Open AccessGisela Kriebel: A History of a German War Bride
Author(s) -
William Skiles
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
the journal of genealogy and family history
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2399-2964
DOI - 10.24240/23992964.2021.1234533
Subject(s) - homeland , german , world war ii , military service , spanish civil war , genealogy , history , population , interpreter , law , gender studies , sociology , political science , politics , demography , archaeology , computer science , programming language
Among the tens of thousands of GI war brides after the Second World War, a small fraction of them were German women who left their defeated and devastated homeland behind. The war story of Gisela Kriebel explores how her circuitous move from Berlin to Los Angeles, half a world away, meant the virtual severing of family ties and cultural connections that would leave her descendants with scant information about her genealogy and the fate of her family members in the war. Barriers of distance, language, and accessibility of records have made genealogical research particularly difficult concerning this specific population of war brides of defeated nations. The article explores Gisela Kriebel’s family, and specifically how she was conscripted into service in the war, began a career as an interpreter and secretary, and was swept up in two love affairs—one tragic and the other life-long—that, in the end, brought her to Los Angeles. Throughout the article, genealogical sources will be used, such as newly available online military records, to demonstrate how researchers can discover the rich family history of war brides separated from their war-torn homelands.