Hello everyone,
I’m hoping for guidance from those familiar with German records and post-war research, as I’ve reached a significant brick wall.
I am researching my grandfather, Willi Kuhnke, born September 10, 1920, in Klein Karpauen, Kreis Gerdauen (East Prussia). After World War II, he returned to Germany following time as a POW in Italy. As an East Prussian refugee, he later worked—based on records and family accounts—as a driver in Herrsching (Bavaria) and subsequently as a miner in Dinslaken, North Rhine–Westphalia.
The difficulty is that after 1956 he disappears from the records entirely. His Dinslaken Meldekarte notes a penalty for failure to report, but lists no forwarding address, deregistration destination, or later place of residence. He was estranged from my German grandmother within a year after my mothers illegitimate birth in Bavaria in 1950. Contact with his extended East Prussian refugee family had already ended around 1953, and they were unsure of the reason. These combined with the lack of a national population register in Germany, this makes forward tracing especially difficult.
Research completed so far includes:
-Extensive searches across internet and major genealogy databases
-Local archives in Dinslaken
-An in-person inquiry with the Dinslaken police (a criminal complaint existed but does not appear to be archived)
-Inquiry with the company that later absorbed the mining company he worked for (no personnel records held)
-Bochum Mining Museum
-East Prussian refugee records in Unna
-Kreis-level inquiries
-All three NRW state archives
- Dinslaken archives. Nothing after 1956 and no matching death records
-Emigration research (no confirmed records)
-Pension and miners’ insurance inquiries (blocked due to German Datenschutz privacy restrictions)
-A search via the German Red Cross (DRK) tracing service, which confirmed only his already-known last residence in Dinslaken
-Contact with the Heimatkreisgemeinschaft (Home Group) Gerdauen, who published a short article about him but have had no leads so far
We recently learned that some Western skilled workers were encouraged to move to East Germany in the 1950s, so we have submitted a request for Stasi records as a possible avenue.
I am collaborating with my mutual German relatives to understand what may have happened next. One of them requested a police search in the 1970s, to solve this family mystery, which also produced no results.
My questions for the group are:
Are there common post-1950s record gaps or administrative mechanisms that could explain a disappearance like this?
Are there less obvious archives or record types (employment-related, refugee administration, internal migration, etc.) that might apply to miners or drivers during this period?
Has anyone encountered similar cases involving NRW miners who transitioned to other work or regions in the mid-1950s?
Any ideas, suggestions, or methodological guidance would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you very much for your time and expertise,
Matt Nystrom
Additional background information (German):
https://willikuhnke.carrd.co/
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