Hiding Trees

 I had a 32 year old German Woman want me to make her a Family Tree, but she didn’t want anything on it from 1933-1945 (the Nazi German Period) or from 1945-1990 (the East German Communist Period.) I tried to explain to her that I didn’t have to add any extra notes (occupation, etc.) but I would have to add people who lived during those times.

She continued saying she didn’t want anyone associated with those horrible events on her tree. I followed her wishes and so sent her a completely blank tree. She wasn’t happy, but eventually understood that by telling me not to add any person from her family that lived from 1933-1990 I couldn’t even include her on her own tree since she was born in 1988 in East Germany.

I have made Family Trees for nearly 5 years now and I get these kinds of requests all the time (from Eastern Europeans and Former Soviets that don’t want to be associated with the Communist Crimes, from Germans and Austrians that don’t want to be associated with the Nazi Crimes, from Spaniards that don’t want to be associated with Franco’s Crimes and from American Southerners that don’t want to be associated with Slavery, Jim Crow or Segregation of the 1960s.)

Trying to hide or destroy the bad parts of your history (whether Family History or your Country’s History) doesn’t make it go away. It only means people will forget what happened and that the same crimes could re-occur. You have to take the bad with the good, learn from them.