As more and more stuff gets put on the internet, those of us with parents or grandparents whose past is murky have more and more stuff to search through in the hope we will trace some newly discovered record or even long lost relatives.
In this part of the blog I shall be gradually adding what we know about my father Julius (Jules) Suknowicz who probably came from Czernowicz in the Bukovina and then lived in Brussels before the Second World War.
Perhaps someone also looking for relatives will recognise the photos.
He was born on 15 February 1905. His father, Joseph, was killed in the First World War, fighting as an Austrian officer. His mother was listed as Helene Simon (or possibly Estermann?) when he first registered to live in Brussels. In 1928 he went to live in Brussels, as an economic migrant, like a lot of Romanians. We know he had a sister who we assume stayed behind in Cernauti (Czernowicz) and is the source of the photos. He tried to trace her after the war through the Red Cross.
After he met my mother in 1946, he came to live in the UK (after a short trip to Brazil). He never told us much about his past, and most of it came to light only since he died. It's impossible to check anything with any relatives as we don't know of any still alive or where they might be. His friends in Brussels have told us what they knew about him. His war story is partly confirmed by documents found in the Belgian Government in exile archives.
