Documents from Germany

This post is going to take the form of running notes as I make my way through the documents that I received from the International Tracing Service in Germany (a service set up to help victims and descendants victims of WWII trace their families).

Document TD2285114.pdf:

• pg 1- letter from ITS, listing the documents included in the packet
• pg 2- letter continued
• pg 3- shows that Chute was still with the Apanavičius family on 20 Aug 1945 in Klingenbrunn. Vytautas is not listed, I know already that he had died on 13 Dec 1944.
• pg 4- same
• pg 5- I can't seem to find anybody on this list
• pg 6- shows Chute is with the Apanavičius family, but there is no date. Location is Spiegelau / Grafenau. Says she is a "näherin" (seamstress!). Birth date is listed as 5 Jan 1921, rather than the 15th. And it says she was born in "Rodamme", which I believe is actually Rudamina. All the same information is recorded for the Apanavičiai.
• pg 7- shows Chute in Bamberg on 30 Sept 1947. Birth is listed as 15 Jan 1921, Rudamina, and "usual place of residence" is Kaunas. Date of sojourn (in Bamberg?) is 13 Oct 1944 to 5 Jan 1945. Also listed are Evaristas Apanavičius and Biruta Apanavičiute, but their "date of sojourn" does not overlap and I'm not certain if there is a connection. **
• pg 8- shows marriage of Chute and Tevuk in Munich, 27 Aug 1945. Tevuk born 15 Jun 1923, Krekenava. Former residence "unbek[annt]" (unknown).
• pg 9- shows marriage again, but lists Chute first. Chute born 15 Jan 1921, Ru[d]amina. Former residence "unbek[annt]" (unknown).
• pg 10- Marriage Certificate:  lists Tevuk as "Landwirt" (farmer) and Chute as "Schneiderin" (dressmaker). Shows Tevuk born in Krekenava district, but says "beurkundung nicht nachgewiesen" (certification not detected?). Shows Chute as Apanavičius, geb. Kisielinte [sic]. Shows Chute born in Ru[d]amina district, but says "beurkundung nicht nachgewiesen".
• pg 11- second page of marriage certificate
• pg 12- document from marriage ceremony at St. Ludwig's in Munich, 2 Sept 1945. Shows Tevuk born 15 May 1923 in "pociunitiai" and Chute born 15 Jan 1921 in Rudamina. Also show Chute as Apanavičiene / Kisielinte [sic]. **
• pg 13- Chute's displaced persons registration card. Shows her as Marija Matuliene. Gives "claimed nationality" as Lithuanian, birthplace as Rudamina. Shows mother and father, and gives last permanent residence as Vilkaviskis. She does not claim to be a prisoner of war. Card is dated 13 Dec 1945. **
• pg 14- reverse side of card. Interesting information about "physical condition" and immunization.
• pg 15- duplicate card, also dated 13 Dec 1945, but handwriting is different.
• pg 16- reverse side of duplicate card
• pg 17- Displaced person statistical card for "Marija Matuliene, born Kisieliute". Card is dated 28 Jun 1948. Country of citizenship is Lithuania, last habitual residence is Lithuania. Born in Rudamina. Current location is 251 DP Assembly Centre, Wolterdingen n.Soltau. Stamped "emigrated to USA on 15 Jun ?? by flight". **
• pg 18- reverse side of card. Occupation is "dressmaker g-23".
• pg 19- Appears to be a passengers list for the flight to the US. The plane appears to be called "Youth Argosy". It left Hamburg on 15 Jun 1949. Matuliai are listed on the reverse.
• pg 20- passenger list continued. Listed are Chute, Tevuk, and wee Gediminas. Sponsor is listed as NCWC. Destination is listed as Londonderry, NH.
• pg 21- DP card. Shows Chute was born in Rudamina. Says "was in Br[itish?] zone / Germ."

Document TD2285115.pdf:

• pg 1- letter from ITS, listing the documents included in the packet
• pg 2- letter continued
• pg 3- list of Lithuanians residing in Plattling. Tevuk listed on reverse
• pg 4- reverse of above. Shows Tevuk listed as "worker", residing in Hohenrainberacke. No date on document (pg1 says it was during the war).
• pg 5- register of people "who were temporarily or permanently stationed in the community [of Plattling], but are no longer in residence".  Shows Tevuk was there, dated 12 Mar 1947.
• pg 6- register of people, handwritten, very difficult to read (pg1 says he registered at 25 Preisingplatz in Plattling on 24 May 1945). He is listed on the reverse (pg7).
• pg 7- reverse of above. Tevuk is #182. First name is rather illegible, but appears to start with a W, not a V (maybe "Wacis", as it would probably sound as he said it). Appears to list "Krekinava" [sic] twice. Dated 24 May 1945. Last column illegible. The wikipedia page for Plattling describes a battle which took place on 26 April 1945. Presumably Tevuk was there, or possibly in the Flossenbürg concentration camp. Must look into this more.
• pg 8- Tevuk's displaced persons registration card. Gives "claimed nationality" as Lithuanian, birthplace as Panevežys. Shows mother and father, and gives last permanent residence as Krekanava. He does not claim to be a prisoner of war (I wonder what this means. Is not claiming to have been a prisoner of war, or is he not claiming to be a prisoner of the Americans). Card is dated 13 Dec 1945, same as Chute. **
• pg 9- reverse side of card. Information about physical condition and immunization.
• pg 10- duplicate card, also dated 13 Dec 1945, but handwriting is different.
• pg 11- reverse side of duplicate card
• pg 12- Displaced person statistical card for Tevuk. Card is dated 28 Jun 1948, same as Chute. Country of citizenship is Lithuania, last habitual residence is Lithuania. Born in Kurgulai district of Panevezys. Current location is 251 DP Assembly Centre, Wolterdingen n.Soltau. Stamped "emigrated to USA on 15 Jun 1949 by flight". **
• pg 13- reverse side of card. Occupation is "farmer D-1".
• pg 14- DP card. Shows Tevuk was born in Panevezys. Says "was in Br[itish?] zone / Germ."

Document TD2285116.pdf:

• pg 1- letter from ITS, listing the documents included in the packet
• pg 2- Displaced persons registration card for "Kazys" (Kazimiras) Kisielius. Gives "claimed nationality" as Lithuanian, birthplace as Vilkaviskis. Shows mother and father (Mykolas Kisielius and Katarina Arminaite), and gives last permanent residence as Vilkaviskis. Card is dated 14 Dec 1945, the day after Chute and Tevuk. They have apparently rejoined by this point.
• pg 3- reverse side of card. Information about physical condition and immunization is blank.
• pg 4- it's not clear what this card is, but lists his and Sofija's birth dates (14 Mar 1891 and 17 Aug 1902, respectively). Sofija was actually born on that day in 1901. It says they are "untraceable", and has the following number "IRO 266792". I don't know what this is.

Document TD2285117.pdf:

• pg 1- letter from ITS, listing the documents included in the packet
• pg 2- Displaced persons registration card for Sofija Kisieliene. Gives "claimed nationality" as Lithuanian, birthplace as "Glashof [Glasgow] Britania" [this is wrong, but it does suggest that she didn't realize that she had actually been born in Lithuania]. Shows mother and father listed as Jurgis Laurynaitis (strange that is should be Motiejus Raulinaitis) and Jeva Gurevičiute. Gives last permanent residence as Vilkaviskis. Card is dated 14 Dec 1945, same as Kazimiras, and the day after Chute and Tevuk. Says she can also speak Lithuanian, English, German, and Russian!! The "remarks" line says she "does not wish to return of present". Certainly not, it wasn't long before that her son was disappeared by the Soviets.
• pg 3- reverse side of card. Information about physical condition and immunization is blank.
• pg 4- duplicate of TD2285116, pg4.

Document TD2285118.pdf:

• pg 1- letter from ITS, listing the documents included in the packet
• pg 2- Displaced persons registration card for Katarina Kisieliute. Gives "claimed nationality" as Lithuanian, birthplace as Vilkaviskis. Shows mother and father (listed as Kazys Kislielius and Sofija Raulinaityte). Gives last permanent residence as Vilkaviskis. Card is dated 19 Nov 1945, nearly a month before the others.
• pg 3- reverse side of card. Information about physical condition and immunization.
• pg 4- duplicate displaced persons registration card, handwriting the same in this case.
• pg 5- reverse side of duplicate card.

Document TD2284935.pdf:

• pg 1- letter from ITS, listing the documents included in the packet
• pg 2- card showing treatment of Vytautas Apanavičius in Würzberg Hospital from 8 Sept 1944, illness not indicated
• pg 3- card showing treatment in Würzberg Hospital until 9 Oct 1944, illness not indicated
• pg 4- card showing treatment in Bamberg Hospital from 9 Oct 1944 to 13 Dec 1944
• pg 5- grave registration in Klingenbrunn. Shows he was born 28 Mar 1921 in Kaunas, he was residing in Spiegelau. Cause of death is recorded as "herzschlag" (heartbeat?), 13 Dec 1944. Location of grave is "Friedhof Spiegelau". Says "Sterbeurkunde wurde bereits am 16.8.1946 übersandt" (Death certificate already sent on 16 Aug 1946).
• pg 6- duplicates much of the same grave registration information.
• pg 7- duplicates the same again

** if not sending all documents with citizenship application, these are probably the best to send

Finally!!

I've finally heard back from the International Tracing Service in Germany that holds records about people who were in forced labor camps during (and displaced persons camps after) WWII. My initial request was way back in January. There's loads of information, and it'll take me quite a while to look through it all (especially since I'm going away on a work trip for three weeks tomorrow, and I haven't even gotten back to the poor relief records yet). But I think these documents will have the records I need to apply for Lithuanian citizenship. Very excited to have a look.

Poor Relief

I have my first bit of hard evidence that my great-grandfather Kazimiras Kisielius was, in fact, sent away under the Anglo-Russian Military Convention. I've suspected this for some time now, but I haven't been able to find anything documenting it. Over the weekend, I found it in an entry for my great-grandmother in the "poor books" held at the Glasgow City Archive.

D-HEW17/804 (186675)

It states that Kazimiras "went to join the Russian army" on 29 September 1917 and "left her unprovided for", suggesting that is was his choice and that he didn't bother making arrangements for her in advance. Quite the contrary, he was sent away without a choice and with little advance notice.

Another thing in the file is her signature (in her own hand!), which confirms another mystery. She signs her name "Jessie Kisielius", meaning she definitely did use that name, and she had a child out of wedlock at the age of 16!

In her hand.

There's lots more information in the document, but it'll take me some time before I can get it posted here (particularly because the copies are poor and the writing is difficult). I also collected some other documents, including poor relief records for Kazimiras' sister Marijona and three other Kisielius women (who could possibly be wives of brothers). Further to that I made copies of military tribunal records of service exemption hearings. There could be something very interesting in there.

The full record of Sofija's poor relief application is here.

Glasgow City Archive

I contacted the Glasgow City Archive (at the Mitchell Library) about the records they hold about the poor, and I asked about looking into my great-grandmother Sofija ("Sophie", "Zose", "Jessie") Kisielius, who (I suspect) was left destitute when my great-grandfather was deported to Russia under the Anglo-Russian Military Convention. They got back to me very quickly with a match, and I have ordered the books to view on-site this coming Saturday. The archivist was able to search the index and came back with this:

Name	DOB	Birthplace	Year of application	Reference
Yose Kisielius (Raulinavicule)	1898	Lithuania	1917	D-HEW17/804 (186675)

There's a couple more variants to the name. And the birth date is off by a few years, but I've got little doubt it's her. The year of application is precisely when Kazimiras would have been sent way. It's also confirms Lithuania as her birthplace, which I discovered last year, contrary to Chute's memory.

There will be more information when I go to see the actual records. This is what the archivist said:

The poor relief application contains the original petition made by the applicant, a record of the assistance provided as well as a note of any subsequent applications made. It varies from application to application as to how much information is included.

Making Meaning

In Lithuania, a second-cousin-in-law, Vygintas, is a very talented musician and artist. He's studying at the Vilnius Art Academy for a PhD. His specialty is blending the visual with the aural. Among his very interesting projects is one where he takes famous Lithuanian poetry and literature and puts it's through a series to translations using Google Translate. He usually follows a path on a map, a journey that a person might travel, and then uses the translator to put the words into the language of each place. In the end, he translates that back into Lithuanian, and the product is almost always something of terribly corrupted grammar and greatly reduced meaning. He then records it being read and creates a score to go along with it. It's a really fascinating process, and something I found inspiring.

It reminded me of when my grandmother, a few years back, did her best to translate Kudirka's poem, the Tautiška Giesmė, that is now the anthem of Lithuania. It ended up being a really emotional moment of longing for a lost homeland -- there were tears and she could barely make it to the end. It was moving for me because I understood how much those words meant to her, and though little of the translation was grammatically or literally correct, the meaning came through strongly.



Vygintas's project inspired me to play with Kudirka's words in a way that is related to my family history. I decided to take the poem on a journey along the route that my grandparents traveled as they fled the Soviet invasion (or at least the route that I believe they traveled). I know that they fled Lithuania to Germany (Munich and a displaced persons camp in Wolterdingen). From there they eventually made it to the United States. Beginning with the original Lithuanian, I translated it into each language along the way. First from Lithuanian to Russian, to represent the first Soviet invasion in 1940; then from Russian to German, to represent the Nazi occupation from 1941 to 1944; then back to Russian, to represent the second Soviet invasion; then from Russian to Polish, Polish to Czech, and Czech to German, to represent the journey on the map they probably took; and finally I translated it into English. The result follows:

Lithuanian Lietuva, Tėvyne mūsų, Tu didvyrių žeme, Iš praeities Tavo sūnūs Te stiprybę semia. Tegul Tavo vaikai eina Vien takais dorybės, Tegul dirba Tavo naudai Ir žmonių gėrybei. Tegul saulė Lietuvoj Tamsumas prašalina, Ir šviesa, ir tiesa Mūs žingsnius telydi. Tegul meilė Lietuvos Dega mūsų širdyse, Vardan tos, Lietuvos Vienybė težydi!

Russian Литва, наша родина Земля героев, В прошлом ваши сыновья Нарисуйте силы. Пусть ваши дети ходят Только пути добродетели, Пусть они работать в вашу пользу И благосостояние народа. Май солнце Изгнать всю тьму, И свет и истина Наши шаги. Пусть любовь Литвы Запись в наших сердцах Ради тех, в Литве Единство цвести!

German Litauen, unser Vaterland Land der Helden, In der Vergangenheit, eure Söhne Kraft schöpfen. Lassen Sie Ihre Kinder gehen Nur der Pfad der Tugend, Lassen Sie sie zu Ihren Gunsten Und das Wohlbefinden der Menschen. Möge die Sonne Verbannen Sie alle Finsternis, Und das Licht und die Wahrheit Unsere Schritte. Lasst die Liebe von Litauen Rekord in unseren Herzen Aus Gründen der in Litauen Einheit blühen!

Russian Литва, наша родина Земля Героев, В прошлом, ваши сыновья Рисование власть. Пусть ваши дети Только путь добродетели, Оставьте их в вашу пользу И благосостояние народа. Май солнце Изгнать всю тьму, И свет и истина Наши шаги. Пусть любовь Литвы Запись в наших сердцах Ради Литве Блок цветение!

Polish Litwa, nasza ojczyzna Ziemia Heroes W przeszłości, twoi synowie Rysunek moc. Niech dzieci Tylko droga cnoty, Zostaw je na swoją korzyść I dobrobyt ludzi. Niech słońce Wygnać wszelką ciemność, I światła i prawdy Nasze kroki. Niech miłość Litwy Rekord w naszych sercach na Litwie Zablokuj kwitną!

Czech Litva, naše vlast Země Heroes V minulosti, vaši synové Odebírá energii. Nechte děti Pouze způsob ctnosti, Nechte je, aby ve svůj prospěch A blahobyt lidí. Nechte slunce Vyhnat všechny tmu, A světla a pravdy Naše kroky. Nechte lásku Litvy Záznam v našich srdcích Litva Block květ!

German Litauen, unser Vaterland Land Helden In der Vergangenheit, eure Söhne Nimmt Energie. lassen Sie die Kinder Der einzige Weg zur Tugend, Lassen Sie es zu Ihrem Vorteil Eine menschliche Wohlfahrt. lassen Sie die Sonne Verbannen Sie alle Finsternis, Ein Licht und Wahrheit Unsere Schritte. Lasst die Liebe von Litauen Rekord in unseren Herzen Litauen Block Blüte!

English Lithuania, our homeland country heroes In the past, your sons Takes energy. let the children The only way to virtue, Leave it to your advantage A human welfare. let the sun Banish all darkness, A light and truth Our steps. Let the love of Lithuania Record in our hearts Lithuania Block bloom!

My final step was to take this corrupted version generated by Google Translate and put it into my own English, a loose translation that represents, in a way, me trying to make sense of my cultural heritage. The whole thing is a process of meaning-making, of trying to understand the place my family came from. It represents the loss of meaning and the effect of accumulated history on culture and identity. Here it is alongside the official English version, which by the way is not a literal translation either.

Google's English Lithuania, our homeland country heroes In the past, your sons Takes energy. let the children The only way to virtue, Leave it to your advantage   A human welfare. let the sun Banish all darkness, A light and truth Our steps. Let the love of Lithuania Record in our hearts Lithuania Block bloom!

My English Lithuania, our homeland! National heroes, In the past, your sons were strong. Show their children the only way to virtue, Your advantage will lead   to human welfare. Let the sun banish all darkness, Shine light and truth in our footsteps. Let the love of Lithuania be etched in our hearts, Lithuania grow strong!

Official English Lithuania, our homeland, Land of heroes! Let your sons draw their strength From our past experience Let your children always follow Only roads of virtue, May your own, mankind’s well-being Be the goals they work for May the sun above our land Banish darkening clouds around Light and truth all along Guide our steps forever May the love of Lithuania Brightly burn in our hearts. For the sake of this land Let unity blossom.

My grandparents made sure that I knew where we came from and they made sure I grew up with the greatest pride in those roots. There's no doubt that what I understand Lithuania to be is different to those whose families never left, but it wasn't all lost. I still very much identify with my Lithuanian roots.

Edinburgh Gazette

The Gazette is an incredible resource!! Especially now, since it has been digitized for the 21st century. Apparently it was recently revamped, top to bottom. They've got a couple of excellent videos that explain what it's all about.

What is it?


How do you search it?


I've only scratched the surface using the search, but I got three hits for Kisielius right away. It looks like two Kisielius brother were involved in baking. I've come across Varpas before, I believe. And I've certainly come across Vincent and Anthony, though I've never conclusively linked them to the family. I'll need to see what I can turn up.

Varpas Baking Company

It appears that a couple years later "Anthony" (Antanas) became a naturalized British citizen. Maybe I can request naturalization records.

Naturalization, 1931

And finally, on 22 October 1935, there's something about a "Trust Deed" that I don't understand. The notice is written by G.C. Paterson, and says that Anthony granted the deed. Is he the creditor? Or is he the debtor?

From the Edinburgh Gazette, 22 October 1935, pg 882

North Lanarkshire

I took a trip to the North Lanarkshire Heritage Centre today to have a look into the miners photo that I mentioned before. While they weren't able to answer everything I wanted to know (e.g. who is pictured), they were able to tell me they got the photo from a "Mr Frank Dullick". They also had a fair bit of local history material on the Lithuanian community. The person working the desk was really helpful and was able to provide a lot of good leads.

A Match

Mr. Frank Dullick

Mr Dullick actually came up a few times. He appears to have been an active member in the Scottish Lithuanian Social Club. Turns out he's mentioned in the Lithuanians in Scotland book by John Millar, according to which his name was actually Frank Džiodulikas. A newspaper clipping in the collection also mentioned him with regard to a Radio Scotland program about the Lithuanian community that aired way back in 1980, on the 19th of February, to be exact. I'd really like to see if I can find that.

From page 56

On BBC Radio Scotland

It's not clear from what was in the file whether or not Mr Dullick was related to anybody in the photo, or if it was just in his possession. They had two files on the Lithuanian community: one that was mostly general history and another that was specifically about family history. They also had a microfilm name index for people who appeared in the Motherwell Times. There were no entries for Kisielius or Raulinaitis, but I did find an article on Peter Rolwich and a couple possible matches for Cassells.

Motherwell Times, 20 Aug 1981

They've got a subject index for the same paper as well, that has multiple entries under "Lithuania". It's probably worth looking at more, not so much for family history, but just for general interest.

There were copies of the various academic papers that I've read mentioned before (Rodgers 1982, Rodgers 1983, White 1975, White 2004), but there were others that I hadn't heard about (Lunn 1979, Rodgers n.d.). I haven't read them yet, but I will. I also came across a few things that mention the Anglo-Russian Military Convention, so I'll need to look into that more.

On the website it mentioned that they have the poor relief records as well, but I was told they can only be viewed during weekday hours. Although, my great-grandmother Sofija would probably not be in that book. She'll probably be in the one for Glasgow, which I was told should be at the Mitchell Library in Glasgow. I was told they may even have some police or alien registration records. I'll definitely need to make time to check up on those. The Police Museum in Glasgow might be another place to check, *if* the records even exist.

Another new lead is the Edinburgh Gazette (supposedly available online), which published name changes in Scotland from around the time of the Bolshevik Revolution. They must have wanted to keep tabs of potential revolutionaries!

Finally, I was told that I would need to contact the Social History Curator, but I should be able to see the Lithuanian objects that they've got in their collection.

That's quite a lot for only going to ask about a photo! Why didn't I go earlier?