General Chat

This was in our local newspaper....

They have been apart for 67 years but today a father-of-four told of his joy after an emotional first meeting with the brother he didn't even know he had.

Peter Hans Beschorner, from Thorpe St Andrew, was searching for information about his Jewish father Hans, a former prisoner at a Nazi concentration camp who fled to Britain.

Unbeknown to him, at the same time Klaus Mueller, 76, was also doing the same.

When both men contacted the International Tracing Service in Switzerland, staff there put two and two together and realised they shared the same father.

They were contacted by staff at the archives and three days ago they met in Berlin in a meeting which they say has “changed their lives”.

Peter, 67, a musician who lives in Thunder Lane with wife Susan, told the Evening News: “I am still speechless just knowing I have a brother and cannot believe I spent so many years unaware of this.

“The agency put us in touch and we sent some pictures and then spoke before meeting up. It changed our lives.”

The men's father Hans, who was born in 1911, had a Polish father and Jewish mother and grew up in East Germany.

At the age of 22, he had an affair with Alfreda Wensel, the 22-year-old daughter of a local mayor and she fell pregnant with Klaus.

The relationship caused a scandal and they were forbidden from marrying by her father under Nazi law.

Four years later, Alfreda remarried and her husband brought up Klaus as his own son.

Hans was working as a teacher when he was imprisoned by the Nazis in the infamous Dachau concentration camp because he was Jewish.

He was then released from the camp in 1939 when he became one of the 40,000 German Jews to be deported to Britain before the outbreak of World War II.

Hans originally worked on a farm in Yorkshire before moving to London and marrying a British girl Joan Soan, then aged 18, in 1941.

Their son Peter was born the same year, but languages teacher Hans never admitted to him as he was growing up that he had an older brother.

Peter, a father-of-four, said: “It was not seen as the done thing at the time to get a woman pregnant when they were only about 22.

“My father was later freed and came over here where he met my mother and they had me.

“I never knew I had a brother and it was only when the staff from the agency contacted us I was aware of it.”

Mr Mueller, now 76, grew up in Communist East Germany without knowing anything about his father, who died in 1979 aged 69.

His daughter Nicola had contacted the same organisation in 1999 to ask if it had any knowledge of her grandfather, who she knew had been a victim of Nazi Germany's Holocaust.

Peter met his brother at Berlin airport and spent two days with him, staying at the home of his daughter Nicola, 45, in Berlin where she works as a photographer

He added: “It was amazing, we had such a bond between us. We met at the airport and stayed with his daughter in Berlin. I felt as though he had missed out on so much of my father so I helped him fill in the gaps and sang the songs I used to get sung - he missed out on that.

“I now have my brother in my life and we intend to see each other again soon.”

He said the International Tracing Service believes that they are the first cases of English and German brothers meeting up again after being effectively split up by the Holocaust.

Mr Mueller, who lives in Wismar, East Germany, said: “I didn't know about my real father until my 18th birthday and then it was not mentioned again.

“I lived in East Germany and you were not allowed to learn English and travel, so it was hard trying to track my father.

“I was both surprised and happy to find a brother that I did not know existed.

“He showed me pictures of my father for the first time and his face looks like those of members of my family.”

Peter plans to return to Germany next Easter to visit his brother, a retired chemistry professor, and his wife Erica at their home.

Mr Mueller is also planning to visit his brother and his wife of 40 years Susan, 65, at their home in Norwich and the pair have vowed to stay in regular phone contact.

Peter has now been told that his father had another son called Rudolph while he was living in Germany in the 1950s and he is now hoping that he may be reunited with him.

Isn't that lovely, I hope they find their other brother too.
Lizx

There was a feature on these two brothers' reunion on the BBC news programme on monday lunchtime and as soon as I heard the name Beschorner mentioned I started to watch with interest as back in the 70s my german teacher was called Dr Beschorner and the photo they showed of him did bear quite a resemblance to the one I knew (only much younger). They didn't state what he did for a living but now you've mentioned that he was a teacher I'm sure it was him. He was a very colourful character, often wore a courdroy cap/beret and a flower in his button hole. We didn't learn a lot of german in his classes because he could always be persuaded to go off topic and talk about the time he met Mick Jagger or the olympic sized swimming pool at Dusseldorf!!
My high school was in Morden, Surrey, but I'm now sure he was the same person. I'm pleased to know his sons have been reunited after all this time, maybe they would like a copy of the photo I've got somewhere of him with some of my mates on the day we all left school.

Thanks for putting this up Liz and confirming my suspicions.

Carolyn

warms the cockles of the heart....what a lovely story :-)))

A heartwarming story Liz,bet there were many tears of joy at their reunion.
Mau x

I thought it was nice to have a happy tale on here, and glad it answered your question Carolyn.

Lizxx

What a small world!
Lovely story.
xxx

Hi! I was delighted to read your post, though somewhat belated! Here we are 10 years later! I am in the process of writing a book about my dear dad's amazing life. I can send yiu a copy if you like. Those memories were so wonderful for me! The way you described his attire! and converstation! So typical! I just received a letter from Rodrick Hunt CBE the famous children's educational reading books author. He was taught by my father in his own school from 1947-51 and told me dad had a great influence on his life with his highly unusual methods! I would love to hear from you with any more info you can remember. Dad died of heart problems in 1979. Looking forward to hearing from you. Kind regards Peter Beschorner :-)

Wow!

Liz, who started this thread, is still around but Carolyn doesn’t appear to be a regular poster. You could click on her name to send a personal message. As long as she still uses the linked email address (& is capable of accessing it) she’ll be notified that you’re trying to contact her.

Her post, and the contact you’ve had with others , shows what a positive impact your father made on their lives.

I was very surprised to get a message from Peter earlier today, as I had completely forgotten about this thread from 10 years ago, It has brought back happy memories of my school days, I only wish I could remember more of the fascinating stories Dr Beschorner used to tell us.

I got the same message as you, Carolyn, as Peter had obviously clicked on my name in error.

I am glad I posted the report from the newspaper but how do people find these old posts lol?

Lizx

.

Today, ( Thursday, 25th Oct ) I am on my way to Wismar in Germany to visit my dear brother Klaus again. He is now 86 and I am 77. When we met in Berlin for the first time, Kilaus was 76 and I was 67! His health has not been good but we will be together once again! Imagine how I feel, waiting to meet a brother I didnt know I had after 67 years! Our father Hans Rubinstein-Beschorner would be so happy to know that he two sons finally met! (I am in the process of completing book relating Hans's amazing life including how he escaped from Dachau and Germany in 1939 and how Klous, his firstborn son escaped the bombing of Dresden by only a few hours as he and his mother Elfreda fled from the oncoming Russians in 1945. :-) :-)

Have a wonderful time together, Peter <3

Enjoy your time together, Peter. Good wishes to your brother and all the family members you have got to know. Any news of Rudolph?

Liz