Die Gustloff and my family

[Michela Cocolin]

Hello,
I am new to the forum and as my German is a bit rusty, I will write in English.
My name is Michela Cocolin, I live in England and am doing some family history research.
My mother was born in Danzig in 1939 and was forced to leave in 1945 with the advance of the Red Army.
She and my grandmother were booked on the Wilhelm Gustloff but luckily missed it and therefore survived the sinking.
I would like to find out more about their address in Danzig, Ostseestrasse, 4 - Danzig -Langfuhr, which now appears to be
Aleja Generala Jozefa Hallera, 4 - the assress of Samodzielny Publiczny Szpital Kliniczny.
Are there any archives or who can I contact to find out what happened to her house between 1945 and today?
I would also like to hear from anyone whose ancestors lived near Ostseestrasse or had similar experiences with the Gustloff.
I am not sure which ship my mother and grandmother took after missing the Gustloff, but she told me that they were stuck in freezing waters for days and she developed freeze bites and circulation problems in her feet.
Many thanks to everyone who will reply,
Michela Cocolin

[Michela Cocolin]

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[Michela Cocolin]

have posted some photos of my Great-Grandfather and grandfather in the hope that someone might recognise the uniforms and help me understand what club/navy rank my Grandfather belonged to.
Many thanks.

[Michela Cocolin]

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[Michela Cocolin]

Hello,
I am new to the forum and as my German is a bit rusty, I will write in English.
My name is Michela Cocolin, I live in England and am doing some family history research.
My mother, Elke Gerns, was born in Danzig in 1939 and was forced to leave in 1945 with the advance of the Red Army.
She and my grandmother, Maria Frida Luise Gerns (geb. Borkert) were booked on the Wilhelm Gustloff but luckily missed it and therefore survived the sinking.
I would like to find out more about their address in Danzig, Ostseestrasse, 4 - Danzig -Langfuhr, which now appears to be
Aleja Generala Jozefa Hallera, 4 - the assress of Samodzielny Publiczny Szpital Kliniczny.
Are there any archives or who can I contact to find out what happened to her house between 1945 and today?
I would also like to hear from anyone whose ancestors lived near Ostseestrasse or had similar experiences with the Gustloff.
I am not sure which ship my mother and grandmother took after missing the Gustlhoff, but she told me that they were stuck in freezing waters for days and she developed freeze bites and circulation problems in her feet. They finally reached Wilhelmshafen where the family lived before moving to Dusseldorf.
I attach some family photos of the house in Ostseestrasse and photos of my grandfather in the hope that someone recognises the uniforms and can perhaps help me find out the club and Navy Rank he belonged to.
Many thanks to everyone who will reply,
Michela Cocolin

[Michela Cocolin]

http://forum.danzig.de/showthread.php?13921-Gustlhoff-survivors

[StampCollector]

Hello,

you are showing us some very extraordanary pictures from your family.
I can help with SMS ARIADNE.
There is a german article at Wikipedia:
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS_Ariadne_(1871)

With many greetings
SC

[Michela Cocolin]

Thank you for your help!
That would have been my great-grandfather's ship, I think.
My grandfather was Herbert Christian Gerns, the little boy and young man in the photos. He became a naval engineer, died in 1968.
Best wishes,
Michela

[sarpei]

Hello Michaela,

on http://danzig.at/index.php?id=17,0,0,1,0,0 you can find three different names for different parts of the former 'Ostseestraße'. Here an approach for the localisation:

21327

The 'Ostseestraße' can be seen in the upper middle of the picture. The even house numbers could be found on the left hand side of the street (seen from 'Hindenburgstraße' - the large one from top left to bottom right). The numbers between 'Hindenburgstraße' and 'Conradi-Weg' were 2a, 2b, 4 and 6. So I think now you can locate 'Ostseestraße 4' by yourself.

Here an extract for 'Ostseestraße 4' from 1942:

21328

Herbert GERNS could be found there in 1940/1941 too. Do you know whether he did his studies in Danzig?

If you are searching by Google for 'Turnbund Der schwarze Ring' or something similar you'll find some background information.


Kind regards

Peter

[Michela Cocolin]

Hello Peter,
Thank you very much for your reply!
Yes, I found the address for Ostseestrasse, 4 which is now Hallera in Polish.
The house is still there and appears to be a clinic now.
I researched Turnbund der Schwarze Ring, it's an academy my grandfather attended but I couldn't find an alumni list.
Best wishes,
Michela

[sarpei]

Hello Michaela,

fine! Due to the fact that I don't know where you had been searching already I add a link for Google Street view that offers a glimpse at the relevant address. I've to admit that there is not so much to see ...

According alumni lists of student associations: I think that there are no to find online and guess that only contacting such association will result in corresponding information.

Do you have any other hints for starting a search?


Kind regards

Peter

[Michela Cocolin]

Hello Peter,
It would be a great help to find out about the uniforms my grandfather and his father were wearing. I don't know why but I can't post photos here (the system doesn't let me!) but I have posted some here:
http://forum.danzig.de/showthread.php?13921-Gustlhoff-survivors
Please have a look, any advice on uniform wolf be great!
I can only see its Prussian.
Many thanks,
Michela

[sarpei]

Hello Michaela,

I'd appreciate to learn more about your sources that support your statement 'I can only see it's Prussian.' To be honest: I'd prefer to have some scans from the pictures and no photo with glas and reflections.

Some guessing and checking of about 300 uniforms may reveal a 'best guess':

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I wonder whether we can go further with this status of information.

I'm a little bit dissapointed not getting an answer concerning my questions ...

If that's all - I'm finished.


Kind regards

Peter

[Michela Cocolin]

Hello Peter,
Thank you for your message.
Sorry if I missed your questions. I don't have much more information that that and don't have a scanner to scan the photos for better quality. My mother always referred to herself as "Prussian", but I know little about the history of Germany. My grandfather was born in Danzig but I don't know where his father was from (the man in uniform). I think he was called Emil Gerns. My grandfather was Herbert Christian Louis Gerns. After Danzig he moved to Markoldendorf and then to Benrath, Düsseldorf. He attended the Akademischer Turnbund and became a naval engineer.
Best wishes,
Michela

[Bartels]

Hello Michela,

thank you for the photos and welcome here.

My great-grandfather had been ship's doctor on SMS Ariadne, but some years earlier.

In post #2 there is a typical German student of burschenschaft or corps, if "Akademische Turner" had been dressed like that I don't know.

My grandfathers had been members of the Latte (https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schiffbauervereinigung_Latte) for shipbuilding students.

[henki]

As you might know Langfuhr was the posh area of Danzig. It was not as damaged as other parts of the town.

My uncle got on the Gustloff age 15 (he lied about his age to get on). Got picked up by a german torpedo boat and survived.

[patjakub]

Hi Michela,

I can take pictures of the building on Ostseestrasse/Hallera 4.

Patrick.

[sarpei]

Hi Patrick,

I sent you a mail ...


Kind regards

Peter

[Tomasz74]

2170721708
Hi Michaela,
please see the attached piece of the Gdansk address book with all residents of the Ostseestr. 4 in the years 1940/1941 and 1942.

Best regards,
Tomasz74

[Unregistriert]

2170721708
Hi Michaela,
please see the attached piece of the Gdansk address book with all residents of the Ostseestr. 4 in the years 1940/1941 and 1942.

Best regards,
Tomasz74

Hello,
Do you have similar address book for Ostseestr. 15, 13 and 11?
Best Regards!

[sarpei]

Hello!


25220 25221

Ostesseestr. 11-13-15 (1940/41) Ostesseestr. 11-13-15 (1942)


Best regards,

Peter

[Martagawior]

Thank you🙂