Bund deutscher Mädel = League of German Girls) to which all girls between 14 and 21 had to belong, or even the R.A.D. (Reichs Arbeits Dienst = National Labor Service). To find out exactly what it is, you might want to post this photo on the “Women in the Reich” sub-forum or the “Axis Awards, Badges & Decorations” sub-forum or the “Axis Uniforms, Headgear & Insignia” sub-forum. There are specialists there who would be able to quickly identify the arm patch and the uniform.

I am hoping Torsten might be able to help you with the translation from 1931 on the back of the last photo. I can only pick out a few words!

Larry

[Heimatschuss]

Hello,

the decoration on the breast Claas is wearing is the Baltenkreuz (Baltic Cross) http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltenkreuz



It was bestowed on German volunteers who fought in Latvia against the Soviet invasion of 1918/19.



The backsides read:

Emden, den
5.12.1939 Krieg
Claas Faber

Emden,
5 Dec. 1939 war
Claas Faber

and

Meiner lieben Schwester
Maria zur Erinnerung
an den Krieg 1939 - 1940
Dein Bruder Claas

1.8.40


For my dear sister
Maria as a souvenier
from the war 1939 - 1940
Your brother Claas

1 Aug 1940

Best regards
Torsten

[Heimatschuss]

Hello Larry,

you got it almost correct already

Captioned Photo: “An Army female auxiliary, a policewoman and (? this 5-letter word could be “ihrer” = “your”) nurse-attendant (Pflegerin). A (? 5-letter word beginning with “F”) in the hospital.” At the bottom: “France, 3 June 1944.”

Eine Heereshelferin, Patientin, und ihre Pflegerin. Eine Fahrt ins Lazarett.
Frankreich 3.6.44

An Army female auxiliary, [which was] a [female hospital] patient, and her nurse . Ride to the hopital
France, 3 June 1944

The strange thing is: On the photo with the Renault ambulance there's no army auxiliary, just two Luftwaffe auxiliaries. Does this backside really belong to the Renault photo? Or have I misunderstood something?

Unfortunately there's just some philosphical remark in this

Kommen - Gehen
Was bleibt? Die Form
Und von Wert ist der Inhalt.

Für Fee Alf.

4.8.31

Coming - Going
What remains? The [outer] form
And the content is of value.

For Faye from ALf.
4 Aug 1931

Best regards
Torsten

[Larry D.]

Thanks, Torsten. The handwritten material has always been a difficult challenge, especially for non-Europeans.

On the 1931 caption, I made out the first four words as far as the question mark and the word "Inhalt" (content), but I couldn't make out the rest of it.

Cheers,

Larry

[Larry D.]

Cammie - I have 7 or 8 Fabers in my data base of Luftwaffe officers but only one of them was in the Flakartillerie:

FABER, Gustav. (DOB: 20.05.10). 01.07.43 promo to Oblt. (Kr.O./Flak).

Perhaps he's a member of your family?

L.

[Sunkisdgrl]

Awesome information!! There's so much for me to look at now I don't know where to start Torsten, thank you very much for the spelling corrections I was trying to decipher the handwriting and your corrections are very helpful, thanks very much.

To answer some questions:

Just for clarification: Faye = Felicitas Maria

Yes, everything before Faye came to the US is signed "Fee" and everything after is written "Faye".

Raphael may be a code name for a Luftwaffe position but could also be Saint Raphael on the Cote d'Azur in Southern France. You mentioned a photo with swim suits and palm trees, that could be Cote d'Azur.

There are some more pictures with captions from "Raphael". I will try to get the fronts and backs of them up sometime this evening, if not then tomorrow for sure and hopefully that will help. But it is definately somewhere tropical and beachy looking.

the decoration on the breast Claas is wearing is the Baltenkreuz (Baltic Cross)

Torsten, thank you so very much! There are some pictures dated in that time period of very dark, swarthy looking soldiers next to blown up buildings, sitting with their family, ect. and this may very well be what they are of! Thank you again!! Since Faye was the last surviving sibling it looks like what I have here is not only her belongings but also those of Maria and Claas that she may have received upon their death or at some point in time.

An Army female auxiliary, [which was] a [female hospital] patient, and her nurse . Ride to the hopital
France, 3 June 1944

The strange thing is: On the photo with the Renault ambulance there's no army auxiliary, just two Luftwaffe auxiliaries. Does this backside really belong to the Renault photo? Or have I misunderstood something?

I caught the word "Heereshelferin" on this caption and thought that it may provide something useful. The front of the picture appears to be Maria in uniform with another woman in uniform and a dog, in a car making a stop on the road So it looks like Maria was a nurse stationed in France and again the tropical look of the picts with the word Raphael would make Cote d'Azur a very likely possibility! Awesome!! That would also mean that the ambulance picture is probably Maria and the license plate would confirm that theory since that picture is dated 1943, the same as the bathing suit pictures?

FABER, Gustav. (DOB: 20.05.10). 01.07.43 promo to Oblt. (Kr.O./Flak).

Perhaps he's a member of your family?

So far no Gustav but my dining room table and coffee table are taken over with pictures. There are some more of pre-WWII for me to go though (yet again!!) to make sure I am getting the time lines correctly and boxes from the Jewish side of the family for me to make sure I have the right family members in the right places, so far I've already caught several of my mistakes, just from what I've learned here so I'm sure there's more. Something may turn up, I will look diligently!

Cammie - there is some additional information for you at these threads:

viewtopic.php?f=20&t=176232
viewtopic.php?f=77&t=176333

Larry, I checked out those threads a couple times but it's a little over my head. When it says "Subordinated" does that mean that the school was moved to another location? Is there any reading that you might recommend that would help me to understand what role Faye would have played in laymans terms?

Thank you again Larry, Torsten and Bill and for your help, I'm having so much fun with this project and your help keeps it fun rather than fustrating...where it was a couple weeks ago when I was trying to figure it out without help ~Cammie

[Larry D.]

Larry, I checked out those threads a couple times but it's a little over my head. When it says "Subordinated" does that mean that the school was moved to another location?

"Subordinated" in a military context refers to the chain of command and a synonym would be "under" or "reports to", i.e., Unit C is subordinated to the larger Unit B and both C and B are subordinated to the much larger Unit A. Another example: the Assistant Deputy Secretary of State is subordinate to (reports to) the Deputy Secretary of State, who in turn is subordinate to (reports to) the Secretary of State, and she reports to (is subordinate to) the President.

As for English language books or articles that would explain and describe Faye's duties, unfortunately I can't think of any. But you might try Googling around using "weather reporting", "weather readings", "World War II weather stations", "German meteorology in World War II", etc.

Keep digging for those place names and dates because "Raphael" was a good find. I'm not ready to break out the champagne yet, but I think this may be it:

Saint-Raphaël – Fréjus (FR) (c. 43 26 N – 06 44 E)
General: combined landing ground and seaplane station in S France c. 28 km SW of Cannes.
School Units: Stab and I./St.G. 101 (c. May – Sep 43);
Station Commands: Fl.H.Kdtr. A 228/XII (May-Nov 43).
Station Units (on various dates): elements of gem.Flak-Abt. 481 (Mar-Aug 44); 8.(Flum.Mess)/Ln.-Rgt. 51 (1943-44);

This Luftwaffe air station had both Flak and Ln. units as tenants. I will look through my notes and see if I can find mention of a hospital in the area. Of course, as an air station there would have been a Luftwaffe medical contingent there - at least 8 to 16 personnel.

Larry

[Sunkisdgrl]

Grettings All! My responsibilities came knocking so I had to put my research on hold, but have a little time now. Larry, thanks for the explanation. Attached are the other captions from Raphael, maybe they will be a little more informative? I've searched for the license plate number for the ambulance on http://www.wwiidaybyday.com/ and there is no pre-fix listed there for WL 258. I've been doing a lot of reading lately on this and the other forums that you recommended, but just registered and am waiting for activation so I'll ask elsewhere about it soon, thanks for the helpful direction.

I've also attached some more pictures from Aug. 1943 of Faye with the girls from her unit playing in hay, this would then be in Mainz? From the ariel view map it didn't look like there were any large fields there, but my computer moves very slowly so I may not have seen the entire map. Maybe outlying areas near Mainz would have fields like this? The pictures are all only captioned with the date but other pictures of her with her unit are also dated in the Summer of 1943.

The white suit photo is after the war ended, you were totally right. It's right about the time Faye started corresponding with my Great Grandfather. I've attached her return address from the letters that she sent him, I'm curious if anyone can help me with it, the last line looks like American something and since it was sent after the war ended but before she came to the US I'm curious where she was at? There's also some calling cards for Faye and Maria with something written in 1946, maybe also giving a direction as to what she did directly after the war? I would hope there is some significance if they were kept all this time.

Thanks again, Cammie

100_2538.jpg

100_2537.jpg

100_2546.jpg

[Sunkisdgrl]

Return Address

100_2567.jpg

[Bill Murray]

Hi Cammie:

I am still following your journey even if I cannot help with other than vehicle stuff.

However, the last return address photo indicates Frankfurt in the American Zone if that helps any.
Bill

[Larry D.]

Hi Cammie,

We were wondering what had happened to you and thought maybe you had caught a late winter cold and weren't feeling well. Glad to hear you are O.K.

The first envelope was mailed from Holland, and almost certainly from the city of Haarlem in Holland. The address in Germany is Frankfurt-Griesheim, which is section of the city just west of downtown. In 1946 it was probably almost all residential.

The hay-field photos don't reveal much, but like you said they were probably taken around the Mainz - Wiesbaden - Bad Kreuznach area. It's really impossible to say.

The Raphael captions don't tell us much either. The second word in the caption of Raphael Photo #2 is a noun that may tell us something but I can't decypher it. Perhaps Torsten or one of the other German members will be able figure it out. Evidently, it's a photo of Maria standing by something in Raphael? If we can determine what that "something" is, then we may be able to confirm whether it's St. Raphael in SE France or not.

Larry

[Sunkisdgrl]

Thanks Larry! In the photo Maria is standing in front of a very ornate building, it's very blurry and you can kinda make out that there's a person there. I'll put the "hay" pictures in with the Wiesbaden pictures and hope that's where they belong I was curious if Faye or Maria had to do any restitution type of work after the war, so I was looking for the addresses as some kind of indication. I'll have to do some educating of myself to understand how Germany was "cleaned up" after the War.

Hi Bill! I think I've pretty well got the Faber side of the family into catagories or some kind of organization and am starting on the Jewish side now also. After I've got all of it into a little better structure I plan on going back over it again for more details that take a lot of time. If you're interested I've posted some papers belonging to my Great-Grandfather here http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic. ... 6&t=176703. I assume they are registration of address, fees being paid, ect. but am not sure and the script on some doesn't agree with Babelfish. I don't know how unique this story is but I find it very interesting

Cammie

[Bill Murray]

Hi Cammie:

Regarding your last sentence, I am not a documents collector but belonging to so many WWII history Forums I often peruse threads that deal with that area of historical interest.

From what I have seen and read so far about your materiels, I would be of the opinion that what you have is unique and if the timeline is intact from "start to finish" an extremely valuable part of the history of the era. Even if not intact, still very important. Probably there are institutions that would like to see/share your materiels when you get all the details of who/ where/when sorted out. I could think of maybe the units your relatives served in may have some sort of group that tries to preserve it's history, the school may have something similar and of course anything to do with Jewish folks during the war are represented by many organizations preserving that piece of history.

One thing for sure, you have prodded me to go and unpack all of the stuff of a similar nature I inherited from my Dad some years ago and go through all of it. I have maybe 10 photo albums dating from around 1937 onwards that chronicle his days in the Marine Corps in China, Iceland and on through the war. Haven't looked at them for years.

Keep digging and let us know how you are doing.
Bill

[Sunkisdgrl]

I will keep you updated!

I've been working on this for several months now and when I first started I contacted several Jewish organizations, Colleges, ect. I also asked for help from Ephemera Collectors in California (not knowing any better), several professors from UNR (University of Nevada, Reno) along with a couple of other contacts that I picked up along the way. I've gotten so much conflicting information that I really just feel fustrated in trying to decide what, if anything, should happen to this collection. I was told that any Jewish organization would expect me to donate everything, which depending on the organization would then store it somewhere along with thousands of other family archives that may never get looked at, my understanding is that they are inundated with this type of material. On the other hand I was advised that if I sell it then whoever has bought it will appreciate it and it won't get lumped in on a shelf collecting dust somewhere but I may never know what is here or get any further information and it can be broken up and re-sold however. Neither of these options appeal to me. If there are groups that are interested in the Faber side's military information I'm more than happy to share whatever I have here as long as I get to know what it is also, not too much to ask, right? lol. I'd be more than willing to share any of it, Faber or Schnurman but again, this is my family and I want my curiosity satisfied as well as the information to pass onto my girls when they are old enough to really understand it and appreicate it. After having someone take a look at all of this several months ago (offer me 3k and tell me nothing more) and then taking some of it to UNR to be translated and getting next to nothing for feedback after watching someone read for almost an hour (other than the translation for Birth/Death/Marriage Certificates) has brought me to this point of feeling like there isn't much interest and trying to figure it out for myself. After I have a good general idea of what's here then I can make a decision on what to do with it and who might be interested in researching it further, but if it's going to collect dust there's plenty in my living room to go 'round I would heartily appreciate any suggestions or advice!! I was told to do a basic inventory and that's finished, but that's where I've left the process of finding an appreciative home for it all. ~Cammie