Found matches to grandfather's siblings children didn't know about.why?

Question

How can my aunts and uncles not know there were siblings in Italy for their father?

Answer 1

People can easily lose touch with each other when they move to new locations or countries.

Answer 2

My maternal grandmother lived long enough to tell me about her siblings.

My paternal grandmother died when I was quite young and her husband, my grandfather lived a little longer and i met one of his sisters. I learned after my grandfather passed on, that he had 3 brothers and 3 sisters. He talked to me about baseball greats like Ty Cobb and Honus Wagner.

Answer 3

I very recently discovered lots of great aunts and uncles on both sides of my family.  My maternal grandmother died when I was 4 and I knew her three sisters and their mother (my great-grandmother) very closely while I was growing up.  I always thought there were only those four sisters until my research turned up 4 more siblings, all of whom came to the United States.  I also found their children (my mother's first cousins who I never knew existed) and am now trying to find their children - my second cousins, who I hope to be able to make contact with.

On my father's side, I never knew my grandmother had any siblings, either in the United States or in Lithuania (where my grandmother was born).  In the last couple of years my research has found that my grandmother had 7 siblings, all came to the United States and I have met some of my new-found second cousins, who are helping with further research.