Hi, Firstly, his name has not to be confused with George Brady. Secondly, this name belongs to my grandfather who died in 1979, one year before my birth. He was born on the 05th may of 1924 in Paris. His last known adress is 17, Avenue Charles De Gaule in SEDAN 08200. He got his driving licence on the 15th of february in 1957. His driving licence is the only idendity paper my father owns. I know a very few things from him so the story will be short, I'm going to tell you below but me and my father live with a lack in our minds, we need to fill this lack. His story: Neither me nor my father know anything from his life before the WWII. After his death, unfortunatly, my grandmother chose to live far from home in the south west of france until she died a few years ago of Alzeihmer. She was declared ill when I was 14, this means that it was strictly impossible for us to get any information about her life, with and without my grandfather. After all, my father rarely talked to his parents so I dont think it would have been different if she was fine. We know that my grandfather showed alot of pain about talking of his life and you know how child education was 60 years ago (my father is 60yo). Then my father never dared asking and talking about that and when it was time to, it was too late, his father died of alcoholism and his mother was ill. All we know are just memories: His body was full of scars that my father could not bear watching when he was a kid. This means he suffered atrocious treatments, we know that when he's been released he weighted 70 pounds (32 kilos, not sure of the conversion). When a doctor told him in front of my father that stopping drinking was an absolute necessity, he answered: "Je devrais être mort depuis des années, chaque année supplémentaire est un bonus pour moi, ne vous en faites pas." "I should be dead for years, each more year is a gift, so do not bother." He just told one time to my father that he's been deported (as a soldier/civilian ?) in a Prison/Camp/Fortress (impossible to stand what it is for at the moment) near/at (?) Francfort-sur-l'Oder at the polish frontier. My father talks about a Fortress but he is not sure, he does not know what it could be related to because I told him that I found out that Fortress Divisions existed so that "maybe" he could have been captured or threatened by militaries from a Division like this. Last thing my father knows is that he's been freed by the Red Army and this was why he voted for Communism after the war. This is all the informations I had until a few days ago. Indeed, my father phoned me (he still lives in Sedan) to tell me that he found out a "Médaille de Déporté" (Deported Medal). I should receive it soon and I thought about making new researchs to find out where and who gave it to my grandfather. Another idea came to our mind, if he got a medal like this, he obviously had a "veteran/deported" pay, so I sent a mail (cause they have no phone !?) to a local association near Sedan, I'm waiting an answer. I've searched for a long time on internet but did not manage yet to find more informations. If you have any idea or know similar stories around Francfort-sur-l'Oder, please let me know. Jérémy Bardy
Certainly pulled on the heart strings Jérémy, this story and so many more i have read helps us all with how this War effected so many people, for your grandfather to say "Each year is a bonus" tells us about a terrible 4 or 5 years under German occupation he and many more had. Thanks for sharing and please keep us informed when you receive back information regarding his "Médaille de Déporté" ...
Of course I will, and I still hope finding someone having a family member with similar story related to Francfort-sur-l'Oder. PS: I made a terrible mistake in the Original Post, I wrote George, but it is spelled Georges. Forgot the last letter... and cant find the Edit Button Option.
