Need Translation Of 3 German Words From Family Document

[Vagrant Violet]

Hello, everyone,

Does anyone here speak German? A few weeks back when I was visiting the US, I found a handwritten family document regarding my maternal grandfather's immigration history to the US. I have no clue who wrote the document or when or why, but I made a photocopy because I found it important. It's a bit of the family history in English, with the exception of 3 words in German at the very end.

I can't really use Google Translator, because whoever wrote this has indecipherable handwriting like mine and some letters are questionable. I've attempted a few different possible combinations of letters, but no luck.

Because this note was about a refugee family around WWII, the context might alter the interpretation of the words, I have no clue, but I am very curious!

Image attached... Any ideas?

Gracias!

 

[kemer84]

Hi, my girlfriend is german, but she cannot read the letters either. She said it looks like Didier Reim Protectirat. In that case Didier Reim would be a name, although Didier is not really german. She never heard the word Protectirat. Maybe comparing the letters of other words in the letter she could say really what the words are.

Saludos!

 

[Aleina Dee]

I agree that it looks like this but it does not make a lot of sense. My netbook is in repair but tomorrow I will have it and will take a look on a bigger screen.

 

[lamarque]

I cannot read the letters neither

 

[mrporoto]

"Bugger wrong ship"......

 

[Vagrant Violet]

Hi again!

Thanks for the attempts thus far, this is indeed a mystery! I figured it probably wouldn't be a cut and dry translation (hence the reason that I figured it could be helpful to give a bit of background).

I presume that the words are German considering my grandfather's nationality and the topic of the note, but it is very possible that one of the words might not be a "word" per se, but rather a surname... I have very, very little knowledge of German, but I believe that all nouns (not just proper nouns) begin with a capital letter. But then again, a lot of my hypothesis are simply shots in the dark (and the handwriting does NOT help!).

Normally I'd call it a day, but this particular paper intrigues me. I mean, if at any point anyone even has a remote clue, that'd be very appreciated. For me, it is important to know because I don't know a lot about my grandfather, who died when I was 6 years old. Both of my grandparents were refugees from the war, but not even my mom, who is their only surviving child, has much of an understanding of what happened over there and their early years in the States. Whatever it was, it was clearly very traumatic because there were several instances of "emotional shutdowns" where they simply avoided even hinting at that era at all costs when my mom was growing up, so even she can only speculate

I was curious because, for example, I had always understood that my grandfather had come to New York as a teenager in the late 20s before things became horrific in Europe (especially for a Jewish family), but according to the document, the family came over in 1939, after my great grandfather had escaped a camp in Buchenwald... But now I don't know. Especially as I am going to be a mom (and my future son's middle name will be in remembrance of my grandfather, Gunther), I just feel like it would be a very valuable piece of history to know, especially because the older generations of my family are passing away and leaving a lot of question marks in my family tree, you know?

Anywho, it's worth a shot at least, even if it never leads to any "real" answer!

 

[Vagrant Violet]

Hi, my girlfriend is german, but she cannot read the letters either. She said it looks like Didier Reim Protectirat. In that case Didier Reim would be a name, although Didier is not really german. She never heard the word Protectirat. Maybe comparing the letters of other words in the letter she could say really what the words are.

Saludos!

Hi, Kermer84,

Many thanks especially to you and your girlfriend for trying to help figure this out. I read your suggestion about comparing the 3 words in German with the body of the letter, and then it was very obvious - totally, undeniably different sets of handwriting, not the same person at all (not even block print vs. cursive).

The German words are less "formed," parts of the same letter are not always consistent and it's not really clear where one letter ends and another begins, it's kind of sloppy... Whereas the text in the body has very bold, very clear handwriting with very distinct letters, as in, you can see where every "i" is dotted. Hmmm....

And the plot thickens!

PS- Because I can't really distinguish a German first or last name, does your girlfriend think it's possible that this is not a phrase, but rather a (possibly German) person's complete name???

 

[henryb]

I mean, if at any point anyone even has a remote clue, that'd be very appreciated.

It says "Deutsches Reich Protektorat" and refers to Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia established by Germans in 1939.

 

[Vagrant Violet]

Thank you, HenryB!

I checked out the link in your post and also checked it out a bit online (the internet is truly an amazing tool!). Considering some of the details in the note, it would definitely be fitting, but this was the only part of the note that is a random fragment (at the very end of the paper), not a complete thought or sentence.

I'm very grateful for the historical reference (it's one of those things where you need to have at least some basic background information) and also a flexible mind (which is not exactly Google Translator territory!).

I'm doing a bit of further research, but I'm going to call it a night very soon. I am very worn out after today, and this is something that would require quite a bit of investigation. Reading too much in one sitting right before I go to bed about that particular part of history and its atrocities is not going to help me sleep!

Once again, I am sincerely thankful for the historical reference!