My Grandfather Peter Pfaffenroth was a tailor from Temeschburg [Temeswar-Temesvar -Timisoara], Romania, his parents names are unknown.  The only documents we have are his Marriage and Death Certificates, which both spell his name as Peter Pfaffenrath, born May 16, 1912 in Temeschburg, Romania.  In my limited research of the name, I am seeing it as -roth.  I realize with the circumstances, the Nazi's may not have been accurate in their spelling on documents. 

    Peter met and married my Ukrainian grandmother Maria Kulisch in a concentration camp in Germany. They were married on 4 May 1945 at Watenstedt-Salzgitter camp in Braunschweig, Germany. Their marriage was registered in the Registry Office No. 1 of Leinde.  Neither one of my grandparents have their parents listed on this form, those specific lines marked through.  On Peter's Death Certificate, it states "the deceased was married to Maria Pfaffenrath, maiden name Kulisch.  Peter and Maria had 2 daughters, my Mother Barbara and my Aunt Theresa.  They were named after Peter's Mother Barbara and his Grandmother Theresa.

     I am on a search for any information possible about him and his family, as I don't have much.  I know Peter was an only child, from a Catholic family and he lived with his Grandmother Theresa (unknown) in Germany before being captured.  He had 2 aunts, one named Margaret/Margareta who migrated to the Montreal, Canada area.  Even after Peter death, the aunts continued to send packages to their children, my Mother and Aunt in the camps, but because they moved from camp to camp, they lost touch.  So, apparently someone in his family knew about Peter's wife (my grandmother), their daughters (my mom & aunt), which makes this whole search even more exciting!  My aunt told us Peter's mother and grandmother had a farm in Romania but we are not sure where. I'm guessing somewhere in the Banat.

     Apparently Peter had an Uncle Vence (Unknown) a business man who lived in Austria, who would visit Peter in the camps.  I guess because he was Austrian, they let him.  He brought Peter gifts which were used to bribe the guards.  Apparently, Vence once brought a gold watch for Peter and Peter used it to bribe the guards not to take my aunt Terry away (she was born in January, 1945). 

     Maria "Kulisch" was actually the name she kept from a previous marriage to a man in Ukraine, who abandoned her and her young son.  Although her actual maiden name was Gerus (spelling?).  We think she used Kulisch since it is on other documents.  Their marriage certificate is a preprinted form with the Nazi stamp on the bottom (eagle clutching a wreath with the swastika) and the fill in portion is a hard to read in certain places, particularly her last name.  Probably too, since her name would have been written in Russian, it would have been hard to translate into German.

Documents translated from German to English:

Marriage Certificate:  Registry Office Leinde No. 1, Peter Pfaffenrath (Romanian), residing in Leinde 28 ?????, born on the 16th of May, 1912 in Temeschburg, Romania (Registry Office - No-) and Maria Kulisch (Ukranian) born on the 8th of June, 1907 in Ponarinka, Ukraine (Registry Office- No-) have registered their marriage on the 4th of May, 1945 in the Registry Office of Leinde.

Father of the husband --------
Mother of the husband --------
Father of the wife -------
Mother of the wife ------
Registered:
Leinde, 4th of May, 1945
Registry Clerk- Fohm

Death Certificate: Registry Office Hagen - Boele No 242/1946
The gentlemen tailor Peter Pfaffenrath, residing in Hagen-Kabel, Batheyer Street 49, passed away on the 19th of October, 1946 at 19 o'clock 39 minutes in Hagen, in the Saint Johannes hospital. The deceased was born on May 16, 1912 in Temeschburg, Romania.  The deceased was married to Maria Pfaffenrath, maiden name Kulisch, residing in Hagen-Kabel, Kranbergstrasse 4.
Hagen, October 21, 1946

Certificate of Departure:  Kulisch, Maria born on June 8, 1907 reg. No 71813 was occupied with us from April 17, 1942 to April 10, 1945 and finally worked as a kitchen helper. She was a member of the Betriebskrankenkasse (interpreter's comment: "a type of Worker's Health Insurance") of the Imperial Works Corporation in Lebenstadt in Braunschwig. For 1945, "N/A" days of overall "N/A" days of vacation was granted.

Watenstedt in Braunschwig
May 5, 1947
Corporation for Ore Mine and Iron Foundries of the Imperial Department of Labor
Watenstedt-Salzgitter
Payroll Department - Human Resources

[Jody}  This explains the probable reason they had some clothes.  They were no longer prisoners but employees and refugees.  So they were able to get some clothing.  Plus Peter being a tailor, had access to clothing after the war.  I think that's why the clothing is a little dated for the time it's definitely pre-war style. And the jacket he's wearing in the "friends" picture is a military jacket.  Probably whatever they could get their hands on.

Depiction of the Pursuit Occurrence: On the entry of the German army in Kharkov (Russia) in April, 1942 I, Maria Kulisch, had been kidnapped to Watenstedt-Salzgitter (Braunschwig, Germany), east worker camp 23, as an east worker where I were working as an arc welder in the factory of ore preparations (Hermann Gohring Plant) from April 4, 1942 to October 4, 1945.

Peter Pfaffenrath

Peter with friends (3rd from rear)

Maria & Peter

Peter's Funeral 19 Oct 1946

click images to enlarge