Birth Parents - Identifinders International, LLC

Who Am I, What is My Name? Part III – Gertrude and Sonia Spyra

By Austin Bethell|2022-07-06T09:23:41-07:00October 17th, 2013|

Gertrude Spiro and Charlotte Rebhun, Warsaw, c 1942 A mystery within the mystery of Pnina's identity is the fate of Gertrude Spyra and her daughter Sonia. As the parties responsible for smuggling Pnina from the Warsaw Ghetto, Gertrude and Sonia may have left behind clues about Pnina's parents. Perhaps the Spyras wrote letters to their family members, as did their friend Charlotte Rebhun. Perhaps a co-worker overheard something they said about how they saved a baby during the last days before the Ghetto Uprising. According to "the story", Pnina's parents approached a German soldier about smuggling their daughter out of the Warsaw Ghetto in late 1942-early 1943. The soldier [...]

Who Am I? What is My Name? Part II – Pnina, Wolfgang, and the Warsaw Ghetto

By Austin Bethell|2022-07-06T01:47:43-07:00December 12th, 2012|

Barbara Rebhun? Convinced that my surname was Rebhun, I contacted Rebhuns around the world. Though the BBC, CNN, and the international press featured my quest, I initially received no responses. Finally in March 1997, the Munich Red Cross relayed a reply from a German named Wolfgang Rebhun, who was searching for his little sister, Baschka (Barbara in German). After receiving the Red Cross letter I began a correspondence with Wolfgang Rebhun. Then after a very short time we went to Germany, to meet Wolfgang and his (and my) sister Adela and some other members of the family. The meeting was very warm and exciting. To them it was a [...]

Who Am I, What Is My Name? Part I – Pnina, Otwoc, and the Kazcmareks

By Austin Bethell|2022-07-06T01:04:27-07:00December 10th, 2012|

My name is Pnina Gutman. I am 70 years old. I began the search for my biological identity in April 1996. I called this project "Who am I what's my name?" I came to Israel from Poland at the age of eight with a couple whom I thought to be my parents, Mania and Mendel Himel. As a child, I remembered living with the Himels in the town of Lodz, but it was a short time, about two years that I recall as a year in the kindergarten and a year in school. What I remembered before was an orphanage and the day the Himels were introduced to me as my [...]

"The Mascot" – Truth or Fiction

By Austin Bethell|2012-09-15T16:07:54-07:00September 15th, 2012|

The Mascot is the international best-selling Holocaust biography of Alex Kurzem...After an exhaustive international three-year search for evidence, my colleague Dr. Barry Resnick and I have discovered no proof that Mr. Kurzem’s story is true, nor has it been established that he is Jewish.

Identifinders International Announces DNA Study for Child Survivors of the Holocaust

By Austin Bethell|2012-09-05T00:04:30-07:00September 5th, 2012|

Identifinders International, in collaboration with 23andMe and Missing-Identity.net, announces a pilot study to help child survivors of the Holocaust to recover their birth identities. It is hoped that autosomal DNA testing will allow these survivors to discover family connections that would otherwise be gone forever. Of the 1,600,000 Jewish children who lived in Europe before World War II, only 100,000 survived the Holocaust. Most child survivors were hidden children, shuttered away in attics, cellars, convents or in villages or farms.[1] Many of these survived thanks to the efforts of Jews and Christians alike who risked their lives to conceal the identity of a hidden child who had been entrusted to their care by desperate parents. [...]

Indianapolis Birth Announcements – Sep 9 & 10, 1948

By Austin Bethell|2011-05-16T02:34:18-07:00May 16th, 2011|

To continue with the Indianapolis birth announcements, here at the births that appeared in the Indianapolis Commercial on September 9 & 10, 1948. Newspaper: Indianapolis Commercial Date published: 9-Sep-48 Name of parents Child Date birth Hosp Address of parents Gibbons, James & Nanette Meth Duler, George & Dorothy [...]

Benjaman Kyle – Indianapolis Birth Announcements, Sep 7 & 8, 1948

By Austin Bethell|2011-05-14T23:38:51-07:00May 14th, 2011|

Here is a continuation of the list of the birth announcements published in the Indianapolis papers around the date of Benjaman Kyle’s birth, believed to be 29 August 1948. Today’s entry covers 7 Sep through 8 Sep 1948. There were no announcements on Sep 4 & 5. The names reported on Sep 6 are the same as those reported on Sep 7, so I have skipped Sep 6. I have not researched many of these names. Ideally, I'd like to find as many of the individuals mentioned in these announcements as possible. As I get more information on them, I will update this post. If you recognize anyone on this list, please [...]

Benjaman Kyle – Indianapolis Birth Announcements – 2 Sep – 3 Sep 1948

By Austin Bethell|2011-01-23T05:45:53-08:00January 23rd, 2011|

Here is a continuation of the list of the birth announcements published in the Indianapolis papers around the date of Benjaman Kyle's birth, believed to be 29 August 148. Today's entry covers 2 Sep through 3 Sep 1948. I have not researched many of these names. As I get more information, I will update the list. If you recognize anyone on this list, please contact me at immediately at colleen@identifinders.com Key (1949 addresses, with current zip codes): Cole = William H. Coleman Hospital for women, 1000 Michigan St., Indianapolis, 46202 Meth = Methodist Hospital, 1604 N. Capital Ave., Indianapolis, 46202 IGen = Indianapolis General Hospital, 960 Locke St., Indianapolis, 46202 Vinc = [...]

Benjaman Kyle – Indianapolis Birth Announcements – 31 Aug & 1 Sep 1948

By Austin Bethell|2011-01-21T23:17:59-08:00January 21st, 2011|

In an ideal world, we would be able to identify all these children but one. That one would reveal Benjaman Kyle's identity. If you recognize anyone on this list, please contact me at immediately at colleen@identifinders.com Key (1949 addresses, with current zip codes): Cole = William H. Coleman Hospital for women, 1000 Michigan St., Indianapolis, 46202 Meth = Methodist Hospital, 1604 N. Capital Ave., Indianapolis, 46202 IGen = Indianapolis General Hospital, 960 Locke St., Indianapolis, 46202 Vinc = St. Vincent's Hospital, 120 West Fall Creek Pkwy N. Dr., Indianapolis, 46208 Where I have parentheses around a child's name, the name is probably correct, but should be confirmed. Date published: 31-Aug-48 Name of [...]

Benjaman Kyle – Indianapolis Birth Announcements, 30 Aug 1948

By Austin Bethell|2011-01-20T22:04:11-08:00January 20th, 2011|

In 1948, the Indy Star and the Indy Commercial newspapers published birth announcements obtained from either the county or from local hospitals. The two papers published identical lists, although sometimes not on the same day, as the Commercial was not published on the weekends. Carl Litel, a friend of mine who was adopted the day he was born in Indianapolis is 1946, told me that he was able to find his birth mother's name by looking through the birth announcements in the newspaper that appeared around his birth date. (See Close Calls, Conclusion?). This gave me hope that maybe Benjaman Kyle's birth may have been announced in the paper, too. Benjaman is a well-known [...]

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