Show and Tell is sponsored by Kelli at "There Is No Place Like Home". Go there or be square (play along!)
A couple of months ago my Show and Tell was an antique sewing machine which reminded me of Meine Omi's that she had in Germany. This week's Show and Tell is this Wedding photo of my grandparents, Wilhelm and Marguerite Tandler. They were married June 26, 1926 in Sudentland which is now the Czech Republic. My grandmother looks very stylish and my grandfather is so dapper looking with his top hat and gloves! (Click to enlarge)
Wilhelm was born September 29, 1895. He had 2 older sisters that died before he was born.
Meine Mutti told me that Wilhelm's father Theodore was a musician and that both of his daughters died while he was off playing music. So naturally there was a curse presumed to be on the family, related to playing music which is why
Meine Mutti was never allowed to learn. She has since
Meine Omi's death, learned to play the piano. Theodore put away his music never to play again. When
Meine Opi Wilhelm was 3 years old, his father Theodore was at work in the railyard when he fell and struck his head on the rail. He eventually died of his injury a year later. His mother Anna remarried Opi Peck and they had 2 sons,
meine Opi's half-brothers. Uncle Kurt was drafted into the German Army and killed during WW2 in Holland when he was shot by a sniper. Uncle Irwin was exterminated by the Nazis at the start of the war. He was taken off to be castrated because he was mentally slow, even though he was self-sufficient. The family was notified to come and pick up his ashes.
Meine Omi, Marguerite Novak was one of 15 children. She was born October 14, 1901. She lost several siblings when they were infants and helped to care for her other siblings since she was one of the older children. When my grandparents married they had one-fourth interest in a 4 family home. There had been a deal made with
Meine Omi's 3 other siblings and their spouses that they would work on one unit at a time. Wilhelm was a carpenter and their unit was the last to be refurbished. At that time, the other siblings demanded to be paid for their work. Thus resulting in a family feud. Without any resolution in sight, My grandparents, unbeknownst to the others sold their share to a complete stranger and decided to move to South America where some friends of theirs had gone and were doing quite well.
My grandparents 10th Anniversary not long before they were expecting my mother.
Meine Mutti was raised as an only child. My grandparents had a son, Eric who passed away as an infant while they were still in Sudentland. All
Meine Mutti knows is that it was some type of choking incident (which is how
Meine Opi's 2 older sisters died). Last November
Meine Mutti revealed to my surprise that she had had an older sister that passed away as well! She had never mentioned it to me and seemed to have only recently remembered her father mentioning her once when she was about 12 years old.
Meine Mutti was born May 6, 1938 in Buenos Aries, Argentina.
Meine Mutti Helga at 7 months wth my Omi and Opi.
Right after
Meine Mutti's 1st Birthday my grandparents made the decision to return home to Europe. I don't know what motivated them to do so because if they had had any inkling that Hitler would wage war just shortly after their return, I doubt they would have gone!
When you click on photo and enlarge it,
Meine Mutti is in
Meine Omi's arms at the railing wearing a bonnet.
Some time down the road I will post a Show and Tell and share more about my mother's family and the war.
