Drumen - Berhomet and Lukivtsi

[Smallegange]

Hello,

I'm looking for more information about the Drumen family. My grandfather, Michael, is said to be born in Berhomet in 1913. Two of his supposed relatives I know by name: Olga, his sister, and Rudolf, his brother.

I have no additional information about him or his family from the period between the two World Wars. I do however know he returned to the Bucowina shortly after the war ended in 1945. According to my grandmother they returned to Lukivtsi where his family, by then reduced to his stepmother and a half sister named Emilia, still owned a house. Only a few weeks later, or maybe months, my grandparents left for Poland.

Additional information.

My grandfather had a relative (cousin?) named Yendrick Socha. Yendrick had at least three or four sisters: Julia and Steffa are the ones I know by name. Both Yendrick and Julia left for Poland around the same time as my grandparents did. In Poland they stayed in touch until my grandparents left Poland for the Netherlands.

The Ellis Island database links the name Drumen to Eger, Hungary, not too far from the Bucowina. It's the only link I can find that links the name Drumen to Eastern Europe. Furthermore the name is nearly non-existant.

There is a Drummer family in the same region, Katharinendorf to be more precisely, during the same decennia. However, their names and birthdates do not match the rest of my story.

Sadly, there is a possibility the names and dates are all fictional. I heavily suspect my grandfather to have served for the German militairy forces during the war, so there might be a motive to hide and conceal his true identity and prior life.

If you have any information about the name Drumen, any clues or suggestions that might help me reveal my grandfather his history or even his true identity, feel free to reply or e-mail me.

Kind regards,

M. Smallegange

[Hannia]

M,

Were the families Polish or German?

I will tell you what I say to many researchers in Eastern Europe. Don't assume that Grandfather was hiding anything. In most cases, it was/is more about the pain than anything else. It doesn't matter if he was Swabian German, Halychanyn Ukrainian, Kresy Pole, Vohlynian Czech or Carpathian Gypsy, these people all suffered horrific loses and later it was less painful not to speak of them.
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Have you explored the EWZ Files?

The EWZ files were created between 1939 and 1945 by the Einwandererzentralstelle (Immigration Center) of the German government. They contain information on approximately 2.9 million ethnic Germans from Eastern Europe, who were processed by the center for immigration and naturalization during the war.

The evacuees had to prove that they had a German lineage, so they listed several generations of family and their origins.

Are you in Holland currently?

[Smallegange]

Hannia,

I do not know if my grandfather was Polish or German. My grandmother told me his mother was Polish and his father Austrian. I'm not sure how accurate the information is, especially the Austrian part. The Ellis Island Drumens are from Hungary, not too far from the Bucowina, so my great grandfather might as well be Hungarian. Since he must have been born during the Donau Monarchy, people might incorrectly have labeled him as Austrian.

There were transports of Polish repatriates after the war; that's how they ended up in Poland. If they considered themselves Polish at that time it must have been opportunism. My grandmother certainly wasn't Polish, she's Dutch. I can only hope there is any available trasport data left.

I found a few people with the name Drumen in Romania. I'll start digging there.

Btw. I'm Dutch, but I live in Belgium. Why?

Edit: Thank you for your swift reply btw!

[Hannia]

The reason I asked for your location is because sometimes there are records in country of immigration, which you may be able to access.

When doing this kind of research, it is frequently smarter to work your way back. One never knows what's in these records. There may very well be some clue???

Have you looked into the PUR Collection in regard to the Polish Repatriation leg of your family's journey? Those are in Poland.
HalGal: Home Page of the PUR Collection

PS> I noticed that Ellis Island has some record of immigration for Drumen family, emigrating from Hungary. They are listed as ethnically German. They were emigrating from Sz Berand/Beraud??? Hungary. Additionally. there are two Drumen families shown in USA Census. Again both families are listed as German emigrating from Germany.