Good Afternoon,
I requested the military records of my 1st cousin 2x removed from the German military records repository. I received a response today, but I don't speak/understand much German. (working on correcting that) At any rate, this looks like a rejection letter of some sort. I would appreciate some translation help if anyone is willing to assist. Thank you!
Joe Grage
Hallo,
the problem is that you are not directly related to your cousin. The WAST will give informations only to the person itself, or, if deceased, to his wife and direct descendants. In your case they ask for a permission (Vollmacht) signed by such a relative in your cousin's direct line. In this permission he or she should explain their descent and agree to your request for informations. WAST expects this agreement within the next four weeks, otherwise they will cancel your request. They also say that once they got this permission, you should know it will take up to 18 months until you get an answer.
Micha
Thanks, I was afraid of that. He had a wife, but no children and thus no descendants. I guess no one is eligible to receive his records. Thanks for your help.
Joe
Hi Joe,
I kind of disagree with Micha's answer; if you can proof to the WAST that his was has died and that they did not have any children
that you should let the WAST know that. Maybe you have the death certificate of his wife which you could send to the WAST. It's
worth a try.
Regards Renate from Berlin
Thanks Renate, I will try to gather the documents I can to prove up my case. In the meantime, I received a second letter from the WAST yesterday responding to my request for my great grand uncle's records from World War I. This time they were willing to give them to me, but informed me that the records were destroyed in Berlin in 1945.
Joe
