WW2 German Fremdenpass - Need Help Translating

[CJH234]

Hello,

My Uncle recently found my Grandfather's Fremdenpass from WWII and we cannot read German. I am hoping someone may be able to help decipher it for us to tell us where he was or what he was doing. It is a bit confusing for us knowing he grew up in Poland. However, he always claimed to be in a displaced person camp after the war, so perhaps this is where this pass stems from. I think he couldn't or wouldn't go back to Poland since it was a communist state after the war and ended up in the U.S.

Sorry for the quality, my Uncle said it was the best he could do with the quality. I am going to visit him soon to try and get a color copy and maybe some photos. Thanks for the help! -CJHFremdenPassWarchol.pdf

[HPL2008]

This is a foreigners' passport, issued in Schwerin on 10 Sept. 1945 and expired on 10 Sept. 1946.

The personal data is as follows:

Name: Warchal, Wladislaus
Nationality: America (U.S.A.)
Occupation: Dairy worker
Date of birth: 22 Sept. 1912
Place of birth: [...] County Mitschigan*)
Place of residence or current whereabouts: Schwerin/Meckl.**)
Height: 1.70 meters
Facial shape: Oval
Eye color: Blue
Hair color: Dark blond
Distinguishing marks: None

*) Not sure about the first word, i.e. the town. The official has misspelled Michigan and mistaken it for a county ["Krs." = "Kreis"] rather than a state.

**) "Meckl." is the abbreviation for the state of Mecklenburg

[CJH234]

Thank you so much for the fast reply HPL2008. Very interesting that is says American Citizen. He was born in the USA in 1912, but the family immigrated back to Poland in 1919. Perhaps he never had a Polish passport or it was safer to claim American at the time

Do you know of any DP camps or military installments that were positioned in that area during that time? We can't understand what else he would have been doing there, but we know he departed Gdynia Poland in late 1947. So somewhere between those dates he left Mecklenburg and went to Poland.

Much appreciated! -CJH

[Duff]

Nice work HPL!

[HPL2008]

Do you know of any DP camps or military installments that were positioned in that area during that time? We can't understand what else he would have been doing there, but we know he departed Gdynia Poland in late 1947.

Sorry; I have no material on DP camps.

It is a good possibility that he had been taken to Germany as a forced laborer. (After all, this was the fate of a total of some 2 million Poles between 1939 and 1945; some 90 % of whom worked in agriculture.)

There were certainly many forced laborers at Schwerin, most of whom were billeted at the Arsenal (today, the site of the state's interior ministry). The forced laborers were employed by the railways, on farms and in various commercial enterprises, including the local dairy factory. Given the civilian occupation on the passport, he may well have worked there.

(However, at this point, this is pure speculation.)

[CJH234]

Sorry; I have no material on DP camps.

It is a good possibility that he had been taken to Germany as a forced laborer. (After all, this was the fate of a total of some 2 million Poles between 1939 and 1945; some 90 % of whom worked in agriculture.)

There were certainly many forced laborers at Schwerin, most of whom were billeted at the Arsenal (today, the site of the state's interior ministry). The forced laborers were employed by the railways, on farms and in various commercial enterprises, including the local dairy factory. Given the civilian occupation on the passport, he may well have worked there.

(However, at this point, this is pure speculation.)

Speculation at least gives me a starting point to begin searching for more records, perhaps in Germany. Thank you for the information. You have been very helpful.

If you have time, would you be able to help translate this German document as well? We think it has something to do with a claim for reparations after coming to the U.S. Thank you! -CJHWarcholGermanDoc.pdf

[HPL2008]

If you have time, would you be able to help translate this German document as well? We think it has something to do with a claim for reparations after coming to the U.S.

That's right. It says:

"Bayerisches
Landesentschädigungsamt*
Munich, Arcisstr. 11

File ref.: Sa/Ki 98217

Munich, 13 Jan. 1950

to: Mr. Walter Washol

re: Reparations.


Due to your letter of 6 Jan. 1950 on the aforementioned subject, as requested, please find attached:


1 copy of the Allgemeines Entschädigungsgesetz**) á 2.-- DM = .... DM
1 set of reparations forms á 1.-- DM = 1.-- DM
Total amount: 1.-- DM


Please balance the cost by money transfer to post office giro account no. 152, Munich, using the attached transfer form or (if abroad) by international reply coupons (3 units), stating the above file reference number.

Respectfully,

[stamped and signed]"

*) lit. "Bavarian State Bureau for Reparations". The Entschädigungsämter were responsible for financial compensation of people persecuted on political, racial or religious grounds during the Third Reich.

**) lit. "General Reparations Law"; the law regulating financial compensation for victims of nazi persecution.


The fact that the Bavarian authorities were in charge of handling his case is of interest here. This applied if he:

• 1. Had his place of residence or usual whereabouts in the State of Bavaria on 1 Jan. 1947 or had been assigned as a refugee to the State of Bavaria since that date or
• 2. Had emigrated or died prior to 1 Jan. 1947 and had his last place of residence or usual wherabouts in Bavaria prior to emigration or death or
• 3. Was in a DP camp in the American Occupation Zone on 1 Jan. 1947 and had either
  settled in Bavaria by the time the compensation law took effect or within one year after that date or
  emigrated abroad from out of Bavaria after 31 Dec. 1946.

[§ 6, 1 of the Entschädigungsgesetz of 12 August 1949.]

So, after Schwerin and prior to Gdynia, he must have been in Bavaria at some point.

[CJH234]

That's right. It says:

"Bayerisches
Landesentschädigungsamt*
Munich, Arcisstr. 11

File ref.: Sa/Ki 98217

Munich, 13 Jan. 1950

to: Mr. Walter Washol

re: Reparations.


Due to your letter of 6 Jan. 1950 on the aforementioned subject, as requested, please find attached:


1 copy of the Allgemeines Entschädigungsgesetz**) á 2.-- DM = .... DM
1 set of reparations forms á 1.-- DM = 1.-- DM
Total amount: 1.-- DM


Please balance the cost by money transfer to post office giro account no. 152, Munich, using the attached transfer form or (if abroad) by international reply coupons (3 units), stating the above file reference number.

Respectfully,

[stamped and signed]"

*) lit. "Bavarian State Bureau for Reparations". The Entschädigungsämter were responsible for financial compensation of people persecuted on political, racial or religious grounds during the Third Reich.

**) lit. "General Reparations Law"; the law regulating financial compensation for victims of nazi persecution.


The fact that the Bavarian authorities were in charge of handling his case is of interest here. This applied if he:

• 1. Had his place of residence or usual whereabouts in the State of Bavaria on 1 Jan. 1947 or had been assigned as a refugee to the State of Bavaria since that date or
• 2. Had emigrated or died prior to 1 Jan. 1947 and had his last place of residence or usual wherabouts in Bavaria prior to emigration or death [we know that this wasn't the case] or
• 3. Was in a DP camp in the American Occupation Zone on 1 Jan. 1947 and had either
  settled in Bavaria by the time the compensation law took effect or within one year after that date or
  emigrated abroad from out of Bavaria after 31 Dec. 1946.

[§ 6, 1 of the Entschädigungsgesetz of 12 August 1949.]

So, after Schwerin and prior to Gdynia, he must have been in Bavaria at some point.

This is again very interesting. It seems strange that he would go North to South Germany and then back to Poland to leave Europe. We have a couple other papers, but they are in Polish. One is from the American Embassy in Warsaw which appears to confirm his American citizenship through birth and the other is from a doctor which through Google translate sounds like a confirmation of a bullet wound during the war, I think 1939. Then we have his passenger ticket and another form from the American Embassy again confirming his citizenship. I'll attach them here if anyone is interested or can pull any other information from them.

I am going to make some contacts in Germany to try and sort out other records which may help us identify where he was. Thank you once again HPL2008!!! -CJH WarcholTelelgram.pdfWarcholMedicalLetter.pdf

- - ------- - -

Opps, I think two of the files were too big to attach. Let me try to reduce their size.

[Mokumer]

Dear CJH234,

I hope you are still active on this forum, since I think I might be able to clear quite some of your grandfathers past. Hopefully we can get in touch anytime soon, since it might be stunning!