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My grandfather, Oswald DeMichiel, was born in Germany in 1906 and buried in Cavasso Nuovo, Italy in 1953. I have subscribed to Ancestry.Com and accessed the Ellis Island records as well as many other Italian and non-Italian websites to do research. I cannot find him in the Ellis Island records. I also cannot find death information in the U.S. because he died in Italy.
I found my grandparents marriage license and the birth and death records of 2 of their children. I've visited the apartment in South Bend, Indiana where my grandfather lived briefly. His home in Indianapolis is gone now. I visited Bamberg, Germany in 2000 and found the warehouse/home where his family had a terrazzo/mosaic/stone company. I went through Udine to Cavasso Nuovo but they had no taxis or busses so we stayed in Maniago. We planned to walk Cavasso Nuovo the next day but it rained hard all day. We had to return to the U.S.
I've sent letters with photographs to DeMichiel's in Italy and received a phone call from someone who ended up not being related. However, she found my great aunt, Lucia, in Cavasso Nuovo. Lucia identified herself in photos I sent. She was married to my great uncle Ferro. She is 93 years old and has a daughter in Pordenone. I've written several letters to her with no response. She said the family name is DeMichiel. I have burial information where Ferro buried my grandfather, Oswald following an auto accident in Venice in 1953. St. Remigilio Parrish buried him. I also have a 1948 passport of my grandfather's. I found him in the 1930's census. His father's name was Oswald and his mother was Irene Petrocco. His father died before 1935. I know he lost two brothers in the German army, had a brother named Ferro and one sister named Gundy. I don't know if he had other siblings.
Oswald left Italy for the U.S. as a teenager to escape the German army. He married Marie McCoy in 1928 and they had four children and 16 grandchildren. My father is Victor DeMichieli.
I plan to return to Germany and Italy next year with my father and would like to find family before going.
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