During World War II, my family lived in Nuremberg, Germany. All my uncles were conscripted into the German army.  As a side note, they each carried small Book of Mormons with them throughout the war.  My father was always the designated driver for ‘dignitaries’ when they came to visit the troops in the field because they knew he did not drink.

Eventually, they were all either captured or surrendered. Their future was dependent on which side, Americans or Russians, captured them.  With the exception of one uncle, they were sent to American prisoner of war camps.  They ultimately immigrated to Salt Lake City with their families.  Hans Eysser, the one uncle, was captured by the Russians and the family never knew what happened to him.  My grandmother heard that he had been taken to a prisoner of war camp in Czechoslovakia and that’s all the family knew at the time.   My grandmother always lamented the fact that her one son, was lost.  

This haunted her and the rest of the family until the day they died.   No one knew where he was eventually buried. 

One year ago, someone directed me to a British documentary entitled “1945: The Savage Peace”.   This documentary was based in Czechoslovakia.  I felt inspired to watch.  Towards the end there was mention of the Mirislav Castle where many German POW’s died.  There was my possible lead.

I Googled the castle in hopes that there might be a record of German soldiers who died there.  As I searched, a number of websites were highlighted.  One was about the German War Graves Commission:

A link then led me to www.volksbund.de.  I decided to type in my uncle’s name, his birth and death date, from FamilySearch. The death date was an approximate. Finally, I obtained the document that identified where the remains of my uncle were buried . . . in Russia. 

I shared this with my cousin who is the family ‘genealogist’.  Her response: “you know more about Hans than I did. I just know that Oma always felt so sad about him being lost”.

I’m sure my grandmother got to meet her son after she passed away, but the rest of the family, still living, now has answers and closure.  All because a voice from beyond the veil told me to check out a documentary.  Insignificant at the time, until it wasn’t. 

Our lost uncle had been found.  And the mystery as to why we couldn’t find him for so long, was simple.  In the German alphabet the ‘ß’ replaces the double ‘s’ in Eysser.  His name was spelled Eyßer on this document:

 I have a testimony that if you prayerfully search for information for those beyond the veil, they will reach out to you. –Gerd Eysser, Temple and Family History Consultant- Willow Creek Stake