Information on German pilot killed during the 2nd war

Question

I'm very stuck :/ And I'd be SO VERY grateful if you could help me find any information or places to look for Paul Albert Rohde (Jan 27 1906, Gelsenkirchen, Germany - Aug 11 1942, Quakenbrück, Germany). 

He was a glider builder and pilot during the 2nd war, and was apparently sabotaged while testing an airplane because he opposed nazism. After he passed, his wife's (very conservative) family destroyed or kept all information about him secret - which makes me think the rumors might be true. He was even erased from his daughter's family book, something I've never seen happen. His daughter is now 75, definitely never ever sympathetic with the nazis, and she would love to learn something, anything, about him and his family. 

All the info I've been able to gather is here: https://www.wikitree.com/index.php?title=Rohde-200

- Paul lived in Gelsenkirchen from at least 1927 to 1941, where he also did his training.

- The letter where they notify his family of his death is addressed to "his wife, his little daughter, his parents and his siblings", so he probably DID have a family. As far as I know, to get married in the late 30s in Germany you also needed to prove you "linage", so he was able to track his roots at least then. 

- He was seriously passionate about airplanes and gliders, his daughter has a single photo album of his, with literally hundreds of photos of Paul posing with them. No family photos, though (they were maybe destroyed when his house was bombed). 

- He traveled a lot, as shown by the letters he sent to his wife (which always contained long cheesy poems!). He sent for example one from Munster in March 1940. So he might have left a significant paper trace, going from place to place.

I'm not sure what to do next. Do you know of sites where I can look for information on German soldiers? Or somewhere I can visit or write to? (I'm in Germany although my German is still quite bad). Or... anything? Many thanks!!!

Comments

Yisela, you might add the tag:  germany  or german_roots  or just plain german    to your question to attract people knowledgeable about researching German records.

I'm sorry I can't offer any information, though.

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Thank you Gaile, I just added it! :)

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Yisela, this may or may not help, its just a suggestion on what I learned about a downed pilot.  http://www.47thbombgroup.org/history.html is a website for my father's unit in So. Africa.  On it are also official records now released of some of those KIA.  I happened upon one whom my father had photographed while they were there. They had been in flight school together. I checked everything on the man's death. Maps to the site, verbal reports by a nearby pilot and what he saw, family notification, everything - from that website.  In time I actually found him on Findagrave! was able to locate his children and share the photo. AND he did not die, he was a POW for 3 years.  Don't know how to tell you to do this research (it was a stroke of luck for me) but it can be done. Don't give up!

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Thank you Barbara! Every little trace opens up a world of possibilities, I've gotten a lot of great suggestions and I'm sure I will find Paul's family, eventually. I'm glad you could find information on your father, maps, the notification, photos! Thank you so much for sharing :)

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You are so welcome, It makes me happy to add a little light and hope!

Answer 1

You might try Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge e. V at https://www.volksbund.de/en/presse/volksbund.html

The site has an English version.

Comments

Thanks George, I did try that site before but it only has graves of people killed abroad (Paul didn't die in battle and his body was brought back to Gelsenkirchen).

Answer 2

I was able to find Paul in here, it contains all career summaries for Luftwaffe Officers.  Luftwaffe Officer Career Summaries

ROHDE, Paul. 11.08.42 Hptm. in 5./NJG 4, killed in crashed vic Quakenbrück, not by enemy action. 

Answer 3

Fold 3 has some declassified records on a Paul Rohde.  Whether or not this is the same person I have no way of knowing.  What is in Fold 3 lists him as a director of a large metal works company called Durener Metallwerke A. G. Berlin-Borsigwalde.  In 1940 he is listed as an officer in Aufsichtsrat.

There is another document that shows him on a roster for OMGUS Finance Division - Investigations and Interrogations › ... Records Regarding Bank Investigations ›Commerzbank, Report On The Ivestigation 

Of (citation is incomplete) starts n 1933 and his last check mark is 1939.

I believe what  found is also what is in Wikipedia https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Rohde

While this is not specific to him, it does talk about training given before and after 1942.

Comments

Laura, thank you so much for looking into this. I will try to register to the library and see that record (I took a quick look and it asks for an American address). I found the same Paul Rohde while googling for the name = "Gelsenkirchen", where he owned an iron company. He also shows up in the Bundesarchiv archives, for example in charge of "metals and raw materials" in Russia and Poland. Sounds to me like it's someone quite high up the chain, maybe a father or uncle originally from Hagen? He became a partner in 1902. Gelsenkirchen was a mining town. I will look into the company, thank you!!

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This Paul Rohde is in all likelihood not the Paul Rohde in question. This one was a Nazi sympathizer who died Apr. 17, 1941 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen and was married to a Erna Doering. Deutsche Biographie - Rohde, Paul.

There is a website http://www.luftarchiv.de/ that might have some information. If you know what division he belonged to one can check Onlineprojekt Gefallenendenkmäler which has loss lists for the Luftwaffe.

The Kracker Luftwaffe Archive has an entry for him:

Rohde, Paul

Hptm

5/NJG-4

Bf 110, Ju 88

Night Fighter Operational Clasp

KIC 11 August, 1942; crashed at Quakenbrück on a non-operational flight. Source: M. Balss.

 Perhaps they can be contacted regarding this source they are mentioning.

 

Addendum: The Bundesarchiv has a division Militärarchiv: email militaerarchiv@bundesarchiv.de

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Helmut, that is him in the gefallenendenkmäler, and it has information I didn't see in the Luftwaffe Officer Career Summaries, like the planes and the award. Great source info for "old" Paul, I'm keeping him in mind as a possible relative even though there is no link yet other than the town (old Rohde bought the iron works in Gelsenkirchen). I have also contacted the Deutsche Dienststelle and asked for his records, but I heard they usually take a couple of months. I this this is the book the bundesarchiv refers to in the source: Deutsche Nachtjagd, by Michael Balss. Thanks so much (you could turn your comment into an answer, especially since it contains new info on the real Paul). 

Answer 4

If you want to find out more about his family and potential siblings I would start with trying to get his birth record from the civil registry office https://www.gelsenkirchen.de/de/_meta/buergerservice/787-ausstellung-von-urkunden-des-standesamtes-gelsenkirchen 

Comments

I'm planning a trip to Gelsenkirchen and will drop by the registry. Thanks for the link!!

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Better call or write them in advance. Normally birth dates up to 110 years ago are protected by privacy laws. For a birth from 1908 you would need to prove, that you are a direct descendant. Data before this date are free to everybody and normally handed over from the Standesamt / civil registry office to the local archive. As Paul Rohde was born in 1906 you probably could contact the mentioned archive (Institut für Stadtgeschichte der Stadt Gelsenkirchen) on the page: isg@gelsenkirchen.de

Answer 5

This is an answer to your general question but we have a list of resources for Germany on our World War II Project resource space page here:

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:World_War_II_Resource_page