Category: Cementiris de Barcelona

POST 33: FINDING GREAT-UNCLE WILLY’S GRANDCHILDREN

Note:  This Blog post details how and where I located my great-uncle Wilhelm “Willy” Bruck’s grandchildren, that’s to say, my second cousins.

Related Post: Post 32: Finding Great-Uncle Willy

In the previous post, I described to readers how I went about finding my grandfather’s younger brother, Wilhelm “Willy” Bruck (1872-1952), as well as his wife, son and daughter-in-law.  Starting with the knowledge that my great-uncle wound up in Barcelona, Spain and sent a congratulatory card from there to my parents in 1951, shortly after I was born, I began there.  From the FamilySearch’s “International Genealogical Index” I knew my great-uncle Willy’s wife, Antonie Bruck née Marcus, had pre-deceased him by ten years in Barcelona, dying there in 1942; clearly, 1942 was the latest they would have arrived in Spain, and likely sooner.  I assumed my great-aunt and -uncle had gone to Barcelona to escape the Nazis, although the circumstances of how they were able to immigrate to Spain was a complete mystery.

In Post 32, I explained how I obtained the Certificados de Defunción, death certificates, for my great-uncle Willy (Figure 1), and his son Edgar-Pedro (Figure 2) during a visit in 2014 to two bureaus in Barcelona, the Cementiris de Barcelona, S.A. and the Registro Civil de Barcelona; other than learning that payments for keeping them and their wives interred were current, the Cementiris refused to give me names of next of kin.  Instead, they suggested I write a letter explaining my interest in contacting them, and they would forward my request asking if the next of kin were willing to share their contact information.  In fact, I tried this approach upon my return to the States in 2014, ultimately to no avail, although I strongly suspect the Cementiris never contacted my relatives.

Figure 1. Death certificate for my great-uncle Wilhelm (Guillermo) “Willy” Bruck (April 29, 1952)
Figure 2. Death certificate for Edgar Pedro Bruck (October 5, 1988)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 3. Tombstone at the “Cementiri de Montjuic” in Barcelona of Wilhelm & Antonia Bruck and Edgar & Mercedes Bruck

But, I’m getting ahead of myself.  As previously explained, following my visit to the Cementerio de Montjuïc in Barcelona to visit the tomb of my great-uncle Willy and his family (Figure 3), I returned to the Registro Civil de Barcelona hoping to obtain documents for additional family members.  I had the good fortune to encounter a very helpful English-speaking lady there who spent several hours researching records for possible relatives.  She eventually gave me copies of various birth, marriage and death certificates for five individuals, the relationship and significance of which would take me several months to figure out.  I didn’t realize it at the time, but one of these documents was the key to locating my great-uncle Willy’s grandchildren.  Just to be clear, none of these certificates provided names of next of kin.

Figure 4. Boxes of personal papers of two of my renowned great-aunts, Franziska & Elsbeth Bruck, archived at the Stadtmuseum in Spandau, Germany
Figure 5. My great-uncle Willy in May 1950, Barcelona

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 6. Wilhelm Bruck’s daughter, Eva, in May 1950, Barcelona

Readers may recall from Post 15 that the personal papers of two of great-uncle Willy’s renowned sisters, Franziska Bruck and Elsbeth Bruck, are archived at the Stadtmuseum in Spandau, a suburb of Berlin.  Earlier in 2014, my wife and I spent two days there examining and photographing all the documents and pictures. (Figure 4)  Among my great-aunt Elsbeth’s papers, I discovered multiple pictures that her brother Willy had sent from Barcelona of himself (Figure 5), his children, Eva (Figure 6) and Edgar Pedro, his daughter-in-law Mercedes and her family (Figure 7), and his grandson Antonio. (Figure 8)  The captions on these pictures allowed me to partially piece together the family tree.  I was able to match some pictures to a document I’d obtained at the Registro Civil de Barcelona, notably the Certificado de Matrimonio, marriage certificate, for Edgar Pedro Bruck Marcus and Mercedes Casanovas Castañé, married June 24, 1945. (Figures 9a-c & 10)  I was also able to relate the Certificados de Nacimiento, birth certificates, to their two children, Antonio Bruck Casanovas, born 1946 (Figure 11), and Margarita Bruck Casanovas, born 1948. (Figure 12)  To remind readers, in Spain, at birth, an individual is given two surnames, that of his mother and father.  Again, none of these documents allowed me to determine whether great-uncle Willy’s grandchildren were still alive, or where they might be living.

Figure 7. Wilhelm Bruck & his extended family on June 9, 1946 in Barcelona at the baptism of Antonio Bruck, archived at the Stadtmuseum in Spandau, Germany
Figure 8. Antonio Bruck on a “bichito” (small creature) on Ascension Day 1949 in the company of his Aunt Eva & Grandfather Wilhelm

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 9a. Marriage certificate for Edgar Pedro Bruck Marcus and Mercedes Casanovas Castañé (Page 1), married June 24, 1945
Figure 9b. Marriage certificate for Edgar Pedro Bruck Marcus and Mercedes Casanovas Castañé (Page 2), married June 24, 1945

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 9c. Marriage certificate for Edgar Pedro Bruck Marcus and Mercedes Casanovas Castañé (Page 3), married June 24, 1945
Figure 10. Marriage of Edgar Pedro Bruck Marcus & Mercedes Casanovas Castañé on June 24, 1945, surrounded by family

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 11. Antonio Bruck Casanovas’s birth certificate (April 8, 1946)
Figure 12. Margarita Bruck Casanovas’s birth certificate (December 13, 1948)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 13. Antonio Bruck Casanovas’s birth certificate with a notation in the upper-left corner stating he was married in “Haag, R.F.A.” in 1982 that allowed me to locate my second cousins in Germany

The break-through in finding my great-uncle Willy’s grandchildren came during Thanksgiving 2014.  My wife was out-of-town with her family, so I set myself the task of re-examining the documents I’d been given at the Registro Civil de Barcelona.  When reviewing the birth certificate for Antonio Bruck Casanovas, I noticed something I’d previously overlooked, specifically, a notation that had been added in the upper-left-hand corner on October 26, 1983 indicating he’d gotten married to a woman named Ingeborg Prieller née Wieser in 1982 in a place called “Haag-R.F.A.” (Figure 13)  Having no idea where Haag is, and what “R.F.A.” stood for, after researching these places, I quickly determined that Haag is in Bavaria, and that “R.F.A.,” is Spanish for “República Federal de Alemania,” the German Federal Republic.  This was the first concrete evidence I had that one of my great-uncle Willy’s grandchildren had at least for some period lived in Germany and might still be there.

I made this discovery on a Sunday, I clearly remember.  I immediately searched to find out whether this small town of approximately 6,500 inhabitants has a Rathaus, a town hall, where I could inquire about Antonio Bruck.  I learned they do, and without delay sent them an email inquiring about my second cousin, laying out what I knew.  Incredibly, by the following morning, the Rathaus confirmed the information I had uncovered on Antonio Bruck’s birth certificate was correct and that he still lived in Haag; this was the good news, the bad news was they couldn’t give me his contact information.  Fortunately, the gentleman at the Rathaus offered to call Antonio and explain that a cousin from America was trying to reach him.  By Tuesday, my second cousin Antonio had sent me an email explaining his consternation at being phoned by Haag’s Rathaus, asked to appear in person at their offices, and told I was trying to get in touch with him.  Antonio wasted no time contacting me.  So, only two days after figuring out that one of my second cousins was living in Germany, we’d miraculously established contact.

Let me briefly digress and touch on something that may be of passing interest to some readers.  Given my persistence, it’s likely I would eventually have figured out another way to get in touch with my second cousins, although there’s no guarantee of this.  The 1983 marriage notation on Antonio’s 1946 birth certificate simplified my search.  What makes this notation on Antonio’s Spanish birth certificate notable is that he was married in Germany, but this information was somehow conveyed to the Spanish authorities in Barcelona.  In my years of doing forensic genealogy, I’ve come across multiple examples where marriages and even divorces are noted on German birth certificates, but this is the only instance I’ve come across where such a notation crosses country borders, this in the time before the European Union.  For people doing research on their ancestors, it pays to look for notations on vital documents, particularly on German birth certificates, that may inform when and where their relatives got married.  While Antonio’s birth certificate includes this information, the birth certificate of his sister Margarita, also married in Germany, contains no such reference.

Figure 14. A picture Antonio sent me of he and his grandson Emil shortly after we got acquainted
Figure 15. International Genealogical Index showing Wilhelm & Antonie Bruck married in Hamburg on April 2, 1904

Once Antonio and I connected, we began a lively exchange of emails. (Figure 14)  I learned a lot more about my great-uncle Willy and his family and widened my circle of previously unknown relatives who I eventually contacted.  From the International Genealogical Index, I already knew that my great-aunt and -uncle had married in Hamburg on April 2, 1904 (Figure 15).  Once Antonio confirmed that Wilhelm and Antonie’s children, Edgar and Eva, had been born respectively, in 1905 and 1906, in Barcelona, I wrote to the woman who’d helped me at the Registro Civil de Barcelona, asking for copies of their birth certificates.  She remembered me, and in February 2015, sent me their Certificados de Nacimiento. (Figures 16a-b & 17a-b)

 

Figure 16a. Edgar Pedro Bruck Marcus Birth Certificate (Page 1) (February 6, 1905)

 

Figure 16b. Edgar Pedro Bruck Marcus Birth Certificate (Page 2) (February 6, 1905)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 17a. Eva Bruck Marcus Birth Certificate (Page 1) (August 19, 1906)
Figure 17b. Eva Bruck Marcus Birth Certificate (Page 2) (August 19, 1906)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 18. Wilhelm & Antonie Bruck on April 5, 1904, the year they got married

It turns out, Antonio’s grandfather had been an electrical engineer for AEG, Allgemeine Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft, a company established in Berlin 1893 that went defunct in 1996.  Among other things, AEG was involved in the installation and generation of electrical power and transmission lines, and, as technical director at AEG, my great-uncle was sent to Barcelona in 1905 to supervise the set-up of electrification and street illumination in Barcelona. (Figure 18) As noted, Wilhelm and Antonie’s two children were born in Barcelona, where the family stayed until 1910 (Figures 19 & 20), whereupon they returned to Berlin. 

 

Figure 19. The villa in Barcelona where Wilhelm Bruck and his family lived between 1905 and 1910
Figure 20. Wilhelm & Antonie Bruck and their children Edgar & Eva on the rooftop terrace of the villa where they lived in Barcelona

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The family’s association with Spain no doubt saved their lives during the rise of the National Socialists.  It appears after Hitler’s ascendancy to power in 1933, the family returned to Barcelona at least until the start of the Spanish Civil War in 1936, although the family’s chronology during this period is at best confusing.  It seems that Wilhelm and Antonie returned to Germany for a short period, because in 1937 they were given the choice by the Nazis of attending a re-education school to learn to become “better” Germans or leaving the country; they decided to relocate to Antwerp, Belgium. 

At the outset of the Spanish Civil War, Edgar left for Geneva, Switzerland, but, unable to find work there, went to Paris soon after.  Between 1937 and 1941 he was in France, living in Paris and Bordeaux, before eventually being incarcerated at the French detention center of Condom.  Since France and Germany were at war, and Edgar was a German national, he was arrested.  Seemingly, it was only the persistent efforts of Wilhelm that got Edgar released, whereupon he rejoined his family in Barcelona in 1941.  It’s likely that once the Spanish Civil War ended on April 1, 1939, Wilhelm and Antonie returned to Barcelona from Antwerp.

Figure 21. Wilhelm Bruck & Antonie Marcus’s Marriage Certificate (April 2, 1904) with 1940 notations adding names of “Sara” and “Israel” to denote they were Jewish

Let me briefly digress again and draw the readers attention to a very common notation added to the birth and/or marriage certificates of German Jews during the Nazi period. (Figure 21)  As previously mentioned, my great-uncle Willy and his wife Antonie Marcus were married in Hamburg, Germany on April 2, 1904.  Below is the translation of their marriage certificate:

 

 

 

 

N.172

Hamburg, the 2nd of April 1904

In front of the below signed registrar appeared today because of their marriage:

1.) the chief engineer Wilhelm Bruck, known because of his birth certificate, lutheran religion, born on the 24th of October 1872 in Ratibor, living in Barcelona, son of the in Ratibor deceased innkeeper Fedor Bruck and his wife Friederike born Mokrauer, living in Berlin.

2.) Antonie Marcus, known because of her birth certificate, lutheran religion, born on the 13th of July 1876 in Altona, living in Hamburg, Heimhuderstreet 60/2, daughter of the in Altona deceased merchant Hirsch (called Harry) Marcus and his wife Adele born Hertz, living in Hamburg.

And on the right-hand side is written:

Nr.172

Hamburg, the 11th of march 1940

Antonia Bruck born Marcus, living in Barcelona Calle Balmes, has received the additional Christian name “Sara”.

Nr. 172

Hamburg, the 29th of April 1940

Wilhelm Bruck, living in Barcelona, has received the additional Christian name “Israel”.

In the next two additions on the right-hand side is written that those two additional names “Sara” and “Israel” are no longer valid

from the date of 22nd of July 1948

The certificate states that Wilhelm and Antonie were Lutherans though both were considered Jewish by the Nazis.  As such, in March and April 1940, respectively, the Nazis gave them the additional names of “Sara” and “Israel,” identical names given to all female and male Jews during this period, names rescinded in writing after WWII.  The Nazis even recorded the street in Barcelona on which my great-aunt and -uncle lived, Calle Balmes, presumably useful information had they ever invaded Spain.  As an aside, according to my second cousins, because they were Lutherans, a major branch of Protestant Christianity, neither was able to attend “normal” schools in predominantly Catholic Spain so, instead, they were schooled at the “Lycée Français.”   For this reason, in 1955 Edgar and his family returned to Germany so his children could attend regular public schools

Figure 22. Dr. Anna Rothholz, one of my third cousins, in May 2015, Munich

Antonio put me in touch with additional relatives living in Munich and Berlin.  One woman was a Dr. Anna Rothholz, a third cousin I eventually learned. (Figure 22)  Anna, in turn, referred me to other third cousins, including the Pauly family.  This was of particular interest, as a woman named Lisa Pauly helped my uncle Dr. Fedor Bruck survive in Berlin during WWII.  One deceased Pauly cousin developed a very detailed “Stammbaum,” family tree, which I was given, but unfortunately this still does not explain how Lisa Pauly is related to the Bruck family.

 

Figure 23. Eva Bruck’s Death Certificate from Ainring, Germany (August 15, 1977)

I’ve mentioned in previous posts my father’s penchant for being dismissive of family.  Not only did he lose touch with most, but he lost track of how they passed away.  Case in point, I was always told Wilhelm’s daughter, Eva, whom I met in 1967 in New York, had committed suicide.  In fact, she died of laryngeal cancer in 1977 in Ainring, Germany. (Figure 23)  There is an interesting anecdote related to her death.  She had wanted to be interred with her family at the Cementerio de Montjuïc in Barcelona, but an administrative hang-up prevented this.  The Spanish kept telling the family the Germans should just ship the body to Spain, but the Germans refused to do this without something in writing, something the Spaniards never provided.  Thus, Eva was buried in Germany against her wishes.

Figure 24. With my two second cousins, Margarita and Antonio (right) May 2015, Munich

My wife and I eventually met my second and third cousins on a trip to Germany in May 2015. (Figure 24)  Margarita, Antonio and I all brought family pictures, including of people we were unable to identify, but, between us, we eventually figured out who most were; they would later scan and send all the family pictures they inherited from their father and aunt.  One particularly interesting identification was of Wilhelm’s wife, Antonie, who entirely unbeknownst to me, had worked in my great-aunt Franziska Bruck’s flower school in Berlin. (Figure 25) Stories of other people shown in the family pictures will be the subject of future posts, as they led me to other discoveries.

Figure 25. At my great-aunt Franziska Bruck’s flower school in Berlin showing Franziska (second from right) and Antonie Bruck (far right)

 

 

 

 

POST 32: FINDING GREAT-UNCLE “WILLY”

Note: This post describes how I tracked down my deceased great-uncle Wilhelm “Willy” Bruck, my grandfather Felix Bruck’s younger brother.

Figure 1a. Remembrance poem my great-uncle Wilhelm “Willy” Bruck wrote in honor of his brother, Felix “Lixel” Bruck, my grandfather, on the occasion of his marriage on February 11, 1894 (cover)
Figure 1b. Remembrance poem my great-uncle Wilhelm “Willy” Bruck wrote in honor of his brother, Felix “Lixel” Bruck, my grandfather, on the occasion of his marriage on February 11, 1894 (inside)
Figure 1c. Remembrance poem my great-uncle Wilhelm “Willy” Bruck wrote in honor of his brother, Felix “Lixel” Bruck, my grandfather, on the occasion of his marriage on February 11, 1894 (back)

 

Figure 2. Willy Bruck’s daughter, Eva Bruck, between her first cousins, Otto Bruck (my father) & Fedor Bruck (my uncle), on the occasion of her visit to New York in 1967

In 1951, some months after I was born in New York, my parents received a congratulatory card from my father’s uncle, Wilhelm “Willy” Bruck, my grandfather Felix Bruck’s surviving younger brother. (Figures 1a, 1b & 1c) Regrettably, this card, mailed from Barcelona, Spain, has not survived.  At the time I began looking into my family, I knew very little about this great-uncle; it turns out his only daughter, Eva Bruck, visited New York in 1967 (Figure 2), although her connection to our family was never explained to me at the time.  Still, I remember her clearly.  Having been a coin collector my entire life, Eva immediately endeared herself by bringing me an Austrian 15 Kreuzer silver coin from 1686, an item still in my possession.

Figure 3. My aunt Susanne, who was murdered in Auschwitz, standing over her first cousins, Edgar & Eva Bruck,, in Berlin on October 25, 1924 when all performed together

Eva had a very distinctive look so when I carefully re-examined my father’s pictures from Ratibor and Berlin when he and Eva were younger, she was easily recognizable.  I was also able to identify her brother, Edgar Bruck, in these same images. (Figure 3)

As previously mentioned, my father took scant interest in his family and often quipped, “thank heavens we don’t have family!”  When he spoke of his relatives or friends, he often used a French or German sobriquet, such as “la Socialiste,” “la Vielle,” or “Die Schlummermutter,” never mentioning surnames for these people.  Given my father’s rather casual attitude about family, it’s not surprising he lost touch with them, and why I never met or knew how many aunts and uncles he had.  For that matter, I was never even told how many siblings my father had, as readers may recall from my visit to the Polish State Archives in Raciborz (Post 12), where I learned of an older brother named Walter who died in infancy.

From the Ratibor microfilm records and the Polish State Archives in Raciborz, I discovered my grandfather had seven siblings and learned their dates of birth; since I track only five of the siblings into adulthood, it’s likely two died in infancy.  Finding out what became of the surviving brothers and sisters during the Nazi era and uncovering whether any had children or grandchildren became a priority when I started the forensic investigations into my father’s family.

Figure 4. A page from FamilySearch’s “International Genealogical Index (IGI)” with vital statistics on Wilhelm Bruck & his wife Antonie Marcus
Figure 5. Wilhelm Bruck & Antonie Marcus’s marriage certificate, showing they were married on April 2, 1904, in Hamburg, Germany

I started with my great-uncle Willy, Wilhelm Bruck.  The Ratibor birth records showed he was born on October 24, 1872, while a page in FamilySearch’s “International Genealogical Index (IGI),” indicated he died on May 18, 1952, in Barcelona, and was married to an Antonie Marcus on April 2, 1904 in Hamburg, Germany; Antonie was born on July 13, 1876 in Hamburg, Germany and died in Barcelona (as Antonia) on October 10, 1942.  When I began my search into my great-uncle Willy, this is all I knew. (Figures 4 & 5)

 

 

Figure 6. The only photo of of my great-uncle Wilhelm “Willy” Bruck (1872-1952) I had at the time I started investigating him

Aware of my great-uncle Willy’s connection to Barcelona, I searched the city’s White Pages for people with the surname Bruck hoping to find some of his descendants.  I was a bit surprised when none showed up, although when I broadened my search to all of Spain, I found 14 people with the surname Bruck.  At that instant, I decided to write to all fourteen individuals, enclosing the only photo I had at the time of my great-uncle Willy. (Figure 6)

I’ve often used this approach, writing “cold letters” to people I think may have information about my father’s family and friends.  Typically, I get a response rate of about 50 percent, often absent information, although, in this instance, only two people responded.  The first response was predictably negative.  The second, however, was different.  Early one Saturday morning, I received a call from Haifa, Israel from a gentleman named Michael Bruck; this immediately caught my attention because I was unaware of any Bruck relatives in Israel.  It turns out, Michael is the first cousin of someone I’d written to in Spain, a man named Ronny Bruck.  Early in January 2014, Ronny received my letter, coincidentally, on his 65th birthday.  Thinking an unknown Bruck relative in America was sending him birthday well-wishes, he instead found my odd request asking about my deceased great-uncle Willy.  Ronny forwarded my letter to his first cousin Michael in Israel, the family genealogist, ergo the call.

Figure 7. Distant cousins, Ronny (from Alicante, Spain) & Michael Bruck (from Haifa, Israel) in July 2014 in Hilden, Germany, on the occasion of our first meeting

While both Ronny and Michael recognized a family resemblance between my great-uncle Willy and their ancestors, to this day we have not connected our respective branches of the family; whenever we come upon a new family tree, we immediately share it hoping to eventually find a “link.”  Regardless, both Ronny and Michael have been of enormous assistance in my family research.  Ronny learned Sütterlin for only one year in school, and has translated countless historic birth, marriage and death records written in this obsolete German script; Michael helped me track down one of my father’s first cousins who immigrated to Haifa after WWII, an arduous search that will be the subject of a future post.  While we can’t pinpoint our family ties, I consider Michael and Ronny nothing less than intimate kin. (Figure 7)

Figure 8. Synagogue Librarian for La Javurá organization, Ms. Alba Toscana,, in Valencia, Spain in July 2014 standing next to my wife, Ann Finan, at the Mercado Central

Having basically reached a dead-end on my great-uncle Willy, I turned to the Los Angeles Jewish Genealogical Society for help contacting someone in Spain’s Jewish community thinking they might be able to assist.  They put me in touch with the Synagogue Librarian for La Javurá, Ms. Alba Toscana, in Valencia, Spain (Figure 8), who suggested I contact the Comunidad Israelita de Barcelona or CIB, and they, in turn, sent me to the Cementiris de Barcelona, S.A.  I emailed them in February 2014, and, within a day, they responded and confirmed that my great-uncle Willy was indeed buried in Barcelona, at the Cementerio de Montjuïc, with his wife, son and daughter-in-law; they also provided specifics on where all were entombed.  The Cementiris, however, was unwilling to provide a copy of any of the death certificates for family members unless I presented myself in person and paid for the documents on the spot.

Figure 9. Entrance to Cementiris de Barcelona
Figure 10. Entrance to Ministerio de Justicia Registro Civil de Barcelona, where copies of death certificates are obtained

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 11. Letter from Cementiris de Barcelona with burial information on my great-uncle Willy & his wife Antonia

Fortunately, my wife and I already had plans in summer of 2014 to visit the places connected to my family’s diaspora, including Barcelona, so when we arrived there in July we presented ourselves to the Cementiris. (Figure 9)  Payment was made in this office, then we had to trek across town to a separate office, the Ministerio de Justicia Registro Civil de Barcelona (Figure 10), where actual death certificates are obtained.  The Cementiris provided a letter telling me when my great-uncle Willi and his wife died, and where they are entombed in the Cementerio de Montjuïc. (Figure 11)  I also received a separate document stating that payment for keeping the remains interred was current.  As readers may know, it is a common practice in Spain and elsewhere in the world for relatives to pay to keep their ancestors buried, otherwise, the human remains are disinterred and placed in a charnel house after a certain number of years.  The Cementiris, however, would not provide information on any living family members.  Spain is a notoriously difficult place to obtain official documents and names of living and even deceased relatives because of its recent history of fascism; initially I was only able to obtain the death certificates for my great-uncle Willy (Figure 12), known here as Guillermo Bruck Mockrauer, and his son, Edgar-Pedro Bruck Marcus. (Figure 13)

Figure 12. Death certificate for my great-uncle Willy (“Guillermo”) showing he died on May 18, 1952
Figure 13. Death certificate for great-uncle Willy’s son, Edgar-Pedro, indicating he died on October 5, 1988

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A side note on Spanish names is relevant.  In Spain, at birth, an individual is given two surnames, that of his mother and father.  Thus, my great-uncle Willy’s father’s surname was Bruck and his mother’s maiden name was Mockrauer, so he was known in Spain as “Guillermo (Spanish for Wilhelm) Bruck Mockrauer.”

Figure 14. Entrance to Cementerio de Montjuïc in Barcelona, Spain, where my great-uncle Willy, his wife, son, & daughter-in-law are all interred

Armed with information on where my great-uncle Willy or “Guillermo” was interred, my wife and I set out to pay a visit to the Cementerio de Montjuïc. (Figure 14)  I already knew Guillermo and his wife, who predeceased him by 10 years, were buried together, along with their son, Edgar and his wife, Mercedes.  Interestingly, neither Willy’s son nor daughter-in-law’s names are inscribed on the headstone; this I had learned from the Cementeris before visiting the cemetery. (Figure 15)

Figure 15. Headstone at the Cementerio de Montjuïc where my great-uncle Willy, his wife Antonia, his son Edgar, and his daughter-in-law Mercedes are interred. Only Willy & Antonia’s names are inscribed on the poor-quality tombstone

 

Following our visit to the Cementerio de Montjuïc, I returned to the Registro Civil de Barcelona hoping to obtain official documents for additional family members I surmised had been born or died in Barcelona.  I had the good fortune to land upon an English-speaking administrator who was enormously helpful; she asked me to come back after working hours, spent some hours on the computer, and provided me with some invaluable birth and death certificates that eventually enabled me to track down my great-uncle Willy’s grandchildren.  It took some effort to decipher the significance of these documents.  It was only after I returned home and correlated these documents with letters and pictures found among the personal papers of two of my renowned great-aunts, archived at the Stadtmuseum in Berlin, that I was fully able to connect the dots.  This will be the subject of the following Blog post.