Family Story Finder

The sweep of family history across the generations

Margot Dränger's survival story
  • June 1939 - January 1945

Helga's second cousin suffered unimaginable traumas in and around Krakow from 1939 to 1945. She survived and gave testimony later in life

Motives for mercy—the consuls of Toulouse
  • October 24 1968 - December 8 1940

In July 1940, consular officials from three nations conspired to open an escape route for Jews out of occupied France. Why did they do it?

Rosa’s fateful choice
  • 1936 - 1940

Rosa Feidt was the only Lewi sibling who got out, to her everlasting remorse

Sputnik in the backyard
  • -

Watching Sputnik at night from our back yard in a suburb of Pittsburgh is one of my earliest memories.

The Clerc jewelry aryanization files
  • 1940 - January 1701

The Clerc jewelry assets were seized and resold to an Aryan buyer. The Nazis kept perfect records of the transactions.

The corkscrew on eBay—sourcing family artifacts
  • 1938 - 1939

Out of the files of the U.S. Patent Office and into the peculiar subculture of corkscrew collectors

The family secret behind grandfather's desk calendar
  • July 22 1939 -

A surprising artifact discovered after a parent's death leads to a series of discoveries and a new pastime in genealogy