Genealogy / Help: Looking for family history from Wroclaw/Deutsch Hammer [10]

Wroclaw, I made a mistake. The name of the village is called Czeszow formerly Deutsch Hammer somewhere in the neighborhood of Wroclaw. I believe that Wroclaw used to be called Breslau or maybe Trebnitz? Not quite sure. In either case, my father came from Deutsch Hammer and had to leave with his family in 1945. I'm sure you know the rest of that very sad history. Unfortunately, my Dad passed away last June and I have this desire to try to re-trace his past and that of the history of my family perhaps locating vital records of the family i.e.) birth/death certificates, marriage records etc. If you or someone on the forum would know how to get started I would be grateful. I will be traveling to Germany this summer to visit my extended family (all from Deutsch Hammer) and then will be taking a side trip to Czeszow. Very excited at the possibility of finding anything about the family history. I realize it's a long shot but you never know!

Thanks- Mike

Genealogy / Help: Looking for family history from Wroclaw/Deutsch Hammer [10]

Wroclaw: I do have a census map from 1945 which I found on the internet which actually shows the family name in several dwellings listed. The map appears to be hand drawn but with great detail. I haven't yet tried to use google earth service however- good idea!

As far as the church, I'm fairly certain that there is only one in the town of Czeszow. When I vist this summer I'm hoping that maybe I will find some info there as well. It is doubtful that any of our family records actually made it into the western part of Germany after the war. I have pretty much exhausted that search already. I did manage to learn the fate of my Grandfather however through a church based family search organization for displaced family members from lower Silesia but nothing more. The rest of it is rather murky having only heard my relatives speak of it when I was a child during the brief period that we lived in Germany before moving to the US in 1969. And for that matter, I really was too young to have understood much anyway. Sadly, my Father was a reluctant and unwilling historian on the Family history. No doubt it was too painful for him to discuss it as I'm sure anyone would understand.

As far as the family link, I do have my father's passport and his official identification that was issued to him in the town he eventually resided in (Bendorf, Germany) and also his US Passport and Immigration/Naturalization records. Hopefully that will suffice in providing a convincing reason for examining any documents that may exist. I am not looking to obtain them but perhaps have copies of them for my children. I don't want this important piece of Family history to be lost to my Kids!

Thank you for the advice I appreciate the fact that you have taken the time to respond!

Best regards- Mike