Almost five years ago I wrote about Alfred Meyer, son of Regina Goldschmidt and Aaron Meyer and my third cousin, twice removed. He was born in Frankfurt, Germany, on June 16, 1875, and that was almost all I knew about him. The only other records I could find for Alfred were two Holocaust era records on file at the Arolsen Archives. Both indicated that Alfred had left Germany for France on April 24, 1939, and was still there as of November 3, 1939. I couldn’t find any other records for him.

Had he ever married? Did he have children? I didn’t know. Had he died in the Holocaust? There were no records for him at Yad Vashem or at the US Holocaust Memorial and Museum. I was left without any further information.

Until, that is, a few weeks ago when I received an email from another researcher named Ofra Karo. Ofra and I had been in touch over a year ago about a different branch of my tree, but now she was writing to say that she had found additional information about Alfred Meyer. For one thing, she had found a marriage record for Alfred indicating that he had married Augustine Marguerite K/Brat in Paris, France on August 11, 1911.

Alfred Meyer marriage record, Archives de Paris; Paris, France; État-Civil 1792-1902, Certificate Number: 0553-0836, Paris, France, Births, Marriages, and Deaths, 1555-1929

At first I was skeptical. What was Alfred doing in France in 1911 if he was in Frankfurt in 1939? Was this the same Alfred Meyer? But after studying the marriage record and relying on my rusty high school French, I saw that this was indeed the same man—-son of Regina Goldschmidt and Aaron Meyer, born in Frankfurt, Germany, on June 16, 1875. And he was at that time residing in Paris. Given that Alfred was a grandson of Jacob Goldschmidt, whose family owned the international art and antiques business, it wasn’t really surprising that Alfred was living in Paris in 1911, perhaps working for the family’s business.

Ofra also directed me to a death record for Alfred. He had not died in the Holocaust, but had lived long enough to die after World War II. He died on January 27, 1947, in Gennevilliers, France, and had been residing in Clichy, France, a suburb of Paris just a few miles from where he died. He was 71 and a widower at the time of his death. No occupation was listed.¹

Alfred Meyer death record, Line 14,  found at https://www.myheritage.com/research/record-20869-189250/alfred-meyer-in-france-tables-of-successions-absences

Unfortunately, I have no other sources at this time for Alfred. Ofra found a tree on Ancestry that appears to be created by Alfred’s granddaughter and has many photos of family members. I tried to contact that tree owner through Ancestry without success, and I have looked to see if I could find her outside of Ancestry without success. Because I cannot confirm the information in that tree, I am not comfortable relying on it. If it is accurate, it does appear that Alfred had a son and has living descendants, but I cannot confirm that at this time.

At any rate, I do now know that Alfred did not die in the Holocaust. How he survived remains a mystery.