Category Archives: Finding Birth Parents

Who Am I? What is My Name? – Part XII – Taking Stock

Posted on December 8, 2016 by identifinders

INTRODUCTION As with all research projects, there have been so many zigzags in this story, it’s only reasonable to take a break to take stock of where we are in solving the puzzle of Pnina’s identity. We haven’t solved all … Continue reading →

Posted in DNA Testing, Finding Birth Parents, Historical Identifications, Holocaust Project, Uncategorized, Unsolved Mysteries | Tagged Albert Lotterer, Archives of New Records in Warsaw, Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum, Badische Landesbibliotek Wurttemberg, Berlin Bundesarchiv Lichterfelde, Berlin Landesarchiv, Central Archives of Modern Records in Warsaw, Charlotte Rebhun, Deutsche Dienstelle, genealogyindexer.org, Gertrude Priess-Spiro, Gertrude Spiro, Institute of National Remembrance, International Tracing Service, ITS, Jewish Historical Institute, JewishGen.org, JRI Poland, Landkreis Barnim, Leo Spiro, missing-identity, Museum of the Warsaw Uprising, Pawiak Prison Museum, Pnina Gutman, Polish State Archives in Warsaw, Sonia Priess-Spiro, Sonia Spiro, Stadtarchiv Leipzig, U.S. Library of Congress, U.S. National Archives, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, USHMM, Warsaw Ghetto, William Bremen Jewish Heritage Museum, Więżniowie Pawiaka, Yad Vashem, Zentral- und Landesbibliotek, Zentral- und Landesbibliothek Berlin (ZLB) | 3 Comments

Who Am I? What Is My Name? Part XI – Berlin, Warsaw, and the German Soldier

Posted on November 8, 2016 by identifinders

I recently traveled to Berlin and Warsaw to personally research in the various German and Polish archives. My hope was to find more information about Gertrude Priess-Spiro and her circle of acquaintance and friends, towards the goal of finding the … Continue reading →

Posted in Finding Birth Parents, Historical Identifications, Holocaust Project, Uncategorized, Unsolved Mysteries | Tagged Albert Lotterer, Berlin Bundesarchiv, Berlin Landesarchiv, Bundesarchiv Lichterfeld, Einwohnermeldekartei, Gertrude Priess-Spiro, Gertrude Spiro, Leo Spiro, Martin Luchtenhandt, Pawiak Prison, Pnina Gutman, Serbia, Sonia Spiro, Warsaw Ghetto, Zentral- und Landesbibliotek, ZLB | 5 Comments

For Immediate Release – Grant from the Elie Wiesel Jewish Studies Center, Boston University

Posted on November 7, 2016 by identifinders

The Center for Professional Education at Boston University has been awarded a competitive grant from Jewish Cultural Endowment Fund of the Elie Wiesel Center for Jewish Studies to hold a one-day workshop “Holocaust Survival and Reunion Stories: Separating Fact from … Continue reading →

Posted in About Me, DNA Testing, Finding Birth Parents, Historical Identifications, Holocaust Project, Unsolved Mysteries | Tagged Boston University, Elie Wiesel Center for Jewish Studies, Forensic Genealogy, Holocaust, Jewish Cultural Endowment, JewishGen, JRI Poland, The Mascot, Yad Vashem | Leave a comment

Who Am I – What Is My Name – Part X – Gertrude’s Marriage and Divorce

Posted on November 6, 2016 by identifinders

By now, everyone who reads this should know Gertrude Priess-Spiro, the woman who arranged to have Pnina Gutman smuggled from the Warsaw Ghetto in August or September 1942. New information about her has recently been discovered that provides details about her … Continue reading →

Posted in Finding Birth Parents, Historical Identifications, Holocaust Project, Uncategorized | Tagged Alfred Roehrs, Anklamer Strasse, Auschwitz, Brunnenstrasse, David Leo Spiro, Forensic Genealogy, Gertrude Priess-Spiro, Identifinders, Jewish Historical Institute, Landesarchiv Berlin, Leo David Spiro, missing-identity, Pawiak Prison, Pnina Gutman, Poland, Polish State Archives in Warsaw, Unidentified, Warsaw, Warsaw Ghetto | Leave a comment

ISHI 27 – David O’Shea and the Grandmothers of the Plaza

Posted on October 2, 2016 by identifinders

The keynote at the 27th annual International Symposium on Human Identification (ISHI27) was given by internationally recognized video journalist David O’Shea. O’Shea addressed the conference on the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo (Asociación Civil Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo), a human rights organization formed in Argentina in 1977 in response to the disappearance of hundreds of children who were either kidnapped or born to mothers who were “disappeared” political dissidents during the country’s “Dirty War” in 1974-1983. Continue reading →

Posted in DNA Testing, Finding Birth Parents, Historical Identifications, Uncategorized | Tagged Abuelas de la Plaza de Mayo, Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team, Birth Parents, Carlos Durand Hospital, David O'Shea, DNA Identification, Ernestina Herrera de Noble, Estela Barnes de Carlotto, Felipe and Marcela Noble, Forensic Genealogy, Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo, Grupo Clarin, Identifinders, Ignacio Guido Montoya Carlotto, Ignacio Hurban, Ignacio Montoyo Carlotto, International Symposium on Human Identification, ISHI27, Jorge Rafael Videla, Missing Persons, National Genetic Databank, Unidentified | Leave a comment

Who Am I? What is My Name? – Part IX – Gertrude’s Sisters!

Posted on June 15, 2016 by identifinders

Since 2012 we have been trying to discover the birth identity of Pnina Gutman, who as an infant was smuggled from the Warsaw Ghetto with the assistance of a woman named Gertrud Spiro. We realized from the beginning that our best chance at solving the mystery was to find … Continue reading →

Posted in Finding Birth Parents, Holocaust Project, Uncategorized | Tagged Albert Alfred Roehrs, Auschwitz, Barbara Weglinski, Barbara Wenglinski, Berjosowka, Berlin Bundesarchiv, Berlin Landesarchiv, Berta Johanna Priess, Birth Parents, Bladiau, DNA Identification, East Prussia, Ernst Otto Gerlach, Forensic Genealogy, Gertrude Spiro, Gertrude Spyra, Gross Lindenau, Heiligenheil, Identifinders, Kaliningrad Oblast, Landgemeinde, Leipzig Stadtarchiv, Martha Maria Priess, missing-identity, Oserki, Paplauken, Pawiak Prison, Pjatidoroschnoje, Pnina Gutman, Poland, Quilitten, Schukowa, Timirjasewo, Tooenhagen, Unidentified, Warsaw Ghetto | 4 Comments

Who Am I? What is My Name? – Part VIII – Gertrud and Leo’s Trial

Posted on May 19, 2016 by identifinders

Das Bundesarchiv Trial Records According to Widerstand in Berlin gegen das NS-Regime 1933 bis 1945 (Resistance in Berlin against the Nazi Regime 1933-1945), Leo and Gertrud Spiro were put on trial in Berlin in 1938. Trying to locate their court records, I contacted the … Continue reading →

Posted in Finding Birth Parents, Historical Identifications, Holocaust Project, Uncategorized | Tagged Auschwitz, Barbara Weglinski, Barbara Wenglinski, Berlin, Bernberg, Birth Parents, Brandenburg Prison, Bundesarchiv, DNA Identification, Forensic Genealogy, Gertrud Priess, Gertrud Spiro, Gertrud-Priess Spiro, Gertrude Spyra, Gunter Wehner, Gustav Urbschat, Identifinders, Jewish Historical Institute, Kammergericht, Leo David Spiro, Margarete Kaufmann, missing-identity, Pawiak Prison, Plotzensee, Pnina Gutman, Poland, Polizeigefangnis, Ravensbruck, Sachenhausen, Unidentified, Warsaw Ghetto, Widerstand in Berlin gegen das NS-Regime 1933 bis 1945 | Leave a comment

Who Was Joseph Smith – Close Calls and Possible Candidates

Posted on January 19, 2016 by identifinders

We have just a few scraps of information to go on in searching for Joseph Smith’s original identity, many of which are questionable. But we have to make the most of what we have, since that’s all we have. Joseph always said his … Continue reading →

Posted in Finding Birth Parents, Uncategorized, Unsolved Mysteries | Tagged Ashkenazi, Birth Parents, Camp Zachary Taylor, FindaGrave, Forensic Genealogy, Fort Lewis, Fort Slocum, Identifinders, Italiangen.org, Joseph Eugene Smith, missing-identity | 5 Comments

Who Was Joseph Smith?

Posted on January 14, 2016 by identifinders

The early life of Joseph Eugene Smith is a complete mystery. Joseph’s son Morton and Morton’s daughter Karen have researched Joseph for over 20 years, yet they still don’t know who he was. Hopefully by reading his story, someone may come forward with … Continue reading →

Posted in Finding Birth Parents, Historical Identifications, Uncategorized, Unsolved Mysteries | Tagged Alvin York, Ashkenazi, autosomal DNA, Black Jack Pershing, Camp Zachary Taylor, DNA Identification, Forensic Genealogy, Fort Lewis, Identifinders, Joseph Smith, Major Charles Whittlesey, Meuse Argonne Forrest, missing-identity, National Records Center, The Lost Battalion, Unidentified, Y-DNA | 3 Comments

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

Posted on October 17, 2013 by identifinders

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. … Continue reading →

Posted in Finding Birth Parents, Holocaust Project, Uncategorized | Tagged Auschwitz, autosomal DNA, Barbara Wenglinski, Birth Parents, Charlotte Rebhun, Chorzów, deportation, DNA Identification, Forensic Genealogy, General Government, Georgetown, Gertrude Spyra, Guyana, Identifinders, Katowice, Królewska Huta, Lotar Spyra, Meisner & Co., missing-identity, Myslowice, Nazi Germany, Pawiak Prison, Pnina Gutman, Poniecki, Silesia, Unidentified, Warsaw Ghetto | 6 Comments

Category Archives: Finding Birth Parents

Who Am I? What is My Name? – Part XII – Taking Stock

Who Am I? What Is My Name? Part XI – Berlin, Warsaw, and the German Soldier

For Immediate Release – Grant from the Elie Wiesel Jewish Studies Center, Boston University

Who Am I – What Is My Name – Part X – Gertrude’s Marriage and Divorce

ISHI 27 – David O’Shea and the Grandmothers of the Plaza

Who Am I? What is My Name? – Part IX – Gertrude’s Sisters!

Who Am I? What is My Name? – Part VIII – Gertrud and Leo’s Trial

Who Was Joseph Smith – Close Calls and Possible Candidates

Who Was Joseph Smith?

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

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