Seven years ago, I found half a yellow post-it note on my way to the gym. I have a thing for things that look lost or abandoned, so I picked it up. Besides the missing half, the post-it looked pristine and had three handwritten bullet points on it:
Banana
Clean bathroom
Hooks for towels
A bunch of questions popped into my head: Will the person who lost the note remember to clean the bathroom? Were they planning to get the hooks for the towels beforehand, so they could install them once the bathroom is clean? One banana? Just one? And no other groceries? Is this a combined shopping and to-do list? Can you buy hooks for towels at the grocery store? Or maybe they didn’t need to buy hooks but just a reminder to install them? Why did they need to install hooks for towels? Had they just moved in? Were they getting a visitor? Why not buy two bananas then?
It feels intimate, intrusive, and weirdly profound to read something that wasn't written for you. All of a sudden, you get an unfiltered glimpse into someone else’s life. It’s like an invitation and a warning at the same time: enter with caution!
I got my first glimpse of Richard and Margarete Kuhnt 15 months ago, at an antique store in Palm Springs. I was walking down a narrow hallway when I noticed the pack of postcards sitting in an oval brass bowl. I could have walked past. I could have put the cards back after checking them out, but I didn’t. I accepted the invitation, and here we are, seven episodes into our search for answers to three elemental questions:
Who were Richard and Grete Kuhnt?
What happened in the 50 years during which Richard, the young soldier, turned into Richard, the elderly man?
And how did 34 German postcards end up at an antique store in Palm Springs, almost 6000 miles away from the address they were once sent to?
Over the past seven months and 17 postcards, we’ve learned a lot about Richard and Margarete. We learned that they were both born in Berlin in the mid-1880s and that they got married in 1910. We found out that Richard worked as a clerk and as a plumber and that Margarete worked as a hat maker before they owned a hardware store together. We learned that they had a daughter named Friedel in 1913 and that Richard served in the First World War sometime between 1914 and 1918. We discovered that Richard and Margarete moved a few times after the war and that they settled at Dresdenerstraße 11 in the mid-1930s. We learned that Friedel fled to the Netherlands with her Jewish partner Bernhard at about the same time. We also heard about the unimaginable horrors Bernhard’s mother Regina, his sister Johanna, his nephew Jürgen and so many other of his family members experienced during the Holocaust, and we learned that Bernhard and Friedel survived the Nazi regime and started a new life, as a married couple in Amsterdam. We met the friends they made there, Hilde and Siegfried Schwarz, and we learned that those friends became close with Richard and Margarete as well. We’ve learned a lot, but there are still so many unanswered questions.
We have 17 postcards left, but before we move on, I want to go back to two women we first met in episode 3: Hanni and Käthe. Who are they?
We met Hanni back in episode 3 when Bernhard and “Mutti/mom” send her a postcard from their visit to the Alkmaar cheese market. The postcard is addressed to “Fräulein/Miss Hanni Kuhnt'' at Dresdenerstraße 11. Back in episode 3, I assumed that Mutti is Margarete and that Bernhard is Hanni’s brother. Let’s review those assumptions: By now, we know that Bernhard is not Richard and Margarete’s son, so he can’t be Hanni’s brother. But is Hanni Richard and Margarete’s daughter? The address information on the card shows that Hanni’s last name is Kuhnt and that she lives at the same address that Richard and Margarete live at, so it’s safe to assume that Hanni is closely related to Richard and Margarete. Bernhard writes on the card that Hanni will soon be able to taste the local cheese, which indicates to me that Mutti has bought cheese at the cheese market which she intends to bring to Dresdenerstraße 11. This assumption is supported by Mutti ending the card with “Noch viel mehr mündlich/Much more orally”, which indicates that Mutti expects to speak to Hanni soon. I’m confident that the woman signing that card with “Mutti/mom” is Hanni Kuhnt’s mother. But is it Margarete? And if not, who else could it be? Friedel? Käthe? Someone else we haven’t met yet?
We met Hanni again in episode 4 when she is visiting Bernhard and Friedel in Zaandam and sends a postcard to Richard and Margarete at Dresdenerstraße 11, letting them know that she arrived safely and that she is feeling well. Interestingly, both Bernhard and Friedel sound somewhat concerned in their notes on the same card. Bernhard calls Hanni a “poor child/armes Kind” and says that he hopes that she will “recover well/dass sie sich gut erholt”. Friedel calls Hanni “the little one/die Kleine” and mentions how “incredibly happy/riesig froh” she is to have Hanni there. Nothing on this postcard makes me conclude or even suspect that Hanni is Bernhard’s and Friedel’s daughter, but both of them calling Hanni a child or little one indicates to me that she is significantly younger than them. Bernhard was born in 1899 and Friedel in 1913, so at the time of this postcard, in 1938, Bernhard is 39 and Friedel is 25. Considering that Hanni seems to have traveled on her own, I assume she is somewhere in her late teens, and therefore definitely not Friedel’s daughter.
I also compared the handwriting on the card from Mutti to several cards that are written and signed by Friedel and the handwriting looks different to me. The same holds for the card Käthe sends to Richard and Margarete in 1937, her handwriting is different from Mutti’s.
I have researched Hanni, whose full name is probably Johanna, extensively, but I have not been able to find any official records of her. Keep in mind that, as mentioned before, the Landesarchiv Berlin only provides birth records until 1911, marriage records until 1941, and death records until 1991, for privacy protection reasons. Considering that Hanni is probably a teenager in the late 1930s and that Friedel, who calls Hanni “the little one”, was born in 1913, Hanni was most likely born after 1911, and if she ever got married, she probably did so after 1941. We know from the card that Friedel sends Hanni from her visit to ‘T Gooi in 1941 that Hanni still lives at Dresdenerstraße 11 as Hanni Kuhnt at the time.
Unfortunately, this is the last time we hear from or about Hanni. After 1941, she disappears without a trace. No records, no postcards, and no one ever mentions her name again. The only Johanna Kuhnt I was ever able to find in Berlin is Johanna Frieda Kuhnt, one of Richard’s sisters. She was born in 1884. And even though I don’t know much more about her, I’m pretty sure she isn’t ”the little one” visiting Bernhard and Friedel in 1938, at which time this Johanna would have been 54 years old. A small observation however is Johanna Frieda’s name. We know that Richard and Margarete named one of their daughters Friedel, so they might have named another daughter Johanna, both after Richard’s sister.
We don’t know a lot about our Hanni, but from what we know, I’m confident in concluding that Hanni is Richard and Margarete’s daughter and Friedel’s younger sister. She might have been struggling with health issues and was living with her parents at least until her early 20s. What happens to Hanni after that? I don’t know.
Now, let’s take a closer look at Käthe. We met her in episode 3 when Friedel mentions her briefly on a postcard she sends to Richard and Margarete in January 1937. A few months later, in June of the same year, we hear from Käthe herself, when she sends a postcard to Richard and Margarete from her visit to Bernhard and Friedel in Zaandam.
We haven’t heard from Käthe since, but we will hear from her again in 1957. Before we do, however, we’ll have to cover three more postcards, but don’t worry, they’ll help us find out who Käthe is and how she is related to Richard and Margarete.
To: Familie Kuhnt Berlin S.O. 36 Dresdenerstr. 11
Liebe Großeltern! Wie geht es Euch? Mir geht es gut. Ist das Wetter bei Euch schön? Bei uns war noch kein schöner Tag. Könnt Ihr mir mal Dieters Adresse mitteilen? Da Yvonne nun weg ist, wird es mir langweilig. Herzliche Grüße von Schwarzen. Liebe Grüße und Küsse Christa. Tante Friedel und O. Bernh**
Dear grandparents! How are you? I'm doing well. Is the weather nice where you are? We haven’t had a single nice day. Can you give me Dieter's address? Now that Yvonne is gone, I'm getting bored. Warm greetings from Schwarzen. Greetings and kisses Christa. Aunt Friedel and u. Bernh**
It’s the summer of 1954, two years since our last postcard in 1952, and Bernhard and Friedel once again have a visitor: Christa. We haven’t met Christa before, but there are some clues on the card as to how she is related to the Kuhnts. Christa’s card is addressed to Richard and Margarete. She opens the postcard with “Liebe Großeltern!/Dear grandparents!” which makes me conclude that Christa is Richard and Margarete’s granddaughter. Christa finishes the card with “Grüße und Küsse. Christa. Tante Friedel und O. Bernh./Greetings and kisses. Christa. Aunt Friedel and U. Bernh.” which confirms that Christa is Friedel’s and Bernhard’s niece. Christa’s message and handwriting suggest to me that she is a child. She also mentions the “Schwarzen” and Yvonne, which I think refers to Siegfried and Hilde Schwarz and their now 9-year-old daughter Yvonne, who we met last time at Unanswered. Christa also mentions Dieter and asks for his address but doesn’t give any more information about who he is.
The front of the card shows a familiar view: The Singel canal and the Munttoren/Mint Tower in Amsterdam.
We’ve seen an almost identical image, just in black and white, on a postcard sent 16 years earlier by Richard to Margarete during one of his visits.
I’m going to skip the next postcard–we will of course get back to it down the line–but for now, I’d like to stay with Christa, who sends another card to Richard and Margarete in August of 1956.
To: Herrn u. Frau Richard Kuhnt Berlin SO 36 Dresdener Str. 11
Liebe Großeltern! Ich bin hier mit Schwarzens gut angekommen, nachdem wir in Bielefeld übernachtet haben. Haben die Eltern schon geschrieben? Teilt Ihr mit die Adresse mit, wo sie wohnen? Herzliche Grüße + Küsse Eure Christa Groeten van Yvonne**
Dear grandparents! I arrived safely here with Schwarzens after we spent the night in Bielefeld. Have the parents already written? Can you give me the address where they live? Greetings + kisses your Christa Greetings from Yvonne**
Christa is in Amsterdam again, visiting Bernhard and Friedel. From her message, it sounds like she traveled to Amsterdam with Hilde, Siegfried, and Yvonne. Christa mentions that they spent the night in Bielefeld. The drive from Berlin to Amsterdam is roughly 7.5 hours, and Bielefeld is located about halfway along that drive.
The front of the card shows the Achterburgwal, a street and canal in today’s red light district in Amsterdam, with the Basiliek van de Heilige Nicolaas /Basilica of Saint Nicholas in the background.
The Achterburgwal was dug in 1367 and once formed the eastern border of medieval Amsterdam. The Basilica of Saint Nicholas was built in the 1880s as the Roman Catholic St. Nicholas Church and was elevated to a basilica in 2012.
Our next postcard is sent about nine months later.
To: Dieter + Christa Nering Berlin SO 36 Dresdener Str. 11
Liebe Kinder, heute waren wir in Volendam und haben die Meisjes geknipst. Das war sehr schön, aber viele Menschen. Das Wetter könnte etwas wärmer werden. Sonst geht es uns sehr gut, was wir auch von Euch und den Eltern hoffen. Viele herzliche Grüße Eure Mutti + VatiViele Grüße Onkel Bernhard + Tante Friedel**
Dear children, today we were in Volendam and took pictures of the Meisjes. It was very nice, but there were a lot of people. The weather could get a little warmer. Otherwise, we are doing very well, which we also hope for you and the parents. Many warm greetings, your mom + dadMany greetings uncle Bernhard + aunt Friedel**
What an interesting card. It’s addressed to “Christa and Dieter Nering” at “Dresdener Str. 11”. Is this our Christa? Probably. And judging by the same last name and the opening of the card, “Dear children/Liebe Kinder” I suppose that Dieter is Christa’s brother. The card is signed by “Mutti + Vati/mom + dad” and “Onkel Bernhard + Tante Friedel/uncle Bernhard + aunt Friedel”, which indicates to me that Christa’s parents are visiting Bernhard and Friedel in Amsterdam and once again confirms that Christa and Dieter are Bernhard’s and Friedel’s niece and nephew. Considering that Christa’s and Dieter’s last name is Nering and not Kuhnt, I assume that “Mutti/mom” is Friedel’s sister and that “Vati/dad” is Friedel’s brother-in-law.
The front of the card shows a part of Volendam, an old fishing town about 20 minutes northeast of Amsterdam.
Volendam is a popular tourist attraction, well-known for its old fishing boats and traditional women’s costumes. You can see women wearing the costumes on the front of the postcard. Christa’s mom refers to them when she says that they went to Volendam to take pictures of the “Meisjes”.
At first, I assumed that Christa and Dieter are staying with their grandparents while their parents are visiting their aunt and uncle in Amsterdam, but then I realized that the postcard is addressed to Dieter and Christa Nering at Dresdener Str. 11, not to Richard and Margarete Kuhnt. How would the mail delivery person know which apartment the card was addressed to without the Kuhnts’ name on it? A quick look at the address book of 1957 revealed a helpful clue.
A man named Richard Nering, who works as a waiter in Berlin, lives at Dresdener Str. 11 in 1957, and according to address book records he has been living there since at least 1938. So is Richard Nering Christa’s and Dieter’s father?
Well, the next postcard, sent just 11 days later, answers that question.
To: Familie Rich. Kuhnt Berlin S.O. 36 Dresdener Str. 11 Deutschland
Meine Lieben! Herzliche Grüße von Scheveningen senden Euch und den Kindern Käthe + Richard Bernhard + Friedel Hilde + Siegfried Schwarz**
My dears! Warm greetings from Scheveningen send you and the children Käthe + Richard Bernhard + Friedel Hilde + Siegfried Schwarz**
We are quite familiar with Bernhard and Friedel, and we know their friends Hilde and Siegfried. We also already know Friedel’s sister Käthe, but this is the first card that mentions Christa’s and Dieter’s mom and dad by name: “Käthe + Richard”.
The front of the card shows Scheveningen, a seaside district of The Hague, about 50 minutes southwest of Amsterdam.
The majestic building in the background is the Kurhaus, a famous seaside resort that was built in 1885, and that looks as stunning today as it did back in 1957.
But from beautiful seaside resorts back to our unanswered question: Who is Käthe?
Käthe is Käthe Nering, born Kuhnt, daughter of Richard and Margarete Kuhnt, and sister of Friedel Kuhnt. Käthe is married to Richard Nering, and she is the mother of Christa and Dieter Nering. Käthe and her family live in the same apartment building as her parents, and her children's grandparents, Richard and Margarete.
Our next card is sent about four months later, in October 1957.
To: Fam. R. Kuhnt Dresdenerstr. 11 Berlin S.O. 36 Deutschland
Meine Lieben, wir wundern uns, dass wir so lange nichts von Euch hören. Ist alles gut und gesund? Bei uns ist alles in Ordnung, beide viel Arbeit. Karte von Käthe haben wir erhalten, Brief an sie folgt. Euch beiden herzliche Grüße und Küsse Eure Friedel + Bernhard.
My dears, we are surprised that we haven't heard from you for so long. Is everything good and healthy? Everything is fine with us, both a lot of work. We have received a card from Käthe, and a letter to her will follow. Warm greetings and kisses to both of you, your Friedel + Bernhard.
Friedel and Bernhard are checking in with Richard and Margarete. It sounds like they haven’t heard from them in a while, and just want to make sure everything is okay. There’s not a lot of information on this card. Even the front of it just shows a few sights in Amsterdam.
The next card, however, sent just a month later, introduces us to a whole new part of the Kuhnts’ life.
The front of the card features a black-and-white shot of the Basilica of Saint Nicholas again, but rather than from the Achterburgwal, we see the basilica from the opposite canal, looking across the Prins Hendrikkade.
To the left of the basilica, you can see the Weeper’s Tower/Schreierstoren, which was built as a defense tower in the 15th century as part of the medieval city wall of Amsterdam. According to folklore, the tower is called Schreierstoren because women wept there for their husbands as they went to sea. Today, the tower is used–less dramatically–as a cafe and bookstore.
To: Deutschland Herrn R. Kuhnt Dresdenerstr. 11 Berlin SO 36 K. Lewin, Amsterdam, Borssenburgpl. 19
Amsterdam 24/11.57
Liebe Familie Kuhnt! Schönen Dank für Ihre Karte u. bitte nicht böse sein, dass wir nicht eher geschrieben haben. Die Sachen sind hier gut angekommen, vor ca. 14 Tagen. Wir sagen auch nochmals schönen Dank für die Aufbewahrung. Es geht uns auch soweit gut u. alles geht seinen Gang. Der hinterlassene Betrag soll Ihnen nun zugute kommen u. wir wünschen, dass Sie sich dafür mal ein gemütliches Stündchen machen. Wir wünschen Ihnen weiterhin alles gute, gute Gesundheit u. es grüßen Sie recht herzlich Ihre Käte u. Alfred Lewin**
Dear family Kuhnt! Many thanks for your card and please don't be upset that we didn't write sooner. The things arrived safely here, about 14 days ago. Thank you again for keeping them safe. We are doing well so far and everything is going its way. The amount left should now benefit you and we hope that you will spend a leisurely hour doing so. We wish you continued good health and best regards, yours, Käte and Alfred Lewin**
I’ve read this card many times in the last 15 months. For most of that time, I didn’t know who Alfred and Käte Lewin were, or how they were related to the Kuhnts. I often thought about what “things/Sachen” the Kuhnts kept safe for Alfred and Käte, and why the two seemed to have left money for the Kuhnts. A few weeks ago, however, I was finally able to find some answers.
Last time at Unanswered, we met Hilde and Siegfried Schwarz, a Jewish family who Bernhard and Friedel meet in Amsterdam and who they become close friends with. In the same episode, we learned about Hilde’s origin family–her father Leo, and her mother Hedwig Lewin, as well as her brother Erwin and his wife Martha Lewin–who were all deported from Berlin and murdered by the Nazis.
We also met Hilde’s other brother, Alfred, who was deported to Auschwitz, together with his wife Elsbeth and their 3-year-old daughter Tana. Could Hilde’s brother be the Alfred Lewin from our postcard? Did he survive the Holocaust? If so, who is Käte Lewin and where are Elsbeth and Tana?
Hilde’s brother Alfred Lewin was born in Berlin on August 30th, 1906. He married Elsbeth Elise Cohn in December 1931. They welcomed their daughter Tana in May of 1939. Sometime after their deportation in March of 1943, Alfred was transferred to the concentration camp Mittelbau-Dora, which was established in 1943 and used mainly as a grueling labor camp. Many prisoners were tortured, beaten, and deliberately starved, and roughly one in three died from hunger, thirst, cold, or overwork.
In April 1945, under the pressure of advancing US troops, the SS decided to evacuate Mittelbau-Dora. Thousands of prisoners were brutally forced into trains and transported to other camps while others had to march there on foot. Those who weren’t able to keep up were shot on the spot. US troops reached Mittelbau-Dora on April 11th, 1945, and found hundreds of sick and 1300 dead prisoners there.
According to two separate lists, preserved by the Arolsen Archives, Alfred was amongst the thousands of men who were transported from Mittelbau-Dora to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in April 1945.
Bergen-Belsen was liberated by the British Army just a few days later, on April 15, 1945. Immediately after the liberation, the British Army created a displaced persons camp, including an emergency hospital, in the former German Army barracks, and moved all survivors there.
Even though many former prisoners were repatriated quickly, there were still more than 25,000 people in the displaced persons camp five months after the liberation, in September 1945. Most of them were Polish, Jewish, or both, and the camp split into two separate sections: the Polish camp and the Jewish camp. The Polish camp was disbanded a year later, in September 1946. Two-thirds of displaced Polish people from the camp returned to Poland while others moved overseas.
After the closing of the Polish section, Bergen-Belsen became the only exclusively Jewish facility in the British sector and was for a while the largest Jewish displaced persons camp in Germany. Many of the people who lived in Bergen-Belsen saw no future for themselves in Europe and were seeking to emigrate to British-controlled Palestine. British authorities, however, did not grant that right until the spring of 1947, when they started allocating 300 emigration certificates a month for Jews in the British occupation zone. Between then and the founding of the State of Israel in May 1948, about 4200 Jews, most of them from Bergen-Belsen, emigrated to Palestine. The camp was closed in September of 1950, and a majority of former Bergen-Belsen displaced people emigrated to the State of Israel. Others went to the US or Canada. Only a minority decided to stay in Germany.
While I was able to find several records of Alfred, I didn’t find anything on Elsbeth and Tana, until I came across the Central Database of Shoah Victims’ Names on the website of The World Holocaust Remembrance Center, where I learned that both Elsbeth and Tana were murdered by the Nazis in Auschwitz.
I don’t know when Alfred left Bergen-Belsen or where he went, but I do know where he lived sometime between then and the summer of 1957.
As you can see on the front of the above resident registration card or Einwohnermeldekarte, Alfred Lewin, son of Leo and Hedwig Lewin, of German nationality, marries Käte Maria Kijek on March 30th, 1957. Käte, who was born in Hostedde, today Dortmund, in Germany on May 11th, 1915, is the daughter of Gottlieb and Katharina Kijek, born Bülner.
I don’t know what the notes in the right-most column mean, but I understand what the backside of the card says.
Until June 22nd of 1957, Alfred and Käte Lewin live at Dresdenerstr. 11 with the Kuhnts. Can you believe it?
The card also states that the two of them move to Amsterdam on July 22nd, 1957, and I was able to find their registration card there as well.
As of October 9th, 1957, Alfred and Käte Lewin are living at Borssenburgplein 19, apartment III. Yes, you remember correctly, that’s the address, and the apartment where Hilde, Siegfried, and Yvonne live. And it’s the same apartment building where Bernhard and Friedel live.
The Kuhnts and the Schwarz-Lewins aren’t bonded by blood, but they were there for each other like family.
15 months ago I accepted an invitation. Who knew what an exceptional family I would meet?
**Deciphered and transcribed with the help of johannadambergk from the Genealogy subreddit. Thank you so much for sharing your time and skills with me <3.
Background music in voiceover:
Memories by Sappheiros | https://soundcloud.com/sappheirosmusic Music promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/ Creative Commons CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Thank you for taking us through your journey of meeting this exceptional family. I am heartened to have met them through your research and writing as well.