The search for relatives
Volunteers in various countries help deliver these last words to the intended recipients
The #lostwords project focuses on searching for relatives and traces of people who suffered grave injustices during the Nazi era as a result of being sentenced to death. Today, volunteers from various countries support us in this important task. With their language skills, knowledge of regional archives, and local networks, they play a crucial role in passing on information about the fates of these individuals to their families and conveying their last words. In doing so, they make an important contribution to the process of coming to terms with the past and preserving personal memories. We would like to introduce you to some of our volunteers and explain what it means to the families when they are contacted.
Although meanwhile 80 years have passed since the executions took place, the search for members of the victims’ families is still as important as ever. It is truly impressive how many volunteers have dedicated themselves to the project, and what connections and leads we’ve already managed to establish within such a short time.
Malgorzata Przybyla, Team Leader, Tracing, Arolsen Archives
Helena Novotna
Helena Novotna is a volunteer who searches for families in the Czech Republic. Her own great-grandfather, a member of the Czech resistance, was executed by the Nazis in Munich’s Stadelheim Prison. His farewell letters were delivered to their recipients. Helena Novotna has devoted herself to #lostwords because she knows how important these letters are for the descendants.
About #lostwords: “If I were to find out that there was a last letter from my great-grandfather that had never been delivered, I would probably feel both grief and joy. Because it would mean that I would have the opportunity to get to know him better and feel closer to him through this letter. In each case, there is literally a piece missing from the execution victim’s story. Their family deserves to get that piece back.“
Naturally, we can’t say ahead of time how many family members are still alive. But that shouldn’t keep us from trying to reach them. It doesn’t matter that so many years have passed since the letters were written. What’s important is that they finally receive the proper attention. The people executed in Stadelheim wanted to convey a final word to their families. Now it’s up to us to fulfil that wish. We owe it to them.
Helena Novotna, #lostwords volunteer in the Czech Republic
Bernd Clasen
Bernd Clasen is the managing director of Global Erbenermittlung in Hamburg. This company supports #lostwords in the search for family members pro bono. Global already has experience researching the fates of people who died as a consequence of World War I—most recently, for example, the crews of submarines discovered in 2024. A team of ten historians reconstructed 42 fates and located relatives of the victims.
Global Erbenermittlung is an internationally operating company devoted to searching for heirs. We have many academically trained scholars in our employ. In addition to their primary tasks, our historians participate with great interest in research undertaken for the purpose of reappraising history and linking it to the present. The focus here is on clarifying human fates.
Bernd Clasen, Managing Director of Global Erbenermittlung
Jarosław Kopyto
Jarosław Kopyto is the nephew of Mieczysław Kopyto, who was executed in Munich’s Stadelheim Prison on November 2, 1942.
A Polish volunteer found Jarosław Kopyto. In an e-mail to the Arolsen Archives, he writes:
My heartfelt thanks for contacting me and for the information about my uncle Mieczysław Kopyto. In our family, we still preserve his memory and the memory of his death to this day. It is a great comfort to us to know that we can now hope to receive information about the circumstances surrounding his death and a memento in the form of a letter. And finally, I would like to express my highest appreciation to the entire team for their research work, their personal dedication, and their kindness to the victims’ families.
Jarosław Kopyto, the nephew of Mieczysław Kopyto, who was executed in Munich’s Stadelheim Prison on November 2, 1942
