45 - Postcard From Johann Schiebel to Grandma 18 June 1936

 Click here to read story from beginning.

Story so far: Grandma Cecile had reached her relatives back in her home village of Nieder-Mohrau, Czechoslovakia, after a trip across the continental USA and the Atlantic Ocean.  Settling in, she had written some letters back home but was still a little homesick.

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Not all of her siblings lived in Nieder-Mohrau anymore, just her sisters Mina and Gustie. Grandma Cecile had three brothers who lived in the general area at the time. Johann and Hermann lived in Czechoslavakia and Joseph/Josef - in Poland, all within traveling distance.

Her brother Johann, who had met with Cecile some time shortly after she arrived, had gone back home to work. A few days later, he sent her this postcard:

 

Address side of Johann's postcard

 

 

 

Message from Johann

 

Translation of the letter in Gothic German, courtesy of my friend Al Haunold:

Dear Sister, June 18, 1936

I want you to know that I arrived well and am working now since Monday, thus I could have stayed for a few more days if I had known it. I also wrote to Josef, perhaps we can get together again in case you would not come to Teschen. As I see it you would only have the opportunity to cross the border for one day and that would probably not be worth it. However, that is not my business. It could also be different. Let’s hope that you could stay here for a few months so that we can see each other again once more. It is also now very warm here. So, take care and enjoy yourself. If you have a chance, write again.

Auf Wiedersehn (see you again) Br. (brother) Johann

Translation of the address side, also by Al Haunold:

left side: Sender: Joh. Schiebel

Wireworks military installation 130 in Pudland

(Silesia) near Oderberg

right side: postage cancellation stamp: 18. VI. (June) 36-19 

To Mrs. Caezilia Beitel

per address Wilhelm Weiss Nr. 39 

in Nieder Mohrau

Post office Klein Mohrau near 

Freudenthal (Silesia)

From his note, Johann was hoping to get another chance to see her before she left for home.  It's interesting that she was already thinking of leaving and Johann was hoping she will actually stay for several months

An interesting side note - the postmark says  "Bohumin", Johann's written address is Oderberg. It turns out that these are the same town, Oderberg is the German name for the town, Bohumin is the Czech name.

The return address also tells us something of what Johann does for work. I'm not sure exactly what they did  there or Johann specifically, except it must have had something to do with making wire. That is interesting for family history because Grandpa Alois's father, August, worked in a wire factory in the region before he immigrated to America.

For a closer view of a photo, simply click on it. Also, if you come across different color text in a block, it signifies a link. Those links will take you to more information I have discovered on the internet.
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Story to be continued...... 

To read Post "46 - Grandma's Postcard to Betty - 23 June 1936",  Click Here

44 - Return and Updates to Story Along with a Photo to Identify

Click here to read story from beginning

Story so far: Grandma Cecile had reached her relatives back in her home village of Nieder-Mohrau, Czechoslovakia. She had crossed the United States by train, from Oregon on the Pacific coast to New York on the Atlantic coast. The Europa, a ship with the North German Lloyd ship line, had carried her across the Atlantic Ocean. She had reached her destination of Nieder-Mohrau and had written some letters and even had time for a diary entry.

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To quote my Grandmother, "What a pause I left unwritten." (From her diary entry of June 23) It seems that I have done the same thing, except for a much longer period of time! My last post was in June of 2017! Unfortunately, life sometimes interrupts the best of plans, but then sometimes leaves time to return to those plans. My thanks to cousin Linda Koenig, who has gently been reminding me that there are a few people out there who would really like to see the story continue.

So, hopefully, I will be able to pick up the story and keep it going this time. Going through my notebooks, I did find a couple of ticket stubs that I missed in the earlier part of the story.

I have added scans of a Passenger's Check that Grandma had for her travel from Portland, Oregon, to Chicago, Illinois. It shows that she had a lower berth in a Pullman car and was stamped on the back with a date of June 1, 1936. You can see that ticket in Post #16.

Grandma also had a ticket stub for a Coupon Transfer for the Parmelee Transportation Company in Chicago. She used that coupon to transfer herself and her luggage to her train to New York. The Parmelee Company moved people and baggage between the different train terminals in Chicago. That coupon was added to Post #17. There is something stamped on the back of that ticket, but I cannot make out what it says, or what it meant.

Now, before continuing on with the story, this seems like a good spot to enter a photograph that I have added to this collection simply because I hope that maybe someone reading this may know who these people are.  It was not included with Grandma's materials, but it has the look and feel of others in her bag of souvenirs. 

Unknown couple working on a farm

The photo is in a postcard format. There are no markings on the reverse side. On the back is written in what appears to be Sr Agnes Beitel's handwriting, "Joe Schmidt's half sister, Mom's second cousin".

Since they are using a cow (or perhaps an ox?) rather than a horse, it seemed possibly to be more likely to be in Europe. The background does resemble the Nieder-Mohrau region. The Schmidt's and Froemel's (Grandma's cousins) also came from that general area. Of course, it could also be in the Silverton Hills, Oregon, as well. The regions look very similar, which is probably what drew my relatives to this area.

If the people were in Europe, it is possible that they were among the family that Grandma Cecile visited back in 1936.

If anyone has any idea who these people are, please contact me! Thank you. 

For a closer view of the photo, simply click on it.
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Story to be continued......  

To read Post "45 -  Postcard From Johann Schiebel to Grandma - 18 June 1936"  Click here