My grandfathers name was Rolf Hermann Erich Zink. He would have been born around 1900 and died in the UK in the late 1950s - I didn't know him. He fled Czechoslovakia with my grandmother (Jenny Eva Eisner) and my mother around 1938 and came to the UK. I believe both he and my grandmother had worked as professors in universities, he in Dresden or Leipzig. My mother appears to know little about him, mainly because it was not talked about. She doesn't know anything about his side of the family. I and my wife are travelling to Prague for a short stay in February - first time for us. Can anyone help with either information or in putting me in touch with people that might help me to trace this side of my family. Best regards, Robin
I'm confused. Did your grandparents live in Germany or in Czechoslovakia (the only cities you mentioned them residing in are German)? Also, are they ethnic Germans or Czechs? Their names certainly are very German.
He was Czech as I understand it and my grandmother was German. I guess he must have spoken German too as my grandmother certainly did not speak Czech. Perhaps he had been brought up in Czechoslovakia but was of German origin - I guess maybe Czechoslovakia didn't even exist when he was born (?).
Czechoslovakia came into being in 1918, following WWI, but Dresden and Leipsig were always part of Germany, not Czechoslovakia (not even Sudetenland). It's still possible that your grandfather was ethnically Czech, but if the only town of residence you have for him is Dresden, you probably should start your search there.
OK, have been doing a bit more digging. Apparently it was my mother's grandfather who was the prof - at Dresden uni, his name was Rudolf. They came from leipzig, where my grandfather was born in 1907 (Rolf). He 'became' Czech and was living in Prague in the 30s with my grandmother Eva when my mother was born in 1935. He was an artist, mainly doing cartoons for the newspapers, she had a bookbinding business. Couple of years prior to this one of my grandmother's brothers had already been arrested and put into a camp (he was in Sachsenhausen, Dachau and finally Buchenwald where he died in 1943). Hope this all helps make a little clearer. Maybe Leipzig would be a better starting place but perhaps the newspapers will have a record of him too - we have several books published by him, one springing to mind called 'The Little Prince' (I think). Best regards, Robin
