Cammer (British zone)
Cappel - 2 zones (British zone)
Carsfield
Celle, #2511, Land Niedersachsen (British zone)
Landkreis Celle
Kreisarchiv (war archive)
Trift 26
Gebäude 6
29221 Celle
Phone: (05141) 916-353
Fax: (05141) 916-474
E-mail: rainer.voss@lkcelle.de
Web site: www.landkreis-celle.de
My father (Dr. Soichi Nogami) was the leading Japanese diplomat who was tasked with taking 82 persons into a "safe" zone from Italy. Italy was being liberated by the Allied forces and the Japanese Ambassador was in contact wth the US Army command in Germany about diplomatic haven for the Japanese Embassy staff and families.
Germany was already pacified but the Pacific theater was still going on; therefore the Japanese Ambassador sought out US sector as a safe place for the embassy personnel. This is the background.
He received confirmation that the US Army would show no harm to the Japanese personnel. My father received the news and boarded the 82 persons on the train from Mestre (outside Venice, Italy) to Germany. Men, women, and children. I was the youngest - I was a year old.
When we arrived in Germany, the Americans had a change of heart. They allowed each person to take 2 sutecases out of the baggage compartments and then the 82 persons watched in horror as the Americans allowed the Western DPs to raid the baggage cars and take away all the remaining possesions belonging to the Japs. My father watched and noted everything but could do nothing to stop the looting which was watched over by US Army guards.
We were then all taken to a special camp in Cham (pronounced KHAM) which was our home for the next 6 months. We were behind a barbed wire fence and put into dirt floored barracks. Men in one and women and children in the other.
My father spoke 6 languages and this was one of the reasons why he was selected for this mission. My mother was Hungarian and had her mother, my Hungarian grandmother, join us in Venice. She had just escaped the advancing Russian troops in her native Hungary before joining the Japanese embassy in exile in Venice headed up by my father, the Japanese.
The camp's medical doctor was a Capt. Soloman. He did not care for the sick Japanese. The children has all gotten sick and my Hungarian grandmother begged Dr. Soliman (in German and French, and Italian - but she didn't speak English) to help the children. She tried to find out what infectious disease they had all gotten but she had no medicines. She befriended a young Germany girl on the other side of the barbed wire fence. She saw this tall, blond haired woman weeping in frustration. They spoke to each other in German. She explained to the young girl why she was crying - the children were ill and there was no medical help from our US Army captors.
The young girl just happened to be the town vetinerarian's servant girl. He got permission to enter our camp and treat the ill. Imagine Ms Olga, help in the form of a Germany animal doctor! Ths wonderful vet not only diagnosed their illness - but provided fresh eggs and milk for the children. He said that the neighboring farmers paid for his services in fresh eggs and milk.
So this is my story. If you need more information - just ask. Thank you in advance.
Sincerely,
Cinnamon El-Mulla (nee Mitsuko Maria Beatrix Nogami)
Followup:
8/27/07
While doing some research I came
across your site and read an interesting post from Cinnamon El-Mulla
(nee Mitsuko Maria Beatrix Nogami) relating her experience in a DP
camp in Cham Germany. She was 1 year old at the time. There was no
date, so I do not know how old the post is. I am interested
in contacting the lady as I was in the U.S. Army in the area at the
time. Occasionaly I would be guarding some Japanese diplomatic families
in the near by town of Furth im Wald. I recall the small children
and often wondered about their situation.
Al Hershberger hershal@alaska.net
City archives Cham
Hospital Place 22 93413
Cham
E-mail: archiv@cham.de
Mit freundlichen Grüssen, C. Schmidt
Chiemsee Lake - See Prien
Good morning:
I am looking for anyone who may have come in contact with Canadians who worked for UNRRA.
Thank you for any assistance you could provide. Susan Armstrong-Reid
Clausthal-Zellerfeld, #2816; Land Niedersachsen (British zone), mostly Poles, some Balts, Yugoslavs, others
Archive: Archiv der Samtgemeinde Oberharz mit den Mitgliedsgemeinden Altenau,
Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Schulenberg i.O., Wildemann
Hindenburgplatz 8
38678 Clausthal-Zellerfeld
Tel: (49) 5323-931-420
Fax: (49) 5323-931-124
City archive: Stadtarchiv Coburg
Steingasse 5
96450 Coburg
Tel: (49) 9561-89-1470
Fax: (49) 9561-89-1479
Dear Olga,
Thank you for all the information you have provided me. Thanks to you, my research is well underway and I have once again started my parents talking about their youth and journey to the US via slave labor/concentration camps. I am presently trying to locate the name of the DP camp in Coburg Germany since dad doesn't remember the name. Some of the sites are in German only, which I do not read or speak. My brother's birth certificate states he was born in Displacement Camp, Coburg Germany. Dad said my brother was not a citizen of Germany even though he was born there, so where would I look for that???
Any help would be appreciated!! Thanks again Chris at caleclair@comcast.net
Cologne / Koeln / Köln German spelling; (British zone)
My name is Hans Simons. I was born in Liepaja, Latvia in 1943. I was named Hartmuts Hans (at my father's request) with Dravenieks as my surname. This was my mother's husband's name. My family was taken to Germany in 1944 and we lived in various Displaced Persons camps until late 1949 when we sailed to Australia where we have lived ever since. I changed my surname to Simons in 1995 in my first step toward taking back my true identity.
Now for the little I know about my father: As can be seen, I have only scant information about my father. My mother's memory of those times is very sketchy and becomes more so as the years go by. I do know without any doubt that from my his side of the story, he was well known by his family who probably knew where he was during the war and he may have passed on the information of my birth to them. He may also be alive today. So as well as seeking details of my father's fate, I am seeking my father's family, who are also my family. My searches with Australian, German, Latvian and Russian Red Cross have so far proved fruitless. My enquiries with Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgraberfursorge also were unsuccessful. I am hoping for my sake as well as that of my eight children that someone of the human family may have some information regarding this puzzle.
Kind regards again to you Olga and thank you for the wonderful work you continue do. Wolfgang Strobel gave me a link to a site where a search can be made for missing German soldiers. I have entered a search, but again, with so little information, I am hopeful but I am not going to fret about it. The link is: http://www.dd-wast.de/
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Cornberg, See Shevchenko Scientific Society Library for more.
To Olga: I want to tell you I love your web site, you are doing a wonderful job! I'm trying to find info on the DP camp Cornberg. My
inlaws' (Michael Hrynenko & Maria Zinkewjcz) marriage certificate, and husband's
birth certificates state Rotenburg an de Fulda, the nearest city. Cornberg
is about 2 hours away and 181km WSW from Berlin.
Of Ukrainian decent, they were forced from their homes in 1941-42 & sent
to forced labor camps. My mother-in-law worked for a German family, took
care of the children, home, garden etc., because she was blond and blue eyed...looked
German!! Considered Ostarbeiters... had to prove she was in forced labor
and receives German pension. If you had a child during this time, there was
further compensation. My father-in-law stated the zone was Canadian/American.
After the war in 1945, he worked for the American Police until emigrating
to Canada in 1949. Judith Hrynenko
Reply: Judy did a lot of research and opened a new page for Cornberg.
Cuxhaven, #2517, Land Niedersachsen (British zone), 59 Balts
CARE Farming had almost virtually vanished. Livestock had been slaughted to feed the soldiers. Everyone was hungry in war-torn Europe. The packages from the American relief organization CARE, flowed to Germany beginning the summer 1946 and became the symbol for the foreign support. These fed both the German population and the homeless DPs. | ![]() |