Lost Roots

Family, Identity, and Abandoned Ancestry

About

How seven siblings in the U.S., Germany, and Poland abandoned their ancestry as they sought to survive assaults from racist regimes that recognized eugenics as science, and how they fell victim to the wars and tribalism of the twentieth century.  

Six brothers and a sister born during the last quarter of the nineteenth century into an ethnic minority family in Prussian-occupied Poland were thrust into World War I. Five of them served in the German military, just four survived and returned home to the newly reconstituted Polish Republic. The promise of a new Poland in a changed Europe was not enough for Sigmund, who left for the United States, claiming German “race”, slipping through the closing entry gate that would end most immigration to the U.S. for forty years. Johann, who had immigrated to Germany before the war, hired a genealogist to prove his (non-existent) German roots from the distant past. The three who remained in Poland between the wars became a national police officer, a successful industrialist, and a prosperous shopkeeper.  When Europe lurched again into war, the five brothers and their sister were spread out in Poland, Germany and the United States. Three lost virtually everything in the German occupation of Poland from 1939 to 1945. Wladyslaw was sent to a Nazi concentration camp as was his wife; their two pre-teen sons were fostered by family members. Anastazy was captured and executed on Stalin’s order with 22,000 other Polish military officers, politicians, and intellectuals. Klemens was arrested for loudly proclaiming his ancestral ethnicity and was sentenced to a Nazi work camp from which he escaped after a year. Johann died surrounded by the ruins of a collapsed Germany. Those who survived Nazi occupation of Poland lost what little they had left to forty years of Soviet occupation. Only Sigmund, the brother in the U.S., remained personally unscathed, but not unmarked by the fate of his family in Europe. Their true ethnicity remained hidden for decades.


 

 






Praise for this book

”Lost Roots...is a non-fiction book that reads like fiction. It features excellent prose, captivating commentaries, and a conflict that transports readers to the post-WWI era.”

“Well written, exhaustively researched, and a beautiful compilation of a family’s lost collective history.”

“A well-researched and sentimental memoir [that] details the way oppressive structures have altered the identity of millions of families. Lost Roots has equal parts nostalgic storytelling and detailed research, providing beguiling context for what’s happening in Poland, Germany, and America. I was completely enthralled until the very last word.”

“Historian von Loewe examines his roots and family history, uncovering a rich tapestry of his past while transporting readers along a remarkable route through 20th-century Poland, Germany and America. This winding, incredibly detailed, and sometimes tragic genealogy not only impacts von Loewe’s identity, it also transforms his perspective of family and his own past.

The prose is well-researched and thoughtful, avoiding the dry tone that sometimes accompanies historical memoirs. Von Loewe’s passion for history is evident, while his determination to uncover his family’s past makes the narrative both interesting and a pleasure to read. What sets Lost Roots apart is its well-detailed, heartfelt storytelling that will capture readers from the first page.

Lost Roots cleverly heightens the mystery of von Loewe’s past while developing his relatives’ stories in the same vein as suspenseful fiction, expertly setting up readers for each new event and connecting them deeply to the story as it unfolds.”